Last time the Nittany Lions played the Cornhuskers, it was in front of a sold-out Rec Hall. While Penn State defeated Nebraska a season ago, the same couldn’t have been said for 2025, as the blue and white were crushed in a 3-0 sweep at home.
The No. 1 Cornhuskers own college volleyball with the lone undefeated record in the nation, looking to claim its 29th consecutive victory of the season. No. 25 Penn State wasn’t able to hand the Big Ten champions their first loss of the season, falling in three sets, 25-14, 25-11 and 25-14.
Nebraska started off hot on both sides of the ball, with setter Bergen Reilly diving for digs that kept rallies going for multiple hitters to finish. However, the score remained close through the early stage of the first set due to service issues by the Cornhuskers.
Right-side hitter Kennedy Martin’s first point of the evening was a big one. The Fort Mill, South Carolina, native seized Penn State’s program record for points in a single season, surpassing Jess Mruzik’s 639.5 points, to make the score 9-7, Nebraska.
That’s when the Cornhuskers pulled away. Largely in part to its near-perfect side-out percentage, Nebraska played efficient volleyball, with Reilly leading the team to hit .452 at the end of the first set compared to Penn State’s .111 hitting percentage.
Going into the game, the stage was set for Harper Murray and Kennedy Martin, and No. 27 for the scarlet and cream appeared to be the better hitter. The Ann Arbor, Michigan, native put up five kills on nine swings, hitting .556. Taylor Landfair tallied four kills on six swings, hitting .667.
Murray finished the game with 12 kills, seven digs and four blocks, hitting .476 on the evening. Martin concluded her night with 11 kills, despite hitting .094.
The Nittany Lions were unable to penetrate Nebraska’s blocking unit either. Reilly and middle blocker Andi Jackson each put up two blocks, including Jackson’s block to win the first set. 25-14.
The Cornhuskers got going quickly in the second set with three service aces on six points. Teraya Sigler tallied Nebraska’s second point of the set, and Virginia Adriano later added two-consecutive aces to take a 6-2 lead. The Nittany Lions’ serve reception continued to be their downfall as Reilly posted back-to-back aces of her own en route to a 8-0 scoring run, to increase its lead to 18-5.
Although it seemed like nothing was going right for Penn State, it was sunshine and rainbows for Nebraska, who hit .350 to the blue and white’s -.190. This was the lowest that the Nittany Lions hit since facing the Cornhuskers earlier in the season, on Oct. 3, where they hit -.114 on the match.
While the Nittany Lions fought back, Adriano’s fourth kill of the night put Nebraska on set-point. Then, Sigler called the set at 25-11, slamming the ball down onto open court before the teams embarked to their locker rooms.
The scarlet and cream picked up right where it left off, surging to a 7-3 lead early in the third set. Jackson was key in taking the commanding lead, posting back-to-back blocks and adding a kill for three-consecutive points.
Nebraska’s ability to side-out was crucial to maintaining its early lead, as the Cornhuskers responded to every one of Penn State’s points, reaching the red-zone first at 20-11 following Rebekah Allick’s eighth kill on the night. Allick notched a ninth kill on only 12 swings, recording a dazzling .750 hitting percentage.
It was Murray who ended the third set for the Cornhuskers, 25-14, on back-to-back points, claiming Nebraska’s 29th-straight victory and sweeping Penn State on the season.
Up Next
Penn State travels to Coralville, Iowa, to square off against the Hawkeyes at 7 p.m. Saturday.
MORE VOLLEYBALL COVERAGE
A historic season from the first-year Nittany Lion.
