Huskers Claw Past BYU

Lincoln ? Fifth-ranked Nebraska overcame a sluggish start with a flourish, defeating BYU, 3-1 (18-25, 25-21, 25-10, 25-21) Friday night at the Ameritas Players Challenge.

The Huskers (7-1) extended their NCAA record home win streak to 90 matches, but it was not easy against a motivated Cougar team. Nebraska got an All-American effort from Sydney Anderson, who dished out 49 assists and added 10 digs, while also collecting a career-high seven kills on .778 hitting.
 
All-American Tara Mueller led three Huskers in double figures with 13 kills and 11 digs, while Brooke Delano and Hannah Werth added 12 kills apiece for NU, which out-hit BYU (4-5), .294.-.211 despite BYU hitting a .445 through the first two sets. Mueller also matched a career-high with three aces, as Nebraska racked up a season-best seven aces in the win in collecting its seventh straight win.

The Huskers made their statement on the defensive end in the final two sets, holding the Cougars to .052 after the intermission, as a frantic early rally by Nebraska early in the third set turned the tide. After an extended rally which featured nine combined attacks and featured a sprawling play by Werth, who knocked her head on the floor to make a one-handed save to keep the rally alive. NU’s defensive hustle was rewarded moments later as BYU hit into the net to end the rally, sending the sellout crowd of 4,124 into an extended standing ovation for both teams’ effort.
 
Nebraska Coach John Cook said that was the turning point for the Huskers’ defensive play.

“When you win a rally like that, the crowd just goes crazy,” Cook said. “It was so loud down there and that certainly had to deflate them. We sent a message to BYU that we were going to fight and they were going to have to scrap to win points. That’s what this team is going to have to do. We’re going to have to play like that every night - just scrap, long rallies and try to win those rallies”

Early on, it was tough to slow down either team offensively, as both teams hit well over .325 in the first two sets as the match was deadlocked heading into intermission.

The Cougars played a nearly flawless first set in posting a stunning 25-18 victory. BYU hit an eye-popping .680, committing only one error on 25 swings. Kayla Walker totaled six kills on seven swings, while Christina Measom added five kills on .714 hitting. Nebraska slugged .346 as a team in the first set, as Mueller totaled five kills on .444 hitting for the Big Red, but could not slow down the Cougar attack. The Huskers got off to a rocky start, as three straight kills from Measom helped BYU build a quick 7-2 lead and force Nebraska to take timeout. The Cougars led 8-2 before Nebraska fought back, winning four of the next five rallies to pull within 9-6 after a Mueller kill, but a service error, a kill by Christie Carpenter and a service ace by Chelsea Goodsell pushed the lead back to six points, at 12-6. Nebraska eventually pulled to within 14-9 after a Mueller kill, but BYU would respond by winning three of the next four rallies to push the lead to 17-10. The Huskers were unable to cut into the Cougars’ lead, getting within six points on three occasions, the last time at 24-18, but a Nicole Warner kill closed out the opening set.

Walker finished with a match-high 14 kills for BYU, while Measom added 12 kills on .409 hitting for BYU, which became the first team to hit over .160 since Michigan in the season opener.

The Huskers were in another battle throughout the second set before pulling away with a 25-21 victory to even the match at one set apiece. Nebraska hit .344 as a team in the set, as Mueller had five kills on .500 hitting, while Werth put down four kills on five swings. The Husker block started to slow BYU down, as Lindsey Licht totaled three blocks, as NU totaled four stuffs after not collecting any in the first set. Delano’s kill ignited a run of five unanswered points for the Huskers, as the junior ran off four straight points at the service line to help NU build a 11-6 lead after a Cougar hitting error. BYU came right back with a 3-0 run and stayed within striking distance until it ran off three straight points to turn a 18-15 deficit into a 18-all tie. Jordan Wilberger than came up big for Nebraska, as her kill gave the Huskers the lead for good before she combined with Licht on a block of Walker to spot NU a 20-18 advantage. BYU pulled to within 20-19, but kills from Delano and Werth gave the Huskers a three-point cushion and forced a Cougar timeout. NU eventually built a 23-19 edge on a block from Licht and Delano and closed out the set on a Werth kill moments later to even the match.

