NU Building Momentum Heading into Key Big 12 Swing

#10 Nebraska (20-3, 11-2) at #21 Texas A&M (17-5, 9-3)
When: Wednesday, Nov. 5, 7 p.m.
Where: G. Rollie White Coliseum
Series: Nebraska leads,18-6
Last Meeting: Nebraska won, 3-2, 9/17/03
Cook vs. Texas A&M: 9-0

Media Information
Television: None.
Radio: The match can be heard live on B107.3 and selected Pinnacle Sports Network affiliates. John Baylor will call the action, and NU Director of Operations Diane Mendenhall will serve as a color analyst.
Live Stats and Live Audio: Huskers.com.
Live Video: None.

Lincoln -- No. 10 Nebraska begins its most challenging Big 12 stretch of the season Wednesday when it travels to College Station, Texas, to take on No. 21 Texas A&M at 7 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum. The Huskers will then travel to No. 25 Missouri Saturday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. NU returns home for a nationally televised match against Texas Nov. 12, before traveling to No. 5 Kansas State Nov. 15.

The Huskers’ upcoming four-game stretch could likely decide the Big 12 Conference championship. With eight matches remaining, Kansas State remains in first in the standings with a 12-1 record. Nebraska is in second with an 11-2 mark, followed by Texas A&M (9-3), Missouri (9-4) and Colorado (7-6).

Statistically, Nebraska is the best team in the league. NU has lost a Big 12-low 10 games in conference matches. The Huskers lead the Big 12 in assists, blocks, kills and service aces in league contests. They are also the best defensive team, as they have allowed their opponents fewer assists, blocks and service aces than any other conference team. Big 12 teams are hitting a conference-low .138 against NU.

Nebraska heads into the week of Big 12 competition with the confidence gained from an important non-conference victory. The Huskers swept No. 12 Northern Iowa Sunday at the NU Coliseum, improving to 3-3 against teams ranked in this week’s USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll. The Huskers were aided by standout performances from sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Saleaumua (18 kills, .500 hitting percentage, 11 digs), junior right side hitter Ally Rebholz (12 kills, .364 hitting percentage) and sophomore setter Michelle Lynch (23 assists, four service aces). Nebraska hit .304 against the Panthers, its second-highest mark against a ranked team this season.

A Win for the Huskers ...
With a victory at Texas A&M Wednesday, Nebraska would:

• Improve to 18-6 all-time vs. the Aggies and 2-0 this season.
• Win its ninth straight against the Aggies.
• Improve to 325-18 all-time in conference matches (Big Eight and Big 12)
• Improve to 4-3 against teams ranked in this week’s USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll
• Improve to 6-0 this season against teams from the state of Texas.

#21 Texas A&M Quickly (17-5, 9-3)
Texas A&M defeated Missouri in Columbia Nov. 1 in a key match in the Big 12 Conference race. The Aggies, who are 17-5 overall and 9-3 in the league, took over third place in the Big 12 standings and own a half-game lead over the Tigers (9-4). Texas A&M has won seven straight matches since losing back-to-back contests at Texas and at home against Kansas State. A&M is 2-3 against ranked teams this season.

Texas A&M is led by sophomore outside hitter Laura Jones, who was the 2002 Big 12 Freshman of the Year. Jones averages 3.91 kills per game, which ranks seventh in the league. Junior outside hitter/middle blocker Melissa Munsch is putting up big numbers, as she is averaging 3.63 kills per game and 1.02 blocks per game. Like the Huskers, A&M runs a 6-2 offense. Setters Kari Kelley and Lexy Beers have led the Aggies to a .252 hitting percentage.

Texas A&M is coached by Laurie Corbelli, who owns a 253-90 record in her 11th season. Corbelli’s husband, John Corbelli, serves as the associate head coach. John Corbelli was an assistant coach at Nebraska in 1981.

Nebraska-Texas A&M Series
Nebraska leads the all-time series against the Aggies, 18-6, and the Huskers have won eight straight. However, the Aggies have had more success against the Huskers than any league team other than Texas. Texas A&M has defeated NU twice in five-game matches since the conference’s inception in 1996 ? once in 1998 and once in 1999. Texas A&M has pushed Nebraska past three games 13 times in 24 matches, and the Huskers came out on top of a five-game battle Sept. 17 in Lincoln in the Big 12 opener.

