Bergen Reilly set the tone from the first serve for No. 2 Nebraska in the season opener on Friday night, as the Huskers quickly dispatched Texas A&M Corpus Christi to make it 2-0.

The Cornhuskers swept the Islanders 25-9, 25-20, 25-15 at the Devaney Center to open play at the Ameritas Players Challenge. Bergen Reilly and filled the stat sheet, Lindsay Krause finished on a high note and the two transfers recorded their first kills as Huskers.

“The crowd was really excited tonight,” coach John Cook said. “It was exciting to be here and you could feel the buzz in the arena. I thought Corpus Christi, after the first 15 points, played really good volleyball. … It just felt like they never give you points, you really have to earn them. So it was a really good test for us, and we did some nice things — serving and killing the ball, and I thought we came through pretty well tonight. So good effort.

“And the other thing I was most happy about is that I made some substitutions and we changed the lineup in the third game and we didn’t miss a beat. Sometimes when we do that, it backfires a little bit. So really, really happy with all that.”

Nebraska outhit the Islanders (.427 vs. .181) and finished with as many service aces as attack errors (seven of each).

Reilly recorded her second straight double-double with 35 assists, a team-high 10 digs, five aces, four kills and three blocks.

“I think my team did a really good job of putting me in good positions, and we had a great scouting report,” Reilly said. “So I knew exactly where I needed to be with blocks, so that helped out too. But I think when something’s not going right, you find something else that’s going right, and I think that’s kind of what was going through my mind tonight.”

Lindsay Krause finished with 13 kills — six more than any other player — on .478 hitting, five digs, three blocks and one ace. Friday was her first official match at the Devaney Center (not including the Red-White Scrimmage) since Oct. 14, 2023.

“It was so awesome,” Krause said. “I missed playing here, obviously, and so it was a lot different not being able to play with Bob. I know we’re very grateful that we got to play in Kentucky, but it was something that I definitely missed. So to be back here, it’s just something that you can’t find anywhere else, and we know that. So it was just super awesome to be back.”

Cook played with the same returning starters as in Tuesday’s season opener and the midfielders were again efficient, with Rebekah Allick and Andi Jackson combining for 13 kills and a .600 batting average.

Nebraska raced to a 10-0 lead to open the match with Reilly at the service line. She served three aces during that run while Krause and Allick got off to a fast start with three kills each.

“It’s awesome, especially starting the very first game with Bob,” Krause said. “It shows how excited we all are for the season. We weren’t going to drop anything and just keep going. We could feel that energy, so it was awesome.”

After starting the match with 11 straight serves, Reilly closed out the first set with five straight serves as the Islanders continued to struggle on the receiving end. Krause had six kills on nine swings and Allick added five on six as Nebraska hit .433.

Corpus Christi put up a much better fight in set two, but it wasn’t enough as Jackson picked up where Allick left off, finishing with five of her six strikes. Reilly also called her own number a few times with three kills on four attacks.

“The setter has to be able to do everything and we’ve challenged her to be more aggressive in attacking,” Cook said. “She did well at Kentucky and she did well tonight. Teams just ignore her, so she has to make them pay if they don’t block her. If she can maintain a block, it opens up everything for other hitters.”

Cook changed his lineup for set three, putting Leyla Blackwell in for Allick and Taylor Landfair in for Harper Murray, and the transfers had an immediate impact. Blackwell finished both swings and added three blocks, while Landfair recorded five kills on 10 clear swings.

“It was so cool,” Reilly said of the transfers. “We talked about it in the locker room, it was such a smooth transition having them both come in. That’s a really special thing to be able to do in a team because it can be tough sometimes to bring in two new guys, and we didn’t miss a beat. So I think that was really great for them and shows a lot of our confidence in them.”

Nebraska hit .517 in the third set to complete the sweep, while Krause added four more kills.

After Kennedi Orr served to Andi Jackson throughout the match against Kentucky, Cook decided to let the sophomore serve in the first and third sets. The Huskers won the rally with seven of her nine serves, including a 7-0 run in the third.

“She’s a great server,” Cook said. “With the way we’re coming in now, she’s going to have to serve in long games. She did a great job tonight. She’s a great server in practice. She gets into the game, she still gets a little hesitant, but the other thing is you saw her defend, she made a couple digs. They tried to dump her, which they always do, and she got that one; she’s experienced at doing that at USA. She hits that ball so high that it’s a dangerous serve if she actually gets it.”

TCU defeated former conference opponent Oklahoma 3-1 in the first match of the Ameritas Players Challenge. Melanie Parra, a third-team All-American in 2023, led the Horned Frogs with 20 kills on .429 hitting, nine digs and seven aces. Nebraska will take on TCU on Saturday night.

“She’s the real deal,” Cook said. “It’s going to be a great match. She’s really good. She’s got a great serve. She hits the front row and the back row really well. She moves it around. She’s very composed. I was very impressed tonight. TCU is a good team. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to play them and they wanted to come here. They’re a good team.”

First service is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The match will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.