The world looked different in the fall of 2013. The iPhone was only in its fifth variant. How I Met Your Mother was in its penultimate season on TV. A freakishly tall but skinny rookie named Giannis Antetokounmpo just started playing for the Milwaukee Bucks.

That was also the last time the Nebraska Cornhuskers had defeated the Wisconsin Badgers in volleyball in Madison, Wisconsin until Friday evening.

The No. 2 Huskers (10-0 Big Ten, 20-1 overall) entered the UW Field House and stomped the No. 7 Wisconsin Badgers (9-2, 16-5) in straight sets (21-25, 22- 25, 19-25) and silenced the crowd.

The opening set started close, but Nebraska took a 10-8 lead after two straight blocks. The Huskers had a block early on that really boiled over against the Badgers, especially against senior outside hitter Sarah Franklin. The Huskers always used two to three blockers on the Badgers star, especially in the opening set, and the UW offense struggled to find alternate options.

As Nebraska took a 15-13 lead, senior outside hitter Julia Orzoł had two straight kills to tie the set. But the Huskers had a 3-0 run to get to 18-15 and they didn’t let the first set disappear from view. Down several set points at 24-19, UW fought out two before outside hitter Merritt Beason sealed the set for the Huskers 25-21. Franklin was held to a negative stroke in the first set as the Husker block – not normally what they are known for – buzzed.

In the second set, UW trailed 12-7 early and called a timeout before the block started to click. Senior middle blocker CC Crawford provided a big defensive spark in the second set when the Badgers needed something, and she posted three blocks in quick succession, including one to make the score 17-14 and call off a Nebraska timeout force. It looked like the Badgers were gaining momentum and were able to take advantage to tie the match at 1-1, especially with an impressive serve from junior Gülce Güçtekin.

But Nebraska didn’t collapse into “The Dungeon” — accidentally coined by a former Husker player in 2021 while talking about the team’s struggles in the Field House. Instead, Nebraska had consecutive points, including two huge pancake matches, to tie the set again at 19-19. Nebraska got an ace that made the score 22-21 before the Huskers got set point 24-21. Beason set the arc again, scoring the kill at 25-22 and quieting the crowd.

The Badgers played well enough to fall in everywhere except offensively, where they were swinging just .086 after two frames. Nebraska held senior Anna Smrek, senior Devyn Robinson, junior Carter Booth and Crawford to negatives (Smrek and Crawford) or .000 (Robinson and Booth). UW committed 24 attacking errors and Nebraska outscored the Badgers 10-9 in the game.

In the third set, UW trailed 7-2 but came back to take the lead 10-9 after Franklin got a kill that forced a Husker timeout. From then on it was back and forth, but Nebraska went on a 3-0 run and went up 18-15. The Badgers couldn’t get back into the match and Nebraska closed the third set with a 5-0 run to celebrate a rare, but deserved victory in Madison.

Nebraska locked up Sarah Franklin in the opening set. Then the Huskers faced the Wisconsin run in a second set that would have crushed other Nebraska teams, and took that second set. It then continued to outwork the Badgers to earn the sweep and showed why they are in the conversation for the No. 1 ranking.

For Wisconsin, they will have to lick their wounds after falling two games behind in the battle for a Big Ten title to both the Huskers and Penn State, both still undefeated in conference play. The Badgers will play the Huskers and Penn State later in the season, but they will obviously have to play much better than they did tonight, when they were frankly stunned on their home floor.

Next up for UW is a road game against the Illinois Fighting Illini (7-4, 15-6) on Sunday. That game is at 1 p.m. and will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.