While offense was the story in the first two sets, NU turned it around after intermission, holding BYU to .025 hitting in a 25-10 victory. The save by Werth highlighted the Husker defense, as they collected 25 digs in the set, including 10 by Kayla Banwarth, who finished with 20 digs on the night.  Nebraska used strong serving from freshman Gina Mancuso who ran off five straight points from the service line, as the Huskers built an 11-3 lead. From there, Delano took over with five kills on six swings, while Anderson, who added three kills, dished out 13 assists to help NU hit .343 in the set. NU built the lead to double figures, at 19-9, after a Delano kill and was never threatened in the set.

The final set was the most competitive of the night before the Huskers took control at the end in a 25-21 win. Delano continued her impressive stretch with four kills on .571 hitting and two blocks, while Licht chipped in four of seven kills in the finale. Neither team took much of an advantage in the first 20 rallies before Nebraska strung three points together on a pair of BYU errors and a Werth kill to take a 13-10 lead. BYU came back, pulling even at both 18 and 19 before a Licht kill and a BYU miscue put NU up 21-19. Mueller then found the opportune time for her third ace of the night, as her next serve found the floor and gave the hosts a three-point lead. BYU got to within 22-20 after a service error, but a Werth kill and a block from Delano and Licht pulled NU within game point. Licht then closed out the match with a kill two points later.

NU’s win sets up a Sunday showdown with eighth-ranked UCLA (7-1), which improved to 2-0 in the tournament with a four-set win (25-17, 23-25, 25-14, 25-16) over Virginia. Kaitlin Sather led the Bruins with 13 kills, 13 digs and five blocks. Sather was one of three Bruins in double figures in kills, as Mari Hole and Amanda Gil chipped in 12 and 10, respectively. UCLA out-hit Virginia, .315-.106 and totaled 10.5 blocks, including eight from Gill.

Lauren Dickson’s 15 kills led Virginia (4-4), as the Cavaliers’ second-set win marked the first time they had ever won a set against a top-10 team. 

Tickets for Saturday’s match between BYU and Virginia at 4 p.m. cost one dollar and all seats are general admission.

Nebraska wraps up play in the 2009 Ameritas Players Classic on Sunday afternoon, as the Huskers host UCLA at the Devaney Center. The match is sold out, as over 13,000 tickets have been sold which will make it one of the largest regular-season crowds in NCAA history. Fans who don’t have tickets can listen to the match on the Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and Twister 93.3 FM in Omaha.

Head Coach John Cook
On tonight’s match
“We just had to be patient. Hannah (Werth) was really struggling that first game, and we couldn’t stop their hitters. So we just had to regroup after that first game and raise our level and they started competing together. They made some really good adjustments. I think we got stronger and stronger as the match went on.”

After Hannah Werth’s save and long rally in the third set
“When you win a rally like that, the crowd just goes crazy. It was so loud down there. That certainly has to deflate another team. Also we took some momentum from that. We sent a message to BYU that we were going to fight and they were going to have to scrap to win points. That’s what this team is going to have to do. We’re going to have to play like that every night - just scrap, long rallies and try to win those rallies. I thought we were sluggish tonight physically. I think last night we probably burned a lot of emotion. BYU came out really emotional. They were quicker and jumping higher. That’s another thing about the effort tonight. We found a way to kind of dig down and really compete.

Sydney Anderson
On BYU
“They came to play. We definitely weren’t ready for a team like that to come out . We give a lot of respect to BYU because they were a better team than what we saw (on film).

On Nebraska’s game plan
“We had a game plan but they changed a few things on us so we stepped it up and changed a few things and everybody had to step it up one notch. Our defense and trust wasn’t there the first game and that was the biggest change over the first and last three (sets).”

Hannah Werth
On the long rallies
“I think it’s a momentum changer and we did a good job of realizing when those long rallies were occurring. We just stayed disciplined on defense and did our job. We let them make errors and don’t make errors ourselves, and we did a good job of sticking with it.”