Nebraska to Host NCAA First and Second Rounds; Tabbed No. 1 Overall Seed

Lincoln, Neb. -- The Nebraska volleyball team will spend the opening weekend of the postseason at home, as the NU Coliseum was chosen as one of 16 sites for NCAA first and second-round play this weekend. Nebraska will make its 24th NCAA Tournament appearance, and will go in the NCAAs as the top overall seed among the 64 teams.

Action begins Friday, Dec. 2, at the NU Coliseum when the Duke Blue Devils of the Atlantic Coast Conference (23-7 record) take on the American University Eagles of the Patriot League (25-9) at 5 p.m. Nebraska (28-1) will play in the evening’s second match and will take on the Alabama A&M Bulldogs of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (15-11) beginning at 7 p.m. or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first match. The second round will take place on Saturday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m. Friday’s winners will square off for a right to compete in the Omaha Regional.

Tickets for the first and second rounds in Lincoln are already sold out and over 10,500 tickets have been sold for the Omaha Regional. In addition to Omaha, State College, Pa,. (Penn State), College Station, Texas (Texas A&M) and Palo Alto, Calif. (Stanford) are the other NCAA regional host cities, as sites were predetermined before the start of the season.

The 2005 season marks the 21st time that Lincoln has played host to first and second-round competition. Last year, Nebraska hosted the first and second rounds at the NU Coliseum before traveling to the Louisville Regional.  Nebraska is 59-21 (.737) in 23 previous NCAA Tournament appearances, ranking third among NCAA schools in wins and winning percentage.

The Huskers were one of seven Big 12 schools to qualify for the tournament, the most of any conference. In addition to the Huskers, Missouri was the No. 10 seed overall and is joined in the tournament by Texas, Kansas State, Colorado, Texas A&M and Kansas.

The Huskers, who clinched the Big 12’s automatic berth with a 19-1 conference record, is led by its trio of All-Americans in senior middle blocker Melissa Elmer, who leads the nation with 2.15 blocks per game and is hitting a team-best .407, sophomore right-side hitter Sarah Pavan (3.79 kills per game on .354 hitting) and senior outside hitter Jennifer Saleaumua (2.23 kills ad 3.87 blocks per game). Nebraska is 13-0 at home this season and has a 29-match home winning streak.

Alabama A&M comes to town riding a 12-match winning streak and earned the SWAC's automatic bid after winning the league's tournament title earlier this month. The Bulldogs, who have made six straight NCAA Tournament appearances, are led by Alexandria Brazelton, who was named the MVP of the SWAC Tournament. She averages 3.46 kills per game.

American is making its fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and seventh overall after winning the Patriot League title. The Eagles are led by two-time All-Patriot League pick Cutrina Biddulph, who averages 4.05 kills per game and is hitting .337 after earning honorable-mention All-America honors in 2004.

Duke makes its 11th NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth under seventh-year Head Coach Jolene Nagel. The Blue Devils have won 12 of their last 13 matches and finished third in the ACC with a 17-5 record. Middle blocker Carrie DeMange leads Duke, as she averages 4.25 kills and 1.14 blocks per contest.

NCAA Schedule
Friday, Dec. 2
Duke (23-7) vs.American (25-9)  5 p.m.
Alabama A&M (15-11) vs. Nebraska (28-1) 7 p.m. (or 30 minutes following match 1)

Saturday, Dec. 3
Friday's Winners    7 p.m (Winner advances to Omaha Regional)

Head Coach John Cook
Opening statement
“The first thing is that it’s a big relief to know we’re at home the first and second round. The reason it’s a big relief is that one, our student athletes don’t have to miss school this week. Second, it gives our Coliseum fans a chance to have two more matches in the Coliseum, and our seniors get to play two more matches in there as well, so that’s really exciting. That will be our focus this week, trying to advance out of the Coliseum and try to head into Omaha.”

On being the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament
“I guess that’s a recognition that the Committee thinks that we’ve had the best season up until now. But really, there are 64 teams that are undefeated right now that are starting a tournament for three weeks. Our goal is to win six matches, and that’s the only way you have to look at it. Seeding doesn’t really mean anything anymore. It’s about next point and trying to advance in each match.”

On whether the loss to No. 11 Texas can bring positives
“I hope (good things can come out of it). I can’t really say how the players feel, I can only say how I feel. But I think that first of all, it was a great match for us to be in at this time of year. I think it brought an awareness to our team, the importance of how it’s going to be from here on out. It’s means that every point is crucial to the game. It doesn’t matter whether you are ahead or behind, you have to maximize on every point. That’s one thing we learned last night too. If we don’t stay focused and stay committed to what we’re supposed to be doing, we can’t allow that to happen from here on out, or we won’t accomplish all of our goals. I think it was a good wake-up call. It made us aware of how we’re going to have to play mentally. And it was also a great match for our players to be in to get the fire going for what we’re up against.”

