Nebraska Volleyball: No. 1 seed Huskers roll LIU, into RD 2 of NCAA Tourney

Survive and advance doesn't feel quite right. In Nebraska volleyball's case on Friday night, it was more like dominate, limp through, never have much of a doubt but still make some agitated and advance.

The No. 1 overall seed Huskers cruised past their first-round NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament opponent, Long Island University, in a 25-13, 25-16, 25-22 sweep on Friday night at the Devaney Center.

The Huskers got a balanced attack across the board from Merritt Beason (game-high 13 kills, two blocks, seven digs), Harper Murray (nine kills, eight digs, three blocks), Ally Batenhorst (seven kills), Andi Jackson (six kills, two blocks), Maggie Mendelson (six kills, four blocks) and Bergen Reilly (33 assists, three aces, nine digs). That group paved the way for a second-round date with the Nebraska Quarter's No. 8 seed Missouri (18-12) at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Lincoln after the Tigers swept Delaware earlier in the evening.

But, as the Huskers (29-1) have been wont to do throughout a historically successful season for the program, they played with their food a bit down the stretch against LIU.

Nebraska was the most dominant team in the country this year, taking hold of the No. 1 national ranking in late October and never relinquishing it en route to a Big Ten title and the best start for the program (27-0) in 18 years. However, this Husker squad, while dominant all year, did have a tendency at times to let off the gas pedal after storming out of the gate strong, or not stepping on that pedal hard enough from the jump.

That was far from the case on Friday night. Until it was.

After being battle-tested with high-octane nonconference matchups and the rugged end-to-end Big Ten slate, it appeared Nebraska was going to avoid the slow start or lackadaisical finish that has frustrated at times and produced anxiety at other times.

The Huskers squared up against a sub.-500 LIU program that squeaked into the NCAA Tournament after a run to the Northeast Conference championship as the league's No. 4 seed. The Sharks (13-19) went on a magical run to get into the Dance with upset wins over the top-two seeds in their conference, but juggernauts do juggernaut things. At least to start.

Just one day after they nearly pulled off a clean 5-0 sweep of the Big Ten's postseason awards – Lexi Rodriguez (Defensive Player of the Year), Reilly (Setter of the Year), Murray (Freshman of the Year) and John Cook (Coach of the Year) won awards with Player of the Year the lone one that did not go to Nebraska – the Huskers blitzed through the first two sets, 25-13 and 25-16.

Nebraska is more than strong enough to carry the load team-wide, and that afforded the Huskers a luxury of resting All-Big Ten Second-Team star Bekka Allick in the first-round game to get her fully healthy for another Final Four run.

Allick's presence was not necessariliy missed during a 3-0 sweep against an overmatched opponent. The Huskers came out firing, taking a 19-7 lead on the back of an 11-3 run buoyed by three kills by Batenhorst, two kills apiece by Murray and Jackson, plus one ace apiece by Beason and Reilly. Batenhorst and Jackson later added kills before Reilly finished it off with one of her own in the 12-point set win.

The Huskers never trailed in Set 2, but they weren't nearly as dominant. LIU kept it tight, pulling to within a 15-13 deficit before Nebraska broke out with a 10-3 run to close it out behind two kills each by Beason, Murray and Mendelson with two more aces from Reilly providing the highlights.

As has been its m.o., Nebraska didn't exactly make things easy on itself to close things out. LIU took leads of 8-3 and then 12-7 in Set 3. Nebraska's 5-1 run pulled the deficit to within one point, 13-12, but the Huskers soon found themselves trailing 19-16 and in danger of having to grind through a fourth set.

That's when the stars were stars for Nebraska.

The Huskers used a 9-3 run to finish off LIU with two kills by Murray and four from Beason, including three straight from the Florida transfer-turned-sensation, who ended the Sharks' season with consecutive kills to polish off four consecutive Husker points.

Overall, it's not as if Friday night's performance was anything of major concern for the Huskers' goals moving forward of winning a sixth national championship. If only because we have already seen that from this group in several instances this year, so we know what to expect at times against overmatched opponents. There is, of course, something to be said – a lot to be said, really – in being winners and knowing how to find ways to just move on in do-or-die scenarios.

This Husker team is one loaded with them – winners – and we'll see if they're able to get their 30th against Missouri less than 24 hours from now at the Devaney, where Nebraska is now 18-0 this season (regular and post) after the first unbeaten regular season at home since going 15-0 in 2017.

Get past the Tigers and a Sweet 16 matchup at home awaits against No. 5 seed Georgia Tech after the Yellow Jackets' five-set win over No. 4 Florida down in Gainesville on Friday night.

All Times Central

FIRST ROUND:

1 Nebraska def. Long Island University, 3-0

8 Missouri def. Delaward, 3-0

5 Georgia Tech def. South Alabama, 3-1

4 Florida def. Florida Gulf Coast, 3-0

3 Arkansas def. Stephen F. Austin, 3-0

TCU def. 6 Florida State, 3-1

Baylor def. 7 James Madison, 3-0

2 Kentucky def. Wofford, 3-0

SECOND ROUND:

1 Nebraska vs. 8 Missouri – Saturday at 7 p.m. in Lincoln, Neb. (ESPN+)

5 Georgia Tech def. 4 Florida, 3-2

>> Nebraska-Missouri winner faces Georgia Tech in Sweet 16 on Thursday, Dec. 7

3 Arkansas vs. TCU – Saturday at 7 p.m. in Fayetteville, Ark. (ESPN+)

2 Kentucky def. Baylor, 3-0

>> Arkansas-TCU winner faces 2 Kentucky in Sweet 16 on Thursday, Dec. 7 in Lexington, Ky.

As a refresher, here is the rest of the NCAA Tournament schedule by round:

First and second rounds: Thursday-Friday, Nov. 30-Dec. 1 OR Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 2-3

Regionals: Thursday, Dec. 7 and Saturday, Dec. 9

National Semifinals: Thursday, Dec. 14

>> Semifinal 1: Begins at 7 p.m. on ESPN

>> Semifinal 2: Begins approx. 30 minutes following Semifinal 1 on ESPN

National Championship: Sunday, Dec. 17 at 3 p.m. on ABC