Volleyball

Metcalf Leads NU to 3-0 Win Over Missouri

Lincoln -- Senior right side hitter Nancy Metcalf notched her seventh double-double of the season to lead the No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team to a 30-15, 30-24, 35-33, victory over Missouri Wednesday night before 4,022 fans at the NU Coliseum.

Metcalf pounded 13 kills on a .321 hitting percentage while posting 11 digs, two service aces and eight blocks -- including a career-high four solo stops -- to help the Huskers improve to 12-1 overall and 5-0 in the Big 12 Conference. Junior middle blocker Amber Holmquist also posted eight blocks and added 10 kills while swinging at a season-high .750 clip.

Defensively, the Huskers out-blocked MU, 20-6, while holding the Tigers to a .036 hitting percentage. Missouri is the ninth straight opponent that NU has held to .130 or less at the net. Lisa Morris totaled 13 kills and nine digs for MU, which fell to 11-3 overall and 3-3 in the league.

The victory extended Nebraska’s winning streak to 10, but Husker Coach John Cook said his team struggled at times.

“I think that we are a very physically gifted team, and we’re very talented,” Cook said. “We can block and serve and hit with anyone, but it’s the little things that were disappointing tonight. We need to come out and take charge of those things. We didn’t have a great week of practice, and we had one really tough game tonight.”

After breezing to a 30-15 victory in game one, the Huskers trailed Missouri, 24-21, in game two. But Holmquist and Metcalf combined for five blocks down the stretch as defensive specialist Lindsay Wischmeier served Nebraska’s final nine points to give NU the 30-24 second-game win.

Nebraska led most of the way in game three, but Missouri took advantage of timely kills by Ashlee Johns and Mary Lauren Smith, as well as an NU hitting error, to tie the match at 27. Back-to-back kills by Laura Pilakowski and Holmquist forced a game-point situation for NU. But the Huskers twice failed to put the match away, and the Tigers tied the game with two kills from Morris, then took a 31-30 lead on a kill from Christi Myers. NU freshman Ally Rebholz tied the match again on a well-placed shot, the two squads exchanged points on four rallies to battle to a 33-33 tie. Holmquist pounded a kill to put NU up by one, and Metcalf slammed an ace on a jump serve to secure the 35-33, third-game win and the match.

Nebraska returns to action Saturday, Oct. 6, when it plays host to Oklahoma in a 1 p.m. match at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Huskers hope to break their own NCAA regular-season attendance record of 12,504, which they set in their last match at the Devaney Center, Nov. 4, 2000, against Colorado.