Lincoln ? Jordan Larson’s 17 kills led three Huskers in double figures, as No. 1 Nebraska remained unbeaten with a 30-27, 30-18, 30-21 victory over Colorado Saturday afternoon at the NU Coliseum.
Larson, who has now led NU in kills five times this season, totaled 17 kills and 10 digs, as the Huskers improved to 17-0 overall and 9-0 in the Big 12 heading into Wednesday’s match at No. 10 Texas. Larson now has 13 double doubles on the season, including each of her last nine contests for NU, which joins No. 2 Penn State as the nation’s only unbeaten teams.
“What it shows is that Jordan’s a great all-around player,” Nebraska Coach John Cook said. “There are not many players in the country that can do that (attack, digs, block and pass). Those are all-around players. She’s a special talent in that regard and that’s why you see all those double-doubles. If she was a setter, it would probably be triple-doubles.”
Sarah Pavan and Tracy Stalls joined Larson in double figures in the victory, totaling 12 kills apiece against the Buffaloes (9-7, 5-4 Big 12). Pavan totaled a team-high six blocks and had two aces, while Stalls enjoyed one of her most efficient matches of the year, hitting .571 in reaching double figures in kills for the fifth time. It was also the eighth time this season that Stalls, who hails from Denver, has hit .500 or better in a match.
The Huskers relied on a balanced attack in game one, pulling away late for a 30-27 victory. NU was out-hit .333-.319, but had four plays with at least four kills. Stalls had five kills on eight swings, while Dani Mancuso had four kills on six swings. The Huskers fell behind early and trailed 12-9 before using a 5-1 run to take the lead at 14-13 on a Colorado attack error. NU eventually pushed the margin to 18-15 on kills by Pavan and Mancuso, but a trio of NU hitting errors tied the score. The teams traded points, and NU led 25-24 before Larson took over. The sophomore, who had one kill and four errors in her first nine swings, closed with a flourish, putting down four kills among NU’s last five points, including the clincher.
Cook said that the Larson’s strong finish in game one set the tone for the rest of the match.
“It certainly took the wind out of Colorado a little bit,” Cook said. “They knew we weren’t playing great, so for us to shut them down at the end of the game was big. It really set the stage for the second game.”
From there, the Huskers turned up the defensive intensity, totaling 10 blocks and holding the Buffaloes to .025 hitting over the final two games.
“Rachel (Schwarz) and (Dani) Busboom defensively put on a clinic defensively in games two and three.” Cook said as the two combined for 25 digs in the win. Busboom lead NU with 15 digs, while Schwartz totaled 10 in the win.
Larson continued her onslaught in game two, hammering eight kills without an error in NU’s 30-18 victory. The Huskers put the game out of reach early, as Schwartz’ serving sparked a 6-0 Husker run that made it 11-4 after Rachel Holloway and Stalls combined for a block. The Buffaloes pulled within 12-7, but NU took over, running off 10 straight points off Holloway’s serve, as consecutive blocks by Gates pushed the advantage to 22-7, sending NU into the locker room with a 2-0 lead.
In the finale, the Husker sprinted out to a big lead and cruised to a nine point win. Seven different players totaled kills in the finale, including Holloway, who had four kills on four swings along with 11 assists. NU took control early, using an 8-1 spurt to take a 12-4 lead after a Pavan kill, and led 18-9 before Colorado made its final push. The Buffaloes got within four points, at 20-16, before kills by Larson, Gates and Holloway quickly pushed the margin to seven, ending CU’s hopes to send the match to a fourth game.
Nebraska returns to action on Wednesday, Oct. 18, when the Huskers travel to Austin, Texas, to take on the Texas Longhorns. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. and the match can be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network and on Huskers.com. In addition, the match will be shown nationally on ESPNU (Ch. 609 on DiecTV and Ch. 148 on Dish Network).
