No. 1 Huskers Open Big 12 Action against No. 7 Texas

No. 7 Texas (4-2)
at No. 1 Nebraska (7-0) Wed,, Sept. 12 ? NU Coliseum ? 7 p.m.
Tickets:  Sold Out (95th consecutive sellout at NU Coliseum)

Television:  NET (Ch. 12) and NET-HD (Ch. 112) with Larry Punteney and Kathi Wieskamp;   Simulcast Nationally on CSTV (Ch. 610 on DirecTV; Ch. 152)

Radio:  Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and KHUS 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on Huskers.com

Live Video and Stats : Huskers.com (free video on Wednesday)

While all of the campus is buzzing for the Husker football team’s showdown against No. 1 USC on Saturday, the Nebraska volleyball team also has a highly anticipated matchup this week, as No. 7 Texas visits to the NU Coliseum Wednesday night in the Big 12 opener for both teams. First serve between the Huskers (7-0, 0-0 Big 12) and Longhorns (4-2, 0-0 Big 12) is set for 7 p.m. in front of a sold-out NU Coliseum.

Fans that don’t have tickets can listen to both of Nebraska’s matches across the state on the Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and KHUS 93.3 FM in Omaha, as well as on the Internet at Huskers.com.  Wednesday’s match will also be shown on television across the state on Nebraska Educational Television (NET, Ch. 12) and on NET-HD, while also being simulcast live on College Sports Television (CSTV).

The Huskers come into Wednesday’s Big 12 opener riding a 17-match win streak dating back to last season following a pair of victories at the Ameritas Players Challenge last weekend. Senior outside hitter Christina Houghtelling paced the Huskers with 4.17 kills per game on .535 hitting and 3.00 digs per games to earn MVP honors. Houghtelling had a season-high 15 kills in the championship match against New Mexico State. Houghtelling has hit .350 or better in four of the Huskers’ last five contests, including back-to-back season bests in kills last weekend.

Texas presents another challenge for the Huskers, as the Longhorns are riding a four-match win streak since losing twice to No. 3 Penn State during the opening week of the season. The Longhorns, who were picked to finish second in the Big 12 in the league’s preseason poll, feature sophomore outside hitter Destinee Hooker, who is second in the Big 12 with an average of 4.67 kills per game and had 23 in their win over Pepperdine on Friday.

Start Time Set for Sept. 22 Match vs. Texas A&M
Nebraska’s match against Texas A&M at the NU Coliseum will now start at 7 p.m. and will be televised in the state of Nebraska on NET (Ch. 12) and NET-HD (Ch. 112). The match was listed as a TBA on the schedule until the football time for the NU-Ball State game was determined. That game will kickoff at 11:30 a.m. on pay-per-view.

NU Volleyball Quick Hits
?-Nebraska has won its last 16 matches against ranked foes dating back to the start of 2006
?-This season marks the second time that NU has opened Big 12 action against Texas. The other time was a Husker sweep in 2000.
?-With 1,621 kills, Sarah Pavan could pass and Allison Weston
(1,633) for second place on NU’s career kills list on Wednesday.
?-Christina Houghtelling’s 4.00 digs per game is on pace to be the highest average for an outside hitter in school history. The school record is 3.90 digs per game by Jennifer Saleaumua in 2003.
?-Tracy Stalls is hitting .600 and averaging 2.89 kills per game over NU’s last three matches, including sweeps of No. 17 Cal Poly and No. 11 Duke last week.

