The toughest conference in the nation proved to be just that once again over the weekend as ranked teams battled in back to back five-set matches.
No. 11 Ohio State (13-1) jumped out to a two-set lead on No. 4 Nebraska (11-1) Friday night. But the Huskers were rejuvenated out of the intermission, taking sets three and four by identical scores of 25-20.
Set five had Nebraska never trailing after going up 2-1, en route to the 15-10 match-clinching win.
The Huskers hit .252 as a team, while also outblocking the Buckeyes 9-5.
Lauren Stivrins had 18 kills and six blocks while hitting .424 for the match. Stivrins became the 22nd Huskers in school history to eclipse the 1,000 career kills mark.
Lexi Sun tied her season-high for kills with 17. Madi Kubik also hit double figures with 13 kills.
Nicklin Hames tallied 51 assists in the match to go with 12 digs.
Match two saw Ohio state jump out to win the first set, but this time Nebraska took the second. The Huskers took set three 25-21, giving them multiple chances for the win and a series sweep.
But just like the Huskers on Friday, the Buckeyes fought back to take set four 25-21 before completing the comeback win 15-13 in the fifth.
The Huskers hit just .244 on the night, getting doubled-up by the Buckeyes in both blocks (10-5) and aces (6-3).
Sun had a season-high 22 kills. Stivrins added 16 kills on .400 hitting with five blocks.
Hames went over the 50 assist mark for the second match in a row, tallying 57, a season-high.
These were the first five-set matches for Nebraska on the season.
The Huskers go to Iowa City Wednesday to face Iowa before hosting the Hawkeyes Saturday.
Feature Image Courtesy Nebraska Athletics Communications Office