Huskers Host Horns on Senior Night

No. 1 Nebraska
vs. Texas (21-5, 16-3 Big 12)

Saturday, Nov. 25
NU Coliseum ? 7 p.m.

Radio: Husker Sports Network ( B107.3 FM in Lincoln and Omaha) and Huskers.com
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Live Video Feed: Huskers.com (Free Video)
Television: Live on NET (Ch. 12) and NET-HD (Ch. 112); Tape Delayed on CSTV on Sunday at 7 p.m. (central)

Lincoln -- The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team closes out the regular season on Saturday night, as the Huskers host No. 8 Texas at a sold-out Nebraska Coliseum. First serve for the match is set for 7 p.m. and the match will be carried across the state on the Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in both Lincoln and Omaha and on Huskers.com. Saturday’s match will be shown live state-wide on Nebraska Educational Television (NET-1, Ch. 12 and NET-HD, Ch. 112)

The Huskers (26-1, 18-1 Big 12) come into Saturday’s match off one of their best efforts of the season, sweeping Kansas to claim the outright Big 12 title and the league’s NCAA automatic berth. NU hit a blistering .476 while placing three players - Jordan Larson, Sarah Pavan and Dani Mancuso - in double figures. In addition to the outside hitters’ performances, Kori Cooper and Amanda Gates combined for 13 kills in just 15 swings to balance out the Husker attack.

Texas (21-5, 16-3) comes into Saturday’s match on a roll, winning their last nine matches since a five-game loss to the Huskers in Austin in October. The Longhorns, who are ranked eighth in this week’s poll, have not played since a sweep of Iowa State last Saturday. UT features two of the country’s top freshmen in outside hitter Destinee Hooker and right side hitter Ashley Engle, who both average more than 3.40 kills per game.
Saturday’s match not only marks the regular-season finale, but also is the final home match for seniors Dani Busboom and Dani Mancuso. The pair, who have guided the Huskers to 117 wins and three straight Big 12 titles, will be honored following the match. Busboom is one of only two Huskers to rank in the top 10 on NU charts in assists and digs, while Mancuso has recorded 500 kills and 150 blocks in her career.

Did You Know?
?-Seniors Dani Mancuso and Dani Busboom have helped Nebraska to a 117-10 record (.921) and three Big 12 titles.

?-Nebraska hit .400 as a team in three straight matches for the first time since a four-match string in 1998.

?-Dani Busboom has 450 digs on the season and is 30 away from the school record of 480 held by Amanda McCormick in 2004.

?-Reigning Big 12 Player of the Week Sarah Pavan has had seven matches with at least 20 kills this season, the second time she has reached that in her career (also in 2004). The last NU player to have more 20-kill matches in a year was Nancy Metcalf with 10 in 1999.

Worth Noting
?-Saturday’s match between NU and Texas will be the fifth time since 1996 that both teams have been ranked in the top 10 nationally at game time, but the first time the matchup has taken place in Lincoln since 1996.

?-Saturday’s match features two of the top offensive teams in the Big 12 in NU (.307) and Texas (.262).

?-Freshman Rachel Holloway brings a different perspective on the NU-UT rivalry. Her older sister played at Texas in 2004, while her older brother (Tillman) and late grandfather (Bud McFadin) were both All-America football players at Texas.

?-Nebraska has hit .400 or better in its last three matches, the first time a Husker team has hit above .400 in three straight matches since the 1998 season.

?-Sarah Pavan now has 15 career matches with at least 20 kills (7 in 2004; 1 in 2005; 7 in 2006). Her 15 matches with at least 20 kills is nearly half of NU’s total of 32 since John Cook took over in 2000. Three other current Huskers have had at least one 20-kill match during their Husker careers: Dani Mancuso (2004 at KSU), Christina Houghtelling (2005 at OU) and Jordan Larson (20 vs. KSU).

?-Saturday’s match against Texas will be the 88th consecutive sellout at the NU Coliseum. The Huskers are 81-6 at the NU Coliseum during the current sellout streak which dates back to 2001.

?-NU has won its last 51 home matches, dating back to the 2004 season, including its last 45 at the NU Coliseum. The current home streak is the nation’s longest active streak and ranks ninth on the NCAA’s all-time list. NU has also won its last 34 Big 12 home matches dating back to 2003.

?-Nebraska has won 61 of its last 63 Big 12 matches dating back to the 2003 season.