Worth Noting
?-Wednesday’s match between NU and Texas will be the sixth time since 1996 that both teams have been ranked in the top-10 nationally at game time. NU is 5-0 in the previous matchups.
?-Texas is the highest-ranked Big 12 opponent to visit the NU Coliseum in the Big 12 era (1996-present) and the highest-ranked opponent to play at the NU Coliseum since No. 4 Penn State in 2005.
?-The Huskers will be gunning for their 60th straight home victory against the Longhorns on Wednesday, a mark that would be fourth on the NCAA record list.
?-Nebraska has won its last 35 Big 12 matches at the NU Coliseum dating back to the 2003 season.
?-NU is 42-3 (.933) against ranked opponents since the start of the 2004 season and 78-11 (.876) against ranked foes under John Cook.
?-Wednesday’s match against Texas will be the 95th consecutive sellout at the Nebraska Coliseum. The Huskers are 88-6 at the NU Coliseum in that stretch.
?-Nebraska is 64-2 in its last 66 conference matches dating back to the 2003 season.
?-The Huskers have played their last 80 matches as the nation’s top-ranked team in the AVCA poll, dating back to the end of 2004 season. In that span, NU has a record of 76-4. In fact, Husker juniors Amanda Gates, Jordan Larson and Rachel Schwartz have been a part of the nation’s No. 1 team in every match during their collegiate careers.
?-With the No. 1 ranking in Monday’s CSTV/AVCA poll, the Huskers have spent 75 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 35 of the last 36 polls dating back to the start of 2005.
?-Nebraska has a 103-5 (.954) record since the start of the 2004 season.
?-Nebraska’s .409 hitting against New Mexico State on Saturday marked NU’s best hitting effort as a team since the 2006 NCAA Tournament, when the Huskers hit .423 against Northern Iowa.
?-All four of Jordan Larson’s double-doubles this fall have come against ranked opponents, including a 16-kill, 14-dig performance against No. 11 Duke on Friday.

Scouting Texas
Coach Jerritt Elliott (133-56 in seven seasons at UT) brings the Longhorns to town for Wednesday’s Big 12 opener with a 4-2 record and a four-match win streak. Texas dropped a pair of matches to No. 3 Penn State in State College the first weekend of the season, but Texas has roared back with four straight wins, including a victory over Pepperdine on Friday night. The Longhorns finished 2006 with a 24-7 record and a loss to NCAA runner-up Stanford in the regional final in Austin and were picked second by the Big 12 coaches in the league’s preseason poll.

The Longhorns are led by sophomore outside hitter Destinee Hooker, who is second in the Big 12 averaging 4.67 kills per game. Freshman outside hitter Juliann Faucette is eighth in the Big 12, averaging 4.00 kills per game, while senior All-American middle blocker Brandy Magee is second in the Big 12 in hitting percentage at .456 after missing nearly all of 2006 after knee surgery. Texas has been without one of its top players in sophomore All-American Ashley Engle, who has not played in UT’s last four matches. Senior setter Michelle Moriarty guides the Longhorn offense to a .285 hitting percentage, a total that is third in the league.

NU is 26-12 all-time against Texas in a series that dates back to 1981, and has won 14 of the last 15 meetings. Last season, the Huskers won in five games in Austin before sweeping Texas in the regular-season finale at the NU Coliseum. The most memorable match in NU-UT history was when the Huskers defeated Texas, 3-1, in the 1995 NCAA championship game in Amherst, Mass.

Husker Probable Starters
MB - #11 Tracy Stalls: 6-4, Sr., Denver, Colo. - Two-year captain who earned second-team AVCA All-America honors in 2006. Stalls leads the Big 12 in hitting percentage (.500), averaging 2.50 kills and 1.05 blocks per game in 2007. Stalls was named to the Ameritas Players Challenge All-Tournament team, averaging 3.00 kills per game on .654 hitting. Stalls hit over .600 in both matches, including a season-best .692 (9-0-13) against New Mexico State. She had 16 kills on .640 hitting and four blocks in a win over No. 5  UCLA to earn a spot on the AVCA Showcase All-Tournament Team.  Stalls averaged 2.67 kills and 1.41 blocks per game in 2006, leading the Big 12 in hitting percentage (.400) and ranking 11th nationally. She totaled a career-high 17 kills in the 2006 NCAA semifinals against UCLA, one of 13 matches with at least 10 kills in 2006. Stalls spent part of the summer with the USA National Team, playing in the Pan America Cup and averaging 2.25 kills per game while hitting .615.

