No. 1 Huskers Top 'Jays

Omaha ? Jordan Larson’s 18 kills led four Huskers in double figures, as top-ranked Nebraska survived an early scare to top Creighton, 27-30, 30-24, 30-13, 30-18 in front of a frenzied crowd of 12,112 at Qwest Center Omaha Sunday afternoon.

Larson, whose 18 kills were one off a career high, add 12 digs en route to her sixth double-double in NU last seven matches and eighth of the season.

All-American Sarah Pavan tied Larson for match-high honors with 18 kills and added four blocks, while Omaha native Dani Mancuso and Tracy Stalls rounded out the quartet with 11 kills apiece for the Huskers, who improved to 12-0 on the season with the four-game win.

Sunday’s crowd of 12,112 was the second-largest regular-season crowd in NCAA history for volleyball-only events, and Nebraska Head Coach John Cook said that crowd created a great playing environment for both teams.

"It was just electric," Cook said. "At the end of game one when Creighton won, it was deafening down there. At the end of game two when we won, it was defeaning. Both teams should feel very blessed to have this kind of environment for a college volleyball match on a Sunday in September."

Stalls, who hit .450 and led the Huskers with eight blocks, turned the match around for Nebraska at the end of game two, delivering three consecutive kills to erased a 23-22 deficit after the Huskers dropped the opener. From that point, Nebraska took control of the match, holding Creighton (11-3) to negative hitting over the final two games in posting double-digit wins

"We started breaking their passers down with our serving, so that was one big thing that turned the match," Cook said.

The Huskers, who had dropped one game in its first 11 matches, were tested early, as Creighton played nearly flawless to post a 30-27 victory in game one. Abby Baumann and Kelly Goc combined for 11 kills for the host Bluejays who out-hit the Huskers, .292-.255. Freshman Kori Cooper started an early run for the Huskers, as her two kills ignited a 5-1 run that turned a 7-all tie to a 12-8 advantage after a Larson ace. Trailing 14-11, the Bluejays used a 5-1 spurt of their own, taking a 16-15 lead off a Husker hitting error. The teams traded points until Stalls’ kill gave the Huskers 24-23 lead.. Nebraska took a 27-26 lead, but could close out the opener, as the Blujays scored the final four points, regaining lead for good at 28-27 on a Kelly Goc block.

The Huskers regrouped in game two, battling back for a 30-24 victory. The Huskers hit .354 as a team, including six kills from both Stalls and Pavan, to take the game into the locker room tied at one game each. The Huskers were down 15-12 before NU scored four of the next five points to tie the game at 16-all on a Larson kill. The teams continued to trade points before Stalls sparked the Huskers’ decisive 8-1 run. Trailing 23-22, Stalls had three straight kills on to put NU up 25-23, Following a timeout, NU ran off three straight points on two kills from Larson and a Holloway attack that made it a 28-23 advange.

Cook said the Bluejays played inspired volleyball, and gave the Huskers all they wanted during the first two games.

"I want to give a lot of credit of Creighton," Cook said. "They played about as hard as they possibly can, and made it a great match. Their effort twas tremendous."

Goc led Creighton with 12 kills, while Amanda Cvejdlik added 11 kills and six blocks for Creighton, which fell to 11-3 on the season.

The Huskers, who tallied just two blocks in the first two games, showed a refocused blocking effort in posting an impressive 30-13 victory in game three. Pavan and Stalls combined on three of the Huskers’ four stuffs as part of an early 12-1 run that gave NU a 10-point lead at 13-3. The Huskers continued to build the lead, as Maggie Griffin served seven straight points, while Mancuso had four kills in a five-point span to help NU to a 21-4 lead. Mancuso had six of her season-high 11 kills in game three, as the Huskers hit .333 and held the Bluejays to .023 hitting.

In the finale, the Huskers used strong serving from Rachel Schwartz and a spade of Bluejay hitting errors to win 30-18. Schwarz, who also finished with a career-high 14 digs, severed nine straight points in a 10-0 run, turning an 8-5 lead into a 13-point advantage. The Bluejays, who committed 13 errors and hit -.091, fought back to within 20-14, but could not get closer, as the Huskers salted the match away with five straight points, including a pair of Larson kills.

The Husker are off until Saturday evening whey take on Baylor in Waco, Texas. First serve between the Bears and Huskers is set for 1 p.m. and the match will be carried on B107.3 FM and on Huskers.com

                              Nebraska Volleyball
               #1 Nebraska vs Creighton (09-24-06 at Omaha, Neb.)