?-With the No. 1 ranking in Monday’s AVCA poll, the Huskers have spent 67 weeks all-time at No. 1, the most of any Division I program. UCLA is second with 51 weeks. NU has been ranked No. 1 in 28 of the last 29 polls dating back to the start of 2005.

?-NU has held opponents to a Big 12-low .144 hitting percentage, as only five teams have hit over .200 against the Husker defense.  NU ranks fifth among this week’s CSTV/AVCA Top 25 in opponent hitting percentage.

Scouting Texas
Coach Jerritt Elliott (126-52 in six seasons at UT) has Texas ranked eighth nationally entering the final regular-season weekend of action. The Longhorns enter tonight’s match with a 21-5 record and an eight-match win streak following their sweep of Iowa State last Saturday in Austin. Texas is currently tied with Oklahoma for second in the Big 12 with a 16-3 mark, while a win would guarantee UT at least a share of second in the conference standings, depending on the Baylor-Oklahoma match on Saturday. The Horns rank among the Big 12 leaders in most offensive categories, including second in hitting percentage, kills and assists per game.

Texas has relied on its talented freshmen during the second half of Big 12 play, as Ashley Engle (3.98 k/gm and 2.96 k/gm) and Destinee Hooker (3.47 k/gm) have given the Longhorns a solid 1-2 punch. UT also has a veteran corps around the freshmen, including All-Big 12 setter Michelle Moriarty (13.91 a/gm and 2.62 d/gm), senior outside hitter Dariam Acevedo (3.02 k/gm and 2.74 d/gm) and junior libero Alyson Jennings (3.59 d/gm).

NU is 26-12 all-time against Texas, and had won 13 of the last 14 meetings dating back to 1999. The teams split their 2005 meetings with the home team holding serve, while NU won the first meeting in five games in October. The most memorable match in NU-UT history was when the Huskers defeated Texas, 3-1, in the 1995 NCAA championship game in Amherst, Mass.

Husker Probable Starters
MB - #15 Kori Cooper: 6-2, Fr., Amarillo, Texas - Cooper splits time with Amanda Gates at middle blocker, averaging 1.73 kills and 1.00 blocks per game, while ranking third in the Big 12 with a .368 hitting percentage. Cooper totaled six kills on as many swings in NU’s victory over Kansas on Nov. 22 and had five blocks in NU’s sweep of Baylor on Nov. 15. Cooper had her best offensive night of the season at Iowa State on Nov. 8 with 12 kills and five blocks. Cooper had one of her best matches of the year at No. 9 Texas on Oct. 18, totaling seven kills and a career-high eight blocks. A Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 pick, Cooper enrolled at NU in January after graduating from Amarillo High School a semester early. Cooper was a co-captain of the 2005 U.S. Youth National Team, helping Team USA to a fourth-place finish.

MB - #11 Tracy Stalls: 6-3, Jr., Denver, Colo. - Stalls has been one of the Big 12’s top middle blockers, averaging 2.66 kills and 1.40 blocks per game. She tops the Big 12 in hitting percentage and is fifth nationally while ranking fourth in the league in blocks. Stalls has reached double figures in kills three times in NU’s last six matches, including a career-high 16 kills and 12 blocks at Colorado on Nov. 11. It marked the ninth time Stalls has had at least 10 kills in a match this season, including 14 kills against Minnesota on Sept. 10 and against Long Beach State on Sept. 3. She has also had 11 matches where she has hit .500 or better, including a season best .727 vs. Texas Tech on Sept. 23. At No. 9 Texas on Oct. 18, Stalls had 13 kills on .417 hitting, while she keyed NU’s win over No. 15 Missouri on Oct. 11 with nine kills and eight blocks. Last season, Stalls ranked third in the Big 12 with 1.59 blocks per game and ranked 11th nationally in blocking as a freshman at 1.65 blocks per game. Before enrolling at NU, Stalls was a two-year member of the U.S. National Developmental Program and a member of Team USA.