MB - #15 Kori Cooper: 6-2, So., Amarillo, Texas - Second-year starter who shares the position with junior Amanda Gates. Cooper averages 2.21 kills and 0.95 blocks per game in 2007, while hitting .322 on the year. Cooper has reached double figures in kills twice in 2007, totaling 10 kills against No. 5 UCLA on Aug. 25 and versus No. 3 Penn State on Sept. 2. She totaled 10 kills on .350 hitting in a sweep of Penn State and hit .625 on eight swings against No. 17 Cal Poly on Sept. 3. She sparked NU to a win over UCLA in the AVCA Showcase with 10 kills on .526 hitting and four blocks. Cooper was one of two freshmen starters in 2006, averaging 1.67 kills and 0.95 blocks per game in 30 matches. She finished fourth in the Big 12 in hitting percentage (.344).

L - #5 Rachel Schwartz: 5-9, Jr., Lincoln, Neb. - Schwartz, who was NU’s defensive and serving specialist in 2006, won the starting libero job in fall camp. Schwartz is third on the team with 3.53 digs per game, establishing a career high with 17 digs against fifth-ranked UCLA on Aug. 25 and against No. 17 Cal Poly on Sept. 3. She started 29 matches in 2006, averaging 2.41 digs, 0.23 aces and 0.30 assists per game. She totaled double figures in digs a total of 15 times despite playing only three rotations.
-or- #19 Tara Mueller: 6-0, Fr., Scottsdale, Ariz. - Mueller made her first start at NU in Saturday’s sweep of New Mexico State. She totaled eight digs and added three assists in her first action at the position this year. Mueller is NU’s top reserve at outside hitter and had two kills and three blocks against Creighton on Aug. 21. A Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selection, Mueller was the 2005 Gatorade Player of the Year in Arizona and started this summer for the U.S. Junior National Team.

OPP - #9 Sarah Pavan: 6-5, Sr., Kitchener, Ontario - Pavan is a three-time first-team AVCA All-American and reigning Honda-Broderick Cup winner. Pavan averages a Big 12-best 5.05 kills, 1.95 digs and 0.41 service aces per game. Pavan has  was selected as the MVP of both the AVCA Showcase and the Holiday Inn Downtown Classic. She was the AVCA National Player of the Week on Aug. 27, totaling 39 kills on .385 hitting in a pair of wins. She was dominant in a sweep of No. 17 Cal Poly on Sept. 3, finishing with 17 kills on .485 hitting against the Mustangs.  Pavan tallied a match-high 25 kills, 12 digs and three blocks in a win over No. 5 UCLA on Aug. 25.  She was the AVCA National Player of the Year in 2006, leading the Big 12 in kills (5.10) and points per game (5.98), while hitting .313 on the season. Pavan reached double figures in kills in 33 of 34 matches as a junior, including 10 matches with at least 20 kills. Pavan, who needs 158 kills to break Allison Weston’s school record of 1,778, is on pace to become just the fourth four-time, first-team All-American in NCAA volleyball history. She carries a 4.0 GPA in biochemistry and was recognized as the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American of the Year for all sports at the Division I level for the 2006-07 year. She declined an opportunity to play with the Canadian team this summer to take an upper-level chemistry class so she can graduate this season. She made her Canadian National Team debut at age 16.

OH - #10 Jordan Larson: 6-2, Jr., Hooper, Neb. - Larson is one of the country’s top all-around performers, earning first-team AVCA All-America honors in 2006. She enters Wednesday’s match averaging 3.82 kills and 3.73 digs per game after earning all-tournament honors in NU’s first two weekends of action. Larson, who is 10th in the league in digs, has a team-best four double-doubles, all of which have come against ranked opponents. She recorded a season-high 16 kills and a match-high 14 digs against No. 11 Duke on Sept. 7. Larson had 11 kills, 15 digs and a season-high five blocks against No. 5 UCLA on Aug. 25. Last year, she averaged 4.13 kills and 3.50 digs per game and was the  only player in the Big 12 to rank in the top 10 in both categories. She was the Big 12’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year and totaled a team-high 22 double-doubles in 2006. Larson had 19 kills on .378 hitting and 15 digs in the win over No. 2 Stanford in the NCAA title match. She was also the Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA Gainesville Regional with 3.62 kills, 3.25 digs and 0.50 aces per game, highlighted by a career-high 21 kills and 17 digs in the regional final against No. 9 Minnesota.

