Huskers Pass First Road Test, 3-0

Norman, Okla. ? After playing their first eight matches at the NU Coliseum, the top-ranked Nebraska volleyball team survived its first road test on Saturday, sweeping upstart Oklahoma, 3-0, at McCasland Field House.

According to Nebraska Head Coach John Cook, Saturday’s performance was a solid statement, as the Huskers had dropped a game to the Sooners in each of their last two trips to Norman.

"Last year, we went four games with Oklahoma here and they are basically the same team as last year. It was a good road win for our first match. This has always been a difficult place to play,”

While the Huskers (9-0, 2-0 Big 12) posted their eighth sweep in nine matches, NU was pushed by an Oklahoma squad that saw its seven-match win streak snapped on Saturday. In both the first and last games, the Huskers needed late rallies to squelch Oklahoma’s (9-3, 1-1 Big 12) upset bid, taking a 34-32 victory in game three to complete the sweep.

“Winning the third game showed our players that they can turn it up and make some big plays at the end of a game to win it and that was a very encouraging sign,” Cook said.

Sophomore Jordan Larson paced NU’s attach with her fifth double-double of the season, matching her season high with 17 kills while adding 11 digs and three of the Huskers’ five service aces

"I thought that Jordan Larson bounced back really well from her match on Wednesday," Cook said.

The Huskers continued to excel on floor defense, holding Oklahoma to .174 hitting ? nearly .100 points below their season average ? while out-digging OU, 51-42. Senior co-captain Dani Busboom led NU’s defensive efforts, totaling a career-high 21 digs. It was the third time this season that Busboom totaled at least 20 digs in a match, as she ranks second in the Big 12 in that category.

In addition to Larson’s 17 kills, All-American Sarah Pavan totaled 13 kills while Dani Mancuso added nine more to help the Huskers to their 18th straight win over the Sooners.  It was also Nebraska’s first road sweep in Norman since the 2003 campaign.

The Huskers showed some mettle in game one, rallying from a three-point deficit to earn a hard-fought 30-27 victory NU out-hit the Sooners, .265-.111, as Dani Mancuso, Pavan and Larson combined for 12 of NU’s 14 kills.  The Huskers jumped out to an early 8-4 lead, only to see the Sooners run off six unanswered points, five off the serve of Schmitt, to take a 10-8 lead on a Bridget Laplante kill. The Huskers trailed 18-15 on an ace by Rachel Jackson, but scored four of the next five points to tied the game at 19-all after a block by Amanda Gates and Rachel Holloway. The teams traded points until Nebraska took its first lead since the early going at 26-25 on a Sooner hitting error. The Sooners scored the next two points and took a 27-26 lead on a block by Schmitt, before Pavan’s kill knotted the game at 27-all. Rachel Schwartz then stepped to the service line and closed out game one with three strong serves that kept the Sooners off balance, leading to a pair of hitting errors that closed out the opener.

The Huskers got untracked offensively in game two, hitting .317 en route to 30-18 victory. NU took command early, racing out to a 5-0 lead behind the serving of Larson, who had two aces and seven kills in game two to pace Nebraska.  OU got to within four points on two occasions, the last at 14-10, but a Pavan kill and two consecutive kills by Larson made it a 17-10 Husker cushion Form there, the Huskers continued to build the lead and headed into the locker room with a 2-0 lead.

In the finale, the Huskers survived an offensive flurry from Schmitt, who totaled nine kills to keep OU in the game.  The Huskers fell behind early, as the Sooners built an early 5-2 advantage. NU came back, taking its first lead of the game at 9-8 after an Amanda Gates kill. Neither team would lead by more than two points before the Huskers erased a 17-16 deficit with four straight points, taking a 20-17 lead after a pair of Larson kills. After OU got within 21-20, Larson’s kill started another 4-0 spurt that pushed the lead to 25-20. The had a 27-22 lead, but the Sooners fought back, using a 7-2 run to tied the score at 29-all on a kill by Laplante.  Larson, who had six kills in the game, gave the Huskers a 30-29 lead with a kill, but the Huskers could not close out game three on the first chance, as OU scored two straight points to take a one-point lead and had game point. Gates tied the game at 31 with a kill and combined with Pavan on a block to give NU a 32-31 lead. The Sooners tied the game at 32 before a Pavan kill and a four hit violation on OU gave the Nebraska a hard-fought victory.

The Huskers return home to begin a two-match homestand, as Nebraska plays host to Iowa State on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. and Texas Tech on Saturday, Sept. 23, at 2 p.m. Both of those matches can be heard on selected Pinnacle Sports Network stations, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and Omaha, and on Huskers.com.. Free live audio is also available on Huskers.com.

