No. 1 Huskers Host No. 17 Sooners in Big 12 Showdown

After a two-match road trip, No. 1 Nebraska returns to the Nebraska Coliseum for an important Big 12 showdown with No. 17 Oklahoma this Saturday, Nov. 4. First serve between the Huskers and Sooners 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 Lincoln and Omaha, and on Huskers.com.

No. 1 Nebraska (21-0, 13-0 Big 12) vs.
No. 17 Oklahoma (20-4, 11-2 Big 12)

Saturday, Nov. 4 ?
NU Coliseum ? 7 p.m.

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

No. 1 Nebraska at
Iowa State (16-7, 8-5 Big 12)

Wednesday, Nov. 8 ?
Ames, Iowa ? 6:30 p.m.

Radio:  Husker Sports Network
(B107.3 FM in Lincoln and Omaha)
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Free Audio: Huskers.com  
Television: None
Video: HuskersNside (subscription required)

Saturday’s match will also be shown to a statewide and national audience, as it will be carried live on Nebraska Educational Television (NET-1, Ch. 12 and NET-HD, Ch. 112) and shown on a tape-delayed basis on CSTV (Ch. 610 on DirecTV, Ch. 152 on DISH Network and Ch. 305 on Time Warner Cable).

The Huskers (21-0, 13-0 Big 12) come into a Saturday’s match on a roll, sweeping their last three opponents, including a 3-0 sweep at Texas Tech on Wednesday night. In that match, Sarah Pavan had 16 kills, while the Huskers hit .318 as a team and held the Red Raiders to .102 hitting. Nebraska’s defense has keyed the Huskers’ strong start during the second half of the Big 12 slate, holding opponents to a .103 hitting percentage over the last three matches. NU is holding opponents to a league-low .131 hitting, ranking among the national leaders in that category.

Oklahoma (20-4, 11-2) has been one of the biggest surprises in college volleyball this season, as the Sooners have won 11 of the past 12 matches since losing to the Huskers in September. Oklahoma, who is in the national polls for the first time since 1988, has already reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since 1997 and is currently in sole possession of second place in the Big 12, a vast improvement on the 10th place pick the Sooners were pegged by the league coaches in the preseason poll.

Did You Know?
?-Saturday’s matchup is only the third time the two teams have square off as ranked opponents and the first since the 1988 NCAA Tournament.
?-Volunteers for the Special Olympics will be collecting outside the NU Coliseum on Saturday night. The Special Olympics is the Big 12’s official charitable partner.
?-NU has improved its blocking over the last month, averaging 3.45 blocks per game over the last seven matches and now ranks second in the Big 12 with 3.18 blocks per game
?-Nebraska is 48-2 (.960) in November under John Cook since the 2000 season, In fact, NU is 179-16 (.918) in November since 1983.
?-Jordan Larson has a team-best 16 double-doubles in 21 matches this season, including 11 of her last 12 contests.