On what it feels like to be the No. 1 seed
“It puts a bigger bull’s-eye on our back, I guess, but I think we’re used to that. But more than anything it’s an honor, because they think we’ve had a really good season so far. And we have done a great job this season. Our players have really been consistent and have played very well. We actually did some incredible things last night. The result wasn’t what we wanted, but I think we’ll be better in that situation next time after having gone through what we did last night.”

Senior Melissa Elmer
On what you have to do to finish the season on top
“We’ve just got to come in every day and practice hard and really work on the things that I think gave us a little trouble the last couple of matches in the Big 12.”

On your confidence level after the loss
“I’m very confident. I have a lot of confidence in this team, and I’ve had that confidence all year. I believe that we’re going to bounce back well from last night and head into the tournament strong.”

On the pressure of being chosen as the No. 1 seed
“We’re going to have pressure on us. We’ve just got to apply that pressure to other teams and play our volleyball. We’ve got to play well on our side of the net and not beat ourselves.”

On the benefits of having the first round at the Coliseum
“I think it’s very beneficial. We play well in front of our own fans. Just to have that motivation, when you’re not playing well, they really get you out of it. I think that’s going to be great for this team, and I think it’s going to be great for any team. I think every team deserves to play in an arena that has that kind of fan support.”

Junior Dani Busboom
On the motivation the loss to No. 11 Texas brings to the tournament
“We just know that mentally and physically, we’re as tough as anybody. We just have to be confident at all times. Last night I think it’s good we lost now and not in the tournament, and we experience what it feels like to lose. I think it brings a lot of motivation into the next couple of weeks. I’ve talked to a couple of people today, and they said ?I wish we could go out and play tomorrow.’ We’re pretty fired up we lost, and we want to prove that we are the No. 1 team. Everyone is pretty fired up and even more pumped up now I think. I think it’s going to be crazy and fun.”

 

OMAHA, NEBRASKA REGIONAL

December 2-3 at Nebraska
Nebraska (28-1) vs. Alabama A&M (15-11)
American (25-9) vs. Duke (23-7)

December 2-3 at UCLA
UCLA (18-10) vs. Kansas (15-14)
Long Beach State (25-6) vs. San Diego (22-5)

December 2-3 at Louisville
Louisville (29-2) vs. Western Kentucky (31-2)
Kentucky (17-11) vs. Maryland (27-4)

December 1-2 at Florida
Kansas State (20-10) vs. Florida A&M (22-5)
Florida Atlantic (29-2) vs. Florida (30-2)

PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA REGIONAL

December 2-3 at Stanford
Stanford (25-5) vs. Nevada (18-12)
Santa Clara (23-4) vs. Sacramento State (26-8)

December 2-3 at Southern California
Pepperdine (17-11) vs. Brigham Young (25-3)
UC Santa Barbara (21-8) vs. Southern California (16-10)

December 2-3 at Ohio State
Ohio State (21-8) vs. Marshall (26-5)
Ohio (31-2) vs. Alabama (23-10)

December 2-3 at Utah
Utah (22-8) vs. Loyola Marymount (19-10)
Utah State (21-12) vs. Arizona (22-5)

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS REGIONAL

December 2-3 at Colorado State
Washington (26-1) vs. Siena (20-11)
Colorado (15-12) vs. Colorado State (20-8)

December 2-3 at North Carolina
Purdue (23-8) vs. Virginia Commonwealth (22-11)
College of Charleston (30-1) vs. North Carolina (23-9)

December 2-3 at Wisconsin
Wisconsin (23-6) vs. Loyola (Illinois) (13-17)
Valparaiso (27-7) vs. California (18-10)

December 1-2 at Notre Dame
Northwestern (19-11) vs. Texas A&M (16-13)
Dayton (24-10) vs. Notre Dame (28-3)

STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA REGIONAL

December 2-3 at Texas
Hawai'i (25-6) vs. Texas State (17-14)
Texas (23-4) vs. LSU (21-7)

December 2-3 at Missouri
Arkansas (20-11) vs. St. Mary's (California) (19-9)
Missouri State (24-8) vs. Missouri (22-4)

December 2-3 at Tennessee
Minnesota (24-7) vs. Winthrop (28-5)
Jacksonville State (19-10) vs. Tennessee (21-8)

December 2-3 at Penn State
Cornell (19-5) vs. Long Island (25-13)
Binghamton (20-11) vs. Penn State (29-2)