Huskers sweep Arizona to earn 7th NCAA Final Four trip

Lincoln -- The top-ranked Nebraska volleyball team earned its seventh NCAA Final Four bid when it defeated Arizona 15-7, 19-17, 15-11, Saturday night before 4,043 fans in the Central Region final at the NU Coliseum.

The Huskers, who now own a 45-17 all-time NCAA Tournament record, will face third-ranked Hawaii in a national semifinal match Thursday, Dec. 14, at 7 p.m. at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Va. Southern California and Wisconsin will meet at 5 p.m. Thursday. The winners will advance to the Dec. 16 national championship match at 2:30 p.m. The Huskers, who ranked fifth in NCAA history in Final Four appearances entering tonight's match, last nabbed a Final Four bid in 1998. The last time Nebraska (32-0) entered the Final Four with a perfect record, it won the national championship.

Sophomore outside hitter Laura Pilakowski led Nebraska for the second straight night, posting a match-best 17 kills while adding 10 digs to earn a spot on the all-region team. Sophomore setter Greichaly Cepero tallied 51 assists, 12 kills on a .526 hitting percentage, nine digs and six blocks en route to earning Central Region Most-Valuable-Player honors. Joining Cepeo and Pilakowski on the all-region team was senior right side hitter Angie Oxley, who recorded nine kills and eight digs. Senior outside hitter Kim Behrends added 10 kills and 13 digs.

Arizona's Dana Burkholder, who totaled 60 assists, Jill Talbot and Marissa Dalee also earned all-region honors.

With its victory over Arizona (28-5), Nebraska, which ranked fifth in NCAA history in Final Four appearances entering tonight's match, tied the school record for consecutive wins in the modern era of five-game matches. The Huskers won 36 straight matches in 1976 when all contests were played as two-games -out-of-three matches.

"I was really, really pleased with our team's effort tonight," NU Coach John Cook said. "This was by far our best match of the year. The team did a great job tonight, and our coaching staff did a great job in preparing the team to play.

"I am just so excited about the opportunity to go to the Final Four. I think that we have a good enough to team win the national championship. This is why I came to Nebraska."

Nebraska breezed to an 8-1 lead in the third before Arizona fought back with a 6-0 run capped by a kill by Burkholder. Holmquist halted the Wildcats' momentum with a kill, and Oxley's second ace serve of the match gave NU a three-point lead. Arizona closed the gap to 9-8 on an ace serve by Rutledge, and then tied the game on a kill by Dalee.

Trailing 12-9 four possessions later, Nebraska regained control on a kill by Cepero. Behrends stepped to the service line and ripped off six straight points, including two service aces, for the 15-12, third-game win. Cepero sealed the match on a block of Rutledge.

"This one hurt," NU Coach David Rubio said after the match. "The Nebraska players played extremely well, and we weren't able to execute. We couldn't get them into a position where we might be able to pressure them. Tonight the better team won."

Nebraska held the upper hand the entire first game, leading by as many as nine points and finishing with a .415 hitting percentage. The Huskers built a 12-4 lead behind three kills from Behrends and five from Pilakowski. Arizona mounted a comeback, scoring three unanswered points on two blocks of Nebraska and a kill by Rutlege. But Pilakowski, one of three Huskers that hit .500 or higher in the first game stopped the run with her seventh kill of the game. With Kropp serving, the Huskers sealed the 15-7 win when Oxley and sophomore middle blocker Amber Holmquist combined for a block of Rutledge.

In a marathon second game, Nebraska battled back from a 7-4 deficit to tie the game at 11 on an ace serve by Oxley. The score was tied three more times before the Huskers took an 18-17 lead on an attack error by Rutledge. Arizona regained possession after a net serve by NU, but Pilakowski smacked a kill to return control to Nebraska. With Behrends serving, the Huskers took the second game, 19-17, on Pilakowski's 15th kill of the match. Pilakowski posted eight kills in the second game, while Oxley added seven and hit .545.

The Huskers' 19 points in game two was its highest scoring total in a single game since Dec. 14, 1996, when it defeated Penn State 20-18 in game five of the NCAA East Region final.