A powerful new addition to the Big Ten Conference suffered the same fate as many before them.

No. 2 Nebraska (23-1, 13-0 B1G) volleyball continues its dominance in the conference with a sweep of No. 12 Oregon (17-5, 9-4 B1G), 25-12, 26-24, 25-18 That makes for 20 consecutive wins and 17 sweeps per year.

The Huskers dominated the first set and held the Ducks to negative numbers. The second set needed extra points, but the Big Red prevailed late, thanks in part to one of coach John Cook’s many correct challenges. In the third set, Nebraska slowly pulled away to take the win.

Thursday marked the second straight game involving the Huskers that set an arena attendance record. Oregon’s new record of 8,566 is almost 1,200 more than the previous record set last year.

Facing one of the better blocking teams in the country, Nebraska hit .278 with 44 kills, 14 errors and was blocked seven times. Serving and defense were also on full display with four aces, six blocks and 52 digs for the Huskers who outscored the Ducks 52-38.

Harper Murray and Taylor Landfair led the way, both hitting over .400 with double-digit kills. Murray with 14 and 10 digs at .414, Landfair with 13 and two blocks at .407.

Merritt Beason and Andi Jackson each had six kills, while Bergen Reilly added three of his own, along with 33 assists and nine digs.

With her first dig of the match, Lexi Rodriguez took sole possession of the second-best career spot in Nebraska volleyball history. The senior Libero finished the match with 14 digs.

Olivia Mauch continued her masterful play from the service line with two aces.

Mimi Colyer led the way for Oregon with 52 swings and 13 kills as the Ducks broke out a 6-2 run. Cook told the Big Ten Network after the match that he expected Oregon to pull away from 6-2 after dominating in the first set, but the Ducks stuck with it and kept the next two sets much closer.

The Pacific Northwest road trip continues as Nebraska faces the Washington Huskies on Saturday. That will be another late game, with first service at 9:30 PM CST.

Box score

Set 1: Nebraska took a 4-0 lead, but Oregon fought back to tie the score at 6-6. Back-to-back kills by Murray, two by Landfair and one by Jackson made the score 11-6 Big Red. Landfair added three more kills and a block with Allick as the Huskers built an 18-8 lead. After Oregon scored three in a row, a Ducks service error preceded an ace by Mauch, a block by Allick and Beason and a kill by Murray, making the score 22-11 Huskers. A kill by Jackson and a solo block by the sophomore middle blocker gave the Huskers a 25-12 victory. NU hit .476 in set one and held Oregon to -.031.

Set 2: Oregon led 8-6 when Murray and Jackson hit kills, and Murray served an ace for a 10-8 Husker lead. Reilly dumped a kill before Beason made another to make it 13-10. But the Ducks ran off three straight points to tie the score at 14-14. After a Husker timeout, Murray worked a block and the Ducks hit twice long to put NU back ahead, 17-14. The Ducks rallied to tie the score at 19-19, but Jackson finished a kill and Allick and Landfair combined for a block and a 21-19 lead. Landfair capped a long rally with a kill to make it 22-20, but the Ducks came right back to tie the score at 22-22 on a kill and a Husker hitting error. After a NU timeout, Landfair posted her eighth kill, but Colyer answered for the Ducks. The Ducks then hit long to give NU set point, 24-23, but a kill by Oregon made it 24-24. Oregon hit wide to give the Big Red another set point opportunity, and Murray ended the set at 26-24 with her ninth kill.

Set 3: Oregon led 6-4 when Kennedi Orr served a 4-0 run to give the Huskers an 8-6 lead. Reilly dumped two kills, and Allick and Landfair posted one each. After Oregon tied the score at 8-8, Landfair earned a sideout kill and served Reilly an ace before an Oregon error made it 11-8. The Ducks came back with a 3-0 run to make it 11-11, but Beason ended it and Mauch served her second ace before Oregon hit wide for a 14-11 Husker lead. After an Oregon timeout, Reilly set up Beason for back-to-back kills, and Allick and Beason filled a Duck attack for a 17-11 lead. After Oregon pulled within 17-13, Allick recorded a solo block, and three Murray kills put the Huskers up 22-15. Nebraska capped off a 25-18 win with three kills by Landfair.

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