LINCOLN, Neb. – The third-ranked Nebraska volleyball team defeated No. 23 Dayton 3-1 on Friday night in front of 8,725 spectators at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Harper Murray hit .318 with a career-high 22 kills and hit .318 while recording a season-high 16 digs and four blocks. Murray also matched her career high with four service aces, Rebekah Allick added 10 kills and hit .368, while Taylor Landfair and Andi Jackson each had eight kills.

The Huskers had 11 blocks, with Jackson leading the way with seven. Allick, Murray and Bergen Reilly each had four. Lexi Rodriguez matched her season-high with 22 digs for the Big Red. Nebraska’s defense held Dayton to a .087 offense percentage, the first time in more than 100 games that the Flyers were held below a .100 offense percentage.

Lexie Almodovar led Dayton with 20 kills on 68 swings. The Flyers finished their season with a record of 31-3.

Sentence 1: Dayton got off to a hot start, taking a 4-1 lead. Murray delivered two kills to help the Huskers pull away, and two kills from Landfair brought the Huskers to within 8-7. Allick recorded three kills and Jackson and Merritt Beason had a block that tied the score at 12-12. Murray’s third kill gave Nebraska its first lead at 14-13, and a kill from Jackson gave the Huskers a 15-14 lead at the media timeout. Jackson and Reilly combined to block after the break and Murray served an ace before another Jackson kill made it 18-14. But Dayton scored a block and an ace to cut the game to 18-16. After a timeout, the Huskers finished the set with a 7-1 run and won 25-17. Landfair, Allick and Murray all had kills down the stretch, and Reilly went on a 6-0 run to close out the set.

Sentence 2: The Huskers used a 4-0 run, which included an ace from Rodriguez, to take a 7-3 lead. Dayton fought back to within 13-12, but Allick finished off a long rally and the Flyers committed an error to take a 15-12 Husker lead. Dayton made a service error and Murray then served three straight aces before a block from Reilly and Jackson made it 21-14. Nebraska took advantage of a timeout after Dayton scored three straight goals, and Landfair tied it with a sideout kill, and the Huskers won 25-18.

Sentence 3: Dayton got off to an 8-4 start after four straight kills from Almodovar and an ace from Gaby Arroyo. Murray had two kills and a block with Jackson to help NU get to 9-7, but Dayton responded by regaining the lead at 12-8. Murray continued to keep the Huskers going with two more kills, cutting the score to 13-11. After a Dayton kill, Murray had a kill and a block with Jackson, and the Flyers struck before Jackson scored a kill to give the Huskers a 15-14 lead. Another kill from Murray made it 16-15, but the Flyers went on a 4-1 run to take a 19-17 lead. Dayton led 20-18 before committing a service error, and Landfair knocked down an overpass to tie the score at 20-20. Landfair tied the score again at 21-21, and Murray lost a 22-21 lead with her 16th goal. But an Almodovar kill and a Husker net violation made it 23-22 Flyers. Dayton made it 23:23 with his serve, but the Flyers secured the set point with a kill. Murray answered for the Big Red with consecutive kills to secure match point at 25-24, but Almodovar kept the Flyers alive with her 18th and 19th kills to regain set point for Dayton, and the Flyers won by 27 :25 block.

Sentence 4: Murray continued her strong play early, recording four kills as the Huskers took a 7-4 lead. Jackson was then in on two straight blocks, one with Reilly and one with Landfair, as the Huskers extended the lead to 10-4. Reilly, Landfair and Allick tallied kills and Reilly served an ace to extend the lead to 16-7. Allick’s 10th kill and an ace served by Mauch put the Huskers ahead 20-8 and in control. NU finished the game 25-13.

Next: The Huskers will face No. 7 Wisconsin in an NCAA regional final on Sunday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center at 2 p.m.

Notes after the Nebraska game

• With the win, Nebraska reached an NCAA regional final for the 33rd time in program history. The Huskers’ 33 regional final appearances are the most in NCAA history. Nebraska has reached an NCAA regional final in 12 of the last 13 seasons.
• With the win, Nebraska improved to 133-37 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskers rank second in NCAA history in postseason wins and winning percentage (.782).
• Nebraska improved to 33-7 all-time in NCAA regional semifinal games, including a 16-1 record in games in Lincoln.
• NU improved to 86-7 all-time in NCAA Tournament home games, including 31-2 at the Devaney Center.
• The win was Nebraska’s 25th consecutive home win in the NCAA Tournament, a school record.
• Overall, Nebraska has won 44 straight home games since December 1, 2022. The Huskers have the longest home winning streak in the country and the longest since Nebraska moved into the Devaney Center in 2013.
• John Cook improved to 100-25 in his NCAA Tournament career. Cook joined retired Penn State coach Russ Rose to become the only coaches in NCAA history with 100 NCAA Tournament wins.
• Cook improved to 92-20 in the NCAA Tournament as Nebraska’s head coach. He ranks second all-time in NCAA Tournament wins and NCAA Tournament wins at a school.
• Cook coached his 125th career NCAA Tournament game tonight. He joined Russ Rose as the only coaches in NCAA history to coach in 125 NCAA Tournament games.
• With the win, Nebraska improved to 12-1 against ranked opponents this season.
• Nebraska won the first two sets before losing the third set. This was the Huskers’ first set loss in the NCAA Tournament and the first set in which an opponent had reached 20 points. Nebraska was the last team to drop a set in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
• Nebraska improved to 103-1 in the NCAA Tournament when it took a 2-0 lead. The Huskers have won 102 straight postseason games by winning the first two sets.
• The Huskers held Dayton to a season-low .087 attack percentage. It was the first time in 101 games – since August 26, 2022 – that the Flyers were held below a .100 offensive percentage.
• Nebraska also held Dayton to 39 kills in the four-set match, an average of 9.8 kills per set. The Flyers entered the game ranked 13th nationally with an average of 14.1 kills per set
• Harper Murray scored a career-high 22 kills in this match. Her 22 kills are the most ever by a Husker in a three- or four-set NCAA Tournament game during the rally scoring era. Murray was tied with Sarah Pavan, who had 22 kills in consecutive four-set victories over UCLA and Stanford in the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
• Murray also reached a career high with four aces in the match, including three in a row in the second set. It was the third time in Murray’s career that she had four aces in a match.
• Murray also had a season-high 16 digs in that match, one point shy of her career high.
• In the match, Murray set career highs in kills and aces as well as season highs in digs and blocks (4).
• Bergen Reilly had 47 assists against Dayton. Reilly recorded her 2,500th career assist in today’s game.
• Andi Jackson had eight kills against Dayton. Her first kill was the 500th kill of her career.
• Lexi Rodriguez scored 22 goals in the match, matching her season high. Rodriguez now has 248 career NCAA Tournament berths. She moved into second place on Nebraska’s all-time postseason digs chart, trailing only Kayla Banwarth (253 digs from 2007 to 2010).