Worth Noting
?-Saturday’s match will feature two of the Big 12’s top offensive squads, as NU leads the Big 12 with a .300 team hitting percentage, while OU is second at .262.
?-The match between the Huskers and Oklahoma will also feature three of the Big 12’s top individual hitters in NU’s Tracy Stalls (.442, 1st) and Kori Cooper (391, 2nd) and Oklahoma’s Laura Tomes (.386, 3rd).
?-Saturday’s match against Oklahoma will be the 85th consecutive sellout at the NU Coliseum. The Huskers are 78-6 at the NU Coliseum during the current sellout streak which dates back to 2001.
?-NU has won its last 48 home matches, dating back to the 2004 season, including its last 42 at the NU Coliseum. The current home streak is nation’s longest active streak and is two wins away from cracking the NCAA’s top-10 list. NU has also won its last 31 Big 12 home matches dating back to 2003.
?-Nebraska is 32-3 (.914) against ranked opponents since the start of the 2004 season and 69-11 (.863) since John Cook took over the Husker program in 2000.
?-Nebraska has won 56 of its last 57 Big 12 matches since its 2003 loss at Kansas State. The Huskers had won 43 straight conference matches before Texas ended that streak in the 2005 regular-season finale in Austin.
?-One Husker who has emerged in the last three weeks is outside hitter Dani Mancuso. After hitting .182 in NU’s first 15 matches, the Omaha native is hitting .320 over Nebraska’s last six contests, including .333 or better in each of the Huskers’ last three matches.
?-Mancuso has played her best matches against Nebraska’s strongest competition. She is hitting .294 in six matches against ranked opponents, over 100 points better than her total in NU’s other 15 contests.
?-Dani Busboom has reached double figures in digs in each of the Huskers’ last 18 contests. She is one away from Amanda McCormick’s streak of 19 straight matches with at least 10 digs set in 2004.
?-Busboom’s 23 digs against Kansas State on Oct. 28 not only matched her career high, but was the highest three-game total by a Husker since 2004 and the fourth-best total in the Big 12 era.
?-While Nebraska has already reached the 20-win plateau for the 32nd straight year, it marks only the sixth time in school history that the Huskers have opened the year with 20 straight wins.
?-With the No. 1 ranking in Monday’s AVCA poll, the Huskers have spent 65 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 25 of the last 26 polls dating back to the start of 2005.
?-NU has held opponents to a Big 12-low .131 hitting percentage, as only four teams have hit over .200 against the Husker defense.  NU ranks fourth among this week’s CSTV/AVCA Top 25 in opponent hitting percentage.

Scouting Oklahoma
Head Coach Santiago Restrepo has Oklahoma on its way to the Sooners’ first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1997, as OU comes to Lincoln with a 20-4 record and sits in second place in the Big 12 standings with an 11-2 mark. Since opening the season with a five-game loss against Arkansas, OU has been as good as anyone in the country with losses versus top-10 teams Wisconsin, NU and Texas. The Sooners have played well on the road in league play, going 6-1, including a 3-1 record in five-game matches.

 OU features a balanced offense with four players - Joanna Schmitt, Bridget Laplante, Laura Tomes and Elaine Santos - all averaging over three kills per game. Schmitt ranks fifth in the Big 12 with 4.18 kills per game and is second on the squad with 2.90 digs per game. Santos, who ranks in the top 10 in both hitting percentage and blocks, is the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week. 

NU leads the all-time series, 65-6, and has won the last 18 meetings dating back to 1997.

