Huskers Welcome Buffaloes for Big 12 Home Opener

No. 4 Nebraska vs. Colorado • Saturday, Sept. 18 • NU Coliseum • 7 p.m.
TV: NET (Time Warner: SD-12/HD-112  |  DirecTV: 29  |  Dish Network: 12)
Radio: Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and KTWI 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on Huskers.com
Web Video: Huskers.com (Free Video)
Live Stats: Huskers.com

The No. 4 Nebraska volleyball team returns to the NU Coliseum on Saturday night for its first Big 12 home match of the 2010 season against the Colorado Buffaloes. Set for 7 p.m., the match will be carried state wide on NET and will also be available for free on Huskers.com.

Nebraska is fresh off a 3-1 road win over No. 11 Iowa State in its conference opener, while the Buffaloes were swept at home by Oklahoma on Wednesday night.

With the win over the Cyclones, the Huskers are now a perfect 11-0 under Head Coach John Cook in Big 12 openers and they will look to become 11-0 in conference home openers during Cook's tenure with a win on Saturday.

Nebraska holds a 47-7 lead in the all-time series with the Buffaloes, including a 22-1 record at home. Colorado's last win came on Oct. 29, 2008 in Boulder, when the Buffs won, 3-1.

Fans can listen to all of the action with John Baylor and Diane Mendenhall 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.

On Time Warner Cable in Lincoln, NET can be seen on channel 12, while NET HD is channel 112. NET is channel 29 on DirecTV and channel 12 on Dish Network.

Scouting the Buffaloes

• The Buffaloes are 3-4 on the season and 0-1 in Big 12 play after dropping their conference opener to Oklahoma.
• Colorado is led by sophomore Kerra Schroeder. She averages 3.81 kills per set, third best in the Big 12.
• The Buffs are fifth in the Big 12 in service aces with a total of 35 and they average 1.35 aces per set.
• Kerra Schroeder and Elysse Richardson both rank in the Big 12 top 10 in service aces per set, as Schroeder ranks third (0.38) and Richardson ranks eighth (0.32).
• Freshman Megan Beckwith anchors the Buffalo defense with 4.43 digs per set, which ranks fifth in the Big 12. Earlier in 2010, Beckwith became the first Buff since 2007 to record 30 digs in a match and has 114 on the season.
• As a team, the Buffs rank fourth in the Big 12 with 15.15 digs per set.
• Head Coach Liz Kritza is in her second year as the head coach of the Buffaloes after going 7-22 in year one. Prior to Colorado, Kritza coached at Tulane for four seasons, amassing a record of 76-39, including a 56-12 record in her final two years.
• Colorado has 16 new players on their team from last season. Head Coach Liz Kritza brought in 11 freshman and five transfers.
• Saturday's match with the Huskers will mark the second time in 2010 that Colorado has faced a top-25 team. Previously, the Buffs were swept by No. 15 Colorado State.

The Last Time Nebraska and Colorado Met (Nov. 28, 2009)
Lindsey Licht totaled a match-high 10 kills, while Kori Cooper celebrated senior night in style, as No. 8 Nebraska closed out the regular season with a 3-0 sweep (25-16, 25-11, 25-11) of Colorado in front of a sellout crowd of 4,189 at the NU Coliseum.

Licht paced a balanced attack with 10 kills on .625 hitting, as the Huskers finished the regular-season on a seven-match win streak. The Huskers went 9-1 during the second half of the Big 12 season, as Licht averaged 3.52 kills in that stretch.

Cooper, the lone Husker senior, was greeted with thunderous applause throughout the night and thrilled the 133rd consecutive sellout with another strong effort, totaling nine kills on .600 hitting. It was the third time during 2009 that Cooper hit .500 or better.

In all, Nebraska's middle blocking trio of Cooper, Jordan Wilberger and Allison McNeal combined for 19 kills on .633 hitting, as Wilberger totaled seven kills and tied her career best with a .700 hitting percentage.

