Nebraska volleyball reclaims No. 1 in Power 10 after taking down Wisconsin

There was absolute havoc in the women’s college volleyball sphere this week. Attendance records were broken, four of last week’s Power 10 teams fell and only two teams in the nation remain undefeated. See Michella Chester’s Week 9 Power 10 rankings below:

1. Nebraska (Previous: 2)

The Huskers battled fellow undefeated Wisconsin in a five-set thriller Saturday night. Despite playing from behind for the majority of the match, Nebraska emerged victorious with wins in sets 1, 4 and 5.

⏪️ REWIND: How Nebraska beat Wisconsin to claim the top spot in DI volleyball  

This skirmish lived up to every expectation of the record-breaking crowd of 9,198 fans that packed the Bob Devaney Center. The top-2 duel was scrappy from the start; Wisconsin out-hit Nebraska .217 to .130 as the Huskers erred over twice the amount (44) that the Badgers did (18). Nebraska also got out-blocked by Wisconsin, 18-7, but Big Red tallied three aces to Wisconsin’s zero.

The teams were evenly-matched across the board through the fourth set. Wisconsin led the fifth frame up until the 12th point, which was the first of three Harper Murray kills that gave Nebraska the advantage (then the game was put away by a net violation). Nebraska OH Merritt Beason led the match with 21 kills — one off from her career high — on 52 swings and seven digs. Bergen Reilly and Lexi Rodriguez came up big in the backcourt, tallying 17 digs apiece for the Huskers.

Nebraska and unranked Citadel are the only two teams left without a loss this season, with respective 19-0 and 22-0 records.

2. Wisconsin (1)

Wisconsin appeared to be in the driver’s seat after taking the first set against Nebraska. Returning the likes of MJ Hammill and Devyn Robinson to the lineup after the tandem missed the past three matches due to injury, the Badgers were back at full strength in the top-2 matchup. Consequently, the Badgers commanded the block, with Caroline Crawford and Carter Booth contributing nine each and Anna Smrek and Robinson adding six and five, respectively. Wisconsin also sided out 64.7 percent of the time compared to the Huskers’ 60.9 percent. The Badgers ultimately gave up a two-point lead late in the fifth set, which cost them their seat at the top of the rankings. Wisconsin’s 27-match conference streak was snapped as well as their program-best 18-win start to the season. With one…