Husker Volleyball Announces 2007 Schedule

Lincoln ? Three in-season home tournaments and 16 matches against NCAA Tournament qualifiers highlight the 2007 Nebraska volleyball schedule released Monday by Head Coach John Cook.

The Huskers, who return five starters from last season’s national championship squad, will be challenged with one of the toughest schedules in all of college volleyball. Seven of NU’s eight non-conference opponents participated in postseason play a year ago, including regional finalists Hawaii and Penn State, and the Huskers could potentially meet national semifinalist UCLA at the AVCA Showcase in Omaha during the first weekend of competition.

According to Cook, the combination of the non-conference schedule and a rigorous Big 12 slate will challenge a veteran Husker squad.

“We are doing everything we can to challenge our team and play the best teams in the country,” Cook said. “We also want to make sure we are bringing in the best teams in the country for our fans to create marquee events. Sometimes it is not easy, but it is something that the sport needs to do more of to promote itself across the country. We applaud the teams like Hawaii and Penn State that wanted to come here and help us create great events that this sport needs.”

Season-ticket renewals will be mailed out in May, as the 2007 season-ticket package also includes tickets for NU’s match against Penn State at the Qwest Center and the Devaney Center match against Hawaii. Single-match tickets will go on sale later this summer and fans are encouraged to check on Huskers.com for updates.

“The other thing we wanted to do with our schedule was to give our fans who aren’t able to go to the NU Coliseum several opportunities to see this team in person, whether it is at the Devaney Center or in Omaha at the Qwest Center,” Cook said. “We know how much support we get from around the state and it was important for us to play a couple of matches in bigger venues to give more of our fans a chance to see us play.”

The 2007 schedule begins in Omaha, as the Huskers open the season with the AVCA Showcase at the Qwest Center on Aug. 24-25. NU will square off in one semifinal with a Tennessee squad that went 19-12 and reached the NCAA Tournament while UCLA and Utah meet in the other semifinal. The following night, NU will face either UCLA, which finished 33-4 and was ranked third in the country, or Utah, which went 28-4 en route to winning the Mountain West title. Tickets for the AVCA Showcase are currently on sale at Ticketmaster locations throughout the state and at Ticketmaster.com

The following weekend, Nebraska will host one of the nation’s premier in-season tournaments with the Labor Day Classic. This four-team tournament features Big Ten champion Penn State, Big West champion Cal Poly and Creighton. The marquee day will be Sunday, Sept. 2, as Nebraska will take on Penn State, which finished 32-3 and was ranked fifth nationally, while Creighton squares off with Cal Poly in a doubleheader at Qwest Center Omaha.

The Huskers’ final tournament before the start of Big 12 play will be the following weekend with the third-annual Players Challenge at the NU Coliseum on Sept. 7-8.  The field for that weekend’s tournament will be NCAA qualifiers Duke, Louisville and New Mexico State, although pairings for that tournament have not been determined.

Nebraska opens Big 12 action with a bang on Wednesday, Sept. 12, as regional finalist Texas visits the NU Coliseum. In all, six Big 12 teams reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year with three teams (Nebraska, Texas and Oklahoma) advancing to regional play.

NU steps out of league action for the final time on Sunday, Oct. 21, when the Huskers host national power Hawaii at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Rainbow Wahine was 29-6 and won the Western Athletic Conference crown in 2006. It is Hawaii’s first trip to Lincoln since the 2002 NCAA Regional.

The Huskers return five starters from a team that went 33-1 and won the school’s third national title in 2006. The Huskers return 2006 Honda Award Winner and AVCA National Player of the Year Sarah Pavan, along with AVCA All-Americans Jordan Larson, Tracy Stalls and Rachel Holloway. In addition, 2005 AVCA National Player of the Year Christina Houghtelling returns for the 2007 season after missing all of last season after shoulder surgery.