OH - #3 Christina Houghtelling: 6-2, Sr., Cambridge, Neb. - Houghtelling has returned to her 2005 form after missing all of last season after shoulder surgery. She leads all Big 12 outside hitters in digs and ranks eighth overall with 4.00 per game while also averaging 3.33 kills per game. Houghtelling has been on a tear in recent matches, averaging 4.11 kills on .479 hitting and 2.89 digs per game over NU’s last three matches. She was the MVP of the Amertias Players Challenge last weekend, hitting .535 and averaging 4.167 kills, 3.00 digs and 0.67 blocks per game. She recorded a season-high 15 kills on .519 hitting and nine digs in the sweep of New Mexico State. Houghtelling had 12 kills and hit .379 against No. 17 Cal Poly. She had two double-doubles (vs. Penn State and UCLA), including a career-high 23 digs against the Bruins on Aug. 25. She topped NU in digs in both matches at the AVCA Showcase en route to Big 12 Defensive Player-of-the-Week honors, highlighted by a career-best 23 digs against No. 5 UCLA on Aug. 25. She was the 2005 AVCA Player of the Year, averaging 3.69 kills, 2.49 digs and 1.03 blocks per game in helping the Huskers to 33 wins and an NCAA finals appearance. Houghtelling was among the Big 12 leaders in both kills (10th) and hitting percentage (.375, fifth) in 2005. She tied for the team-lead with six double-doubles, including a 19-kill, 20-dig performance against Kansas State. She also was a first-team Academic All-American who carries a 3.90 GPA entering her final college semester.

S - #12 Rachel Holloway: 5-10, So., Franklin, Tenn. - Holloway is one of five AVCA All-Americans in the Husker lineup and held her job despite a strong challenge from senior Maggie Griffin in fall camp. Holloway is second in the Big 12 with 13.68 assists per game and also chips in 2.91 digs per game. Holloway guides an offense that leads the Big 12 in kills and ranks second in hitting percentage, despite playing four ranked teams in seven matches. She has two double-doubles on the year - a 35 assist, 12-dig outing against Creighton on Aug. 31 and  61 assist, 16-dig effort against No. 5 UCLA on Aug. 25. Holloway, who earned all-tournament honors in each of the past two weeks, comes off a solid perfomance on Saturday, totaling 39 assists, eight digs, six kills and four blocks against New Mexico State. The Huskers hit a season-best .409 against the Aggies and have been over .330 in each of their last three matches. She piloted NU to a then-season-best .397 hitting against No. 17 Cal Poly on Sept. 4. She was a third-team All-American in 2006, piloting an offense that led the nation in assists (16.20/gm) and kills (17.40/gm) and ranked second in hitting percentage (.295). She averaged 13.43 assists, 2.49 digs and 1.11 kills per game, finishing 11th nationally in assists. Holloway, who was only the second freshman in NCAA history to be a starting setter for a title team, totaled 13 double-doubles in 2006. She tallied a career-high 65 assists in the NCAA Regional title win over Minnesota.

Ameritas Players Challenge Rewind
Nebraska wrapped up its pre-conference schedule with a pair of sweeps to win the Ameritas Players Challenge over the weekend. Christina Houghtelling earned tournament MVP honors and was joined on the all-tournament team by Rachel Holloway and Tracy Stalls. It was the Huskers’ third straight tournament title this fall.

vs. No. 11 Duke (W, 3-0): Behind a double-double from Jordan Larson, the Huskers opened the Ameritas Players Challenge with a 3-0 sweep of No. 11 Duke a the NU Coliseum.   Larson led the Huskers with 16 kills and 14 digs, propelling NU to its fifth sweep of the season. It was Larson’s fourth double-double in the Huskers’ last five contests, all of which have come against ranked foes.
 Larson was one of three Huskers to finish in double figures, as All-Americans Sarah Pavan and Christina Houghtelling chipped in 12 and 10 kills, respectively.   With her 12 kills on Friday, Pavan moved past three-time All-American Nancy Metcalf for sole possession of third place on NU’s career kills list with 1,608, bettering Metcalf’s total of 1,603 from 1997 to 2001.
 Houghtelling fell one dig shy of a double-double, totaling 10 kills on .562 hitting and nine digs along with a pair of aces. 
 The Huskers hit .336 as a team against Duke, as Houghtelling and Tracy Stalls (nine kills on .615 hitting) combined for most of the damage

