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Omaha ? No. 1 Nebraska (1-0) played up to its role as preseason favorite with a 30-23, 30-26, 30-21 victory over fourth-ranked Hawaii (0-1) in front of 10,028 fans at the Qwest Center in the second match of the AVCA/NACWAA College Volleyball Showcase on Friday night.
Nebraska advanced to the championship match of the four-team season-opening tournament to face defending national champion Stanford (1-0) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Cardinal defeated Penn State in Friday's first match. Hawaii slipped into the consolation game where it will face the Nittany Lions (0-1) on Saturday at 5 p.m.
The first day of the event drew a tournament-record crowd of 10,028. The previous tournament attendance record was 9,345 fans when Hawaii hosted Southern California on Aug. 23, 2003. The match attendance also ranks as the largest crowd for a women’s athletic event in Omaha.
The crowd marked the 25th NCAA Division I attendance of more than 10,000 fans in matches not played in conjunction with another special event such as basketball Midnight Madness. Both the NCAA and the AVCA are celebrating their 25th anniversaries this season.
Nebraska led 18-17 in game one before erupting on an 8-1 run to pull away from the Rainbow Wahine on its way to a 30-23 victory. All-American Sarah Pavan totaled two kills and a block in the run, while All-American Melissa Elmer chipped in a kill and two blocks in the decisive first-game run.
The Huskers held a 14-7 lead in game two, but had to withstand two rushes from the Rainbow Wahine. Nebraska finally used two blocks from Elmer and a kill from All-American Jennifer Saleaumua to close the game at 30-26. The Huskers put game three out of reach early with a 6-0 run after trailing 6-5. Nebraska went on to complete the three-game sweep with a 30-21 win.
Christina Houghtelling paced the Huskers with 14 kills on a .440 attack percentage, along with five block assists and seven digs. Saleaumua hit .688 with 12 kills and 14 digs as part of a double-double. Elmer notched 10 kills on a .421 attack percentage with eight blocks on defense. Pavan dropped 10 kills and six digs on the night, while the 6-2 offense featuring setters Maggie Griffin and Dani Busboom paced the Huskers to a .306 team attack percentage.
Alicia Arnott led Hawaii with nine kills to go along with six digs, while Victoria Prince hit .421 with eight kills and three blocks. Kanoe Kamana’o chipped in 32 assists and 12 digs in the loss as Hawaii was held to a .123 team hitting percentage. Sarah Mason, who went down with a third-game ankle injury was limited to four kills in her first match since transferring from Oregon State. Susie Boogard produced five kills.
Nebraska bolted to a 5-1 lead in the opening game as Houghtelling, Pavan and Elmer all recorded kills. Hawaii scored four of the next five points, as Arnott slammed two kills in the run to put the Rainbow Wahine within one at 6-5. Nebraska picked up a three-point advantage, 10-7, only to have Hawaii come back to tie it at 12. Saleaumua gave the Huskers back-to-back kills for a 14-12 Nebraska margin, and NU inched its lead to 17-14 after a Hawaii ball-handling error.
But the Rainbow Wahine scored back-to-back point to draw within 17-16 following a kill from Sanders and a block from Prince and Mason. The Huskers recaptured their three-point advantage, 20-17, after Elmer and Pavan hammered kills on successive rallies. The pair of Elmer and Pavan combined for another block followed by a Jordan Larson kill to lift the Huskers to a 22-17 lead on a 4-0 spurt.
Hawaii temporarily slowed the NU run with a kill from Prince, but Elmer stuffed a Rainbow Wahine attack and Pavan spiked a deep cross court point to move the score to 25-18 in favor of the Huskers. Nebraska eventually built an eight-point margin at 26-18, and Hawaii never regrouped as the Huskers won game one 30-23. Nebraska hit .457 in the first game as Saleaumua chipped in five kills on seven errorless swings. Arnott paced Hawaii in the first game with five kills.