Nebraska | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN ## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Griffin, Maggie..... 3| 0 1 2 -.500| 17| 1 0| 0| 9| 0 1 0| 1 5 Schwartz, Rachel.... 4| 0 0 1 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 14| 0 0 0| 0 9 Pavan, Sarah........ 4| 18 5 50 .260| 1| 0 3| 0| 7| 0 4 0| 1 10 Larson, Jordan...... 4| 18 2 53 .302| 2| 1 2| 0| 12| 1 1 0| 0 11 Stalls, Tracy....... 4| 11 2 20 .450| 2| 0 0| 0| 4| 2 6 0| 0 15 Cooper, Kori........ 2| 3 0 4 .750| 1| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0 4 Bartek, Brooke...... 1| 0 1 1-1.000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0 7 Mancuso, Dani....... 4| 11 5 31 .194| 0| 0 1| 0| 2| 0 0 0| 0 12 Holloway, Rachel.... 4| 4 2 11 .182| 38| 0 1| 0| 9| 0 1 0| 0 17 Gates, Amanda....... 3| 2 0 3 .667| 1| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 1 0| 0 18 Busboom, Dani....... 4| 1 0 1 1.000| 3| 0 3| 2| 23| 0 0 0| 0 TEAM................ | | | | 1| | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals.............. 4| 68 18 177 .282| 65| 2 11| 3| 81| 3 14 0| 2

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0 Game K E TA Pct 1 19 5 55 .255 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4 TEAM RECORDS 2 20 3 48 .354 Nebraska............ (3) 27 30 30 30 12-0 3 17 4 39 .333 Creighton........... (1) 30 24 13 18 11-3 4 12 6 35 .171

Creighton | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN ## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Cvejdlik, Amanda.... 4| 11 2 23 .391| 0| 0 2| 0| 6| 1 3 1| 0 7 Baumann, Abby....... 4| 9 7 39 .051| 1| 0 3| 0| 10| 0 1 0| 1 9 Houts, Jessica...... 4| 7 3 28 .143| 1| 0 0| 0| 2| 1 5 3| 0 12 Goc, Kelly.......... 4| 12 6 48 .125| 1| 0 1| 0| 5| 1 1 1| 1 14 Lebeda, Korie....... 4| 6 4 15 .133| 38| 0 2| 0| 12| 2 2 1| 1 15 Schulze, Sarah...... 4| 6 6 27 .000| 3| 2 2| 1| 7| 0 0 1| 0 3 Greisch, Emily...... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 0| 13| 0 0 0| 0 5 Jackson, Julianne... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 2| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0 8 Bloemke, Lauren..... 1| 0 1 1-1.000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0 11 Mehal, Katie........ 4| 0 0 0 .000| 2| 1 0| 1| 24| 0 0 0| 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals.............. 4| 51 29 181 .122| 47| 3 12| 2| 79| 5 12 7| 3

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.0 Game K E TA Pct 1 18 4 48 .292 Site: Omaha, Neb. (Qwest Center Omaha) 2 16 5 46 .239 Date: 09-24-06 Attend: 12112 Time: 1:55 3 8 7 43 .023 Referees: Rick Welch, Bill Stanley 4 9 13 44 -.091 ID-454310 Match held at Qwest Center Omaha 2nd largest crowd in NCAA VB reg.-season history.

Short Box Score

Short Box Score (Match) Nebraska Volleyball #1 Nebraska vs Creighton (09-24-06 at Omaha, Neb.)

Nebraska def. Creighton 27-30,30-24,30-13,30-18

Nebraska (12-0) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Pavan, Sarah 18-0-4; Larson, Jordan 18-1-2; Stalls, Tracy 11-0-8; Mancuso, Dani 11-0-0; Holloway, Rachel 4-0-1; Cooper, Kori 3-0-0; Gates, Amanda 2-0-1; Busboom, Dani 1-0-0; Griffin, Maggie 0-1-1; Totals 68-2-10.0. (Assists) - Holloway, Rachel 38; Griffin, Maggie 17. (Dig leaders) - Busboom, Dani 23; Schwartz, Rachel 14; Larson, Jordan 12; Griffin, Maggie 9; Holloway, Rachel 9

Creighton (11-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Goc, Kelly 12-0-2; Cvejdlik, Amanda 11-0-4; Baumann, Abby 9-0-1; Houts, Jessica 7-0-6; Schulze, Sarah 6-2-0; Lebeda, Korie 6-0-4; Mehal, Katie 0-1-0; Totals 51-3-11.0. (Assists) - Lebeda, Korie 38. (Dig leaders) - Mehal, Katie 24; Greisch, Emily 13; Lebeda, Korie 12; Baumann, Abby 10

Site: Omaha, Neb. (Qwest Center Omaha) Date: 09-24-06 Attend: 12112 Time: 1:55 Referees: Rick Welch, Bill Stanley ID-454310 Match held at Qwest Center Omaha 2nd largest crowd in NCAA VB reg.-season history.