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Huskers Fall to Penn State in NCAA Semifinal

Dec 19, 2024 / NU Athletics

Photo Credit: Nebraska Athletic Communications
Photo Credit: Nebraska Athletic Communications

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The No. 3 Nebraska volleyball team's season came to an end in the NCAA Semifinals with a 3-2 (25-23, 25-18, 23-25, 26-28, 13-15) loss to No. 2 Penn State on Friday night in front of a crowd of 21,726 at the KFC Yum! Center, the largest crowd to ever attend an indoor NCAA volleyball match. 

Harper Murray had 20 kills and 15 digs with six blocks and three aces. Andi Jackson had a career-high 19 kills and hit .630 with five blocks. 

Taylor Landfair tallied 10 kills, and Rebekah Allick and Merritt Beason each had eight. Allick also led the team with 10 blocks. 

Lexi Rodriguez had 15 digs to break the career school record of 1,890 held by Justine Wong-Orantes. Rodriguez finished her career with 1,897 digs.

Bergen Reilly had 55 assists and 15 digs. 

Nebraska (33-3) hit .262 for the match, while Penn State (34-2) hit .242. The Huskers had 15 blocks to 10 for the Nittany Lions. Penn State had seven aces, while Nebraska had six. The Nittany Lions had 14 service errors to seven for the Huskers.  

Penn State will face No. 4 Louisville in the NCAA Final on Sunday at 2 p.m. (CT). 

Jess Mruzik led Penn State with 26 kills. 

Set 1: Nebraska came out strong with a 4-1 lead thanks in part to a solo block by Allick and a kill by Jackson. The Huskers used a 5-1 run sparked by a Mauch ace and a Jackson kill and block with Murray to go up 12-7. After a timeout, the Nittany Lions scored a 7-1 run to take a 14-13 lead, their first lead of the set. A service error tied the score at 14-14, but Penn State went up 16-14 as the Huskers continued to struggle in serve receive. Landfair tied the score at 16-16, and back-to-back kills by Landfair and Beason put NU in front, 18-17. Penn State regained a 19-18 lead, but Murray terminated to tie the score at 19-19. Beason kept the score level at 20-20 with a sideout kill, and Penn State hit out for a 21-20 Husker lead. But PSU answered with two kills and a Husker hitting error to go up 23-21. Jackson got a sideout kill for the Big Red, and Beason served an ace to tie the score at 23-23. Jackson posted her fifth kill to earn set point at 24-23, and the sophomore All-American finished off the set, 25-23, with her sixth kill.  

Set 2: Penn State scored the first three points, but Nebraska scored the next four with three straight blocks and a Murray kill. Three kills by Jackson made it 8-6 NU, and a block by Allick and Reilly and a back-row kill by Murray extended the lead to 11-7. Landfair added a kill, and Allick and Beason teamed up for a block to make it 13-8. Penn State hit wide, and Allick and Landfair recorded NU's sixth and seventh blocks of the set for a 16-8 advantage. But Penn State scored the next four to cut the deficit in half, 16-12. A Landfair kill finally got the Huskers out of the rotation, and NU led 19-13 after a Beason kill. Jackson tacked on two more kills to take the Huskers to a 21-16 lead, and a back-row kill from Murray put NU up by seven, 23-16. Two Penn State service errors gave NU the 25-18 win. 

Set 3: Murray had three early kills, and back-to-back kills by Landfair and Allick made it 8-6 Big Red. Another Allick kill gave the Huskers a 10-8 lead, but the Nittany Lions went on a 5-0 run to go up 13-10. NU struggled to get closer than two points, as Penn State built the lead to 20-16. Landfair tallied a kill, and Allick and Murray notched a block to cut it to 20-18. A Murray kill brought Nebraska within one, 21-20. But the Huskers hit out on consecutive rallies to fall down 23-20. Jackson tipped a kill and had a block with Murray to get within 23-22, but Jurevicius terminated again for set point, 24-22. Murray kept the Huskers alive with a kill, but the Nittany Lions prevailed 25-23. 

