Nebraska Volleyball Sweeps Northwestern: 49 Straight and 18 and 0

49 straight regular season wins. 24 straight on the road or a neutral floor.

Nebraska volleyball kept both streaks alive Thursday night, sweeping Northwestern 25 to 17, 25 to 14, 25 to 15 at Welsh Ryan Arena. The No. 1 Huskers are now 18 and 0 and 7 and 0 in the Big Ten, and the question was never whether they would win in Evanston. It was how little they would give up.

The answer? Almost nothing.

A defense that suffocated the Wildcats

Northwestern hit just .030 for the night, the fifth lowest mark by an opponent this season. The Wildcats scored 46 points, tied for the fourth fewest Nebraska has allowed this year. The Huskers won kills 42 to 21, digs 51 to 32, blocks 13.5 to 8 and aces 9 to 0.

That road streak now sits 11th in NCAA history and is the longest in the country since 2011. And 18 and 0 is the seventh best start in program history in the rally scoring era.

Andi Jackson set the tone

Andi Jackson was the best player on the floor. The senior middle had 10 kills on .600 hitting with 6 blocks and 4 digs. It is her eighth straight match hitting better than .350 (and her fifth straight above .400!).

With the first set tied 17 to 17, a Jackson kill started an 8 to 0 run to close it.

Everybody ate

Harper Murray had 9 kills, 4 digs, 3 blocks and 2 aces. Teraya Sigler added 8 kills on .467 with a team high 12 digs, tied with Laney Choboy. Kenna Cogill led the team with 7 blocks.

Bergen Reilly ran the offense with 39 assists and also had 3 aces, 3 blocks and 7 digs. Her back to back aces flipped the second set after Northwestern led 4 to 1, and her ace closed it. Choboy’s run of four straight serves in that set ended with an ace of her own.

The bench finished the job. Skyler Pierce put down 4 kills, all in the third set, and Gabby DiVita went 3 for 3 with zero errors … including match point.

Purdue comes to Lincoln

Nebraska is back home Saturday against No. 13 Purdue at John Cook Arena, 4 p.m. CT on BTN. Read how the streak reached 47 at Indiana in Nebraska Volleyball Sweeps No. 15 Indiana.

Husker Nation, Saturday tells us whether a ranked Purdue team can do what nobody in the regular season has done in 49 tries.