Huskers Top Purdue in Spring Opener

Lincoln ? Two-time All-American Sarah Pavan totaled a match-high 19 kills, leading the Nebraska volleyball team to a 30-24, 27-30, 30-23, 30-24 win over Purdue Saturday evening in front of a crowd of 1,067 in the NU Coliseum.

Pavan added 11 digs and a service ace for the Huskers, while All-American Christina Houghtelling showed why she was the AVCA National Player of the Year in 2005 by totaling 17 kills and a team-leading 13 digs.

Dani Mancuso produced a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs while making her first start since 2004, while earning a vote of confidence from Head Coach John Cook.

“We were most impressed with Mancuso and Busboom,” Cook said. “I thought Mancuso made a statement tonight that she wants to be on the court. In addition, I thought Busboom showed she can be a great libero tonight.”

Busboom’s move to libero marks a major change for the Huskers, as Busboom served as the secondary setter in NU's 6-2 offense in 2005. However, Busboom proved to be comfortable in her new position as she picked up nine digs and three assists.

Cook said he was also impressed by the atmosphere inside the Coliseum on Saturday.

“For our first match of the spring, I thought it was intense and exciting, and it felt like a fall match,” Cook said. “I think it took our players a while to get going, but once we got going we did a lot of really good things.”

In her collegiate debut, setter Rachel Holloway took the reigns at the net and distributed a team-leading 31 assists, 11 digs and a kill.

“I thought both Maggie (Griffin) and Rachel (Holloway), for their first match of the spring, did a good job setting,” Cook said. “I think they’ve got a good foundation to build on after tonight.”

The Huskers trailed early in game one as they settled into a new lineup that is without departed All-Americans Melissa Elmer and Jennifer Saleaumua for the first time in four years.

Nebraska traded points in an even match before giving in to a 10-6 Purdue run that put the score at 22-18, the largest deficit of the night. However, the new blocking force at the net that includes outside hitter Dani Mancuso, middle blocker Traci Stalls and outside hitter Christina Houghtelling, set off a 6-0 scoring run with a triple-stuff block to close the match at 30-24.

Pavan was the spark that led the Huskers in game one, as she totaled seven kills on .462 hitting while adding five digs.

The Huskers struggled to get rolling in game two as the Boilermakers capitalized on the Huskers 10 attack errors at the net, leading to an uncharacteristically low .146 hitting percentage. Trailing 22-20, Nebraska went on a 5-1 run on two kills from Houghtelling to go up 25-23. Purdue answered immediately with a 7-2 run that included a service ace and two kills to win the match 30-27.

The Huskers came out of the locker room firing in game three, as Houghtelling and Mancuso combined for eight kills and 11 digs and the team returned to a more comfortable hitting percentage of .371, holding Purdue to a match-low .191 hitting. NU won the third game, 30-23.

Mancuso led a strong offensive attack in the middle of the game that included two kills that went untouched in an 8-2 run that put the Huskers up 18-12. NU was in a rhythm by game four, with five players posting at least one kill on the way to a 30-24 win to close the match.

At the coaches’ request, there was a fifth game, which did not count in regulation scoring. Nebraska comfortably ended the night with a 15-6 win on .400 hitting that included holding the Boilermakers to -.067 hitting.

Nebraska will hold its second match of the spring season against Creighton on April 15 at 3:30. Tickets are available for $6 and $3 by calling the NU Ticket Office at 800-8-BIGRED