LINCOLN — Mikaela Foecke had 12 kills on 15 swings and No. 6 Nebraska tied its record for fewest points allowed in the 25-point, rally scoring era, beating Rutgers 25-8, 25-11, 25-13 Sunday afternoon at the Devaney Center.
The win was Nebraska’s ninth straight win overall and 27th straight at home, the longest home-court-winning streak in the country. Meanwhile Rutgers has now been swept in seven consecutive matches. The victory kept Nebraska (22-4, 15-1 Big Ten) tied with No. 1 Penn State for first place in the Big Ten.
The Huskers had nine aces, one short of their season high, and hit .480 in the match.
Annika Albrecht added eight kills, while Briana Holman had five kills and a team-high five blocks.
Rutgers’ 32 points scored were tied with the amount allowed by Nebraska in a 2015 match against Maryland.
Game 1: The Huskers scored kills on seven of their first nine swings on the way to a 10-2 lead in the opener. Foecke served a 5-0 run, which included two kills and a block from Albrecht.
Rutgers answered with the next four points out of a timeout, including back-to-back kills from Yana Kamshilina, to pull within 10-6, before the Huskers finally found their groove.
Lauren Stivrins got a kill and a block to start Nebraska’s set-ending 13-1 run. Stivrins would add another transition kill late in the set, and Foecke added back-to-back kills to put the Huskers to set point.
Albrecht had six kills in Game 1, while Foecke added five as Nebraska finished the set without an attack error, hitting .615. Stivrins had kills on all three of her swings in the first set.
Kamshilina’s three kills led Rutgers, which hit .067 in the opener.
Game 2: Rutgers hung close through the early part of the second set, trailing 11-7 on a Kamshilina kill, but the Huskers stepped on the gas with a 7-0 run served by libero Kenzie Maloney. Three different Huskers had kills during the stretch, while Maloney fired an ace and Holman capped the run with a solo block to put NU up 18-7.
Hunter and Foecke would add aces of their own late in the set, and freshman outside hitter Sami Slaughter came off the bench to finish the set with her second collegiate kill to give Nebraska the 25-11 win.
Nebraska hit .526 in Game 2, led by Holman’s four kills and three blocks. Foecke added three kills, while Stivrins stayed perfect with two more kills on as many swings.
Kamshilina had three more kills for the Scarlet Knights, who hit .154 in the set.
Game 3: Rutgers scored three straight to cut Nebraska’s lead to 10-9 before the Huskers again strung together a long run of points to take control. Sydney Townsend had two aces in NU’s 8-0 run, capped by a slide kill by Stivrins that put the Huskers up 18-9.
Slaughter re-entered and scored three more kills in the set, her final one giving Nebraska a 24-12 lead, and freshman opposite hitter Anezka Szabo got the final kill on her first swing off the bench.
Kamshilina’s eight kills in the match led Rutgers, which finished at .092 on Sunday.
The Huskers will begin a three-match road swing Friday at Ohio State.
Rutgers (5-23, 0-16 Big Ten)…..8 11 13
At No. 6 Nebraska (22-4, 15-1)…..25 25 25
