NU Returns to Lincoln for Texas Tech

#7 Nebraska (11-1, 3-0) vs. Texas Tech (8-3, 0-2)
When: Saturday, Sept. 27, 2003, 7 p.m.
Where: NU Coliseum
Series: NU leads, 18-1.
Last Meeting: NU won, 3-0, 11/2/02.
Cook vs. Texas Tech: 6-0.

Media Information
Television: None
Radio: The match can be heard live on B107.3 FM in Lincoln and select Pinnacle Sports Network affiliates. John Baylor will call the action, while NU volleyball Director of Operations Diane Mendenhall will provide color analysis.
Live Stats: Live stats will be available on Huskers.com.
Live Audio: Live audio will be available on Huskers.com.
Live Video: HuskersNside will offer a live video stream of the match on a subscription-basis. To learn more, go to Huskers.com and click on HuskersNside.

Nebraska Returns to Lincoln for Texas Tech
The seventh-ranked Nebraska volleyball team enters Saturday's match against Texas Tech riding the momentum gained from two straight three-game wins. NU swept Texas Sept. 20 in Austin, then defeated Iowa State in three games Wednesday at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.

After struggling early this season offensively, Nebraska is beginning to click. NU, which is hitting .257 on the season, has swung for a .340 percentage in the last two matches under first-year setters Michelle Lynch and Dani Busboom. Four Huskers with at least 14 attempts have hit over .350 in the last two contests.

Sophomores Melissa Elmer and Jennifer Saleaumua have highlighted NU's last two victories. Elmer, a 6-2 middle blocker, is averaging 3.00 kills per game on an incredible .500 hitting percentage to go along with 1.83 blocks per game. Saleaumua, a 5-11 outside hitter, has led NU with 4.17 kills per game on a .429 hitting percentage while averaging 2.33 digs per game, 1.17 blocks per game and 0.83 service aces per game.

Saleaumua and Elmer have also played a key part in the Huskers' recent dominance at the service line. Nebraska has averaged 4.33 service aces per game during the last two matches, which is more than double what their season average was heading into the week. The Huskers tied the 13-year-old school record for service aces in a three-game match with 16 aces against the Longhorns. NU then tallied 10 aces against the Cyclones.

In addition to Elmer and Saleaumua, jump servers Christina Houghtelling, Lynch and Busboom have been effective serving, as they combined for 15 of Nebraska's 26 service aces against Texas and Iowa State.

The Huskers will try to continue their momentum against Texas Tech tonight. The Red Raiders are 8-4 overall and 0-3 in the conference under first-year head coach Nancy Todd. Tech was swept by Missouri Wednesday night.

The Lineup: The Latest on Nebraska's Probable Starters

Outside Hitter

• #16 Anna Schrad (6-2, Sr., Lincoln, Neb.): Schrad leads the Huskers with 3.61 kills per game, and her 389 attempts are nearly 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, and she has been especially impressive during the past week. In Nebraska's wins over Texas and Iowa State, Saleaumua averaged 4.17 kills per game, 2.33 digs per game and 0.83 service aces per game.
• #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 1.17 stops per game. Rebholz has also started to come alive offensively. She had a career-high 15 kills against Texas A&M, and she has swung for a .317 hitting percentage in NU's last five matches.

Middle Blocker

• #8 Melissa Elmer (6-2, So., Fort Wayne, Ind.): Often the Huskers' fifth option on offense last season, Elmer has emerged as a go-to threat in 2003. In NU's last two matches, Elmer is averaging 3.00 kills per game on a .500 hitting percentage. She leads the Big 12 with 1.83 blocks per game.
• #3 Christina Houghtelling (6-2, Fr., Cambridge, Neb.): Houghtelling has started the Huskers' last three matches, averaging 1.75 kills per game. Houghtelling has played in just 24 of NU's 42 games, but she is among the team leaders with nine service aces.

Setter

• #2 Michelle Lynch (5-11, Sr., Jacksonville, Ill.): In her first season as a starter, Lynch leads NU with 7.36 assists per game. Lynch has started every match but shares setting duties with freshman Dani Busboom in Nebraska's 6-2 (two-setter) offense. Lynch has been jump serving in recent matches and recorded a career-best five aces at Texas Sept. 20. She is tied for third on the team with 14 service aces.

Libero

• #6 Jenae Dowling (5-6, Sr., Fort Wayne, Ind.): Dowling leads the Huskers with 3.72 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 this week's matches, including:

• NU head coach John Cook is 63-0 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 73 consecutive regular-season Big 12 matches and 74 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 72-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 Tech Quickly (8-4, 0-3)
Texas Tech enters the weekend with an 8-4 record. The Red Raiders are 0-3 in the conference after dropping back-to-back three-game matches to Kansas State and Missouri.

Junior outside hitter Kelly Johnson highlights the Texas Tech lineup. Johnson leads Texas Tech in service aces with 15 and is averaging 5.65 kills per game, which ranked 10th in the nation in NCAA statistics released Sept. 22. Johnson owns the Texas Tech school record for kills in a single match with 35 against Kansas State last season.

Other Texas Tech players to watch include senior outside hitter Angela Mooney, who averages 2.88 kills per game on a .253 hitting percentage, and junior setter Laura Grote, who is averaging 12.42 assists per game and ranks second on the team with 13 service aces.

Nancy Todd is in her first season as the Texas Tech head coach after spending seven seasons as an assistant with the Red Raiders. Todd replaced Jeff Nelson, who left to become the head coach at San Fransisco. Nelson was an assistant coach at Nebraska in 1986.

Nebraska-Texas Tech Series

• Series Notes: Nebraska has swept five straight matches against Texas Tech ... Texas Tech is one of only six Big 12 schools that have a win over Nebraska since the conference was created in 1996. The Red Raiders defeated NU in five games in Lubbock Oct. 26, 1996.
• Last Meeting: Fourth-ranked Nebraska struggled offensively but still managed to defeat Texas Tech in a dominant fashion, picking up a 30-20, 30-20, 30-25 victory in front of 4,093 fans at the NU Coliseum. The Huskers, who were hitting .317 on the season, swung at an uncharacteristic .248 clip, marking just the fifth time in 2002 and the first time since Oct. 6 at Texas A&M that they hit less than .250. NU also had a season-low 36 assists. Laura Pilakowski was one of two NU players that hit over .300, as she tallied 12 kills on a .478 hitting percentage. Kelly Johnson led Texas Tech with 15 kills.