Was there any doubt that\u00a0Nebraska\u00a0would be a championship contender this season? Of course not. They are the No. 1 team in the country after all.\u00a0But a\u00a025-19, 25-19, 25-16\u00a0sweep\u00a0over Texas? The No. 2 team in the country?\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0not just a win.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a message\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a challenge, for whatever teams stand between the Huskers and a national title.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Sunday\u2019s heavyweight clash, Nebraska trailed at the beginning of the first two sets before mounting 10-0 and 6-0 rallies to take advantages\u00a0that\u00a0they\u2019d\u00a0never surrender.\u00a0Manaia\u00a0Ogbechie\u2019s\u00a0seven blocks created pressure\u00a0at the net\u00a0to force\u00a0errors, while\u00a0Bergen\u00a0Reilly\u2019s 30 assists and playmaking mastery\u00a0kept the Longhorn defense off-balance.\u00a0The one-two punch of Andi Jackson (nine\u00a0kills) and Harper Murray (eight\u00a0kills)\u00a0proved too much for the SEC contender, as Nebraska left Las Vegas with its\u00a0third ranked\u00a0win already\u00a0this season.\u00a0 More\u00a0Weekend Updates\u00a0No. 14\u00a0Minnesota\u00a0used dominant defense to\u00a0 The matchups only get\u00a0better as volleyball season ramps up, with the\u00a0Allstate\u00a0Big Ten\/SEC Challenge Week\u00a0kicking\u00a0off Sept. 1. Here are some of the best matchups\u00a0to start.\u00a0<\/p>\n Marquee Matchups\u00a0No. 9 Purdue vs. No. 8 Texas A&M\u00a0<\/p>\n Looking to bounce back from\u00a0a five-set heartbreaker,\u00a0Purdue\u00a0welcomes\u00a0defending NCAA Champion\u00a0Texas A&M to Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers need efficiency from pins\u00a0Tindall and\u00a0Mimi\u00a0Mambu to out-swing the Aggies’ physical net defense. If Purdue\u00a0establishes\u00a0a\u00a0middle\u00a0presence early, this\u00a0top-10\u00a0clash could set the tone for the\u00a0challenge.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n No. 14 Minnesota vs. No. 17 Florida\u00a0<\/p>\n After the\u00a0decisive\u00a0sweep of Creighton,\u00a0Minnesota\u00a0brings momentum into a high-octane battle against Florida, who already faced a Big\u00a0Ten\u00a0opponent in Nebraska at Spikes Under\u00a0the\u00a0Lights in Texas. The Gophers\u00a0will\u00a0rely on Swenson\u2019s quick distribution and Wucherer\u2019s hot hand to bypass Florida\u2019s net coverage. Neutralizing the Gators’ dynamic slide attack and staying clean out-of-system will be key to securing a massive non-conference resume win.\u00a0<\/p>\n No. 16 Indiana vs. No. 8 Texas A&M\u00a0<\/p>\n Indiana\u00a0also\u00a0faces a massive early-season litmus test against\u00a0the\u00a0formidable Texas A&M squad. The Hoosiers must lean on low-error offensive execution and aggressive baseline serving to disrupt the Aggies’ fast-tempo passing system. If Indiana\u2019s primary pin hitters find seam gaps in transition early, an impressive\u00a0top-10\u00a0upset is well within reach.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n No. 6 Wisconsin vs. No. 17 Florida\u00a0<\/p>\n Wisconsin\u00a0hosts Florida in a\u00a0fifth straight ranked matchup for the Badgers. The Gators\u2019 serve-and-pass pressure aims to test Wisconsin’s passing unit, but the Badgers\u00a0possess\u00a0the net height and back-row stabilization to take over long rallies. After a\u00a0pair of tough weekend losses, the Badgers’ young team\u00a0hopes to bounce back\u00a0with\u00a0a strong performance\u00a0against the Gators.\u00a0<\/p>\n No. 20 USC vs. No. 2 Texas\u00a0<\/p>\n USC\u00a0faces a\u00a0significant\u00a0challenge against powerhouse Texas, but\u00a0the Trojans\u00a0possess\u00a0the pin firepower in London Wijay and Abigail Mullen to create chaos. If setter\u00a0Lilli Etter\u00a0keeps USC hitting efficiently out of system while disrupting Torrey Stafford\u00a0and Cari Spears, the Trojans could push this titan to the limit.\u00a0<\/p>\n Challenge Starts Tomorrow\u00a0<\/p>\n Rutgers\u00a0serves first\u00a0in the\u00a02026\u00a0Allstate Big Ten\/SEC Challenge Week\u00a0against Arkansas on Tuesday at 4\u00a0p.m.\u00a0ET.\u00a0The historic rivalry week will be capped off with the\u00a0
\n Read more from Nebraska
\n <\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n sweep No. 13 Creighton
\n <\/a>. After dropping a 3-0 opener to No. 12 Arizona State, the Gophers\u00a0rebounded behind Mckenna Wucherer, who led the attack with 10 kills. Junior setter Stella Swenson helped orchestrate the bounce-back victory with 29 assists, while Minnesota hit .298 as a unit\u00a0and\u00a0held\u00a0the Bluejays to just .068.\u00a0No. 20\u00a0USC\u00a0
\n trounced\u00a0the\u00a012th-ranked Sun Devils
\n <\/a>,\u00a0riding double-digit kill performances from London Wijay and Abigail Mullen to the 3-0 sweep. Lilli Etter anchored the Trojans with 36 assists while the\u00a0defense kept Arizona State to just .143 hitting.\u00a0USC was stymied by Creighton on Sunday, 3-1.\u00a0\u00a0Despite a stellar debut from redshirt freshman Addy Tindall (22 kills, .463\u00a0attack percentage), No. 9\u00a0Purdue\u00a0dropped a heartbreaker\u00a0against Creighton.\u00a0No. 6\u00a0Wisconsin\u00a0fell in its\u00a0contests\u00a0against\u00a0No. 5\u00a0Stanford\u00a0(3-1)\u00a0and\u00a0No. 4\u00a0Pitt\u00a0(3-0).\u00a0Thirty-Four Teams. Two Conferences. One Epic Week of Collegiate Volleyball.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n first-ever volleyball matches played at Wrigley Field
\n <\/a>, but\u00a0we\u2019ll\u00a0see plenty of\u00a0championship-caliber\u00a0contests\u00a0before then\u00a0\u2014\u00a0
\n See the full schedule
\n <\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Was there any doubt that\u00a0Nebraska\u00a0would be a championship contender this season? Of course not. They are the No.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[13845,58190,116290,146792,146796,146794,12691,146791,146793,146795,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-421837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-big-ten","tag-college-basketball-scores","tag-college-football-scores","tag-college-volleyball-scores","tag-player-statistics","tag-sports-information","tag-sports-news","tag-sports-scores","tag-sports-videos","tag-team-statistics","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}