Once again, the teacher beats the student. John Cook and his No. 2 Huskers defeated Illinois, as coached by former assistant coach Chris Tamas 25-17, 25-19, 28-26, Friday night at the Devaney Center. Cook is now 27-2 when facing former assistant coaches now working as head coaches.
The sweep continues a dominant run for Nebraska: the fourth straight sweep by the Huskers, the 16th straight match victory for NU, and the 37th straight home win for the Huskers. Merritt Beason paced a balanced Nebraska attack with 13 kills and four aces. Andi Jackson piled up 11 kills on .667 hitting along with a team-leading six blocks. Harper Murray fell just short of a double-double with nine kills and nine digs. Bergen Reilly did post a double-double with 10 digs and 40 set assists. Raina Terry led Illinois with 15 kills, but needed 47 attempts to get them.
The Huskers solidly outhit the Fighting Illini, .339-.217, outblocked them seven to three and outserved them five service aces to three. Nebraska started the match at a blistering pace, hitting .419 in set one and .533 in set two.
The Huskers won six of the first seven rallies and eight of the first 11 to take firm control of set one. Illinois won the first point of set two, but Nebraska responded by winning seven of the next nine and again locking down the set. But the third set was tighter. The Fighting Illini raced out to a 3-0 lead to begin the third. It took a four-point run for the Huskers to take their first lead of the set, 7-5. Illinois responded by running the next four to lead, 9-7. The set would stay tight, with the third set tied at 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26. But Reilly connected with Jackson twice to finish off the match and send Nebraska to victory.
Nebraska now prepares to face Michigan tomorrow night at the Devaney Center. First serve is at 7 p.m., with pregame coverage at 6 p.m. on B-107.3.