OPP - #9 Sarah Pavan: 6-5, Jr., Kitchener, Ontario - A two-time, first-team AVCA All-American, Pavan leads the Big 12 in both kills (5.19) and points per game (6.16), ranking ninth nationally in kills. She has seven 20-kill performances this season, including three in her last five contests. She earned Big 12 Player-of-the-Week honors last week, totaling 46 kills on .544 hitting and seven aces in two matches. She finished with 23 kills and matched her career high with four aces against Baylor on Nov. 18 and had 23 kills on .588 hitting against Texas A&M on Nov. 15. She has reached double figures in kills in NU’s last 24 matches and 26 times in 2006. Pavan matched her season high with 24 kills and added eight digs in a win over Iowa State on Nov. 8. She posted a strong effort against No. 16 Missouri on Oct. 25 with 18 kills on .424 hitting, six digs and three blocks. Pavan has three double-doubles on the year, with her most recent coming with 17 kills, 10 digs and eight blocks at Colorado on Nov. 11. She earned MVP honors in both of NU’s early-season tournaments and was the Big 12 Player of the Week on Sept. 11, averaging 6.70 points and 5.90 kills (.409 hitting percentage) in three matches. She had one of the best matches of her career against Long Beach State on Sept. 9, totaling 24 kills on .400 hitting against the 49ers, including eight kills on eight swings in the opener. Pavan was the 2005 Big 12 Player of the Year, averaging 3.82 kills, 1.66 digs and 1.25 blocks per game. She established her career high in kills as a freshman with 35 in the NCAA Regional against USC. Pavan, who carries a 4.0 GPA in biochemistry, was a member of the Canadian National Team at age 16.

OH - #10 Jordan Larson: 6-2, So., Hooper, Neb. - Larson has become one of the Big 12’s top all-around performers in 2006 after earning Big 12 Freshman-of-the-Year accolades in 2005. She averages 4.20 kills and 3.40 digs per game, ranking in the Big 12’s top 10 in aces (0.45/gm, third), points (5.12, third), kills (fifth) and digs (10th). She has a team-high 18 double-doubles, including a stretch of 10 in a row earlier this season. Larson had one of her best matches of the year at Kansas on Nov. 22, totaling 13 kills on a season-high .571 hitting. She had 13 kills, 17 digs and matched her career high with six blocks at Colorado on Nov. 11 and had a match-high 16 kills in a sweep of No. 17 Oklahoma on Nov. 4. She totaled 11 kills and a career-high seven assists against Baylor on Nov. 18. Larson earned the Big 12 weekly honor after averaging 5.17 kills and 4.17 digs in two matches, including a career-high 20 kills against Kansas State on Oct. 4.  Against No. 20 Louisville, she set a career high with five aces while adding 14 kills on .440 hitting. As a freshman, Larson averaged 2.82 kills, 2.79 digs and 0.38 service aces per game, topping all conference freshmen in kills, digs, hitting percentage and service aces. She was rated the No. 2 player in the country by Prepvolleyball.com and spent two years on the U.S. Junior National Team.

DS - #5 Rachel Schwartz: 5-9, So., Lincoln, Neb. - Schwartz is a former walk-on who is used as a defensive specialist and averages 2.49 digs and 0.17 aces per game. She has tied or set career highs in digs seven times this season, and has reached double figures in digs 10 times in the last 16 contests. Schwartz came up with a career-high 15 digs in NU’s win at No. 9 Texas on Oct. 18 and has had 11 digs in the Huskers’ last two contests. She enjoyed her best match of the year at Baylor on Sept. 30, totaling a then-career high 14 digs and a career-high three aces. She also had 14 digs in a win over Creighton on Sept. 24 and 12 digs against Texas Tech on Sept. 23. Schwartz appeared in 30 matches as a freshman as NU’s defensive specialist, finishing with 18 digs and five aces. She was a first-team all-state selection at outside hitter at Lincoln East High School in 2004.

-or- OH - #7 Dani Mancuso: 6-2, Sr., Omaha, Neb. - Mancuso moved into the outside hitter position vacated after Christina Houghtelling’s season-ending injury. Mancuso averages 2.52 kills, 0.62 blocks and 0.76 digs per game, primarily playing the front row. She has reached double figures in kills in each of NU’s last four matches and seven times this season, including 11 kills on a season-high .647 hitting at Kansas on Nov. 22. In that span, she is hitting .371 and averaging 3.00 kills per game. Mancuso had 10 kills on .316 hitting in a sweep of Texas A&M on Nov. 15 and matched her season high with 11 kills and added five blocks at Colorado on Nov. 11. She recorded seven kills on .455 hitting at KSU on Oct. 28. Mancuso had nine kills and matched her career best with six blocks in NU’s win over No. 9 Texas on Oct. 18 and nine kills on .400 hitting against Missouri on Oct. 11. She also had 11 kills in wins over Creighton and Saint Mary’s. In 2005, Mancuso was NU’s backup at all three outside hitter spots, averaging 1.38 kills, 1.15 digs and 0.68 blocks per game. She shared the outside hitter spot with Houghtelling in 2004, averaging 2.77 kills and 0.29 service aces per game, including a career-high 22 kills in a win at Kansas State.

