No. 1 Huskers Sweep No. 8 Texas

Lincoln ? Sarah Pavan had a match-high 18 kills, while No. 1 Nebraska relied on a stout defensive effort to post a 30-22, 30-27, 30-25 sweep of No. 8 Texas in front of a sold out NU Coliseum and state-wide television audience Saturday evening.

The Huskers (27-1, 19-1 Big 12) held Texas to just .138 hitting, its second-lowest output of the season and 100 points under its total in the first meeting between the two teams. Senior Dani Busboom led the defensive effort with 15 digs, as NU had four players total at least 10 digs in the win.

Nebraska Coach John Cook was pleased with the Huskers’ defensive effort against the Longhorns, as NU heads into the NCAA Tournament.  The Huskers will learn postseason destination Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPNEWS.

“This was really good for us to play Texas tonight at this time of the year because we need to know what that feels like going into the next week,” Cook said. “We’ve been gearing up for that since Colorado, but tonight there was a sense of urgency on every point. You saw how relentless we were on defense and trying to win those long rallies. It was a tremendous effort by everybody.”

Busboom, who reached double figures in kills for the 26th time this season, is now within 15 digs of Amanda McCormick’s single-season record of 480 set in 2004. Busboom and fellow senior Dani Mancuso, who toaled six kills, two digs and a solo block, were honored in Senior Night ceremonies, as the duo has helped NU to three straight Big 12 titles and a No. 1 ranking throughout the entire last two regular seasons.

Pavan finished with 18 kills on 44 swings, while Jordan Larson posted her team-best 19th double-double of the year with 15 kills and 11 digs. Rachel Holloway also totaled a double-double for NU ? her 11th of the year - with 13 digs and 42 assists, while also matching her season high with four blocks and adding four kills. Rachel Schwartz rounded out the quartet with 10 digs, as NU snapped Texas’ (21-6, 16-4) nine-match win streak.

The Huskers used the strong serving of Larson and the power of Pavan to record a 30-22 win in the opening game. The Huskers out-hit Texas, .256-.103, as Pavan had seven kills on 14 swings, while Larson and Tracy Stalls added four kills apiece. The teams traded points and NU trailed 13-11 until Larson took over, serving 10 straight in a run of 11 unanswered points, as the Longhorns were unable to stem the tide. When the damage was done, the Huskers had built a 22-13 lead. The Huskers quickly extended the lead to 24-14, before the Longhorns mounted a comeback, running off three straight points to pull within 24-17 and force NU to take a timeout. Texas eventually pulled to within 26-20, but a kill by Larson and a block by Holloway and Stalls quickly pushed the lead back to eight points.

While the Huskers jumped on the longhorns in the opener, they needed to show their resolve in game two before pulling out a 30-27 win to take a 2-0 lead into the locker room. NU had raced out to an 11-7 lead and led 13-10 before the Longhorns responded with an 8-1 surge of their own, taking a 19-14 lead after two straight Jennifer Todd kills. NU quickly regrouped and a Stalls kill sparked a run of four straight points to pull within 19-18 on a Larson kill, one of six in the game for the sophomore.  NU eventually took a 23-21 lead after a Pavan kill, only to see Texas score three quick points to take a 24-23 lead on a Destinee Hooker kill. Kori Cooper’s kill tied it at 24 before Mancuso stuffed Hooker to give NU a 25-24 lead. Texas would tie the game at 26-all, but Pavan took over from there, pounding two kills sandwiched between a UT attack error to give NU some breathing room at 29-26. Stalls would close out game two moments later with a kill, giving NU a 2-0 cushion.

“This team has been doing this all year,” Cook said. “We get down, and it doesn’t phase us. I think we have the mentality that gives you the chance to come back and make those comebacks.”

The finale was another uphill battle, as the Huskers fell behind, only to make another spirited comeback in a 30-27 win. Larson keyed the attack with five kills on eight swings, as NU out-hit Texas, .294-.171. The teams traded points early on before Texas ran off three straight points to take a 15-12 lead on a block by Lauren Paolini. After a Texas serving error, NU ran off three straight points, going up 16-14 after a Stalls kill. Texas tied the game at 18 on a Ashley Engle service ace, but that would be as close as UT got, as NU ran off six of the next eight points, taking a 24-20 lead after a Larson kill. The Longhorns fought back to within 27-25, but a service error and two straight kills by Larson capped NU’s 22nd sweep of the season.

Hooker, who had 24 kills in the first meeting led Texas with 13 kills, while Engle totaled 11 to give the Longhorns two players with double-figure kills. With Saturday’s loss, UT fell into third place, as Oklahoma won at Baylor finished with a 17-3 league mark.

                              Nebraska Volleyball
             #8 Texas vs #1 Nebraska (Nov 25, 2006 at Lincoln, NE)



   Texas                  |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3  Paolini, Lauren.....  3|  2   5  11 -.273|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  2  1|  0
4  Moriarty, Michelle..  3|  5   0   9  .556| 32|  0   0|  0| 13| 0  1  0|  2
10 Engle, Ashley.......  3| 11   4  32  .219|  1|  1   1|  0|  1| 0  3  0|  1
12 Acevedo, Dariam.....  3|  6   3  22  .136|  1|  0   1|  0|  9| 0  0  0|  0
21 Hooker, Destinee....  3| 13   6  33  .212|  1|  1   3|  0|  3| 0  1  0|  0
33 Todd, Jennifer......  3|  5   4  19  .053|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  3  0|  0
7  Feist, RuthAnn......  1|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
11 Hall, Kiley.........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  0  0|  0
13 Christian, Jen......  2|  0   1   3 -.333|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
16 Jennings, Alyson....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  4|  0   0|  2| 13| 0  0  0|  0
19 Kisner, Heather.....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 42  24 130  .138| 41|  2   6|  2| 48| 1 10  1|  3

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0
Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  12  8  39  .103   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  14  7  50  .140   Texas............... (0) 22 27 25  21-6, 16-4 Big 12
   3  16  9  41  .171   Nebraska............ (3) 30 30 30  27-1, 19-1 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|  1| 10| 0  0  0|  0
9  Pavan, Sarah........  3| 18   8  44  .227|  0|  1   3|  0|  3| 0  1  0|  0
10 Larson, Jordan......  3| 15   6  33  .273|  3|  1   1|  0| 11| 0  0  0|  0
11 Stalls, Tracy.......  3|  9   1  22  .364|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  4  0|  0
12 Holloway, Rachel....  3|  4   0   7  .571| 42|  0   1|  0| 13| 0  4  2|  1
15 Cooper, Kori........  3|  3   1   8  .250|  0|  0   0|  0|  1| 0  1  1|  1
7  Mancuso, Dani.......  3|  6   5  18  .056|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 1  0  0|  1
18 Busboom, Dani.......  3|  0   1   1-1.000|  7|  0   0|  1| 15| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 55  22 133  .248| 52|  2   5|  2| 58| 1 10  3|  3

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0
Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  19  8  43  .256   Site: Lincoln, NE (NU Coliseum)
   2  20  8  56  .214   Date: Nov 25, 2006   Attend: 4098   Time: 1:38
   3  16  6  34  .294   Referees: Tom Pingel, Marsha Rupert