Huskers volleyball wins season-opener over Kentucky 3-1

The Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball team opened its season with a win on Tuesday.

Playing in the AVCA First Serve Showcase in Louisville, Ky., the Huskers defeated the ninth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats three sets to one.

It looked like it was going to be a heavyweight battle early on.

Kentucky jumped out to a quick lead in Set 1 before Nebraska battled back, ending the frame on a 14-6 run. But the Wildcats turned things up a notch, holding the Huskers to a .054 hitting percentage in the second set, although seven Nebraska errors didn’t help either.

But from there, Nebraska seemed to find its stride and Kentucky never led again.

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The Big Red dominated the third set from the get-go, winning 25-15, before the Huskers closed the match out 20-15 in the fourth set. The win was Nebraska 11th straight against Kentucky, who hasn’t beat the Huskers since 1983.

Junior middle blocker Rebekah Allick led the Huskers on Tuesday with 11 kills and 12 blocks while hitting a whopping .667. Senior outside Merritt Beason also had 11 kills while sophomore middle blocker Andi Jackson added 10 kills while hitting .412.

Bergen Reilly had 39 assists and 11 digs while Lexi Rodriguez added 15 digs. Nebraska hit .258 as a team for the match.

The Huskers are back in action Friday night when the Ameritas Players Challenge comes to the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln. TCU and Oklahoma are scheduled to play the first match of the event at 4:30 before the Huskers battle Texas A&M - Corpus Christi, which is set to start around 7 p.m.