Pierce, Huskers Hit On All Cylinders in Sweep Over Ohio State

· Yahoo Sports

Skyler Pierce doesn’t have an official start for Nebraska this season. However, when Nebraska’s junior outside hitter gets extended playing time, she makes the most of it. 

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With Teraya Sigler still recovering from an injury and limited to the back row, Pierce tied for a team high with seven kills against Ohio State. She also added two aces, three digs and a block as the top-ranked Huskers earned a 25-19, 25-10, 25-12 Saturday night at John Cook Arena. 

NU coach Dani Busboom Kelly said Pierce, who has appeared in 11 of NU’s 13 matches, has always had the physical skills to be a great player, but the key to her development over the past two years has been her mental game and confidence. 

“This year, she sees herself as a pseudo starter, even though she’s not necessarily starting,” Busboom Kelly Said. “She knows she’s going to be needed and called on, and we’re not going to be afraid to put her in, and we’re going to trust her no matter what situation we’re in.”

Pierce’s best stretch of the season came during the second set. She recorded a block and back-to-back kills to put the Huskers (13-0, 2-0) up 9-5. Later, when her turn to serve came, she led the charge on a 7-0 run, including both of her aces, that gave NU a 22-8 advantage. 

“It feels pretty good just to know that the work I’ve been putting in is really paying off, and not just seeing it in practice,” Pierce said. “Now seeing it in games really builds your confidence for sure, and kind of instills in that myself some more.”

Skyler Pierce passes a serve against Ohio State. The junior outside hitter tied for a team-high with seven kills as she also added two aces and a block. Photo courtesy Nebraska Athletics

After Sigler went down with an injury on Wednesday night, the Huskers (13-0, 2-0) held her out of Friday night’s match against Rutgers. Busboom Kelly said they thought about pushing the sophomore outside hitter to play Friday, but they opted to be cautious with her foot injury. 

In the end, Busboom Kelly said they wanted to get Sigler a few reps before the Huskers go on the road against Penn State next Thursday. Sigler had a quiet night as she wasn’t targeted at all in serve receive, missed her only serve and finished with four digs and no attacks. 

Even though she didn’t play her full role, Pierce said it was nice to have her back in the lineup. 

“Teraya has a really big presence back there, so it’s really nice to see her back and healthy and be able to do that again. And she’s just a light on the court, so I think it’s really cool to see her back on the court again.”

The Huskers started slow, committing six early hitting errors, trailing 14-11 in the first set. NU eventually settled down and committed just five hitting errors for the rest of the match and controlled the match after the first-set media timeout. 

Nebraska hit .333 for the match as Bergen Reilly posted 31 assists to do with four kills, five digs and four blocks. In addition to Pierce, Virginia Adriano and Manaia Ogbechie also posted seven kills, while Andi Jackson and Harper Murray added six kills apiece. 

Of the six early hitting errors, two were Ohio State blocks, three others were attacks that sailed long and one was a lift. Busboom Kelly said they weren’t missing by much and that if they kept swinging hard, the ball would eventually land in. 

“The misses we had in game one were good misses,” she said. “It wasn’t tentative or silly errors. I thought they were barely long.”

Meanwhile, the Huskers kept the pressure on OSU with their defense. They finished with 10 blocks and limited the Buckeyes to a –.010 hitting percentage, the second time an opponent has finished negative and the eighth time they’ve been held below .100. 

The Buckeyes (8-4, 1-1) finished with 22 kills, half their previous season low. Naomy Govou and Kalli Jioshvili-Ravva each recorded eight kills. 

Everyone got in on the act in the third set as Jayden Robinson saw action for the third time this season. She recorded a kill and two blocks. Kenna Cogill played the final seven points of the match and made the most of her time with four blocks during that stretch. 

Junior libero Olivia Mauch led the defense with 16 digs.

Campbell Flynn also showed off her prowess from the serving line, going on a 5-0 run in the second set and serving during a 6-0 run in the third set. 

“We’ve been waiting for moments to figure out when we can use her serve, and tonight I think she proved that we need to find more moments,” Busboom Kelly said about Flynn. She was awesome. She mixed up depths. She hit tough serves. Just everything about her serving run was really impressive.”

With the win, Nebraska wrapped up a nine-match homestand undefeated, dropping only three sets. The Huskers will head out on the road next week for their first away match in a month when they travel to Penn State. 

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