Huskers Back in Omaha to Battle Creighton

Tuesday, Aug. 31
No. 7 Nebraska at Creighton • D.J. Sokol Arena • 7 p.m.
Radio: Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and KTWI 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on Huskers.com
Live Stats: Huskers.com & www.gocreightonstats.com

BYU Tournament
No. 7 Nebraska at BYU • Friday, Sept. 3 • Smith Fieldhouse • 8 p.m.
Radio: Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and KTWI 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on Huskers.com
Live Stats: TBA

No. 7 Nebraska vs. Cal Poly • Saturday, Sept. 4 • Smith Fieldhouse • 1 p.m.
Radio: Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and KTWI 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on Huskers.com
Live Stats: TBA

No. 7 Nebraska vs. Idaho State • Saturday, Sept. 4 • Smith Fieldhouse • 6 p.m.
Radio: Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and KTWI 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on Huskers.com
Live Stats: TBA

Huskers Head Back to Omaha
After opening the 2010 season at the Runza/AVCA Showcase at the Qwest Center, the No. 7 nationally-ranked Nebraska Huskers (1-1) will return to Omaha on Tuesday night for a match with the Creighton Bluejays (1-2) at the D.J. Sokol Arena.

Tuesday's match will mark the first time the two schools have met on Creighton's campus since 1980 when the two programs played at the Kiewit Center. The Huskers will play at the 2,500-seat Sokol Arena for the first time in program history and the match is expected to be sold out.

The Huskers hold a 12-0 series lead over the Bluejays dating back to 1980 and have only lost one set all time to the Jays. Nebraska started the series with eight straight sweeps, before Creighton took the first set of the 2006 match-up, before the Huskers won 3-1. Nebraska has followed with sweeps in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Fans can listen to all of the action with John Baylor and Lindsay Peterson on the 25-station Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and Twister 93.3 FM in Omaha. Fans outside the state will also be able to catch the live audio feed for free on Huskers.com.

Scouting the Bluejays

• Creighton has started 2010 with a 1-2 record with a win over San Francisco (3-1) and losses to Lipscomb (3-1) and Kansas (3-1).
• The Bluejays bring back a strong nucleus from a year ago, as they return 11 letterwinners and four starters.
• Senior Alicia Runge leads the Jays with 4.17 kills per set, which ties her for second best in the MVC.
• Creighton leads the MVC in blocks at 2.75 per set and is second in digs at 18.33 per set.
• Outside hitter Allie Oelke enters Tuesday's match tied for fourth-best in the Valley with 4.67 digs per set. She also contributes 2.83 kills per set.
• In 2009, Creighton finished with an overall record of 14-17 and finished 10-8 in the Missouri Valley to tie for fourth.

Head Coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth
Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997) owns a 121-91 record and is in her eighth season with the Bluejays. She became the program's all-time winningest coach on Aug. 25, 2007 with a 3-0 win over Stephen F. Austin and joined the 100-win club with an Oct. 31, 2008 win at Drake. Booth came to Creighton after going 112-41 in three years at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

A native of Lincoln, Neb., Booth played volleyball at Truman State, where she was named conference MVP, an Academic All-American and Missouri's 1997 NCAA Woman of the Year. She ranked third in Division II history with 6,077 assists when she graduated.

Scouting the Huskers

• Nebraska opened 2010 with a sweep of No. 14 Kentucky and then fell in five-set heartbreaker to No. 13 Florida at the Runza/AVCA Showcase in Omaha at the Qwest Center.
• Under Head Coach John Cook, the Huskers improved to 280-8 when winning the first set of the match after their sweep of Kentucky on Aug. 28.
• With a first-set loss to Florida on Aug. 29, the Huskers fell to 28-19 under Head Coach John Cook when losing the first set.
• Nebraska enters Tuesday ranked second in the Big 12 in both assists (13.00) and kills (15.00) per set.
• Senior Lindsey Licht posted a career-best 18 kills in Nebraska's loss to Florida on Aug. 29. With 32 kills on just 48 swings through two matches, Licht leads the Big 12 with a .542 hitting percentage.
• Nebraska has split time at setter between senior Sydney Anderson and sophomore Lauren Cook, with the two combining for 89 assists to help NU hit .259.
• Nebraska's 71 kills against Florida on Aug. 29 was the most kills for NU since Sept. 30, 2009, when the Huskers won in five sets at Oklahoma.
• The Huskers return three AVCA All-Americans in 2010, including seniors Sydney Anderson and Tara Mueller, as well as junior Brooke Delano.
• Nebraska began the 2010 season as the second-winningest program in Division I history. The Huskers' 1,086 wins trail only UCLA (1,106).

Litch-ing the Fire
Senior Lindsey Licht was honored by the Big 12 Conference on Monday afternoon as the league's Offensive Player of the Week. It was the first time in Licht's career that she has earned a player of the week honor from the conference.

