Huskers Sweep Alabama A&M, 3-0

Lincoln ? Lincoln ? Behind a school postseason record 14 service aces, No. 1 Nebraska improved to 29-1 on the season with a 30-15, 30-7, 30-15 victory over Alabama A&M in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday evening.

The Huskers, who improved to 19-1 all-time in first-round action, advance to face Duke, a 3-0 winner over American University in Friday’s other first-round action in Lincoln.  That match is set for Saturday night at 7 p.m. and will be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and KFAB 1110 AM in Omaha. In addition, the match will be shown statewide on Nebraska Educational Television and also video-streamed for free on Huskers.com.

A limited number of tickets have become available for Saturday’s second-round match against Duke. Those tickets will go on sale at 5:30 p.m. at the Coliseum Ticket Office. Tickets are $15 for reserved and $12 for general admission.

Christina Houghtelling, Sarah Pavan and Jordan Larson had three aces apiece, as NU’s 14 aces broke the school’s postseason record of 13 set in a four-game match against Pittsburgh in 1986. Houghtelling led a balanced offensive attack with a match-high 11 kills on .556 hitting, as Nebraska hit .405 in the match.

All-Americans Sarah Pavan and Jennifer Saleaumua had eight and seven kills, respectively, while All-American Melissa Elmer had six kills and two blocks, becoming NU’s all-time leader in that category. Elmer passed Amber Holmquist, who totaled 728 blocks between 1999 and 2002.

A total 12 players saw action for Nebraska, as the Huskers held Alabama A&M to -.072 hitting, the second-lowest hitting percentage by a Husker opponent this season.

The Huskers blitzed Alabama A&M with nine service aces in posting a 30-15 victory in the opener. NU used a 6-0 run, highlighted by a trio of aces by Houghtelling, to take a 15-9 lead after the junior’s second straight ace. Alabama A&M pulled to within 16-11, but could not get closer, as NU ran off nine unanswered points, including eight straight points off the serve of Larson, to take a 24-11 lead. Larson had all three of her aces in that spurt, as NU’s nine aces in game one equaled the Huskers’ best in any match this season.

In game two, Nebraska’s offense keyed the Huskers’ 30-7 victory. The seven points equaled a Husker low in the rally scoring era, as NU hit a blistering .565 and forced the visitors into 10 errors. Tracy Stalls led the attack with four kills and a block, while seven players had at least one kill. NU raced out to an 8-2 lead and used spurts of 7-0 and 9-1 to take a 2-0 lead into the locker room.

In the finale, Pavan and Houghtelling had five kills apiece, as NU posted a 15-point win. The Huskers emptied the bench, as Meghan Smith and Amanda Gates saw extensive time and combined for six kills and four blocks. Leading 8-6, the Huskers used a 6-1 run to build a 14-6 lead off a Bulldog attack error. Leading 16-10, NU put the match away with a 7-2 run that gave the hosts a 11-point lead and cruised to its 22nd sweep of the season.

All-SWAC performer Alexandria Brazelton led Alabama A&M with five kills, as the Bulldogs saw their 12-match win streak snapped on Friday, as they dipped to 0-6 in NCAA play.

Alabama A&M vs Nebraska (Dec 02, 2005)

• Box Score
• Short Box Score

Volleyball Box Score

Volleyball Box Score Nebraska Volleyball Alabama A&M vs #1 Nebraska (Dec 02, 2005 at Lincoln, Neb.)

Alabama A&M | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN ## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11 JERDEN,Kara......... 3| 1 2 6 -.167| 9| 0 0| 0| 7| 0 0 1| 1| 1.0 12 LEWIS,Brittani...... 3| 3 6 17 -.176| 1| 1 0| 2| 5| 0 3 2| 0| 5.5 15 CARSON,Cassia....... 3| 2 3 16 -.062| 1| 0 2| 4| 3| 0 1 0| 1| 2.5 16 THOMPSON,Tameeka.... 3| 0 6 19 -.316| 0| 1 0| 0| 4| 0 3 0| 0| 2.5 18 BRAZELTON,Alexandria 3| 5 4 14 .071| 0| 0 2| 3| 1| 0 1 1| 0| 5.5 20 McDUFFIE,Elizabeth.. 3| 4 1 10 .300| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 2 0| 0| 5.0 14 WILSON,Laura........ 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 3| 0.0 19 WILLIAMS,Devona..... 1| 1 0 1 1.000| 0| 0 0| 1| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 1.0 23 WARD,Crystal........ 3| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 4| 1| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0 27 CLARKE,Shondrell.... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Totals.............. 3| 16 22 83 -.072| 11| 2 4| 14| 22| 0 10 4| 5| 23.0

