Noting the NCAA Volleyball Championship

Top-seeded Nebraska and No. 2 Stanford square off tonight for the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship at the Qwest Center. The match begins at 8 p.m. and can be seen live on ESPN2.

Below is a look at some of the details of tonight's national championship match.

Nebraska Pregame Notes vs. Stanford (Dec. 16)

• Saturday has already been a successful day for the Husker program, as former Husker and two-time AVCA All-American Jennifer Saleaumua (2002-05) participated in graduation ceremonies in Lincoln. Coach Cook went down this morning to attend the ceremonies, as Saleaumua became the first female in her family to receive a college degree.
• The Huskers are making their sixth appearance in the NCAA finals (1986, 1989, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2006) and are 2-3 in their previous five title matches.
• Nebraska is only the third team in NCAA Division volleyball history to reach the finals after earning a runner-up finish the season before. In both previous instances, the team won the national title in the second go-around (UCLA, 1983-84 and Penn State 1998-99)
• Stanford leads the all-time series with Nebraska, 7-4, but have split the two meetings since John Cook took over as the Huskers’ coach in 2000. NU swept the Cardinal, 3-0, in the 2005 AVCA Showcase here at Qwest Center Omaha. Three of the previous meetings have taken place in the NCAA Tournament - all in the national semifinals (1986, 1996, 2001).
• A Nebraska win would be the first time since 1991 that a team has won a national title on one of its home courts.
• Stanford (82-20) and Nebraska (69-22) rank first and second among all NCAA Division I teams in postseason wins. A Husker win would give Nebraska its third NCAA title, a total that would tie for second in NCAA history.
• Nebraska looks to become the third team in NCAA history to lead the AVCA poll the entire season, as only UCLA (1992) and USC (2003) have accomplished the feat since the poll’s inception in 1982.
• The 2006 Huskers are the first team in school history to reach the NCAA finals in consecutive years
• The Huskers have played their last 72 matches as the nation’s top-ranked team in the AVCA poll, dating back to the 2004 season. In that span, NU has a record of 68-4.
• Since 1986, every four-year senior class except one (1994) has been to at least one national semifinal during their Husker career.
• Seniors Dani Mancuso and Dani Busboom have helped Nebraska to a 122-10 record (.924), two NCAA Finals appearances and three Big 12 titles over the last four years. The pair of seniors could finish their careers with the most wins over a four-year stretch since the NCAA era begin in 1981.
• Nebraska has won its last 57 matches in the state of Nebraska, dating back to the 2004 season, including wins in Lincoln, Omaha and North Plate.
• NU is 37-3 (.925) against ranked opponents since the start of the 2004 season and 74-11 (.871) under John Cook since 2000. This season, NU is a perfect 11-0 against ranked foes, including eight wins by sweep.
• Nebraska’s 20-1 record against NCAA Tournament teams this season is the best record in the country, while Stanford has gone 18-3 against NCAA qualifiers.
• Sarah Pavan’s selection as AVCA Player of the Year on Friday night marked the fourth time a Husker volleyball player has won the prestigious honor, joining Allison Weston (1995), Greichaly Cepero (2000) and Christina Houghtelling (2005). It is the first time in the AVCA Award’s history that one school has had consecutive recipients with different winners.
• Pavan also became the second NCAA Division I volleyball player to win both AVCA Player-of-the-Year and ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American of the Year honors, joining former Stanford great Ogonna Nnamani in 2004.
• Sarah Pavan now has 17 career matches with at least 20 kills (7 in 2004; 1 in 2005; 9 in 2006) a total that is nearly half of NU’s total of 35 since the 2000 season. Three other current Huskers have had at least one 20-kill match during their Husker careers: Jordan Larson (21 vs. Minn and 20 vs. K-State this season), Dani Mancuso (2004 at K-State) and Christina Houghtelling (2005 at Oklahoma).
• WIth 564 kills this season, Sarah Pavan is in third place on NU’s single-season list. She needs 17 kills to pass Lisa Reitsma (580, 1999). She also is 12 kills away from reaching 1,500 for her career.
• All-American Tracy Stalls leads the Big 12 with a .413 hitting percentage, a mark that would rank second in Big 12 history. It would also be the highest hitting percentage since Virginia Stahr’s school-record .440 hitting percentage set in 1999. Stalls had a career-high 17 kills against UCLA.
• With 387 digs this season, Jordan Larson is 13 digs away from becoming the fifth Husker to reach 400 digs in a season, making the first time NU has had two players total 400 digs in a year. Dani Busboom has a school-record 559 digs this season.
• With Thursday’s win over UCLA, Nebraska guaranteed the best winning percentage in the country. Winthrop, which lost in the first round to UNI in Lincoln, is second nationally with a 34-3 record (.919 winning pct.).