Top-Ranked Nebraska Rolls Past Rutgers in Straight Sets Behind Choboy Serve
The short version
- No. 1 Nebraska swept Rutgers 25-21, 25-22, 25-15 in the Big Ten opener in Lincoln.
- Nebraska won 21 of 28 rallies on Laney Choboy's serves; Rutgers sided out at 25% against her.
- The Huskers hit .320 to Rutgers' .137 and out-dug the Scarlet Knights 35-29.
- Andi Jackson hit .632 with 14 kills; Harper Murray led all players with 15 kills.
- Howell and Willow led Rutgers with 10 points apiece.
Laney Choboy's service runs decided all three sets as the Huskers opened Big Ten play with a 25-21, 25-22, 25-15 win over the Scarlet Knights in Lincoln.
Rutgers opened Big Ten play Friday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center and was swept by top-ranked Nebraska, 25-21, 25-22, 25-15, before a crowd of 10,497 in Lincoln. It was the conference opener for both programs.
The previous weekend in Queens, the Scarlet Knights struggled badly from the service line, missing 17 serves against Penn and another 17 against St. John's. This time their serving was clean — four aces against four errors — but Nebraska made the Rutgers attack pay instead, holding the visitors to a .137 hitting percentage on 34 kills and 21 errors over 95 swings. The Huskers connected at .320 with 47 kills and 15 errors on 100 attempts.
The decisive factor was Laney Choboy at the service line. Nebraska won 21 of the 28 rallies on her seven serving turns, and Rutgers managed a sideout rate of just 25 percent against her, compared with 60.9 percent against every other Nebraska server. She finished with one ace and a match-high 15 digs. Nebraska also held the edge in blocks (7-6), digs (35-29) and sideout rate (61.0 to 47.3 percent), while Rutgers actually out-aced the Huskers 4-3.
Each set followed a similar pattern. Rutgers led early in the first behind kills from Imani Howell and Skylar George, but a Choboy run turned a 2-2 tie into a 2-7 deficit, and Nebraska stayed in front. The Scarlet Knights saved three set points before Andi Jackson terminated at 24-21. Rutgers hit .313 in that frame, its best of the match, against Nebraska's .412.
Set two began the same way before Choboy's serving helped break a 12-15 score open to 12-19. Trailing 13-23, Rutgers reeled off nine of the final 10 points, including three straight on George's serve and four more behind Kenzie Dyrstad's, closing to 22-24 before a Karis Willow attack error ended it. Rutgers hit just .083 in the set to Nebraska's .154.
The Scarlet Knights took their last lead at 4-2 in the third, but another Choboy turn flipped the set and Nebraska pulled away to close the match at .444 hitting. Rutgers managed an .000 percentage in the frame, with eight kills against eight errors on 27 swings.
Howell and Willow shared the Rutgers scoring lead with 10 points each. Howell put down six kills on nine errorless-plus-two swings for .444, adding two aces and three blocks; Willow had seven kills at .294 plus an ace and a solo block, with six of her kills coming in the second set. George took a team-high 29 swings and hit .103 with nine kills, and the setting duties split between Brooke Baldwin (17 assists) and Lily Bolen (11), with Dyrstad adding a team-best nine digs.
Jackson was the most efficient attacker on the floor at .632, with 14 kills and two errors on 19 swings for 16.5 points. Harper Murray led all players with 15 kills and 17 points, Bergen Reilly distributed 39 of Nebraska's 45 assists, and Manaia Ogbechie chipped in seven kills at .308.
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