LINCOLN — The streaks kept growing in No. 7 Nebraska’s 25-8, 25-14, 25-13 win over Indiana on Saturday night at the Devaney Center.
The Huskers stayed tied for the lead in the Big Ten by beating the Hoosiers for the 14th straight time, while NU won its seventh straight overall and 25th straight match at home.
Mikaela Foecke kept her own string going, putting down a match-high 14 kills. It’s the seventh straight match the junior outside hitter has put down at least 13 kills.
Nebraska fired a season-high nine aces with three Huskers firing two each.
The Huskers hit .393 and held Indiana to negative-.062, the first Big Ten opponent the Huskers have held below .000 this season.
Jessica Leish led Indiana with five kills.
NU middles Lauren Stivrins and Briana Holman each had six blocks as the Huskers put up 12 blocks on the night.
Game 1: Indiana’s chance at prosperity in Game 1 ended quickly after Briana Holman got a kill and a block in a 3-0 run to break an early 2-2 tie. Holman later added two straight kills and two blocks to start a 7-0 run served by Foecke, who had a pair of aces in the stretch.
The lead grew to 10 when Foecke scored on a back-row kill to give the Huskers a 14-4 lead, and it grew to 20-7 when Nebraska put together another 4-0 run.
Foecke had five kills on as many swings, and Holman added five kills and four blocks as the Huskers hit .667.
The Hoosiers had just four kills in Game 1 while committing six hitting errors, with four coming on Nebraska blocks.
Game 2: Foecke continued her perfect start into the second set, scoring kills on her first five attacks before Indiana could dig one of her swings. The junior from West Point, Iowa, put down kills on her first 10 attempts of the night.
Freshman Hunter Atherton served an early 7-0 run that included an ace, and senior Sydney Townsend later served a 6-0 run with her own ace to put the Huskers in front 19-8.
Redshirt freshman Lauren Stivrins had a hand in four of NU’s five blocks in Game 2, as the Huskers again held Indiana to negative hitting (-.111).
Nebraska hit .294 in Game 2 with Foecke’s five kills leading the way. Holman, Stivrins, Albrecht, and setter Kelly Hunter each added two kills in the set.
Game 3: The Hoosiers put on their best early showing of the match, drawing to within 9-7 after an Albrecht hitting error. But Sweet put down back-to-back kills including one out of system to stretch NU’s lead to 11-7.
Two rallies later, Sydney Townsend would serve the start of a 7-0 run that included a pair of aces.
Nebraska coach John Cook would clear his bench late in the match, bringing in reserve freshmen Sami Slaughter and Chesney McClellan. Slaughter, from Harrisburg, S.D., had a block late in the set to put NU up 22-11, and on match point, Slaughter put down her first collegiate kill to seal the win.
The Huskers continue their four-match home stand hosting Maryland on Wednesday night at the Devaney Center.
Indiana (12-14, 1-13 Big Ten)…..8 14 13
At No. 7 Nebraska (20-4, 12-1)…..25 25 25
