DALLAS – Nebraska’s No. 2 volleyball team lost 25-23, 25-21, 25-18 to SMU on Tuesday night before a crowd of 6,773 at Moody Coliseum.

The Huskers (3-1) committed 11 service errors and had just one ace, while SMU (2-1) allowed Nebraska to ace seven times and commit 10 service errors.

SMU outhit the Big Red, .242 to .171, and had the upper hand in kills (39-36), blocks (10-9) and digs (43-36).

Merritt Beason had nine kills for NU. Andi Jackson had eight kills and hit .667 with six blocks. Harper Murray had six kills, and Rebekah Allick and Lindsay Krause each had five.

Bergen Reilly had 31 assists and 11 digs.

Naya Shime and Maya Tabron led the Mustangs with nine kills each.

It was Nebraska’s first loss to an unranked team since 2017.

Set 1: The Huskers had seven kills in their first 13 attacks, but three service errors tied the score at 9-9. The Mustangs went up 11-10, but kills by Beason and Murray put NU ahead, 12-11. A block by Jackson and Murray and an SMU hitting error made it 15-12, with Beason finishing from the back row for a 16-12 Husker lead after a 4-0 run. Jackson added another kill and a block with Landfair for an 18-13 lead. Jackson then recorded her fifth kill before serving her first career ace to make it 20-15. Nebraska led 21-16, but SMU went on a 6-0 run to pull ahead 22-21. Lindsay Krause came in and finished immediately to tie the score at 22-22, but NU’s fourth service error put SMU back in front. Allick and Beason then blocked the points to tie the score at 23-23. But two straight kills from SMU gave the Mustangs a 25-23 win.

Set 2: SMU jumped out to a 7-4 lead, but a Krause kill sparked a 3-0 Husker run. But SMU responded with a 4-0 run — including two aces — to take a 13-8 lead. NU cut it to one at 19-18, but two more service errors helped the Mustangs pull ahead 22-19, and SMU won 25-21 to take a 2-0 lead.

Set 3: NU broke away from an 8-8 tie with kills by Allick and Murray and a block by Murray and Jackson for an 11-8 lead, but SMU came right back to tie it at 11-11. Nebraska led 14-13 when SMU scored five straight points to pull within 18-14. SMU extended its lead to 23-15 on a 5-0 run and won the set and match 25-18.

Up Next: The Husker Invitational will be held at the Bob Devaney Sports Center from Thursday through Saturday. The schedule is as follows:

Thursday
3:30pm – Montana State vs. Denver
6:00 PM – Nebraska vs. The Citadel (B1G+)

Friday
10:00am – The Citadel vs. Montana State
4:00pm – Denver vs. The Citadel

Saturday
2:00 PM – Nebraska vs. Montana State (NPM/B1G+)