Kentucky volleyball and Nebraska volleyball fans cheered on their team during the AVCA First Serve Showcase at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. on Aug. 27, 2024 Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

No. 2 Nebraska Volleyball Grabs Season-Opening Win Over No. 9 Kentucky

Originally posted on Nebraska Cornhuskers on SI
By Kaleb Henry | Last updated Aug 27, 2024 9:29 PM ET

Game one. Game won.

Nebraska (1-0) volleyball opened the season with a four set win over No. 9 Kentucky (0-1) Tuesday: 25-21, 22-25, 25-15, 25. The No. 2 Huskers are now 12-2 all-time against the Wildcats and have won the last 11 meetings.

Defense was the name of the game for the Big Red during the first game of the AVCA First Serve Showcase in Louisville. NU tallied 18 blocks on the night, led by the 12from Rebekah Allick. Adding to the tremendous defense, Lexi Rodriguez notched a team-high 15 digs while Bergen Reilly added 11.

Reilly had a double-double, racking up 39 assists to go with her double-digit digs.

Offensively, Nebraska hit .258 for the match. The Huskers had a poor second set, hitting just .054, but hit at least .333 in the other three sets.

The Wildcats hit .139 for the match, including .257 in their lone set victory.

A balanced attack had Nebraska in rhythm. Allick and Merritt Beason each had a team-high 11 kills. Andi Jackson was next with 10, followed by Harper Murray's eight and Lindsay Krause's seven.

Nebraska returns to Lincoln for a pair of matches this weekend: Friday vs. Texas A&M - Corpus Christi and Saturday vs. TCU.