Nebraska vs Oklahoma (Sep 16, 2006)

• Box Score
• Short Box Score

Volleyball Box Score

Volleyball Box Score Nebraska Volleyball #1 Nebraska vs Oklahoma (Sep 16, 2006 at Norman, Okla.)

Nebraska | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN ## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 Schwartz, Rachel.... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 1 0| 0| 7| 0 0 0| 0| 1.0 9 Pavan, Sarah........ 3| 14 5 38 .237| 1| 0 3| 1| 3| 0 2 1| 0| 15.0 10 Larson, Jordan...... 3| 17 5 38 .316| 0| 3 3| 0| 11| 1 0 0| 0| 21.0 11 Stalls, Tracy....... 3| 3 1 8 .250| 1| 1 0| 0| 1| 1 1 0| 0| 5.5 12 Holloway, Rachel.... 3| 3 0 6 .500| 41| 0 1| 0| 8| 0 2 0| 0| 4.0 17 Gates, Amanda....... 3| 3 2 8 .125| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 3 0| 0| 4.5 1 Griffin, Maggie..... 2| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0 7 Mancuso, Dani....... 3| 9 5 22 .182| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 9.0 18 Busboom, Dani....... 3| 1 0 1 1.000| 3| 0 3| 1| 21| 0 0 0| 0| 1.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Totals.............. 3| 50 18 121 .264| 47| 5 10| 2| 51| 2 8 1| 0| 61.0

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0 Game K E TA Pct Sideout Pct 1 14 5 34 .265 16-24 66% GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS 2 20 7 41 .317 16-19 84% Nebraska............ (3) 30 30 34 9-0, 2-0 Big 12 3 16 6 46 .217 20-31 64% Oklahoma............ (0) 27 18 32 9-3, 1-1 Big 12

Oklahoma | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN ## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2 Jackson, Rachel..... 3| 3 0 5 .600| 38| 2 2| 0| 12| 0 2 0| 0| 6.0 4 Tomes, Laura........ 3| 10 3 21 .333| 1| 0 1| 0| 1| 0 1 0| 0| 10.5 6 Weiland, Sarah...... 3| 7 3 12 .333| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 2 0| 0| 8.0 8 Schmitt, Joanna..... 3| 17 10 48 .146| 1| 0 3| 1| 6| 0 1 0| 0| 17.5 9 Laplante, Bridget... 3| 6 5 26 .038| 1| 0 2| 1| 4| 0 0 0| 0| 6.0 12 Santos, Eliane...... 3| 3 2 19 .053| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 1 4 0| 0| 6.0 1 Chester, Julie...... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0 3 Stadel, Anna........ 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0 10 Monsen, Anna........ 3| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 1| 11| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0 13 Blum, Mariana....... 3| 0 0 1 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0 14 Sharp, Hannah....... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 3| 0| 8| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0 TEAM................ | | | | 2| | | | 0.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Totals.............. 3| 46 23 132 .174| 44| 2 11| 5| 43| 1 10 0| 0| 54.0

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0 Game K E TA Pct Sideout Pct 1 15 10 45 .111 16-31 51% Site: Norman, Okla. (McCasland FieldHouse) 2 8 4 34 .118 15-29 51% Date: Sep 16, 2006 Attend: 703 Time: 1:44 3 23 9 53 .264 20-33 60% Referees: Eric Sanders, Tim Neels

1 2 3 Total Tie scores 12 0 12 24 Lead changes 7 0 7 14

Short Box Score

Short Box Score (Match) Nebraska Volleyball #1 Nebraska vs Oklahoma (Sep 16, 2006 at Norman, Okla.)

Nebraska def. Oklahoma 30-27,30-18,34-32

Nebraska (9-0, 2-0 Big 12) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Larson, Jordan 17-3-1; Pavan, Sarah 14-0-2; Mancuso, Dani 9-0-0; Stalls, Tracy 3-1-2; Holloway, Rachel 3-0-2; Gates, Amanda 3-0-3; Busboom, Dani 1-0-0; Schwartz, Rachel 0-1-0; Totals 50-5-6.0. (Assists) - Holloway, Rachel 41. (Dig leaders) - Busboom, Dani 21; Larson, Jordan 11; Holloway, Rachel 8

Oklahoma (9-3, 1-1 Big 12) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Schmitt, Joanna 17-0-1; Tomes, Laura 10-0-1; Weiland, Sarah 7-0-2; Laplante, Bridget 6-0-0; Jackson, Rachel 3-2-2; Santos, Eliane 3-0-5; Totals 46-2-6.0. (Assists) - Jackson, Rachel 38. (Dig leaders) - Jackson, Rachel 12; Monsen, Anna 11; Sharp, Hannah 8

Site: Norman, Okla. (McCasland FieldHouse) Date: Sep 16, 2006 Attend: 703 Time: 1:44 Referees: Eric Sanders, Tim Neels