Husker Probable Starters
MB - #15 Kori Cooper: 6-2, Fr., Amarillo, Texas - Cooper splits time with Amanda Gates at middle blocker, averaging 1.62 kills and 0.92 blocks per game, while ranking second in the Big 12 with a .391 hitting percentage. Cooper had four kills on .375 hitting and a block in two games at Texas Tech on Wednesday. She had one of her best matches of the year at No. 9 Texas on Oct. 18, totaling seven kills while adding a career-high eight blocks against the Longhorns. Against Kansas State on Oct. 4, she set then-career bests in both kills (eight) and blocks (five). At Texas A&M on Oct. 7, she also totaled eight kills and three blocks while hitting .615. 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 2.68 kills and 1.40 blocks per game. She is fifth nationally in hitting percentage at .442 and is fifth in the Big 12 in blocks. Stalls has had nine matches where she has hit at least .500, including a season-best of .727 (9-1-11) with six blocks against Texas Tech on Sept. 24. She comes off one of her best blocking matches of the year, totaling eight stuffs at Texas Tech on Nov. 1. She has reached double figures in kills six times in 2006, including a season-high 14 kills against Minnesota on Sept. 10 and against Long Beach State on Sept. 3. At No. 9 Texas on Oct. 18, Stalls had 13 kills on .417 hitting, while posting 12 kills and hitting .571 against Colorado on Oct. 14. She keyed NU’s win over No. 15 Missouri on Oct. 11 with nine kills and matched her season high with 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 (5.15) and points per game (6.07), ranking 12th nationally in kills. She has four 20-kill performances this season, including a 22-kill effort at No. 9 Texas on Oct. 18. She has reached double figures in kills in NU’s last 18 matches and 20 of 21 times in 2006.  Pavan had one of her best performances of the year against No. 16 Missouri on Oct. 25, totaling 18 kills on .424 hitting, six digs and three blocks against the Tigers. Pavan has two double-doubles on the year, with her most recent coming with 13 kills and 10 digs against Kansas State on Oct. 4. 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 4.31 kills and 3.62 digs per game, ranking in the Big 12’s top 10 in aces (0.47/gm, third), points (5.25, third), kills (fourth) and digs (ninth). She has a team-high 16 double-doubles, including a stretch of 10 in a row earlier this season. Larson led NU with 16 kills and 10 digs at Kansas State on Oct. 28 after totaling 15 kills on .458 hitting against No. 16 Missouri on Oct. 25. She 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 2.46 digs and 0.18 aces per game. She has tied or set career highs in digs seven times this season, and has been in double figures in digs in eight of the last 11 matches. Schwartz came up with a career-high 15 digs in NU’s win at No. 9 Texas on Oct. 18 and had 13 digs at Kansas State on Oct. 28. 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 2.46 kills, 0.69 blocks and 0.68 digs per game, primarily playing the front row. She has notched at least eight kills in 11 of NU’s last 14 matches and has hit .320 over NU’s last five matches. Mancuso had eight kills on .333 hitting and four blocks at Texas Tech on Nov. 1 She enjoyed her best week of the season last week, hitting .444 in wins over No. 16 Missouri and Kansas State, including 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 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 13.46 assists, 2.66 digs and 1.20 kills per game, ranking third in the Big 12 and 12th nationally in assists. Holloway had seven double-doubles, including 48 assists and 12 digs against No. 16 Missouri on Oct. 25, a match NU hit .425 as a team.  Holloway, who had 55 assists and eight kills in NU’s win at No. 9 Texas,  was selected 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, played one of her best matches of the year against Minnesota on Sept. 10, with a career-high 57 assists, eight digs and seven kills, while helping NU hit .337 against the Golden Gophers. Over the 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 5.15 digs per game and has reached double figures in digs 20 times in 21 matches, including each of NU’s last 18 matches. Busboom, who is in sixth place on NU’s career charts with 1,066, reached the 1,000-dig plateau against Missouri on Oct. 25, and is only 21 digs away from jumping into third place. She has totaled 20-or-more digs five times, including a season-high 23 digs 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 2,887 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, Texas Tech 0
Sarah Pavan had 16 kills, while Jordan Larson totaled her 16th double-double of the year, leading No. 1 Nebraska to a 3-0 sweep (30-16, 30-21, 30-24) over Texas Tech at the United Spirit Arena.

The Huskers (21-0, 13-0 Big 12) hit .318 as a team and totaled 10 blocks, holding Texas Tech to just .102 hitting in their posting 17th sweep of the season.  Pavan, who had seven of her kills in the opener, finished with a match-high 16 kills, while Larson joined Pavan in double figures with 11 kills and 12 digs. Tracy Stalls topped NU with eight blocks and had six kills on .455 hitting, while Dani Busboom totaled a match-high 15 assists for NU, which improved to 25-1 all-time against Texas Tech.

Last Time vs. Oklahoma
Jordan Larson’s fifth double-double of the season lifted top-ranked Nebraska to a 3-0 sweep of Oklahoma (30-27, 30-18, 34-32) at the McCasland Field House on Sept. 16.

Larson paced the Huskers with 17 kills and 11 digs and three aces as Nebraska went on the road for the first time in 2006. The Huskers held Oklahoma to .174 hitting ? more than 100 points below its season average ? while snapping the Sooners’ seven-match win streak.

Dani Busboom established a career-high with 21 digs, her third 20-plus dig match of the season, as the Huskers out-dug OU, 51-43. Sarah Pavan also finished with 14 kills, while Dani Mancuso added nine kills for the Huskers.