 vs. New Mexico State (W, 3-0):  Behind a season-high 15 kills from tournament MVP Christina Houghtelling, Nebraska improved to 7-0 on the year with a 30-17, 30-25, 30-22 sweep of New Mexico State at the Nebraska Coliseum.
 Houghtelling was dominant against the Aggies, hitting .519 on 27 swings and adding three blocks and nine digs. For the weekend, she averaged 4.17 kills per game on .535 hitting and 3.00 digs per game.
 Houghtelling was joined by teammates Tracy Stalls and Rachel Holloway on the seven-member all-tournament squad.  Stalls finished with nine kills and set season bests in both hitting percentage (.692) and blocks (five) while Holloway guided the Huskers to a season-high .409 hitting against the Aggies and recorded season bests in both kills (six) and blocks (four).

Two AVCA Players of the Year in the Same Lineup...Never Happened Before 2007
With Sarah Pavan winning the AVCA National Player-of-the-Year Award in 2006, Nebraska has now had four AVCA National Players of the Year, including three this decade.  With the return of 2005 AVCA National Player of the Year Christina Houghtelling to the lineup this year, the Huskers are the first team in NCAA volleyball history to field two former AVCA National Players of the Year on the court at one time. 

Pavan and Houghtelling look to become only the fifth player in college volleyball history to win the AVCA honor more than once, joining Logan Tom (Stanford, 2001-02); Misty May (Long Beach State, 1997-98); Tara Cross (Long Beach State, 1988-89) and Teee Williams (Hawaii, 1987-89).

Nebraska Looks to Join Repeat Club
 This fall, the Huskers will look to join an elite list, as only five programs have repeated as national champions. The most recent was USC, which took home back-to-back titles in both 2002 and 2003.

Nebraska at No. 1 - It’s a Record
 Nebraska has now spent 75 weeks all-time at No. 1 in the AVCA poll, the most weeks at No. 1 of any Division I program. In all, 56 of the 75 weeks at No. 1 have come under Coach John Cook. Nebraska is one of two teams to be ranked in the AVCA Coaches poll for all 355 weeks of its existence. The Huskers have been ranked in the top 10 for 321 weeks, which trails only Stanford’s 325 weeks in the top 10. Dating back to the end of the 2004 season, Nebraska has played its last 80 matches as the nation’s No. 1 team, going an impressive 76-4 in that stretch.

Huskers Enjoy Home-Court Advantage
 From Lincoln to Omaha to North Platte, Nebraska has enjoyed overwhelming support across the state. The Huskers have won their last 65 matches in the state, including matches in Omaha and North Platte, dating back to 2004.
 With its two wins last weekend at the Ameritas Players Challenge, the Huskers have extended their home-court win streak to 59 matches - the fourth-longest streak in NCAA history. Nebraska is the only program to have two win streaks among the top-five all-time.

A Harbinger of Things to Come?
 Traditonally, the winner of the AVCA Showcase has fared well in the postseason, and the Huskers will look to continue that trend in 2007. Of the 12 previous winners, 10 have advanced to the NCAA National Semifinals, including five of the past six seasons. The two previous times NU won the showcase (2001 and 2005), the Huskers advanced to the NCAA Semifinals.