The Last Time We Met
Sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Saleaumua drilled a career-high 17 kills to lead the eighth-ranked Nebraska volleyball team to a come-from-behind 30-28, 26-30, 26-30, 30-26, 15-9 win over Texas A&M Sept. 17 in front of 4,105 fans at the NU Coliseum. Saleaumua added 20 digs for her team-leading third double-double of the season.

Trailing two games to one, Nebraska took its offensive game to a higher level to win games four and five. NU hit .167, .222 and .167 in the first three games, but swung at a .341 clip in game four and a .364 mark in game five. Saleaumua tallied eight kills in the final two games, while senior outside hitter Anna Schrad posted 11 of her team-best 20 kills in the last two games.

Rank and File
Nebraska moved up one spot to No. 10 in the Nov. 3 USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll on the strength of its three-game win over then-No. 12 Northern Iowa Sunday. The Panthers dropped one spot to No. 13.

NU fell to No. 11 Oct. 20 after suffering back-to-back losses to eighth-ranked Kansas State and No. 24 Missouri. The ranking was the Huskers’ lowest since 1999, when they were voted No. 11 in the final poll of the season.

Nebraska is one of two teams that have been ranked in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll for all 296 weeks of its existence. The Huskers have been ranked in the top 10 for 264 of the 296 weeks, which ranks second behind Stanford’s 278. Nebraska has spent 38 weeks in the top spot, and its most recent No. 1 ranking was Sept. 24, 2001.

Saleaumua Attacks With All-Around Talent
NU Coach John Cook has labeled Jennifer Saleaumua the Huskers’ top all-around player, and the sophomore outside hitter is proving why during Big 12 Conference play. In league matches, Saleaumua has taken over the team lead in kills per game (3.26) and digs per game (4.15), which ranks first in the conference. Saleaumua leads NU with 11 double-doubles. Her most recent was Nov. 2 against Northern Iowa, when she produced 18 kills on .500 hitting to go along with 11 digs.

Saleaumua posted a career-best 23 digs against Kansas State Oct. 11, then bettered the mark with 27 digs against Missouri Oct. 15, which is the second-highest total by a Big 12 player this season.

Offensively, Saleaumua has posted double-figure kill totals in 14 of her last 15 matches after reaching the mark just once in NU’s first six contests. She tallied a then-career-best 17 kills Sept. 17 to help Nebraska defeat Texas A&M in a come-from-behind victory. Oct. 8 at KU, Saleaumua recorded 19 kills on a .340 hitting percentage.

Rebholz Re-emerges
Junior outside hitter Ally Rebholz appears to be back on track after a rocky October. As a first-year starter on the right side, Rebholz enjoyed great success early in 2003. In the Huskers’ first 15 matches, Rebholz averaged 2.55 kills per game on a .304 hitting percentage to go along with 1.12 blocks per game. The Indianapolis native struggled with illness in October and averaged just 1.90 kills per game on .123 hitting from Oct. 8 to Oct. 29. In two November matches, Rebholz is averaging 3.33 kills per game while swinging at a .318 clip. She totaled 12 kills and hit .364 against No. 12 Northern Iowa Nov. 2.

Nebraska Notables

• Since switching to the right side, senior outside hitter Anna Schrad is averaging 1.33 blocks per game. Her season average is 0.60.
• Freshman outside hitter Dani Mancuso is averaging 3.00 kills per game in NU’s last two matches.
• Sophomore setter Michelle Lynch and sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Saleaumua have produced seven service aces in the last three matches. Nebraska recorde an impressive 2.50 service aces per game last week.
• Junior right side hitter Ally Rebholz posted 12 kills on .364 hitting against Northern Iowa Nov. 2. The mark was her highest since Oct. 11 when she recorded 12 kills against Kansas State.
• Senior middle blocker Sara Westling has produced at least four blocks in each of her last five matches to move into the Big 12 statistical rankings. She is fourth in the conference with 1.26 blocks per game in league matches.

Freshman Phenoms
While making an impact on the court, Nebraska freshmen Dani Busboom and Amanda McCormick are climbing the Husker freshman charts. Busboom, a setter in NU’s 6-2 offense, has totaled 450 assists, which ranks second all-time behind Lindsay Wischmeier’s 724 in 1999.