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 5.0 Game K E TA Pct 1 7 6 29 .034 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS 2 4 10 22 -.273 Alabama A&M......... (0) 15 7 15 15-12 3 5 6 32 -.031 Nebraska............ (3) 30 30 30 29-1

Nebraska | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN ## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Griffin, Maggie..... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 21| 1 0| 0| 3| 0 0 0| 0| 1.0 3 Houghtelling, Chris. 3| 11 1 18 .556| 0| 3 2| 0| 9| 0 4 0| 0| 16.0 8 Elmer, Melissa...... 2| 6 0 8 .750| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 2 0| 0| 7.0 9 Pavan, Sarah........ 3| 8 2 16 .375| 0| 2 0| 1| 5| 0 0 0| 0| 10.0 10 Larson, Jordan...... 1| 0 0 2 .000| 0| 3 1| 0| 1| 0 1 0| 0| 3.5 26 Saleaumua, Jennifer. 3| 7 2 14 .357| 0| 3 0| 1| 8| 0 0 0| 0| 10.0 5 Schwartz, Rachel.... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 4| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0 6 Smith, Meghan....... 2| 3 2 6 .167| 0| 0 0| 0| 2| 0 4 0| 0| 5.0 7 Mancuso, Dani....... 2| 2 2 9 .000| 0| 2 0| 0| 5| 0 2 0| 0| 5.0 11 Stalls, Tracy....... 2| 4 1 6 .500| 1| 0 0| 0| 1| 1 0 0| 1| 5.0 17 Gates, Amanda....... 1| 4 1 5 .600| 1| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 1 0| 0| 4.5 18 Busboom, Dani....... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 16| 0 3| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Totals.............. 3| 45 11 84 .405| 39| 14 7| 2| 38| 1 14 0| 1| 67.0

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.0 Game K E TA Pct 1 10 3 23 .304 Site: Lincoln, Neb. (NU Coliseum) 2 15 2 23 .565 Date: Dec 02, 2005 Attend: 4089 Time: 1:09 3 20 6 38 .368 Referees: Mary Farragher, Bill Stanley

1 2 3 Total Tie scores 8 0 0 8 Lead changes 4 0 0 4

Short Box Score

Short Box Score (Match) Nebraska Volleyball Alabama A&M vs #1 Nebraska (Dec 02, 2005 at Lincoln, Neb.)

Nebraska def. Alabama A&M 30-15,30-7,30-15

Alabama A&M (15-12) (Kills-aces-blocks) - BRAZELTON,Alexandria 5-0-1; McDUFFIE,Elizabeth 4-0-2; LEWIS,Brittani 3-1-3; CARSON,Cassia 2-0-1; JERDEN,Kara 1-0-0; WILLIAMS,Devona 1-0-0; THOMPSON,Tameeka 0-1-3; Totals 16-2-5.0. (Assists) - . (Dig leaders) - JERDEN,Kara 7; LEWIS,Brittani 5

Nebraska (29-1) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Houghtelling, Chris 11-3-4; Pavan, Sarah 8-2-0; Saleaumua, Jennifer 7-3-0; Elmer, Melissa 6-0-2; Stalls, Tracy 4-0-1; Gates, Amanda 4-0-1; Smith, Meghan 3-0-4; Mancuso, Dani 2-2-2; Larson, Jordan 0-3-1; Griffin, Maggie 0-1-0; Totals 45-14-8.0. (Assists) - Griffin, Maggie 21; Busboom, Dani 16. (Dig leaders) - Houghtelling, Chris 9; Saleaumua, Jennifer 8

Site: Lincoln, Neb. (NU Coliseum) Date: Dec 02, 2005 Attend: 4089 Time: 1:09 Referees: Mary Farragher, Bill Stanley