No. 1 Nebraska clinched the outright Big Ten title with a 25-23, 25-20, 25-12 win vs. No. 25 Illinois at John Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Thursday night.
Nebraska has won 38 conference titles all-time, including seven in the Big Ten (2011, 2016, 2017, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026). It’s the first time since 2004-08 that Nebraska has won four straight conference titles. Nebraska’s seven Big Ten titles since joining the conference in 2011 are the most by any team.
The Huskers improved to 26-0 (15-0 Big Ten) to record Nebraska’s seventh 26-0 start in program history. Nebraska won its 57th consecutive regular-season match, including its 64th straight at John Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Nebraska finished the match with a .483 hitting percentage, surpassing last Sunday's clip of .477 for the highest single-match hitting percentage against a ranked opponent in the rally-scoring era. Illinois (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten) hit .200 in the loss.
Teraya Sigler led the Big Red offense with 13 kills at a .684 clip. She was one of three Nebraska players to hit over .600 in the match, as Manaia Ogbechie tallied nine kills and hit .750, and Andi Jackson hit .643 with nine kills.
It is just the third time three Huskers have hit at least .600 in the same match (min. 10 att.) in the rally-scoring era, and first since 2014.
Bergen Reilly recorded 40 assists and seven digs, her eighth match with 40-plus assists this season. Olivia Mauch led the Huskers with 13 digs, and Ogbechie paced the Big Red with five blocks.
Set 1: Nebraska took the first set 25-23, hitting .567 with 18 kills and just one error. After back-and-forth opening points, Illinois grabbed a 13-10 lead, forcing an early timeout from the Huskers. The Fighting Illini extended their lead to 18-13, but the Big Red rattled off eight straight points to take a 20-18 lead, aided by three kills from Sigler. Illinois tied the set at 21-21, but the Huskers edged ahead 23-21 on an Illini attacking error and an Ogbechie kill, and squeaked out the 25-23 win, capped off with a Jackson kill.
Set 2: Nebraska hit .345 and pulled ahead 2-0 with a 25-20 win in the second set. The Huskers held a slim 15-13 lead at the media timeout thanks to a Sigler kill, extending their advantage to 19-15 on a solo block from Ogbechie. Illinois used a 4-2 run to trim the Husker lead to 21-19, but the Big Red answered with a 3-0 run to lead 24-19, capped by an ace from Murray. Sigler tallied her ninth kill of the match to conclude the second set.
Set 3: The Huskers closed a dominant sweep with a 25-12 win in set No. 3, hitting .607 and holding Illinois to just seven kills and a .037 clip. The set was close early as Illinois took an 8-7 lead, but the Big Red scored three straight to pull ahead 10-8. The Illini hung in, trimming the Husker lead to 12-11, but Nebraska took complete control of the set with a 9-0 run to gain a 21-11 lead. Illinois broke the run with a kill, but the Huskers reeled off a 4-0 run to end the match, ending the set with a 13-1 spurt.
The Huskers return to action on Saturday night, as Nebraska faces Iowa on Senior Night. First serve between the Big Red and Hawkeyes is set for 6 p.m. on B1G+ at John Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.