No. 5 Huskers volleyball gives No. 14 Arizona State first loss of season

The No. 5-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-1) volleyball team took down the No. 14-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils (7-1) in a sweep at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Friday night.

It's the second top-15 win of the week for the Huskers, as they defeated No. 9 Creighton on Tuesday night.

Related: Huskers hang on to top Creighton in clash of top-10 teams

Merritt Beason led the Huskers with 15 kills on .429 hitting against the Sun Devils, while Harper Murray added 10 kills and nine digs.

Like the previous match, Nebraska's middles were strong once more, as Andi Jackson had 10 kills and hit .389 while Rebekah Allick posted seven kills and hit .462 with a team-high five blocks.

Bergen Reilly led the team with 41 assists and 15 digs for her sixth double-double of the year. Lexi Rodriguez added 10 digs and Olivia Mauch had a career-high nine digs.

Overall, the Huskers held a 7-3 advantage over the Sun Devils in blocks and 2-0 in aces.

The Huskers controlled the first set for the most part, jumping out to a 6-4 lead after going on a 4-0 run early on. Leading 12-8, the teams then traded sideouts for 16 rallies that ended with the Huskers up 20-16. Rodriguez's ace gave them a 21-16 lead and the Huskers ended up closing out the set 25-20.

The second set had a bit more drama as Arizona State held a lead well into it, 15-12.

Big Red then proceeded to go on a 7-3 run to take a 19-18 lead, thanks to kills by Jackson, Krause, Allick and Beason. Allick and Reilly also added a block each during the run.

Nebraska then led 21-20 after two more kills from Beason but the Huskers then had two hitting errors that put the Sun Devils up 22-21. Arizona State then coughed up a service error to tie the score at 22 and then Krause and Jackson combined for a block to give Nebraska a 23-22 lead.

A kill by Cyr tied the score before a service error gave the Huskers set point at 24-23. Nebraska crossed under the net trying to keep a ball alive, but Arizona State sent the ensuing serve long for another chance at set point for the Huskers. That's when Beason ended the set on a kill to give Nebraska a 26-24 win.

The third set saw the Huskers jump out to an early 5-1 lead but the Sun Devils rallied back to take an 11-10 lead after a 5-1 run. After kills from Allick, Beason and Krause, Nebraska gained back the lead 13-11. Arizona State never led again in the set as the Huskers closed it out with a 25-19 set victory and 3-0 match win.

Nebraska next will host Wichita State on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the final match of the Nebraska Classic.