No. 2 Huskers Sweep Notre Dame

South Bend, Ind. ? All-American Melissa Elmer (Fort Wayne, Ind.) had 11 kills and hit .562, leading second-ranked Nebraska to a 30-19, 30-28, 30-24 win over No. 25 Notre Dame in front of a crowd of 1,607 at the Joyce Center Friday evening.

Elmer, one of three Indiana natives on the Husker roster, had 11 kills on 16 attempts and added four block assists, as Nebraska held Notre Dame to .039 hitting in the win. The Huskers held the Irish in negative numbers in two of the three games, including a -.054 mark in the finale.

The Huskers out-blocked the Irish, who led the nation in that category in 2003, 13-10, as freshman Tracy Stalls (Arvada, Colo.) had two solo blocks and added five block assists in the win. Stalls, one of two freshmen in the Husker starting lineup, also added seven kills, as the Huskers posted their fourth consecutive sweep of Notre Dame, dating back to 1995.

Elmer was one of three Huskers to finish with 10 or more kills. Freshman Sarah Pavan (Kitchener, Ontario) led the Huskers with a match-high 16 kills, while Jennifer Saleaumua (National City, Calif.) added 10 more and a team-best 16 digs for a double-double.

While the Huskers struggled at times offensively, Nebraska Head Coach John Cook saw positives, especially defensively and at the service line.

"It was a 3-0 win, and you have to be pleased, especially on the road," Cook said. "We were a little sloppy offensively at times, but our serving, blocking and defense were very good tonight. We have a lot of things we can work on, but we’ll take the lessons we learned tonight and build on them tomorrow."

In game one, the Huskers received strong performances from Pavan, Stalls and sophomore Dani Mancuso (Omaha, Neb.), whose strong serving helped the Huskers erase a pair of early deficit. Mancuco was at the service line for a pair of key runs, as she served five straight points to spark NU’s 12-2 game-ending run after Notre Dame closed to within 18-17. Stalls had four kills and four block assists in game, while Pavan had five kills and hit .364 on 11 swings.

Elmer carried Nebraska in game two, recording seven kills and hitting .500 as the Huskers hung on for a 30-28 squeaker. Neither team could take command, as the game saw 13 ties and a pair of lead changes before Saleaumua’s kill put the Huskers up for good at 29-28. Lauren Kelbley had seven of her team-high 10 kills on .500 hitting in game two to keep the Fighting Irish in the match.

In the finale, Saleaumua’s strong serving sparked a 6-0 run, as she fired consecutive aces in helping the Huskers build a commanding 13-7 lead. Notre Dame got to within three points on three occasions, but could not get any closer, as they committed five of their six service errors in game three.

The Huskers and Irish will square off for the second time in as many days Saturday evening at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on B107.3 FM and carried live on the Internet at HukersNside.com

                        Volleyball Box Score
                            2003 NEBRASKA VOLLEYBALL
        #2 Nebraska vs #25 Notre Dame (Sep 03, 2004 at Notre Dame, Ind.)



   Nebraska               |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
7  Mancuso, Dani.......  3|  4   5  22 -.045|  0|  1   1|  1| 10| 1  2  0|  0
8  Elmer, Melissa......  3| 11   2  16  .562|  1|  0   1|  0|  3| 0  4  1|  1
9  Pavan, Sarah........  3| 16   7  42  .214|  1|  0   3|  0|  4| 0  3  1|  0
11 Stalls, Tracy.......  3|  7   3  17  .235|  1|  0   1|  0|  3| 2  5  0|  0
18 Busboom, Dani.......  3|  1   0   1 1.000| 35|  0   0|  0| 12| 0  4  1|  1
26 Saleaumua, Jennifer.  3| 10   5  28  .179|  2|  2   1|  1| 16| 0  2  0|  0
1  McCormick, Amanda...  3|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   0|  2| 10| 0  0  0|  0
2  Lynch, Michelle.....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
3  Houghtelling, Christ  1|  0   2   2-1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
13 Rebholz, Ally.......  1|  1   0   4  .250|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 50  25 133  .188| 40|  3   7|  4| 60| 3 20  3|  2

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 13.0
Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  4  42  .310   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  20  8  48  .250   Nebraska............ (3) 30 30 30  1-0
   3  13 13  43  .000   Notre Dame.......... (0) 19 28 24  1-1

   Notre Dame             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1  LOOMIS, Emily.......  3|  7   5  34  .059|  2|  0   0|  0|  6| 2  3  1|  0
3  BURRELL, Kelly......  3|  1   1   3  .000| 11|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  2
4  HENICAN, Meg........  3|  4   7  19 -.158|  3|  0   2|  1|  5| 1  3  0|  0
6  KELBLEY, Lauren.....  3| 10   2  21  .381|  0|  2   0|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
10 STASIUK, Adrianna...  3|  4   4  22  .000|  2|  0   1|  2| 12| 0  3  1|  0
12 BREWSTER, Lauren....  3|  5   9  25 -.160|  0|  2   2|  0|  9| 1  3  0|  1
8  TARUTIS, Ashley.....  3|  2   0   3  .667| 11|  0   1|  0|  9| 0  0  0|  0
9  COOPER, Carolyn.....  2|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
11 HERNDON, Danielle...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 33  28 127  .039| 29|  4   6|  3| 48| 4 12  2|  3

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1   9 10  44 -.023   Site: Notre Dame, Ind. (Joyce Center)
   2  17  9  46  .174   Date: Sep 03, 2004   Attend: 1609   Time: 1:34
   3   7  9  37 -.054   Referees: Inga Balzaras, Dennis Bergstedt
                        ID-263010