Licht started 2010 on fire at the Runza/AVCA Showcase with 32 kills on just 48 swings to hit .542 in two matches against then-No. 14 Kentucky and No. 13 Florida. After putting away 14 kills in a sweep of Kentucky on Saturday, Licht followed with a career-best 18 kills in a five-set loss to Florida on Sunday.

Small Membership
Morgan Broekhuis became just the sixth freshman to start a season opener during Head Coach John Cook's era at Nebraska. 2010 sophomore Hannah Werth was the last Husker to do so in 2009.

NU vs. SEC (35-4)
After going 1-1 over the weekend with a win over Kentucky and a loss to Florida, Nebraska improved to 35-4 all time against SEC programs. The Huskers are now 6-2 all-time against UK and hold a 7-2 advantage over Florida. Florida has posted the last two SEC wins over the Huskers, as the Gators won, 3-2, on Aug. 31, 1997 to go along with their win on Aug. 29 this season.

Volleyball Blackshirts
The Huskers held Kentucky to single digits in the first set on Aug. 28, as NU won 25-9. The last time NU held a team to single digits in a set was on Sept. 5, 2009, when the Huskers downed Tulane by the same count, 25-9.

Hitting the Husker Wall
Nebraska's win over Kentucky on Aug. 28 marked the 22nd time under John Cook that the Huskers have held an opponent to negative hitting.

Solid in August
Nebraska is now 25-7 all-time in the month of August after going 1-1 during the opening weekend of 2010. Under Head Coach John Cook, the Huskers hold a record of 16-2 in August, with the two losses coming in 2009 and 2010.

No Place Like Nebraska
Nebraska will carry a streak of 135 consecutive sellouts at the NU Coliseum into the 2010 season, the longest sellout streak across all NCAA women's athletics. The Huskers averaged 5,197 fans per home contest last season.

Top Pick
The Huskers were picked No. 1 in the Big 12 preseason coaches' poll. The Huskers also had a conference-high four players picked to the preseason All-Big list. Seniors Sydney Anderson and Kayla Banwarth were joined by Brooke Delano and sophomore Hannah Werth.

WERTH!
Hannah Werth is coming off a freshman season that saw her earn Big 12 Freshman of the Year, honorable-mention All-America and honorable-mention All-Big 12 honors. Werth became the first freshman since Sarah Pavan in 2004 to lead the Huskers in kills at 3.18 per set.

Digging Up the Charts
Senior Kayla Banwarth is on her way to breaking NU's career record in digs, currently held by Jennifer Saleaumu (1,567). Banwarth needs just 382 digs in 2010 to break the mark and should have no problem after compiling 570 digs in 2009. Her 570 digs nearly broke Dani Busboom's 2006 single-season record of 580.

Setter-U
Sydney Anderson had been the latest setter to shine in the scarlet and cream, as last season she became the eighth setter in NU history to earn multiple AVCA All-America honors.

A senior in 2010, Anderson will try to become just the third setter in school history to capture All-America three times during their career at NU. If she achieves the feat, Anderson would join Griechaly Cepero (2000-02) and Fiona Nepo (1996-98).

Huskers Find Even More Talent for 2010
Head Coach John Cook brings back a team in 2010 that is nearly identical to his 2009 squad that finished the season ranked No. 5 in the country, but also includes two talented additions. The Huskers only major lose for a year ago is Kori Cooper, but NU welcomes in true freshman Morgan Broekhuis and sophomore transfer Lauren Cook to fill the void.

A 6-5 lefty from Colorado Springs, Colo., Broekhuis was one of the top seniors a year ago and was named ESPN Rise National High School Player of the Year. For the first time in school history, NU will have two 6-5 lefties on the team in Broekhuis and Lindsey Licht.

A native of Lincoln, Cook transferred to Nebraska in January of 2010 after one year at UCLA where she was named the AVCA National Freshman of the Year. Cook starred for the Bruins with 10.69 assists, 2.44 digs and 0.77 kills per set.

Second Home in Omaha
Qwest Center has been a second home to the Nebraska volleyball since the 2005 Runza/AVCA Showcase was brought to Omaha.

The Huskers have played 18 matches in the building, compiling a 16-4 record. The lone losses have been to the No. 1 Penn State in the 2008 NCAA Semifinals, No. 16 Michigan in the 2009 season opener, No. 2 Texas in the 2009 NCAA Regional Final and No. 13 Florida at the 2010 showcase.

Of the Huskers' 16 wins in the building, 10 have been against top-five foes, including wins over Hawaii, Stanford (three times), Florida, UCLA (twice), USC, Penn State and most recently Iowa State with a 3-0 sweep over the Cyclones during the 2009 NCAA Regional.