S - #12 Rachel Holloway: 5-10, R-Fr., Franklin, Tenn. - Holloway is the first Husker freshman to start in a 5-1 system in the NCAA era (1981-present). She averages 13.55 assists, 2.60 digs and 1.15 kills per game, ranking third in the Big 12 and 11th nationally in assists. Holloway has 10 double-doubles, including one in three of the last five matches. She has tallied at least 50 assists eight times this year and has helped NU hit .400 or better in the last three matches and five times this season. Holloway tied her career high with 57 assists against both Colorado and Iowa State, adding 13 digs and four blocks at Colorado on Nov. 11 and four stuffs at ISU on Nov. 8.  She was chosen as the Big 12’s Player of the Week on Oct. 16, after averaging 16.00 assists per game in sweeps of Colorado and Missouri. Holloway, who leads all freshmen nationally in assists, totaled 57 assists, eight digs and seven kills against Minnesota,  helping NU hit .337. Last summer, Holloway captained the U.S. Youth National Team to a gold medal at the NORCECA Junior Championships in Mexico. Holloway, who graduated high school a year early, was the Colorado Gatorade High School Player of the Year in 2004.

L -  #18 Dani Busboom: 5-11, Sr., Cortland, Neb.  - Busboom makes the shift to libero after sharing time at setter in her first three years at NU. She leads the Big 12 with 5.06 digs per game and has reached double figures in digs 25 times in 27 matches. She had a streak of 21 straight matches in double figures before it was snapped against Texas A&M on Nov. 15. Busboom ranks second on both NU’s single-season  (450) and career (1,149) digs list.  She has totaled at least 20 digs in six matches, including 23 digs at Iowa State on Nov. 8, at Kansas State on Oct. 28 and at Creighton on Sept. 24. Against No. 20 Louisville on Sept. 8, Busboom had 14 digs and three aces while helping to hold Louisville to .044 hitting. Last season, she averaged 6.45 assists and 1.82 digs in NU’s 6-2 offense, helping NU hit .322 as a team. She is seventh on NU’s career assists list with 2,903 and is the second player in school history on top-10 lists in both assists and digs, joining former NU All-American Val Novak.

Last Time Out: No. 1 Nebraska 3, Kansas 0
 Jordan Larson totaled 13 kills to lead a balanced attack, as No. 1 Nebraska wrapped up the outright Big 12 title with a  30-16, 30-16, 30-20 sweep of Kansas on Nov. 22

 Larson totaled 13 kills on .571 hitting. The Huskers were also paced by a season-high performance by senior Dani Mancuso, who matched her season high with 11 kills while hitting a season-high .647, as the Huskers wrapped up their ninth Big 12 cown in 11 seasons. Larson and Mancuso helped Nebraska (26-1, 18-1 Big 12) hit .476 as a team, marking the third straight Big 12 contest that the Huskers have hit .435 or above and the first time since 1998 that NU hit .400 or better in three straight matches. Rachel Holloway totaled 45 assists and four kills, as seven Husker attackers hit .300 or better.

 In addition to the performance of the outside hitters, the Huskers also received strong performances from Kori Cooper and Amanda Gates, who combined for 13 kills in 15 swings. Cooper had six kill in six swings, while Gates totaled a career-high seven kills on .778 hitting and a pair of blocks in the win.

What to Watch For on Saturday
 ?-With a win on Saturday, the Huskers would cap their 16th undefeated home season and fourth in the last seven seasons.

 ?-With a win on Saturday, Nebraska would improve to 8-0 against ranked teams this season

 ?-Sarah Pavan needs eight kills to move past Virginia Stahr (1,395 from 1986-89) into sole possession of fifth place on Nebraska’s all-time kills chart.

 ?-With 462 kills this season, Pavan is also within striking distance of NU’s single-season top-10 list. She needs 19 kills to tie for 10th place on the Husker single-season list.