Nebraska zoomed to a 6-2 lead in the second game as Larson pounded out two early kills. The Rainbow Wahine closed to within 8-7, but Houghtelling pounded three kills around a Pavan kill to bring the Husker advantage back to 12-7.
Nebraska continued the run of six unanswered points on two more Hawaii miscues for a 14-7 lead. The Rainbow Wahine pulled to within three at 16-13 as Prince recorded a kill followed by a combined block from Kamana’o and Gregory. Nebraska responded with a 3-0 run of its own as Elmer, Saleaumua and Pavan produced kills for a 19-13 lead.
After two Gregory kills cut the Hawaii deficit to 19-15, Nebraska canned four of the next five points for a 23-16 score. The Rainbow Wahine managed a charge with four of the next five points, but Hawaii lost the services of Mason to an injury following a joust at the net at 24-20. The Rainbow Wahine bounced back with three straight points on two kills from Prince around a Thurlby ace to whittle the deficit to 25-23.
Hawaii drew within 25-24 after a Husker ball-handling error, but Larson and Elmer took back the momentum for the Huskers with back-to-back kills to give NU a 27-24 lead. Hawaii hung tough with an Arnott kill and Husker attack error to close within 27-26, but Nebraska closed the door as Elmer keyed a pair of big blocks and Saleaumua put the exclamation point on a 30-26 game two win with a game-ending kill. Houghtelling and Larson chipped in six kills for the Huskers in game two. Nebraska hit .158 in the second game, but held Hawaii to just .043 hitting. Prince led the Rainbow Wahine in the second game with five kills on nine errorless swings, while Ashley Watanabe handled six digs.
In game three, Nebraska came back from a 6-5 deficit to score five straight points to take a 10-6 lead and force the first Rainbow Wahine timeout. During the stretch, Houghtelling and Elmer combined for two blocks, while Houghtelling added a kill of her own. After the break, Pavan stretched NU's run to seven points with a kill followed by a Hawaii error to give the Huskers a 12-6 lead. Hawaii could not close the gap to less than five points the rest of the way, as NU cruised to a 30-21 win. Nebraska hit .406 in the third game, as Elmer charted five kills and three blocks. Saleaumua added four kills on five swings in the final game. Hawaii was held to a .097 attack percentage in the third game as Arnott contributed nine kills.
Tournament Notes
All four matches of the AVCA/NACWAA College Volleyball Showcase will be televised live on CSTV.
Entering the match, Hawaii and Nebraska had split the 10 all-time meetings. The Rainbow Wahine had won the previous meeting on Dec. 14, 2002, snapping a Husker home-court win streak of 63 matches.
Nebraska, 30-2 in 2004, started the 2005 season as the top-ranked team in the CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll. Hawaii, which finished 30-1 last year, was voted fourth in the preseason poll conducted by the AVCA.
Nebraska is 28-3 all-time in season-opening matches. The last time the Huskers dropped a season-opener was in 1999 at the Showcase, formerly referred to as the NACWAA Classic. Overall, Nebraska is 5-4 in the Showcase event and claimed its only event title in 2001, which included a three-game win over Hawaii.
Hawaii’s only loss of 2004 was a five-game match versus Wisconsin in the NCAA Division I Tournament Regional Semifinals. The Rainbow Wahine fell to 3-4 all-time in the Showcase. Hawaii claimed the 1996 title with victories over Florida and Nebraska.
Hawaii is 7-11 when facing the top-ranked team in the CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll. UH has lost its last four matches to teams ranked No. 1, including three to Nebraska. Its last victory over a top-ranked team came against UCLA on Sept. 4, 2000.
Nebraska picked up its first win over a top-five opponent since defeating Hawaii in the 2001 NACWAA Classic.
HAWAII vs NEBRASKA (Aug 26, 2005)
Qwest Center, Omaha, Nebraska
AVCA/NACWAA College Volleyball Showcase
Attendance: 10,028
HAWAII Totals
NU Totals