Pavan Leads Powerful Husker Attack
 Nebraska returns one of college volleyball’s most prolific players in right-side hitter Sarah Pavan. A three-time All-American, Pavan will look to become only the fourth player in NCAA history to become a four-time first-team All-American and has enjoyed an impressive start to the 2007 campaign.
 ?-Garnered AVCA National Player of the Week for the second time in her career after averaging 5.57 kills per game on .382 hitting, 2.00 digs, 1.00 blocks and 0.43 service aces per game.
 ?-Totaled 25 kills and 12 digs in NU’s victory over UCLA, the second-highest kill total of her career. Her 25 kills against the Bruins were NU’s third-highest total under John Cook.
 ?-Collected MVP honors at the Holiday Inn Players Challenge, averaging 5.33 kills and 2.11 digs per game in three victories, including sweeps over No. 3 Penn State and No. 17 Cal Poly.  She finished with 17 kills on a season-high .483 hitting against Cal Poly.
 In addition to her volleyball accomplishments, Pavan maintains a perfect 4.0 GPA in biochemisty and was the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American of the Year in Division I in 2006-07.

Pavan Meets the Challenge
 Throughout her career, All-American Sarah Pavan has saved her best performances for NU’s toughest tests. In 45 career matches against ranked foes entering Wednesday’s Big 12 opener with Texas, Pavan is averaging 4.59 kills per game, well above her career average of 4.52 kills per game for all matches.

Awarding Pavan
 With her selection as the Honda-Broderick Cup winner in June, Nebraska’s Sarah Pavan became just the fourth volleyball player to win one of the most coveted awards in college athletics. She became the first Nebraska student-athlete to be selected and is the Big 12’s first winner of the award, which recognizes individual and team accomplishments as well as academic excellence.

She’s Back: Houghtelling Returns to ?05 Form
 After missing all of last season after shoulder surgery, it has not taken outside hitter Christina Houghtelling long to get back into the swing of things. The senior from Cambridge is third on the team averaging 3.30 kills per game and is eighth in the conference with 4.00 digs per game.
 Houghtelling has been honored twice for her performances, winning the Ameritas Players Challenge MVP award on Sept. 8, as she totaled 25 kills and just two errors on 43 swings and averaged 3.00 digs per game in a pair of sweeps. She hit over .500 in both matches, including a season-high .562 (10-1-16) against No. 11 Duke. It was her best offensive performance since the 2005 NCAA regional title match aganist Florida.
  Houghtelling was the Big 12’s inaugural Defensive Player of the Week following the AVCA Showcase, averaging 5.00 digs and 0.86 blocks per game, highlighted by a career-high 23 digs in the Huskers victory over No. 5 UCLA. She has a pair of double-doubles and started last week with a solid match against No. 17 Cal Poly on Sept. 3, delivering 12 kills on .379 hitting and eight digs.

Larson Provides All-Around Skills
 While the Huskers return two AVCA National Players of the Year, Nebraska’s most valuable all-around performer could be junior outside hitter Jordan Larson.
 A first-team All-American in 2006, Larson is second on the team in both kills (3.82) and digs (3.73) while ranking among Big 12 leaders in digs (10th), service aces (0.45, seventh) and points per game (4.68, eighth).
 Larson, who had 22 double-doubles last season, has continued the pace this season, recording four in the Huskers’ first seven contests - all against ranked opponents. Larson now has 31 double-doubles during her Husker career. Against No. 11 Duke, Larson had a season-high 16 kills and 14 digs.

Larson is Dealing Aces
 Larson is quickly closing in on Nebraska’s top-10 list for career aces. Entering Wednesday’s match with Texas, she needs seven aces to tie Kathi DeBoer and Nikki Stricker for ninth place on NU’s career list.

The Set-Up on Holloway
 Sophomore Rachel Holloway guides one of the most prolific offensive attacks in college volleyball. The sophomore earned All-America honors in 2006 and  is second in the Big 12 by averaging 13.68 assists per game. She guides a Husker attack that leads the Big 12 in both kills and assists per game, while helping the Huskers hit .300 or better five times in seven matches.
 Holloway totaled a season-high 61 assists against fifth-ranked UCLA on Aug. 25 - one of two matches with at least 50 assists this season. Holloway has made strides in her defensive play as well, averaging 2.91 digs per game. She enjoyed one of her best all-around matches against New Mexico State on Sept. 8, dishing out 39 assists as NU hit a season-high .407 while also adding eight digs and season-bests in both kills (six) and blocks (four).
 Wednesday’s match against Texas takes on special meaning for Holloway, as her older sister (Sarah) played at UT in 2004, while her older brother (Tillman) and late grandfather (Bud McFadin) were both All-America football players at Texas.

