No. 2 Huskers Sweep Colorado

Lincoln ? Jordan Larson’s 17 kills and 17 digs led three Husker double-doubles, as No. 2 Nebraska rolled past Colorado, 30-17, 30-22, 30-20, Wednesday night at the NU Coliseum.

Larson paced a blistering NU attack, hitting .414 on 29 swings, as she matched her season best in kills and fell one shy of a season high in digs en route to posting her team-best 10th double-double. It was also the first time in 12 matches that Larson paced NU in kills, while she also chipped in a pair of aces in helping Nebraska up its record to 22-1 and 14-1 in conference action.

Nebraska Head Coach John Cook said Larson’s strong play is important for the Huskers in the final weeks of the regular season.

Last year, I think Jordan knew she had to carry a really big load on this team with Houghtelling going out," Cook said. "Now we’re more balanced, and she wasn’t sure of her role at times. I just know when she plays great, we’re a great team. That’s what we’ve told her. We need her to be that dominant player. I feel like she’s really coming on right now."

Fellow outside hitters Christina Houghtelling and Sarah Pavan joined Larson in posting double-doubles against the Buffaloes. Houghtelling totaled 11 kills on .421 hitting and 16 digs, while Pavan chipped in 12 kills, 10 digs and four blocks.

Rachel Holloway guided the Huskers to a .388 hitting percentage ? its best effort in over a month, as she totaled 47 assists and helped all five primary attackers hit over .350 in NU’s 19th sweep of the year.

While NU’s offensive effort was sharp, Cook was more pleased with the Huskers’ work on the defensive side of the net, recording 62 digs and holding CU to .129 hitting.

"We had a couple of goals tonight," Cook said. "One was to hold Alex Buth under .100, and she only had one kill the whole night. The second thing is we worked really hard on our floor defense the last two days because we want to be a great defensive team going down the stretch. We did a great job there tonight."

Emilee Sisco paced CU with 13 kills, but hit .114 on the night, as the Buffaloes fell to 6-18 overall and 1-15 in the Big 12.

Nebraska was clicking on all cylinders offensively in the opener, hitting .543 as a team in recording a 30-17 victory. Larson led the charge with seven kills on eight swings along with six digs, while Kori Cooper and Tracy Stalls combined for eight kills without an error on 13 swings. The Huskers jumped on Colorado early, winning five of the first six rallies and taking an early 9-3 lead after a Pavan ace. Colorado pulled to within 15-10 after a Sisco kill, but could not get closer, as Larson sparked a 7-2 Husker run. The junior totaled three kills in the spurt, including consecutive kills to extend the margin to 22-12 and force CU to take its second timeout. From there, NU cruised to a 13-point win.

The Huskers clamped down on the defensive end in game two, holding the Buffaloes to .000 hitting in a 30-22 win to take a 2-0 lead into the locker room. Pavan led NU with six kills in 10 swings and three blocks, while Houghtelling and Larson combined for eight kills and 10 digs, helping NU record 20 digs in the game. Strong serving from Rachel Holloway and Larson got the Huskers going, helping the hosts jump out to an early 7-1 advantage to force CU to take an early timeout. Colorado regained its footing, pulling to within 15-9 after a Sisco kill, but NU pulled away and won four of the next five rallies, pushing its lead to 19-10 after a block from Houghtelling and Stalls. Trailing 24-14, the Buffaloes made one last spurt, running off four straight points to 24-18, before two Larson kills and a block from Amanda Gates and Pavan gave the Huskers some breathing room at 27-18. The Buffaloes fought off two game points before a Pavan cross court blast closed out the game.

The Huskers used a balanced attack in the finale, hitting .370 in pulling away for a 30-20 victory. Larson totaled six kills and six digs while Stalls finished with five kills and .625 hitting. The Huskers took control of the game midway though, using an 11-2 spurt to turn a 13-12 lead into a 24-14 advantage, as Holloway dished out five assists and contributed kills in the spurt.

The Huskers return to action on Sunday, Nov. 11, as they will take on the Iowa State Cyclones. First serve at Hilton Coliseum is set for 4 p.m. and the match will be carried on the Husker Sports Network and on the Internet at Huskers.com.

-- Huskers ?