Huskers Head West to BYU Invitational

BYU Nike Invitational
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: Huskers.com & BYUCougars.com

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: Huskers.com & BYUCougars.com

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: Huskers.com & BYUCougars.com

Huskers Leave State of Nebraska for First Time in 2010
After playing its first three games of the 2010 season in Omaha, Neb., the No. 7 Nebraska volleyball team will travel outside its home state for the first time in 2010 this weekend to Provo, Utah, for the BYU Nike Invitational.

In Provo, Nebraska will play BYU on Friday at 8 p.m. (Central) and then both Cal Poly and Idaho State on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively, at Smith Fieldhouse.

The Huskers hold a 6-2 record over BYU dating back to 1976. The Cougars took the first match of the series, 0-2, before the Huskers reeled off four straight wins. BYU then responded win a five-set win in 1991, while NU has won the last two meetings, including last season's four-set winner in Lincoln.

Nebraska and Cal Poly met for the first time in 1984, when the Mustangs won a five-set decision after Nebraska took the first set. The two teams would not meet again until 2006 and the Huskers have swept the past three meeting.

Saturday night's meeting with Idaho State will be the first ever match up between the Huskers and Bengals.

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.

Live stats for all matches will be available at BYUCougars.com and the link can also be found on Huskers.com

Scouting the Cougars

• BYU (1-2) started the year with back-to-back losses to Illinois (1-3) and Middle Tennessee (1-3), before taking down South Carolina (3-2)
• Kiana Rogers leads the Cougars in service aces (6) assists (116).
• No Cougar attacker hits above .300, Nicole Warner hold the top hitting percentage at .278 (23-8-54). Warner is also the only Cougar with double-digit blocks, 10.

Scouting the Mustangs

• The Mustangs are 2-1 on the season after wins over Arizona (3-2) and Marshall (3-1), before they lost to Notre Dame (2-3).
• Cal Poly received 31 votes in the latest AVCA Coach's Poll, leaving the Mustangs outside of the top 25 at 29th.
• Setter Sarah Cawrse leads the Mustangs and ranks third in the Big West with 10.79 assists per set.

Scouting the Bengals

• Idaho State is 3-0 in 2010 with wins over Texas-Pan American (3-0), Oral Roberts (3-2) and Lamar (3-1).
• Haylee Thompson-Brock (39) and Britta Bartschi-Rhodeshoue (32) are the only Bengals with more than 25 kills on the year.
• The Bengals have hit .292 on the year, while holding opponents to .107 hitting.

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. NU then rebounded with a sweep of Creighton on Aug. 31.
• Under Head Coach John Cook, the Huskers improved to 281-8 when winning the first set of the match after their sweep of Creighton on Aug. 31.
• 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 the weekend ranked second in the Big 12 in both assists (13.55) and kills (15.27) per set.
• Senior Lindsey Licht posted a career-best 18 kills in Nebraska's loss to Florida on Aug. 29. With 35 kills on 62 swings through three matches, Licht ranks fourth in the Big 12 with a .419 hitting percentage.
• In Nebraska's 6-2 offense, senior Sydney Anderson (60) and sophomore Lauren Cook (65) have combined for 125 assists to help NU hit .262.
• Nebraska's 71 kills against Florida on Aug. 29 was 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.
• Nebraska began the 2010 season as the second-winningest program in Division I history. The Huskers' 1,086 wins trail only UCLA (1,106).

Holding Down the Middle
Returning All-America middle blocker Brooke Delano has been key to the Huskers' attack so far in 2010, as the junior is the only Husker to hit .300 or better in all three matches this season. Delano has steadily increased her hitting percentage each match after opening the season with eight kills on 16 swings (.312) against Florida. She followed with .333 (14-5-27) hitting against Florida and then carried the Huskers against Creighton with 10 kills on 19 swings and only one error to hit .474 on the night.

WERTH!
After coming off a season that saw her earn Big 12 Freshman of the Year, honorable-mention All-America and honorable-mention All-Big 12 honors, Hannah Werth has continued to put up solid numbers in 2010. Through the first week of the season Werth  produced two double-doubles, with 11 kills and 10 digs against Kentucky and 12 kills and 17 digs against Florida. On the year, Werth ranks third on the team in kills (2.82) and second in digs (3.36) per set.

Chart Topper
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. So far in 2010, Banwarth leads NU with 56 digs through three matches.

In-State Dominance
With a sweep of the Creighton Bluejays on Tuesday, Aug. 31, the Huskers improved to 13-0 against the state's only other Division I program and have swept the games four consecutive times. Over the 13 matches, the Jays have only taken one set from the Huskers, as Creighton on the first set of the 2006 meeting.

Staying Hot in September
Historically, the Huskers' two best months are September (276-25) and November (207-18), as they have all-time winning percentages of .917 and .920, respectively. Prior to Nebraska's three loss in September of 2009, NU hadn't lost a match in September since 2004.

Nebraska is now 26-7 in August since 1989 when it played its first-ever match in the month. After going 2-1 in 2010, Head Coach John Cook holds a record of 17-2 in August, with the two losses coming in 2009 and 2010.

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.

Licht leads NU in both kills (35) and hitting percentage (.419) and is one of three Huskers on the season to hit .300 or better (10 attack minimum). The other two Huskers to hit .300 or better include Brooke Delano (.371) and Hannah Werth (.300).

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 season's opening 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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

NU on National TV Three More Times in '10
After s Next, the Huskers' Big 12 opener at Iowa State on Wednesday, Sept. 15 will be an ESPNU national telecast. Nebraska's other ESPNU telecast will come on Wednesday, Oct. 27, when the Huskers travel to Austin for the final regular-season conference match up between the two programs.

The Huskers will also be involved in the Big 12's lone FSN appearance, as the Huskers will host Texas at the Nebraska Coliseum on Saturday, Oct. 2. The previously announced start time of that match has been moved from 8 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The match up that features two teams that have won the league in 13 of the conference's 14 years of existence.