Huskers Look Outside in Sweep of Buffs

Lincoln ? Dani Mancuso took advantage of her first conference start of the year, drilling a match-high 18 kills to propel No. 4 Nebraska to a 31-29, 30-12, 30-23 win over Colorado in front of a sellout crowd of 4,094 at the NU Coliseum Wednesday evening.

The 6-foot-2 sophomore from Omaha was efficient in recording her second-highest kill total of the year, hitting .424 on 33 swings while adding seven digs, as Nebraska (18-1, 12-0 Big 12) recorded its 15th consecutive win.

"Dani has been playing well, and I felt it was time to reward her (with the start)," Nebraska Coach John Cook said. "She has been playing at a high level (off the bench) and has been one of the best left-side hitters in the conference. Because she hasn’t had a lot of swings, she was very fresh, and you could see that explosiveness tonight."

The Huskers relied on their outside hitters in posting their 14th consecutive win over Colorado (10-9, 5-7 Big 12), as Jennifer Saleaumua also reached double figures with 15 kills and nine digs while also hitting .424 in the sweep.

The Huskers hit .368 as a team, topping .400 in each of the final two games, and Cook attributed the Huskers’ performance to the fine play of setter Dani Busboom, who had 45 assists, seven digs and four blocks.

"Once game two started, we were really smooth," Cook said. "The final two games may have been the best that Dani (Busboom) has played all year. She set consistently, ran the offense, made great decisions and got our hitters some great swings. It was really impressive."

The Huskers, playing at the Coliseum for the first time since Oct. 9, struggled a bit early on before putting away the Buffaloes, 31-29. Nebraska led 16-15 before running off five straight points to take a 21-15 lead on a block by Tracy Stalls and Busboom. The Huskers eventually built a 28-23 lead, but could not put Colorado away, as the Buffaloes stormed back with a 6-1 spurt to tie the match at 29. Mancuso, who had half of her kills on .500 hitting in game one, finished the opener with a flourish, recording back-to-back kills to give NU game one.

Game two would have little drama, as Nebraska seized momentum early in a 30-12 rout. The Huskers out-hit CU, .448-(-.056) and took command early, jumping to an 11-3 lead behind the serving of freshman Sarah Pavan, who rattled off six straight points, including a pair of aces. NU had two 6-0 spurts and led 21-6 before cruising to the win.

In the finale, the Huskers continued to click on all cylinders, hitting .404 as a team, as Mancuso and Saleaumua combined for 11 kills. NU used a 5-1 run to take a 17-10 lead, as Pavan and Melissa Elmer combined for consecutive blocks of Maragda Santillana. NU led 22-14 before Colorado began its final run, closing to within 24-20 on a kill by Nicole Carr. The Buffaloes, who have lost their last four matches, could get no closer, as kills by Elmer and Salueamua gave NU a six-point lead, and the Huskers would close the 30-23 win moments later.

Allie Griffin had a team-high 12 kills for the visitors, while Santillana, who averaged better than four kills per game, was held to eight kills and hit .083, as CU hit just .110 as a team and was out-blocked 10.5-3.

Nebraska returns to action this Saturday, Oct. 30, when they travel to Iowa State. First serve at Hilton Coliseum is set for 4 p.m. and the match can be heard on selected Pinnacle Sports Network stations, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln. The match can also be seen live on HuskersNside.com.

Colorado vs Nebraska (Oct 27, 2004)

• Box Score

Volleyball Box Score

Volleyball Box Score 2004 NEBRASKA VOLLEYBALL Colorado vs #4 Nebraska (Oct 27, 2004 at Lincoln, Neb.)

Colorado | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN ## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Nu'u, Ashley........ 3| 3 1 7 .286| 28| 1 2| 0| 2| 1 0 0| 1 4 Santillana, Maragda. 3| 8 6 24 .083| 0| 0 0| 1| 5| 1 1 0| 0 7 Zimmerman, Austin... 3| 4 2 15 .133| 1| 0 1| 3| 5| 0 0 0| 0 9 Griffin, Allie...... 3| 12 6 29 .207| 1| 1 0| 0| 5| 0 0 0| 0 10 Carr, Nicole........ 3| 5 8 26 -.115| 1| 0 0| 0| 10| 0 0 0| 0 11 Bossow, Lara........ 3| 3 1 7 .286| 1| 0 0| 0| 5| 0 1 0| 0 3 Nu'u, Amber......... 1| 1 0 1 1.000| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0 5 Barnes, Allison..... 2| 0 0 0 .000| 3| 1 0| 1| 3| 0 0 0| 0 6 Masumiya, Kelly..... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 0| 3| 0 0 0| 0 16 Vinal, Therese...... 2| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals.............. 3| 36 24 109 .110| 36| 3 4| 5| 40| 2 2 0| 1

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 3.0 Game K E TA Pct 1 14 7 41 .171 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS 2 8 10 36 -.056 Colorado............ (0) 29 12 23 10-9, 5-7 Big 12 3 14 7 32 .219 Nebraska............ (3) 31 30 30 18-1, 12-0 Big 12

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| 18 4 33 .424| 0| 0 4| 2| 7| 0 1 0| 0 8 Elmer, Melissa...... 3| 7 3 17 .235| 1| 0 2| 0| 2| 0 3 1| 0 9 Pavan, Sarah........ 3| 8 2 16 .375| 1| 3 3| 0| 6| 0 3 0| 0 11 Stalls, Tracy....... 3| 8 3 16 .312| 2| 0 2| 0| 3| 0 7 1| 0 18 Busboom, Dani....... 3| 0 0 2 .000| 45| 1 1| 0| 7| 0 4 1| 0 26 Saleaumua, Jennifer. 3| 15 1 33 .424| 3| 1 0| 0| 9| 0 3 1| 0 1 McCormick, Amanda... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 1| 10| 0 0 0| 0 2 Lynch, Michelle..... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0 13 Rebholz, Ally....... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals.............. 3| 56 13 117 .368| 52| 5 12| 3| 44| 0 21 4| 0

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.5 Game K E TA Pct 1 22 7 51 .294 Site: Lincoln, Neb. (NU Coliseum) 2 14 1 29 .448 Date: Oct 27, 2004 Attend: 4094 Time: 1:20 3 20 5 37 .405 Referees: Mike Hamilton, Fono Fisaga