Busboom also leads the team with 32 service aces, which ranks third all-time among NU freshmen. She needs just six more aces to break the record of 36 held by Maria Hedbeck (1993) and Kim Tonniges (1991). If Busboom continues at her current pace (0.40 service aces per game) and NU plays a minimum of 24 games (eight remaining regular-season matches), she will finish the season with 41 service aces. Busboom currently ranks second in the Big 12 with 0.47 aces per game against league teams.

McCormick, who was sidelined for much of the season with an elbow injury, has started five of the past six matches. She is averaging 3.39 digs per game, the highest average ever by a Husker freshman and the most since Maria Hedbeck (3.45) in 1993. McCormick recorded a career-high 31 digs in her first career start Nov. 8 against Missouri, the third-highest total in school history and the most by a Big 12 player this season.

Elmer All-America Material
Second-year starter Melissa Elmer is one of the Big 12’s best middle blockers and the Huskers’ top candidate for All-America honors. Elmer leads the Big 12 with 1.59 blocks per game and ranks fourth in the league with a .335 hitting percentage. She is hitting .357 in Big 12 matches, which ranks second in the conference. Elmer also ranks third on the team with 28 service aces.

Elmer has been at her best in big matches, and she leads Nebraska in matches against ranked teams in kills per game (3.35), hitting percentage (.394), service aces per game (0.35) and blocks per game (1.24)

Elmer is one of just two middle blockers to have earned Big 12 Player-of-the-Week honors in 2003. She won the award Oct. 14 for her career performances against Kansas Oct. 8 and Kansas State Oct. 11. Elmer had a career-high 15 blocks at Kansas, the highest number of blocks by any player in the Big 12 Conference this season. The total ranks third all-time on the NU single-match performance charts behind former All-Americans Amber Holmquist (16, 2000) and Karen Dahlgren (18, 1984) and is also the highest by a Husker in the rally-scoring era.

Against KSU, Elmer posted a career-high 19 kills, seven more than any other player involved in the match.

Super Servers
Nebraska ranks second in the league with 2.05 service aces per game and could surpass its 2002 total of 169 this week. With eight regular-season matches remaining, NU has already compiled 166 service aces to its opponents’ 70. In conference matches, the Huskers lead the Big 12 with 2.21 service aces per game.

Ten Huskers own a service ace, six have at least 15, and four have at least 25 aces. Freshman setter Dani Busboom leads NU with 32 service aces and ranks second in the Big 12 with 0.50 per game in league matches. Sophomore setter Michelle Lynch is second on the team with 29 aces, followed by sophomore middle blocker Melissa Elmer (28) and sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Saleaumua (25).

Nebraska tied the 13-year-old school record for service aces in a three-game match with 16 at Texas Sept. 20. Lynch led the effort with five aces, while Saleaumua and freshman middle blocker Christina Houghtelling each had four.

Block Party
Although Nebraska’s blocking numbers are somewhat down in 2003 from the three previous seasons, NU still leads the Big 12 with 3.09 blocks per game. The mark also ranks ninth nationally.

Sophomore middle blocker Melissa Elmer, who ranked second in the Big 12 behind former NU All-American Amber Holmquist in blocks per game last season, leads NU and ranks first in the Big 12 and fifth nationally with 1.59 stops per game. Elmer had a career-high 16 blocks against Kansas, the most by any player in the Big 12 this season and third-highest mark in school history.

Senior middle blocker Sara Westling is tied for ninth in the league with 1.08 blocks per game, and junior right side hitter Ally Rebholz averages 0.95 stops per game.

The Huskers totaled a season-high 22 team blocks against Kansas, which is the best mark by a Big 12 team this season. The total was the most by a Husker team in 83 matches. NU had 23 team blocks against Hawaii in the 2000 NCAA semifinals Dec. 14.

37 Consecutive Sellouts
Nebraska owns a streak of 37 consecutive sellouts at the NU Coliseum. The Huskers sold out all 17 matches they played at the Coliseum last season (NU played one match at the 13,595-seat Bob Devaney Sports Center). NU ended the 2001 season with 10 straight sellout crowds at the Coliseum. The Huskers sold out every match at the Coliseum in 2001 except a Tuesday, Sept. 25, match against Creighton. In 2003, NU has sold out all 10 of its matches at the Coliseum. The Huskers drew 6,142 fans for their match against Iowa State Oct. 25 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Cook’s Winning Ways
Nebraska Coach John Cook has been amazingly successful during his four seasons at the helm, posting a 116-7 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. Cook has lost just two Big 12 Conference matches, going 71-2 and winning three league titles.

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.