ARLINGTON, Texas -- The No. 1 Nebraska women's volleyball team defeated No. 17 Florida and No. 11 SMU to claim the championship in the inaugural Spikes Under the Lights exhibition tournament at AT&T Stadium on Thursday.
The Cornhuskers topped the Gators 21-19, 21-18 before beating the Mustangs 21-12, 21-11 to secure the title as well as $150,000 in prize money. Each of the four teams in the tournament -- Nebraska, Florida, Penn State and SMU -- received a $200,000 appearance fee.
"There's a lot that goes into how we get to use that money, with being a university," Nebraska coach Dani Busboom Kelly told ESPN. "But it's just great to celebrate winning exhibitions something this team I hope we do better than year's past, just celebrating the little things. Of course there was money on the line, but I think it meant a lot more than just the money."
In front of the nearly 40,000 crowd at the home of the Dallas Cowboys, Nebraska took control early in the final against SMU. With a perfect hitting rate, the Huskers raced to an early double-digit lead with a 12-2 opening run. Senior Harper Murray dominated on offense with three kills in the first set.
After going back and forth with the Mustangs in the second set, Nebraska went on a 10-3 rush to solidify the first Spikes Under the Lights championship. Sophomore outside hitter Teraya Sigler finished with a match-high seven kills and Murray had six.
"We talked in the locker room about the growth between game one and two," senior setter Bergen Reilly said. "There were definitely some game one jitters, even though it was just an exhibition, it felt very real. And I think just seeing how well we adapted and learned and grew from that first game to that second game was kind of the best part for me and the best part for a lot of us."
Nebraska had to weather a stiff challenge from Florida in the first semifinal match. After a .161 hitting percentage in the first set, the Cornhuskers bounced back slightly to .286 in the second set. They wrested control of the match behind senior Andi Jackson, who ended the first match hitting .571 and securing five kills on seven swings.
Jackson said the team "got a little tense" and went into the huddle after the first set to readjust its mindset.
"We said we just needed to have fun," she said. "We couldn't be so tense."
Murray finished the match with a .231 hitting percentage with two kills on 13 swings. The Cornhuskers totaled seven blocks to the Gators' three and prevailed at the net after two sets to the final round.
SMU, which reached the final by sweeping Penn State in the second semifinal match, received $50,000 in prize money as the runners-up.
The Mustangs struggled offensively in the final, with only 10 kills to Nebraska's 27 and a .068 hitting percentage to Nebraska's .339.
Spikes Under the Lights offered the largest purse in women's college sports history at $1 million and was the first women's college volleyball tournament to take place at an NFL stadium.