NU Travels to Austin for Texas Matchup

Matches 11 ? #8 Nebraska (8-1) at #Texas (5-4)
When: Saturday, Sept. 20, 2003, 7 p.m.
Where: Gregory Gymnasium.
Series: Nebraska leads, 20-11.
Last Meeting: Nebraska won, 3-1, 11/9/02.
Cook vs. Texas: 7-0 (6-0 at Nebraska).

Media Information
Television: The Nebraska-Texas match will be televised by KRV-TV in Austin.
Radio: The match can be heard live on B107.3 FM in Lincoln and selected Pinnacle Sports Network affiliates. John Baylor will call the action, while NU volleyball Director of Operations Diane Mendenhall will provide color analysis.
Live Stats: www.texassports.com.
Live Audio: Huskers.com

Nebraska Takes to the Road for Texas
Eighth-ranked Nebraska continues its first week of Big 12 Conference action Saturday when it faces Texas in Austin. First serve at Gregory Gymnasium is schedule for 7 p.m. Nebraska will have history on its side against UT. NU has not lost a Big 12 match since 1999, and the Huskers have won five straight Big 12 titles. Nebraska has won 25 Big Eight/Big 12 championships in the past 27 seasons and is 314-15 in Big Eight/Big 12 play.

Both the Huskers and Longhorns are coming off victories in their league-opening matches Wednesday. Texas swept Iowa State, while Nebraska battled Texas A&M for a thrilling come-from-behind five-game win. The match was highlighted by several individual performances. Junior outside hitter Ally Rebholz (15 kills) and sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Saleaumua (17 kills, 20 digs) each set new career highs for kills, and senior senior libero Jenae Dowling totaled a career-best 23 digs.

The five-game match was the Huskers' second in four days and ended a challenging stretch in which Nebraska played four matches in six days. NU also defeated No. 13 Santa Barbara and No. 15 Michigan State during the stretch, but fell to fifth-ranked Georgia Tech, 2-3.

With a young lineup that continues to improve, Nebraska has already played in more five game matches than it did in 2002 and 2001 combined. Entering 2003, the Huskers had been in involved in just on five-game match in the past two seasons.

Storylines: What to Look For in Texas

• Nebraska opens the Big 12 Conference season as the preseason favorite to win the league title. The Huskers have won 71 consecutive regular-season Big 12 matches and 72 straight matches against Big 12 teams. Nebraska has won five straight conference titles, and NU head coach John Cook is 61-0 against the league.
• After falling in five games to Georgia Tech in the title game of the US Bank/Arby's Classic Sept. 14, Nebraska tumbled three spots to No. 8 in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll. The Yellowjackets took over the fifth spot, followed by Northern Iowa and Pepperdine. Eighth is the Huskers' lowest ranking since the final AVCA poll in 1999, when they were ranked 11th.
• Speaking of five-game matches, Nebraska has already played in more than it did in 2002 and 2001 combined. Entering 2003, the Huskers had been in involved in just on five-game match in the past two seasons. NU defeated Florida in the 2001 NCAA regional final in five games Dec. 8.
• NU Coach John Cook said the young Huskers are making "huge strides" every week. Four freshmen are regularly playing in NU's 6-2 rotation, including setter Dani Busboom, middle blocker Christina Houghtelling, outside hitters Dani Mancuso and Kelsey Fautsch, a redshirt freshman. Three other players ? junior outside hitter Ally Rebholz, sophomore setter Michelle Lynch and senior libero Jenae Dowling ? are first-year starters.

The Lineup: The Latest on Nebraska's Probable Starters

Outside Hitter

• #16 Anna Schrad (6-2, Sr., Lincoln, Neb.): After playing a supportive role the past two seasons, Schrad has become NU's go-to player. She leads NU with 3.75 kills per game, including a career-best 22 kills against Illinois State Aug. 30. Her 345 attempts are 100 more than any other Husker. Schrad averaged 2.65 kills per game last year.
• #26 Jennifer Saleaumua (5-11, So., National City, Calif.): Saleaumua is widely considered NU's top all-around player and best passer. Saleaumua is playing on the left side after starting 32 games on the right in 2002, and the move has allowed her to have even more of an impact defensively. Saleaumua is second on the team with 3.62 digs per game and she had a team-high 19 digs against Georgia Tech Sept. 14.
• #13 Ally Rebholz (6-1, Jr., Indianapolis, Ind.): NU's starter on the right side, Rebholz has emerged as one of the team's best blockers. She leads the team with seven solo blocks and ranks among the Big 12 leaders with 1.35 stops per game. Rebholz has also begun to come alive offensively. She had a career-high 15 kills against Texas A&M.

