Huskers Punch Ticket to NCAA Final

OMAHA ? Sarah Pavan collected 22 kills and Tracy Stalls hit .577 with a career-high 17 kills as top-ranked Nebraska (32-1) overcame a first-game loss to defeat fourth-seed UCLA (33-4) 23-23, 30-28, 30-23, 30-28 on the strength of 22 kills from Pavan during the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship semifinals at the Qwest Center Omaha Thursday evening. The match was played in front of a NCAA match-record crowd of 17,013 fans.

Pavan collected a double-double with 22 kills and 10 digs, while Stalls finished the match with 19.5 points on 17 kills, three block assists and a block solo. Dani Mancuso chipped in 12 kills and two block assists for the Huskers. Kori Cooper contributed 11 points on eight kills and team-high six blocks while hitting .389 for the Huskers.

Jordan Larson scored five of her six kills in the final game to go with 25 digs and five block assists, while Rachel Hollway turned in 52 assists, 11 digs, five kills on nine errorless swings and two block assists. Dani Busboom charted a team and personal-career high 29 digs on defense, the second most by a Husker all-time in NCAA tournament history.

Nebraska advances to the national championship match on Saturday at 8 p.m. CT against Stanford, a 3-0 winner over Washington in Thursday's other semifinal. The Huskers extended their winning streak to nine matches, while UCLA had its eight-match win streak snapped.

UCLA never trailed in the opening game and broke open a two-point, 19-17 advantage, with a 7-0 run en route to a 30-23 win. Nebraska overcame a 5-1 deficit in the second game to tie it at 11-all, then needed to rally from 28-26 with the final four points to give the Bruins their first loss of the NCAA tournament at 30-28. The game victory also snapped UCLA’s 21-game win streak dating back to the regular season.

Nebraska hit .145 in the second game, but held UCLA to an even lower .130 attack percentage with 10 errors. Cooper turned in four blocks in the game, while Pavan connected for seven kills for the Huskers. Spicer tallied five kills and 12 assists for UCLA.

Nebraska gained the first two-point cushion of the third game with kills from Cooper and Stalls at 4-2. UCLA pulled close at 25-20 after Daley and Meriwether combined for a block to followup a Stalls service error, but the Huskers continued to push the lead to six points at 27-21. Nebraska picked up game point at 29-22 on a Bruin attack error. While the Bruins saved on game point the first time, Stalls followed with a quick middle kill to end the third game at 30-23. Stalls contributed seven kills on eight swings in the third game while the Huskers hit .312 as a team. UCLA was held to a .156 attack percentage in the period.

Nebraska broke a 13-all tie in the third set with a 10-0 run with Pavan serving out the run with two aces in leading the Huskers to a 30-23 victory.

Pavan connected for the first two points of the fourth game, followed by a Meriwether long attack to give the Huskers a 3-0 lead. The Huskers gained a four-point cushion at 10-6 after a Cooper kill and extended the lead to six points at 14-8 as Mancuso and Stalls started a 3-0 run with a block and ended on a Stalls kill. The Bruins closed the gap to one at 17-16 as Sather and Meriwether combined for blocks on consecutive players after Johnson nailed a kill as UCLA rolled off six of seven points in a row, and tied the game at 18-all on a Machado ace after a Sather kill.

The Bruins gained their first lead of the game at 19-18 on a Meriwether kill, but Nebraska regained the lead at 20-19 as Pavan and Stalls connected for consecutive kills. Holloway put down a second touch for a kill to give the Huskers a 21-19 advantage as part of a 3-0 run forcing UCLA into its second timeout. Pavan continued to roll, giving the Huskers a two-point cushion with an ace as part of a 3-0 run, while Stalls added to the run with a kill to put the Huskers ahead 25-22. Larson picked up just her fifth kill of the match to give the Huskers match point at 29-27, then connected with a kill on match point at 30-28.

Stalls tallied seven kills on eight errorless swings in the fourth game, while also leading a 4-0 run with three kills to overcome a 22-21 deficit in the final game.

Ali Daley paced UCLA with 16 kills and 15 digs, while adding three blocks, three assists and an ace. Kaitlin Sather contributed 15 kills, 11 digs and three blocks in the loss, while Nana Meriwether charted 12 kills and tema-high six blocks. Meriwether, an AVCA All-America First-Team selection, was held to a season low .190 attack percentage (previous low .222 against Arizona on Oct. 6). Nellie Spicer added 55 assists, 18 digs, six kills and two blocks. Katie Carter tallied seven kills and two block assists, while Colby Lyman added 17 digs.

Nebraska hit .225 for the match as a team and held UCLA to a .212 percentage. The Bruins held a 91-85 dig advantage, while both teams put up 10 team blocks and four aces.