Kenny Larabee, NRG Media
The Nebraska volleyball team has made quite a habit out of sweeping. After sweeping then No. 7 Wisconsin Saturday for the Cornhuskers’ seventh straight sweep, Nebraska then swept all 63 first-place votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll, becoming the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation for the first time on Monday. But that was only a prelude to the Huskers’ dominance of the Big Ten weekly awards, as Nebraska won at least a share of three of the four weekly honors handed out by the conference.
Harper Murray was named Big Ten co-Player of the Week, while Bergen Reilly was named Setter of the Week. Manaia Ogbechie was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.
Murray earned her second conference player of the week honor in her career after tallying 31 kills in the sweep wins over Indiana and Wisconsin. She averaged 5.2 kills per set last week, hitting a blistering .429. Meanwhile, Reilly piled up 74 set assists, helping the Huskers hit .388 for the weekend against two ranked foes. Reilly earned her second citation for the season and 15th in here career. Ogbechie grabbed defensive player of the week after stuffing 13 blocks in the two matches, ranking eighth in the country at 2.17 blocks per set. She helped NU hold the Badgers to .171 hitting Saturday. Ogbechie earned her first defensive honor but second weekly honor from the Big Ten, as she was named conference player of the week earlier this season.
The Huskers are back in action Thursday at Northwestern. Pregame coverage begins at 6 p.m., with first serve at 7 p.m. on KLIN and B-107.3.