Middle Blocker

• #8 Melissa Elmer (6-2, So., Fort Wayne, Ind.): Often the Huskers' fifth option on offense last season, Elmer is flourishing as a go-to player in 2003. She was named the Barker GMC Classic MVP Aug. 30 after averaging 3.00 kills per game (.323 hitting percentage) and an impressive 2.40 blocks per game at the tournament, and she was also named MVP of the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic Sept. 5-6. Elmer leads the Big 12 with 1.56 blocks per game.
• #3 Christina Houghtelling (6-2, Fr., Cambridge, Neb.): Houghtelling may be emerging as a fixture in the lineup. She came off the bench against Georgia Tech and posted nine kills, then earned her second start of the season against Texas A&M. Houghtelling tallied eight kills and five blocks against the Aggies.

Setter

• #2 Michelle Lynch (5-11, So., Jacksonville, Ill.): In her first season as a starter, Lynch leads NU with 7.25 assists per game. Lynch has started every match but shares setting duties with freshman Dani Busboom in Nebraska's 6-2 (two-setter) offense.

Libero

• #6 Jenae Dowling (5-6, Sr., Fort Wayne, Ind.): Dowling leads the Huskers with 3.91 digs per game in her first season as a starter. She recorded a career-high 23 digs against Santa Clara Sept. 12.

Big 12 Streaks to Watch
The Huskers carry several streaks into the 2003 season, including:

• NU head coach John Cook is 61-0 in the Big 12 Conference with three league championships.
• Nebraska has won five straight Big 12 titles and six of a possible seven. NU has won the Big 12 every year since the conference's inception except 1997.
• The Huskers have won 71 consecutive regular-season Big 12 matches and 72 straight matches against Big 12 teams. NU's last regular-season loss to a Big 12 opponent was at Texas on Oct. 24, 1999. Nebraska won 10 straight conference matches to close the 1999 season, and went 20-0 in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Nebraska's 70-match league winning streak ranks third in NCAA history.
• NU has won 40 straight Big 12 matches at home, dating back to a five-game loss to Kansas State Sept. 22, 1999. After the KSU loss, Nebraska won its last nine Big 12 home matches that year, then won 10 in each of the next three seasons.

Texas Quickly (5-4, 1-0)
The Longhorns were picked by the league's coaches to finish third in the conference race this season. However, Texas has gotten off to a rocky start while playing a tough schedule. UT (5-4) has not defeated a ranked team and has lost to St. Mary's, Long Beach State, Notre Dame and UCLA.

Texas features one of the conference's top offensive weapons in Mira Topic. The junior outside hitter ranks among the conference leaders with 4.86 kills per game, and she is hitting .270 on the season. Topic led Texas with 13 kills against Iowa State in the team's Big 12 opener Wednesday. Freshman middle blocker Brandy Magee leads Texas with 1.18 blocks per game.

The Longhorns are coached by Jerritt Elliott, who owns a 67-35 record in his fourth season at Texas.

Series Notes: Nebraska defeated Texas, 3-1, in the 1995 NCAA championship game to claim its first national title ... Nebraska is 11-2 at home and 6-6 on the road against Texas. The Huskers have won seven straight matches in the series with UT ... The Huskers had won 12 consecutive games against the Longhorns before dropping the first game at UT in 2002.

Cook's Winning Ways
Nebraska Coach John Cook has been amazingly successful during his four seasons at the helm, posting a 105-5 record. Cook picked up his 100th victory as Nebraska head coach Sept. 5 when NU defeated New Orleans, 3-0.

Cook's only losses in his first three seasons were to 2001 NCAA champion Stanford, 2001 NCAA runner-up Long Beach State, 2002 NCAA champion USC and 2002 NCAA semifinal participant Hawaii. The Huskers have played 326 games during Cook's tenure, winning 290 and losing just 36 (.890).

Cook has never lost a Big 12 Conference match, going 60-0 and winning three league titles. NU has dropped just 11 of the 191 conference games they have played over the past three seasons, good for a .942 winning percentage.

Cook was the AVCA Coach of the Year in 2000 after leading Nebraska to a 34-0 season and a national title. He was also named the 2001 Big 12 Coach of the Year. In 2001, NU posted a 31-2 mark and advanced to the NCAA semifinals. Last season, Nebraska also finished with a 31-2 record and advanced to the NCAA regional finals. The Huskers have won three Big 12 titles under Cook.