Huskers Sweep Baylor

Lincoln ? The top-ranked Nebraska volleyball team welcomed the return of sophomore Kori Cooper to the lineup with an emphatic statement, sweeping Baylor, 30-15, 30-12, 30-13 Saturday night at the Nebraska Coliseum.

Cooper, who had missed NU’s last two matches with a viral infection, returned in a big way, matching her career high with 12 kill without an error on 17 swings, good for a career-high .706 hitting percentage.

"I think it creates a desire and motivation to want to do well," Nebraska Coach John Cook said about Cooper’s return. "This is a fun team to play on. When you have to step out of it, you’re very motivated to do well."

There was plenty for Cook to smile about on Saturday, as the Huskers (12-0, 5-0 Big 12) hit an eye-popping .500 as a team on 94 swings, with every starting attacker hitting over .450 in the process. Cooper, who also had 12 kills at Iowa State as a freshman, reached double figures in kills for the fourth time this season.

Cooper was one of three Huskers to record at least 10 kills on Saturday Sarah Pavan led NU with 13 kills on .476 hitting and three aces, while Christina Houghtelling totaled 12 kills and a match-high 16 digs for her third double-double of the season.

Cook credited the Huskers’ strong offensive showing to the performance of sophomore Rachel Holloway, who dished out 39 assists and added a career-high three service aces, six digs and three kills. Holloway guided the Huskers to their best hitting percentage in Big 12 play since 2002 and the 12th highest night in school history. NU was hitting well over .500 through the first two games against a Bears squad that led the conference in digs and ranked second in blocks coming into Saturday’s match.

"Holloway was really good tonight," You saw a great setter tonight. For people who understand volleyball, Holloway was doing some really good things out there on the court."

Cook also attributed the Huskers’ showing to a team meeting earlier today, as the Huskers looked to improve as the season rolls to the halfway point.

"We have four great seniors on this team who understand what it takes to be a great team," Cook said. "When they meet, probably a lot of good things are going to come out of it. After Wednesday, I think they wanted to come out and play well tonight. Even though we won fairly easily down at Kansas, we just didn’t feel good about the way we played. For this group, they know the level they can crank it up to. They have fun when they do it and that’s what it’s all about for them."

The Huskers came out firing on all cylinders offensively, hitting .517 as a team in posting a 30-15 victory in the opener. Pavan led the onslaught with six kills on seven swings and added a pair of aces, while Jordan Larson chipped in four kills on just six swings. Rachel Holloway got NU started by running off five straight points at the service line on NU’s opening rotation, helping the Huskers win six of the first seven rallies before Baylor called timeout. The Huskers scored on eight of the first 10 swings of night, and pushed the lead to 15-6 as Houghtelling ripped a laser from behind the 10-foot line past Baylor’s triple block. Trailing 19-9, Baylor ran off four straight points to pull within 19-13, but that would be as close as the Bears would get, as NU closed the game on an 11-1 run, highlighted by a pair of Pavan aces two serves apart.

Game two saw the depth of NU’s attack, as Christina Houghtelling’s eight kills pace NU to a 30-12 victory. The senior had nearly twice as many kills as Baylor’s entire team, totaling eight kills on 11 swings as NU hit .545. She totaled three early kills in an 8-2 Husker spurt, helping NU jumped to a quick five-point lead. The Huskers eventually pushed the margin to 15-6 after an ace by Holloway, before Baylor made a run. The Bears got to within 17-10, but Houghtelling’s kill began a run of eight unanswered points with Rachel Schwartz at the service line. NU eventually pushed the lead to 25-10 after Houghtelling’s seventh kill of the game.

In the finale, NU’s defense held Baylor to -.031 hitting in a 30-13 victory. Cooper and freshman Tara Mueller combined for nine kills without an error on 15 swings, as NU went to its bench early on. The Huskers enjoyed spurts of 7-0 and 5-0 in leading from wire to wire. Mueller totaled all four of her kills in the finale, including the final point of the night to wrap the match up in just 74 minutes. It was NU’s 11th straight sweep and marked the first time since 1995 that NU went an entire September without dropping a game.

Katie Sanders led Baylor (8-8, 1-5 Big 12) with 12 kills, while no other player had at least five kills.

The Huskers return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 3, as they take on Kansas State at the NU Coliseum. Fans can watch the match live on Nebraska Educational Television (Ch. 12 or Ch. 112) or listen to the match on the Husker Sports Network.

The Automated ScoreBook Baylor vs #1 Nebraska (Sep 29, 2007 at Lincoln, NE)

Baylor | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN ## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 Modglin, Amanda..... 2| 3 1 8 .250| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0 9 Barnes, Taylor...... 3| 0 3 4 -.750| 19| 0 1| 0| 4| 0 0 1| 1 14 Breyfogle, Anna..... 3| 3 2 13 .077| 0| 0 0| 0| 2| 1 1 0| 1 15 Thomas, Haley....... 3| 1 2 15 -.067| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 1 0| 0 22 Sanders, Katie...... 3| 10 4 27 .222| 0| 0 0| 2| 6| 0 1 1| 0 24 Christenson, Ashlie. 3| 4 2 16 .125| 0| 0 2| 4| 0| 0 0 1| 0 2 Trice, Caitlin...... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0 6 Byrd, Ashley........ 1| 1 1 3 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 1 0| 0 11 Smith, Kelsey....... 3| 0 1 7 -.143| 0| 0 0| 1| 2| 0 0 0| 0 18 Schramek, Kristen... 3| 0 0 1 .000| 0| 0 0| 2| 6| 0 0 0| 0 21 Bates, Mady......... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals.............. 3| 22 16 94 .064| 19| 0 5| 9| 23| 1 4 3| 2

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 3.0 Game K E TA Pct 1 11 5 35 .171 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS 2 5 4 27 .037 Baylor.............. (0) 15 12 13 8-8, 1-5 Big 12 3 6 7 32 -.031 Nebraska............ (3) 30 30 30 11-0, 5-0 Big 12

Nebraska | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN ## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Houghtelling, Chris. 3| 12 2 19 .526| 1| 1 1| 0| 16| 0 1 0| 0 9 Pavan, Sarah........ 3| 13 3 21 .476| 0| 3 2| 0| 6| 1 2 0| 0 10 Larson, Jordan...... 3| 8 2 13 .462| 2| 1 1| 0| 6| 0 0 0| 0 11 Stalls, Tracy....... 3| 5 1 7 .571| 2| 0 0| 0| 3| 1 1 0| 0 12 Holloway, Rachel.... 3| 3 2 9 .111| 39| 3 0| 0| 6| 0 0 1| 1 15 Cooper, Kori........ 3| 12 0 17 .706| 1| 0 0| 0| 0| 2 2 0| 0 1 Griffin, Maggie..... 2| 0 0 0 .000| 4| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0 2 Banwarth, Kayla..... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 2| 1 1| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0 4 Licht, Lindsey...... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0 5 Schwartz, Rachel.... 2| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 2| 0| 11| 0 0 0| 0 19 Mueller, Tara....... 1| 4 0 8 .500| 1| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals.............. 3| 57 10 94 .500| 53| 9 7| 0| 50| 4 6 1| 1

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0 Game K E TA Pct 1 18 3 29 .517 Site: Lincoln, NE (NU Coliseum) 2 22 4 33 .545 Date: Sep 29, 2007 Attend: 4068 Time: 1:14 3 17 3 32 .438 Referees: Kathy Feraraccio, Marsha Rupert