Scouting the Huskers

• Nebraska is 9-1 in 2010 and enters Saturday night's match ranked No. 4 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll.
• The Huskers are 8-0 this season when holding opponents below .200 hitting. Nebraska is 1-1 when opposing teams hit above .200.
• Nebraska has totaled double-digit blocks in its last five matches, including a season-high 17 blocks against Illinois. The Huskers hit double-digits just once in their first five matches (11 against BYU) of 2010.
• The Huskers dropped their first home set of the season to Dayton (24-26). Since then, Nebraska has reeled over six straight sets in two matches so far at the NU Coliseum.
• As of Sept. 12, the Huskers rank in the top-10 nationally in three statistical categories, including assists (8th-13.64), kills (T6th-14.67) and blocks (T4th-3.00)
• Nebraska ranks first or second in five overall statistical categories among Big 12 teams. The Huskers lead the conference in kills (14.76), blocks (3.14) and are tied with Iowa State in opponent hitting percentage (.141). The Huskers also rank second in both assists (13.76) and digs (15.49).
• Kayla Banwarth ranks second in the Big 12 and 35th nationally in digs per set at 4.97.
• Middle blockers Brooke Delano and Jordan Wilberger rank first and fifth, respectively, in the Big 12 Conference in hitting percentage, as Delano is hitting at a .411 clip, while Wilberger's percentage is at .369. Delano also leads the conference in blocks per set at 1.49, which ranks her tied for 12th nationally.
• Under Head Coach John Cook, the Huskers improved to 285-8 when winning the first set of the match after their 3-1 win over Iowa State.
• Four Huskers have combined for eight double-doubles on the season, including three each from Hannah Werth and Tara Mueller.
• The Huskers are 175-0 under Head Coach John Cook when hitting .300 or better after they hit .391 against Western Michigan.
• In Nebraska's 6-2 rotation, senior Sydney Anderson (221) and sophomore Lauren Cook (226) have combined for 447 assists to help NU hit .274.
• Three Huskers average more than a block a set, including Brooke Delano (1.49), Jordan Wilberger (1.14) and Lindsey Licht (1.11).
• Nebraska's 71 kills against Florida on Aug. 29 were the most kills for NU since Sept. 30, 2009, when the Huskers put away 71 kills in a five-set win at Oklahoma.
• The Huskers return three AVCA All-Americans in 2010, including seniors Sydney Anderson and Tara Mueller, as well as junior Brooke Delano.

Staring on the Right Foot
Under Head Coach John Cook the Husker are a perfect 11-0 in Big 12 Conference openers after their win over Iowa State. Nebraska will now look to extend its perfect Big 12 home-opener record to 11-0 with a win over Colorado on Saturday night.

Tough Tests
With its recent win over No. 11 Iowa State, Nebraska is 4-1 against ranked teams this season, including three wins over top-15 teams. Nebraska's best win came over then-No. 3 Illinois.

The Huskers only loss came to then-No. 13 Florida at the Runza/AVCA Showcase.  Florida is currently 6-1 and is ranked No. 3 in the country.

Hot in September
Historically, the Huskers' two best months are September (283-25) and November (207-18), as they have all-time winning percentages of .919 and .920, respectively. Prior to Nebraska's three losses in September of 2009, NU hadn't lost a match in September since 2004.

After seven wins to the start September this season, the Huskers are 106-7 under Head Coach John Cook.

Dubuque Digger
Dubuque, Iowa, native Kayla Banwarth is on her way to breaking NU's career record in digs, currently held by Jennifer Saleaumu (1,567). A senior in 2010, Banwarth needs just 382 digs in 2010 to break the mark and should have no problem achieving the feat after she compiled 570 digs in 2009.

Her 570 digs nearly broke Dani Busboom's 2006 single-season record of 580. So far in 2010, Banwarth leads NU with 184 digs through ten matches. The senior libero also ranks second in the Big 12 and 35th nationally with 4.97 digs per set.

No Place Like Home
The Huskers hold a home-court advantage at the Coliseum due to the Huskers' passionate fan base.

Nebraska currently holds a streak of 137 consecutive sellouts at the NU Coliseum, the longest sellout streak across all NCAA women's athletics. The Huskers averaged 5,197 fans per home contest last season and are averaging 4,110 fans through two matches in 2010.

Dynamic Duo
Nebraska's setting pair of senior Sydney Anderson and sophomore Lauren Cook have each shined in the Huskers' 6-2 rotation, as they have assisted the Huskers in hitting .274, the third-best mark in the Big 12 this season. The two have been nearly identical with Cook holding a slight lead in assists, 226-221.

Spoiler
Nebraska win over No. 3 Illinois this season marked Nebraska's first win since 2008 over a top-three team when the Huskers are ranked lower than their opponent.

The last time the Huskers beat a high-ranked team that was in the top three was on Aug. 29, 2008, when No. 7 Nebraska took down No. 2 Stanford in three sets.

Volleyball Fever
Nebraska volleyball fans once again packed into the Bob Devaney Sports Center in 2010 for the Huskers' lone appearance at the facility on Saturday, Sept. 11 against Illinois. The night's attendance of 11,892 ranked as the seventh-largest regular-season crowd in NCAA volleyball history.

All-time, the Devaney Center holds seven of the top-10 all-time attendance marks, including the top-three spots. In 2009, the Devaney Center set the NCAA record during Nebraska match against UCLA, with a crowd of 13,870.

The state of Nebraska holds every spot on the top-10 list when it comes to attendance, as the other three top-10 marks have come at the Qwest Center in Omaha.

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.

Scared of Lincoln
When then-ranked No. 3 Illinois came into the Lincoln on Saturday, Sept. 11, it became the highest ranked non-conference team to ever make a trip to Lincoln for a match during Head Coach John Cook's tenure.

Prior to Saturday, Penn State held the distinction when it came to Lincoln ranked No. 4 in 2005 and were then swept by No. 1 Nebraska.

Under former Head Coach Terry Pettit, the No. 1 ranked Nittany Lions came to Lincoln and swept the No. 3 Huskers on Aug. 28, 1999.

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).

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.