Nebraska Volleyball's Taylor Landfair scores a game-changing performance against the UCLA Bruins

Playing is never guaranteed, even if you're a former Big Ten Player of the Year.

Taylor Landfair had been waiting for her breakout match with the Nebraska Huskers since transferring from Minnesota over the summer. She shined off the bench Friday night against the UCLA Bruins with a season-high 13 kills on 29 shots and a .414 hitting percentage.

The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team defeated the UCLA Bruins 3-1 (25-22, 25-10, 23-25, 25-22) on a historic night in Lincoln.

“Nothing is ever guaranteed in Nebraska, nor should it be,” Landfair said Friday evening. “So I just make sure that when I’m in it, I just take advantage of it. Coach always says to be the game changer, so that’s my mindset because I play for these guys and they’re just so important to me.”

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Nebraska head coach John Cook, winning his 700th game at Nebraska, turned to Landfair because Harper Murray and Merritt Beason were both struggling to get kills. She replaced Lindsay Krause in the first set.

“I thought she took some aggressive swings and did a really good job,” Cook said. “She has some really big blocks that we needed.”

As for playing time in the future.

“I don’t know,” Cook said. “We’ll see.”

A three-time All-Big Ten First Team honoree for the Golden Gophers, Landfair is no stranger to the strength of the conference. She just has to prepare differently now.

“I just think it's a different atmosphere, especially with Devaney. It’s just so much louder and so much more energy,” she said. “I just really appreciate that, but I also think that since I'm on a completely different team, I just have to get used to the Nebraska style of volleyball and just not look at the past and just look to the future .”

The Huskers now look ahead to Sunday's game against the No. 20 USC Trojans at 6:30 p.m. CDT at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network, with audio coverage from the Huskers Radio Network.

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