Colorado vs Nebraska (Oct 14, 2006)
Volleyball Box Score
Volleyball Box Score Nebraska Volleyball Colorado vs #1 Nebraska (Oct 14, 2006 at Lincoln, NE)
Colorado | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN ## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Nu'u, Ashley........ 3| 3 2 11 .091| 30| 0 0| 0| 14| 0 1 0| 1 4 Schaefer, Lauren.... 3| 6 2 17 .235| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0 7 Zimmerman, Austin... 3| 7 4 17 .176| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 2 1| 0 8 Buth, Alex.......... 3| 5 2 13 .231| 2| 2 0| 0| 6| 0 0 0| 0 12 Sutherland, Amber... 3| 9 10 30 -.033| 1| 0 0| 2| 7| 0 1 1| 0 15 Webster, Callie..... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 1| 9| 0 0 0| 0 3 Nu'u, Amber......... 1| 1 2 5 -.200| 1| 0 1| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0 11 Bossow, Lara........ 2| 1 0 3 .333| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0 21 Karlik, Kristen..... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 2| 0 0| 2| 11| 0 0 0| 0 77 Gibson, Mallori..... 3| 6 1 20 .250| 0| 0 2| 0| 2| 0 0 0| 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals.............. 3| 38 23 116 .129| 37| 2 4| 5| 51| 0 4 2| 1
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 2.0 Game K E TA Pct 1 18 5 39 .333 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS 2 7 9 37 -.054 Colorado............ (0) 27 18 21 9-7, 5-4 Big 12 3 13 9 40 .100 Nebraska............ (3) 30 30 30 17-0, 9-0 Big 12
Nebraska | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN ## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 Schwartz, Rachel.... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 2| 10| 0 0 0| 0 9 Pavan, Sarah........ 3| 12 7 33 .152| 0| 2 2| 0| 2| 2 4 1| 0 10 Larson, Jordan...... 3| 17 7 37 .270| 1| 1 2| 0| 10| 0 1 0| 0 11 Stalls, Tracy....... 3| 12 0 21 .571| 1| 0 1| 0| 3| 1 3 1| 0 12 Holloway, Rachel.... 3| 4 1 7 .429| 47| 2 1| 0| 4| 0 2 0| 0 15 Cooper, Kori........ 1| 2 0 4 .500| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 1 1| 0 1 Griffin, Maggie..... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0 4 Bartek, Brooke...... 1| 1 0 1 1.000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0 7 Mancuso, Dani....... 3| 5 3 14 .143| 0| 0 0| 0| 4| 0 1 0| 0 17 Gates, Amanda....... 2| 3 1 11 .182| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 1 4 0| 0 18 Busboom, Dani....... 3| 0 0 1 .000| 2| 0 1| 0| 15| 0 0 0| 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals.............. 3| 56 19 129 .287| 52| 5 7| 2| 50| 4 16 3| 0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.0 Game K E TA Pct 1 21 6 47 .319 Site: Lincoln, NE (NU Coliseum) 2 18 7 44 .250 Date: Oct 14, 2006 Attend: 4046 Time: 1:25 3 17 6 38 .289 Referees: Marsha Rupert, Rick Welch
Short Box Score
Short Box Score (Match) Nebraska Volleyball Colorado vs #1 Nebraska (Oct 14, 2006 at Lincoln, NE)
Nebraska def. Colorado 30-27,30-18,30-21
Colorado (9-7, 5-4 Big 12) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Sutherland, Amber 9-0-1; Zimmerman, Austin 7-0-2; Gibson, Mallori 6-0-0; Schaefer, Lauren 6-0-0; Buth, Alex 5-2-0; Nu'u, Ashley 3-0-1; Bossow, Lara 1-0-0; Nu'u, Amber 1-0-0; Totals 38-2-2.0. (Assists) - Nu'u, Ashley 30. (Dig leaders) - Nu'u, Ashley 14; Karlik, Kristen 11; Webster, Callie 9
Nebraska (17-0, 9-0 Big 12) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Larson, Jordan 17-1-1; Stalls, Tracy 12-0-4; Pavan, Sarah 12-2-6; Mancuso, Dani 5-0-1; Holloway, Rachel 4-2-2; Gates, Amanda 3-0-5; Cooper, Kori 2-0-1; Bartek, Brooke 1-0-0; Totals 56-5-12.0. (Assists) - Holloway, Rachel 47. (Dig leaders) - Busboom, Dani 15; Larson, Jordan 10; Schwartz, Rachel 10
Site: Lincoln, NE (NU Coliseum) Date: Oct 14, 2006 Attend: 4046 Time: 1:25 Referees: Marsha Rupert, Rick Welch