Huskers Continue Big 12 Dominance 
 Nebraska’s Big 12 title in 2006 continues one of the most successful runs in NCAA history. The Huskers have won nine Big 12 titles in the last 11 years and 28 Big Eight/Big 12 crowns in 31 years. Over the last decade, Nebraska is 206-14 in Big 12 matches, including 135-5 under Head Coach John Cook.

Nebraska: All-American U 
 Nebraska continued its string of All-America success in 2006 with four Huskers earning AVCA All-America accolades.  Rachel Holloway, Jordan Larson, Sarah Pavan and Tracy Stalls were all selected, increasing Nebraska’s NCAA-leading totals to 29 players and 57 certificates, respectively. Nebraska has had at least one All-American every season since 1983, a total of 25 straight seasons, including 22 in Cook’s seven seasons.

Cook’s Winning Ways 
 Nebraska Coach John Cook has been amazingly successful during his tenure, posting a 227-14 record (.942 winning percentage). All 14 losses have come against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament, including the eventual NCAA champion in 2001 (Stanford), 2002 (USC) and 2005 (Washington).
 A two-time AVCA National Coach of the Year, Cook has enjoyed greater success in the Big 12, going 135-5 in conference play in his seven years at Nebraska. The Huskers have won six Big 12 titles over the last seven seasons (2000-02, 2004-06) and have dropped just 49 of the 463 conference games they have played over the past six years, good for an .894 winning percentage.

Nebraska Coliseum: Sold Out for 2007
 Coming off a national title, it was no coincidence that interest in Nebraska volleyball is at an all-time high. When single-match tickets at the NU Coliseum went on sale on Aug. 1, they were scooped up in 45 minutes, insuring that Nebraska’s NCAA record streak of Coliseum sellouts would reach triple figures by the end of the year. Fans began camping out in front of the ticket office 16 hours before tickets went on sale. Prior to this season, the quickest NU had ever sold out its Coliseum matches was nine days.
 The Huskers will carry a streak of 94 consecutive sellouts at the NU Coliseum into Wednesday’s match with Texas. The streak began with a 10-game stretch to close the 2001 campaign, and has carried over through the last five seasons. The last non-sellout came on Sept. 25, 2001, against Creighton.

Husker Volleyball on Television
 A total of 10 regular-season Nebraska volleyball matches will be televised this season, as the NU Athletic Department released its 2007 volleyball TV schedule.
 Eight of the matches will be carried nationally on either CSTV or FSN, including seven matches on the AVCA’s Match of the Week series.
 The seven-match NET broadcast schedule begins on Wednesday, Sept. 12, as the Huskers take on seventh-ranked Texas in the Big 12 opener for both teams. All of the NET volleyball telecasts will be shown in high definition across the state on NET-HD.
 The NU-Texas match is the first of five matches carried live on both NET and CSTV with the others being Big 12 contests against Kansas State (Oct. 3; 7 p.m.), Iowa State (Oct. 10; 7 p.m.), Missouri (Oct. 31; 7 p.m.) and Colorado (Nov. 7; 7 p.m.).
 In addition, NET also will exclusively carry Nebraska’s matches against Texas A&M on Saturday, Sept. 22, and against Hawaii from the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Sunday, Oct. 21.

Husker Volleyball: Drawing a Crowd
 The Nebraska volleyball program has shown its ability to be one of the top draws in college women’s athletics. Not only do the Huskers enjoy an NCAA record volleyball sellout streak, but they have also played in front of the three largest crowds in the country this year.
Nebraska’s match against Penn State in Omaha on Sept. 2 drew an NCAA regular-season record crowd of 13,081, shattering the old mark of 12,504 set by the Huskers in the Bob Devaney Sports Center during the 2000 season.
The new record will likely be in the books for only a few weeks, as Nebraska’s match with Hawaii on Oct. 21 will be a sellout. NU stopped ticket sales last week, at nearly 13,000, with the remaining tickets set aside for UNL students.

