SB Nation • 14 min read

Nebraska Volleyball Hosts Washington on Friday Night

Nebraska volleyball enters Week 3 of B1G play after a big weekend out east against Penn State and Rutgers. Nebraska took it to Penn State on Friday night winning a set by as much as 19 points. That much showed

how dominate Nebraska can be and how much Penn State has fallen since winning the National Championship a year ago today.

The match at Rutgers was a special night as it had the highest attendance ever at a volleyball match in New Jersey. The Huskers got to play a good amount of their bench players, minus the girls that are redshirting, and they took care of business.

Nebraska has a tougher slate this week as they play Washington and #12 Purdue. The Washington Huskies have looked stronger this season than last and will look to upset the Huskers. #12 Purdue is having a great season so far even after losing top players to the portal like Eva Hudson and Chloe Chicoine.

Stat Leaders for Nebraska as of 10/9:

Offense:
Kills & Kills/set: Harper Murray – 158 / Harper Murray – 3.59
Hitting %: (over 20 sets played) Rebekah Allick – .475%
Assists & Assists/set: Bergen Reilly – 396 / Bergen Reilly – 9.43
Service Aces: Harper Murray – 12

Defense:
Digs & Digs/set: Olivia Mauch – 130 / Bergen Reilly – 2.88
Blocks & Blocks/set: Rebekah Allick – 49 / Manaia Ogbechie – 1.46
Solo Blocks: Rebekah Allick – 8

A Look at Washington

2024 Record: 19-12 (9-11 in B1G)
Ranked Wins in 2024: #13 Oregon and #15 Minnesota
NCAA Tournament: Lost in the 1st round to LMU in 5 sets

The Washington Huskies played their 1st season in the B1G last year and had a little bit better of a year than their last one in the Pac 12. Last season, they managed to squeeze into the NCAA Tournament after going 19-11 in the regular season before suffering a 1st round loss to a WCC team in LMU.

Going from the Pac 12 to the B1G wasn’t any easier for the Huskies, maybe even a little harder. They competed against teams like Arizona State, Stanford and Oregon in the Pac 12. They still compete against Oregon, but also now have Wisconsin and Nebraska in the mix.

Washington’s last Final 4 appearance actually came more recently than some may remember. They were part of the 2020 Final 4 when it was hosted in Omaha, Nebraska during the COVID season. They ended up losing to, eventual National Champions, Kentucky. This was their deepest run in the last 5 years and their 1st time in the Final 4 since 2013.

This season, Washington was picked to finish 8th out of the 18 teams in the conference this season. Junior Kierstyn Barton and Sophomore Julia Hunt were on the Preseason All Conference team in August.

The Huskies only played two other ranked teams in their non-conference schedule, but dropped both of these matches. They played #11 SMU on September 4th and #6 Kentucky on September 20th to close out their non-conference campaign. Out of the 7 sets played against ranked teams, they only won 1 of these and that was against SMU.

Junior OH Kierstyn Barton is one of the Huskies’ top returning players this year and already leads the team in the kills with 195 which is good enough for 8th in the conference so far. She’s also averaging 3.90 kills/set and is hitting .250%.

Barton has also been a key contributor to their defense as she has 77 digs and 14 blocks so far this season. Barton will be tough to block and also tough to get balls down against.

Senior OH Alexa Markley is also a key to their offense this season. Markley is a transfer from Penn State where she only played in 11 matches and 21 sets. With players like Camryn Hannah, Jess Mruzik, and Caroline Jurevicious it was probably hard for her to crack the line up there. She’s had no problem fitting in at Washington though.

Markley is another player that contributes a ton to both sides of the ball. While she averages 3.35 kills a set and hitting .261%, she is also one of the top blockers on the team. She has 27 blocks and is sitting in 3rd on the team in this category. With her experience at Penn State and the numbers she’s put up so far this season, she will for sure be a player the Huskers will be scouting going into the match.

The Huskies are returning standout MB Julia Hunt from last season. In her freshman campaign, she was named to the All-B1G Freshman Team and was, still is, one of the top middles for Washington. The B1G has already taken notice of her this season as she made the preseason team.

Hunt currently has 6+ kills in 8 of the 12 matches that Washington has played this season. She is currently 2nd on the team in blocks with 47. Junior MB Katy Wessels is leading the team with 69 blocks.

Hunt and Wessels, the Huskies middle blockers, stand at 6’2” which is a little shorter than Nebraska’s middles as Allick is 6’4” and Jackson is 6’3”. The Huskers bring a lot of size to the net as Adriano and Landfair are both 6’5”. The Huskies’ tallest player is Elise Hani at 6’4”, but she has only seen 6 sets of playing time this season.

Rounding out the Washington starting lineup will probably be SO Setter Alexi Haury who is 10th in assists in the B1G and is averaging 9.96 assists/set. Senior Zoria Heard will get the nod at libero as she leads the team in digs with 194 which is 3rd in the B1G. She also averages 3.66 a set for 4th in the B1G. Mauch and Choboy sit at 20th and 22nd in digs/set right now. Heard is a transfer from Texas A&M Corpus-Christi and joined the team in 2024.

Friday’s match will be another late one for Husker fans with a start time of 8:00pm CT at the Bob Devaney Center. The game will be broadcast on B1G Network. It is also the Stripe Out Game for the Huskers so please dress according to your section! Below is the picture showing what section wears what: