“Gritty over pretty” is one of the mantras of No. 2 Nebraska volleyball, and that was evident Thursday night when the Huskers defeated No. 16 Minnesota 3-1.

For the second time in the last ten matches, Nebraska dropped a set, but the Cornhuskers (25-1, 15-0 Big Ten) rallied to win the last two for a 25-12, 22-25, 25 -22. 25-19 win.

“I knew this was going to be a tough game tonight, and it was a brawl,” coach John Cook said. “I thought there was some really good volleyball and there was some shaky volleyball, but I think we responded really well after losing game two… It felt weird to lose a set, but I thought we played really well responded, and I thought Minnesota gave a great effort tonight.”

The Cornhuskers cruised through the first set, but hit well below their level in the final three games, finishing at .199 overall. Nebraska struggled in transition most of the night, allowing Minnesota to extend rallies.

“We hit .199, which isn’t surprising,” Andi Jackson said. “It’s certainly not our team goal. But we were just talking about it in the locker room, ‘horrific over beautiful’, and sometimes there will be those games where the stats may not be pretty, but coming together and just being team-first in those moments, it will have a repercussion on the court.”

Bergen Reilly recorded 20 digs and six kills – both career highs – to go along with her 40 assists and four blocks. She hit .500, but the team struggled to get out of the system when she made first contact.

“She did a great job attacking jousts at the net and winning,” Cook said. “Laney (Choboy) did a great job of pushing her up there so she could do that. They dug great, but we hit .199, so we have some things we need to clean up and get a little better rhythm and improve by Saturday.

Harper Murray led the Huskers with 13 kills on .250 hitting and a career-high 19 digs. Taylor Landfair added 12 kills against her former team, but also committed nine errors and hit .067. Jackson contributed nine kills on .471 hitting and six blocks.

Lexi Rodriguez added 16 digs and seven assists as Nebraska held the Gophers to .130. Junior outside hitter Julia Hanson took over for stretches, finishing with 20 kills, but Nebraska’s defense also forced her into 11 errors and a .155 hitting percentage. The Huskers defeated the Gophers 12 to seven, which Jackson said was a big part of the win.

“Not only does it slow down the offense for our defense, but I’ve said it before, as a hitter, if they touch a lot of your shots, it’s very defeating and you start to lose confidence,” Jackson said. . “I think when our team has a huge block and touches a lot of balls, it really affects the other team’s confidence, and that can help us slow the game down a little bit, and it feels like we’re in a situation. a little more control.”

The first set was all Nebraska as the Huskers raced out to a 6-1 lead and continued to build on it the rest of the way. A 4-0 run pushed the lead to 13-6 at the half and the Huskers doubled the Gophers the rest of the way, closing the set with another 6-1 run. Landfair scored the set point kill, her fifth of the set.

Nebraska hit .367 and held Minnesota to .029. The Huskers recorded three more blocks (including a solo play from Reilly and three assists from Jackson) and six more digs than the Gophers.

The second set was much more competitive. Minnesota used a 4-0 run to take its first lead, but then used another 3-0 run to take the lead 13-10. Nebraska committed four attack errors and two service errors in the first 22 rallies of set two, after scoring just three and zero, respectively, in the entire first set.

Nebraska ended the run with a back row slam from Murray and then kept it close for a while until the Gophers pulled off four straight plays, including three kills, to take a 22-17 lead. Minnesota earned the set point at 24-19 before a 3-0 Nebraska run, but the Gophers capitalized on their fourth chance with a Hanson kill.

Minnesota produced a much sloppier defensive effort in set two with 17 digs, holding Nebraska to .098. The Gophers hit .175 as Hanson had five more kills, giving her a match-high 10 at intermission. Nebraska recorded five more blocks, but collected only 11 kills.

“I want to give credit to Minnesota: They are a very good team, and they had a very, very strong block in the second set and beyond,” Jackson said. “So we had to adapt to them. Obviously we rolled them a little bit the first set, and they turned it on a little bit. Both teams had to adjust, and I think they probably adjusted a little quicker in the second, and then we came back.”

Nebraska regained momentum with a 6-1 run for a 9-5 lead early in set three. Minnesota rallied to tie the score at 12-12, but never got over the hump. The Gophers continued to apply pressure, making it a one-point game late at 21-20, but Nebraska closed the set with a 4-2 run, including two Gopher service errors.

Hanson scored nine more kills, but the rest of the Gophers hit .000 and gave Nebraska five free points at the service line with errors. Nebraska hit .151.

The teams traded shots early in the fourth set, but Nebraska took control with a 9-1 run — including seven straight with Kennedi Orr serving — to open a 13-4 lead. Minnesota used a 4-0 run late to cut the deficit to four, but Reilly found Murray in the back row for a kill and then served an ace to quell the comeback. Merritt Beason added a kill for match point and Nebraska closed the match three rallies later with a kill from Rebekah Allick.

Nebraska outscored Minnesota .238 to .136 in the fourth set, holding Hanson to one kill and three errors. Murray came alive with five kills on eight flawless swings in the frame.

“As I told the team, ultimately the margin of victory here gets smaller and it becomes harder to win,” Cook said. “Everyone is fighting for something and we are playing against very good teams. So part of that was Minnesota did really well, and sometimes you just have to win when it’s not pretty, and everything goes your way. We’ve kind of gotten used to that in the last few games where everything was just going and we were kind of cruising. But they took us out of our comfort zone tonight.”

Nebraska volleyball returns to the Devaney Center on Saturday to host an Indiana team that fell to Iowa in straight sets on Thursday night. The Hoosiers are 12-13 overall and 5-10 in conference play.

First service is scheduled for 7:30 PM CT on Big Ten Network with Larry Punteney and Lauren Stivrins on the call.