Huskers Survive Five-Game Thriller at Notre Dame

South Bend, Ind. ? Dani Mancuso came off the bench to spark No. 2 Nebraska to a 30-23, 26-30, 24, 30, 30-19, 15-10 come-from-behind win over No. 25 Notre Dame Saturday evening.

Mancuso, who played sparingly in the first three games, finished with 11 kills, including 10 in the last two games, and hit .688 to lead the Huskers back from a 2-1 deficit. She had seven kills in game four before adding three more kills, as well as a pair of blocks in the decisive fifth game to help NU avert the upset bid.

"A match like this does a lot for our team," NU Coach John Cook said. "You have to be in matches like this for a team to bond and work together."

Mancuso was one of several Husker heroines who helped NU improve to 2-0 on the season. Jennifer Saleaumua totaled 18 kills ? one off her career high ? and hit .444, as five Huskers finished with 10 or more kills. Freshman Sarah Pavan led the Huskers with 20 kills, while Melissa Elmer and Christina Houghtelling added 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Dani Busboom also added a career-high 64 assists as the Huskers hit .278, including .400 in game four and .312 in the finale.

The Husker started sluggishly, trailing 13-8 before storming back, as the Huskers used their deep bench and strong serving to win the opener 30-23. The Huskers rattled off five straight points from Busboom's serve to take a 14-13 lead on a Tracy Stalls kill. Notre Dame regained the lead at 16-15 before Saleaumua and Kelsey Fautsch took over down the stretch. With Fautsch at the service line and the score tied at 17, Saleaumua recorded three straight kills to put NU up 20-17, a lead they would not relinquish. Saleaumua finished game one with six kills on 10 attacks.

The Fighting Irish evened the match by taking game two, 30-26, as the combination of Lauren Brewster and Lauren Kelbley combined for 14 kills for Notre Dame. The Huskers, who trailed for much of the game, fought back to tie the game at 19, but could not regain the lead, as Meg Henican’s kill and Brewster’s block put Notre Dame ahead 21-19. The Huskers closed to within 28-26, but consecutive kills by Brewster and Adrianna Stasiuk closed out the game, as Notre Dame hit .429 in the second game.

Brewster was the star for Notre Dame, which dipped to 1-2 on the season, finishing with 18 kills and hitting .452 on 31 attempts.

In game three, Notre Dame continued its hot hitting, as the Fighting Irish forged an 18-12 lead. The Huskers whittled the lead to 21-19 on a Pavan kill, but the Irish used a 5-1 run to extend the lead to 26-20. Nebraska trailed 29-22 and shook off a pair of match points on Pavan kills, but Saleaumua's final attempt was wide to give Notre Dame a 2-1 lead. The Irish out-hit Nebraska .441-.167, while the Huskers did not record a block in game three.

The Huskers got out of the gate quickly in game four, as Busboom served the first six points, and NU never looked back in a 30-19 win to even the match at two games. Mancuso, who came off the bench in game three, provided a much-needed spark with 10 points on seven kills, a pair of aces and a block, as the Huskers hit .400, compared to Notre Dame’s .098.

With the scored tied at six in the finale, the Huskers scored three straight points off a service error by Emily Loomis, a block by Stalls and Busboom and a kill by Mancuso to take a 9-6 lead. Consecutive kills by Brewster pulled Notre Dame within 11-10, but kills by Pavan and Saleaumua gave NU some breathing room. The Huskers then closed the match with a pair of blocks, as NU out-blocked Notre Dame, 6-0, in the finale and 15-12 for the match.

The Huskers will conclude the weekend on Monday, Sept. 6, when they travel to Western Michigan for a match against the Broncos. First serve is set for 11:30 a.m. (CDT) and will be broadcast on B107.3 FM and throughout the state of Nebraska on the Pinnacle Sports Network. The match will also be shown live on the Internet at HuskersNside.com.

        #2 Nebraska vs #25 Notre Dame (Sep 04, 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
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3  Houghtelling, Chris.  3| 10   2  23  .348|  1|  0   1|  0|  9| 0  1  0|  0
8  Elmer, Melissa......  5| 11   5  25  .240|  0|  2   1|  1|  3| 1  6  0|  0
9  Pavan, Sarah........  5| 20  13  49  .143|  0|  1   4|  0|  7| 0  4  0|  0
11 Stalls, Tracy.......  5|  7   3  17  .235|  4|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  8  2|  0
18 Busboom, Dani.......  5|  1   2   5 -.200| 64|  0   3|  0| 12| 0  2  1|  1
26 Saleaumua, Jennifer.  5| 18   2  36  .444|  1|  1   0|  0| 16| 0  3  0|  0
1  McCormick, Amanda...  5|  0   1   1-1.000|  3|  0   0|  0| 12| 0  0  0|  0
7  Mancuso, Dani.......  3| 11   0  16  .688|  0|  2   1|  0|  4| 0  3  0|  0
10 Fautsch, Kelsey.....  1|  1   2   3 -.333|  0|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  1  0|  0
13 Rebholz, Ally.......  1|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  5| 79  30 176  .278| 73|  6  11|  1| 68| 1 28  3|  1

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 15.0
Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  17  9  39  .205   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  4  5  TEAM RECORDS
   2  20  5  44  .341   Nebraska............ (3) 30 26 24 30 15  2-0
   3  17 10  42  .167   Notre Dame.......... (2) 23 30 30 19 10  1-2
   4  18  4  35  .400
   5   7  2  16  .312

   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.......  5|  9   3  33  .182|  0|  0   3|  1|  6| 2  2  0|  1
4  HENICAN, Meg........  5| 11   4  30  .233|  5|  0   1|  1| 15| 0  1  1|  0
6  KELBLEY, Lauren.....  5| 15  10  39  .128|  0|  0   2|  0|  3| 1  2  0|  0
8  TARUTIS, Ashley.....  5|  6   1  14  .357| 51|  0   2|  0| 14| 0  0  0|  0
10 STASIUK, Adrianna...  5|  8   3  17  .294|  4|  0   1|  4| 12| 0  2  0|  0
12 BREWSTER, Lauren....  5| 18   4  31  .452|  0|  1   3|  0|  5| 4  3  0|  0
5  HEINTZMAN, Ellen....  2|  0   1   3 -.333|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
7  CORBETT, Kelly......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
9  COOPER, Carolyn.....  5|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
11 HERNDON, Danielle...  5|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  5| 67  26 168  .244| 60|  1  12|  6| 59| 7 10  1|  1

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.0
Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  10  7  28  .107   Site: Notre Dame, Ind. (Joyce Center)
   2  21  3  42  .429   Date: Sep 04, 2004   Attend: 983   Time: 2:16
   3  17  2  34  .441   Referees: Dennis Bergstedt, Inga Balzaras
   4  12  8  41  .098   ID-263011
   5   7  6  23  .043