Success in the Classroom
 Nebraska continued to excel in the classroom in 2006, as Sarah Pavan was named the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year, not only in volleyball, but in all sports in the University division. She became the second Husker student-athlete to ever receive this distinction and the first since former Husker Rob Zatechka in 1994.
 The Huskers have had 29 academic All-Americans in volleyball, including at least one in 19 of the past 23 seasons. In July, Nebraska was also awarded the AVCA GamePlan Academic Team award for the 12th time, the most of any Division I program.
 Pavan may meet her toughest test to repeat as Academic All-American of the Year from her own team NU’s starting lineup includes three senior All-Americans with GPAs of 3.90 or better in Sarah Pavan (4.00 in biochemistry), Tracy Stalls (3.946 in an individualized program of studies) and Christina Houghtelling (3.90 in elementary education).

Huskers Join 1,000 Win Club
 WIth the season-opening victory over Tennessee at the AVCA Showcase on Aug. 25, Nebraska became just the third program in NCAA Division I history to reach the 1,000-win plateau, joining UCLA and Missouri State.
The Huskers’ win over UCLA in the championship match of the AVCA Showcase marked the first-ever meeting between programs with 1,000 wins.

Husker Recruiting Class Among Nations’ Best
 Nebraska’s incoming class of freshmen is very well thought of around the country, as the class was ranked fifth nationally by both Volleyball Magazine and Prepvolleyball.com.
 The group includes four Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selections in Kayla Banwarth, Brooke Delano, Lindsey Licht, Tara Mueller along with walk-on Jordan Willberger. Licht enrolled in January and went through spring drills with the team.

Huskers Tabbed by Big 12 Coaches
 Defending national champion Nebraska has been selected as the preseason favorite to win the Big 12 volleyball title for the 11th consecutive season in a vote of the league’s head coaches.
 The Huskers received 10 of the possible 11 first-place votes while tallying 100 points overall.  Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams.  Last season, NU earned its third NCAA title after going 33-1 overall and 19-1 against the league for its third straight Big 12 crown and ninth title in 11 years of Big 12 action.
 Right-side hitter Sarah Pavan, the 2006 AVCA Player of the Year, headlines a deep and talented Husker roster.  Four additional All-Americans will also be featured among the returning starters -- setter Rachel Holloway, outside hitters Christina Houghtelling and Jordan Larson and middle blocker Tracy Stalls.  
 In addition to those five All-Americans, the Huskers also feature three other players with starting experience from a year ago, including middle blockers Kori Cooper and Amanda Gates and defensive specialist Rachel Schwartz, who moved to libero this fall.
 Texas was second behind NU with 91 points, including one first-place vote.  The Longhorns were followed by Missouri, Texas A&M and Colorado filling the top five spots.  Iowa State was sixth with Kansas State, Baylor, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Tech rounding out the poll. 
 Nebraska also paced the conference with a Big 12 record five preseason All-Big 12 selections, including Holloway, Houghtelling, Larson, Pavan and Stalls.

Husker Volleyball and Team USA
 Members of the Nebraska volleyball program had a busy summer representing USA Volleyball in competitions all over the world.
 ?-Senior middle blocker Tracy Stalls returned to the U.S. National team for the first time since 2004 and helped Team USA to a fourth-place finish at the Pan American Cup in Colima, Mexico. Stalls started the first three matches before suffering a slight knee injury that knocked her out of competition. In her three matches, she averaged 2.25 kills per game on .615 hitting, highlighted by 13 kills on 18 swings against Argentina and eight kills on 10 swings in a five-game match over the Dominican Republic.
 ?-Freshman outside hitter Tara Mueller started for the U.S. Junior National Team in July at the Under-20 World Championships in Thailand, helping Team USA to a fourth-place finish. Mueller started all seven matches at libero, ranked third among all tournament players in digs with 36 and eighth in serve reception percentage.
 ?-Assistant Coach Lee Maes served as the Head Coach of the USA Junior National A2 Team, leading them to a perfect 5-0 record and a gold medal at the 2007 European Global Challenge in Pula, Croatia.