No. 1 Huskers Stifle Spartans in Top-25 Battle

No. 1 Nebraska recorded 15 blocks and limited No. 25 Michigan State to .093 hitting in a 21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-12 win against the Spartans on Saturday in East Lansing.

Nebraska (23-0, 12-0 Big Ten) hit .340 as a team to win the second-ever Big Ten Discover Challenge, finishing with a 5-0 record in select challenge matches to defend the Huskers’ Big Ten Discover Challenge title from last season.

With Saturday’s win, the Huskers are off to a 23-0 start for the ninth time in program history. Nebraska also improved their win streak in road and neutral-site matches to 25, which ranks 11th all-time in NCAA history and the longest nationally since the Big Red’s string of 26 straight wins in 2002-03.

Andi Jackson recorded 12 kills on .360 hitting with six blocks, while Harper Murray had 12 kills, two blocks and three digs.

Manaia Ogbechie tallied 11 kills on .786 hitting without an error and totaled a team-high eight blocks, becoming the first Husker since 2024 with at least 11 kills and eight stuffs in a match.

Ryan Hunter matched her career high with seven kills on a perfect seven swings, followed by Teraya Sigler with five kills and seven digs.

Bergen Reilly recorded 45 assists, a career-high six blocks, five digs and a pair of kills, and Olivia Mauch recorded a team-high 12 digs

Set 1: Michigan State took the first set with 25-21 victory, pulling away after the ninth and final tie at 17. Reilly’s back-to-back aces gave Nebraska an 8-6 lead, but the Spartans answered with a 4-0 run to go up 11-9. Jackson’s consecutive kills put the Huskers in front at 12-11, and the teams traded the lead before the Spartans used four straight points to up 21-17 after a Husker timeout. The Huskers pulled within 22-20 on an Ogbechie kill and a block assist from Adriano and Ogbechie that prompted an MSU timeout. The Big Red saved one set point, but a Spartan kill put an end to the set at 25-21. Jackson led Nebraska with five kills, followed by four from Ogbechie.

Set 2: Nebraska evened the match with a 25-19 win in the second set, scoring eight of the final nine points. The Huskers opened a 7-2 lead behind a 4-0 run that featured a pair of Reilly blocks and two Spartan errors, but Michigan State responded with a 4-0 spurt of its own to pull within 9-7 and force a Nebraska timeout. Nebraska still led 15-12 before the Spartans scored four consecutive points to take their first lead of the set at 16-15. Trailing 18-17, the Huskers took control as Ogbechie had a hand in four consecutive NU points with three kills and a solo block. Sigler then served the final four points of the set, with Murray adding a kill and two Spartan attack errors closing it out. Ogbechie and Murray led Nebraska with five kills each, and the Huskers outhit the Spartans 13 kills to seven while recording four blocks.

Set 3: Nebraska took a 2-1 lead with a 25-17 win in the third set, never trailing after the early going. Michigan State led 5-4 before Reilly went to the service line and recorded a service ace, followed by a block assist from Ogbechie and Sigler to give the Huskers the lead for good. After the final deadlock at seven, Nebraska pulled ahead as Jackson put down a pair of kills and Reilly added one of her own during a stretch that made it 14-10. The Spartans got within 15-13, but kills by Jackson, Reilly and Ryan Hunter, followed by a block assist by Murray and Ogbechie, made it 19-15 and prompted a Spartan timeout. The Huskers then used a 5-0 run, with Mauch serving the final four points, highlighted by Jackson’s block and a kill from Murray. Hunter recorded the kills that brought up set point and ended the set.

Set 4: Nebraska closed out a 3-1 win over the Spartans with a 25-12 fourth set. The Huskers pulled ahead behind their block, as Reilly and Ogbechie teamed up for a stuff during a Campbell Flynn service run that made it 8-4 and forced a Michigan State timeout. Sigler then served four straight points during a 5-0 run, highlighted by kills from Ogbechie and Hunter and a block, to extend the lead to 14-6. Hunter tacked on two more kills as the Big Red stretched the advantage to 19-9. Skyler Pierce came off the bench to account for four of the Huskers’ final six points, putting down three kills before ending the match with a service ace. Hunter and Pierce led the Big Red with three kills apiece, and the Huskers recorded five blocks while holding the Spartans to six kills in the set.

Nebraska returns to action with a visit to the Pacific Northwest next weekend for a pair of matches at No. 12 Oregon and No. 20 Washington. First serve between the Huskers and Ducks is set for 9 p.m. CT on BTN on Saturday, Nov. 7.