Set 4: Penn State jumped out to a 7-3 lead, but the Huskers chipped away with kills by Jackson and Murray to cut it to 8-7. Two kills put PSU back up 10-7, but Allick answered with a kill and a block to make it 10-9. Jurevicius and Murray traded kills by Penn State hit wide to tie the score at 11-11. But Penn State held off NU's push with two blocks and a kill for a 14-11 advantage. Jackson tallied a sideout kill to make it 14-12, and Murray took the service line with NU trailing 15-13. She proceeded to serve three aces and blasted a kill as part of a 6-0 run that put the Big Red in front, 18-15. The Huskers led 22-16 after a kill by Landfair and back-to-back blocks by Allick, one with Landfair and one with Reilly. But Penn State fought back to get within 22-20 before Murray terminated again. An Allick kill put NU at match point, 24-22, but PSU answered to tie the match at 24-24 with two straight kills. An ace gave Penn State set point, but the Nittany Lions then hit out. Penn State earned another set point at 26-25, but Beason won a battle at the net to make it 26-26. Mruzik earned a third set point try for PSU, and this time the Nittany Lions finished it off to force a fifth set. 

Set 5: Penn State claimed a 5-2 lead and maintained the three-point lead as the teams changed sides at 8-5. A Landfair kill made it 8-6, and kills by Allick and Murray cut PSU's lead to 9-8. After a timeout, the Nittany Lions scored three in a row to go up 12-8. Nebraska took a timeout, and Beason fired a kill before Murray and Jackson notched a block to cut the deficit to 12-10. Mruzik answered to make it 13-10, and the Nittany Lions earned match point at 14-11. Penn State committed a service error before Kennedi Orr served an ace to get within 14-13, but the Nittany Lions won 15-13 on a Camryn Hannah kill. 

Nebraska Post-Match Notes

  • Nebraska ended its season with a 33-3 record. The 33 wins tied for the program’s second-most wins since volleyball became an NCAA sport in 1981.
  • The Huskers posted a top-five national finish for the seventh time in the past 10 seasons.
  • Nebraska played its third five-set match of the season, finishing the year with a 2-1 record in five-set matches.
  • Nebraska lost when leading 2-0 for the first time in 103 consecutive NCAA Tournament matches. Overall, the Huskers fell to 104-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament when winning the first two sets.
  • NU fell to 134-38 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including 11-7 in NCAA Semifinals. The loss snapped Nebraska’s four-match winning streak in NCAA Semifinals.
  • John Cook fell to 93-21 in the NCAA Tournament as Nebraska’s head coach. He dropped to 101-26 in his NCAA Tournament career. Cook ranks second all-time in career NCAA Tournament victories and NCAA Tournament wins at one school.
  • The last four NCAA Tournament matches between Nebraska and Penn State have all gone five sets, including the last three meetings in the NCAA Semifinals (2008, 2017 and 2024). The teams have split those four matches with Penn State holding a 2-1 edge in the semifinal matchups.
  • In the last two meetings between the Huskers and Nittany Lions – the 2017 and 2024 NCAA Semifinals – the total match time has been 5:55, with an average length of 2:58 in the two matches. The 2018 match lasted 2:51 while tonight’s match went 3:04.
  • The Huskers had 15 blocks in the match, including seven stuffs in the second set. It marked the fourth time this season Nebraska has had at least 15 blocks in a match, including both meetings against Penn State.
  • Nebraska won the final four points of the first set to erase a 23-21 deficit. Andi Jackson had three kills on three swings during the run.
  • Jackson had 11 kills on 13 error-free swings in the first two sets, including six kills on eight attacks in set one and five kills on five swings in set two. Jackson had 15 kills on 17 swings before committing her first attacking error late in the third set.
  • Jackson finished the match with a career-high 19 kills, eclipsing her previous high of 15.
  • Jackson hit .630 in the match. She finished with a .439 attack percentage this season, a mark that ranked fourth in school history and third in the rally-scoring era.
  • Lexi Rodriguez became Nebraska’s all-time digs leader tonight. Rodriguez had 15 digs in the match, increasing her career total to 1,897. She broke the previous record of 1,890 digs by Justine Wong-Orantes (2013-16).
  • Rodriguez also increased her total to 280 career digs in the NCAA Tournament, finishing her career with the most postseason digs in school history.
  • Rodriguez had 473 (458+) digs in her final season. That total ranks ninth on Nebraska’s season digs chart.
  • Rebekah Allick had 10 blocks in the match. In two career NCAA Semifinal matches totaling eight sets, Allick has recorded 20 blocks.
  • Harper Murray posted her third consecutive double-double with 20 kills and 15 digs while adding six blocks and three service aces. Her six blocks were a career high.

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