Huskers Look to Continue Home Dominance

No. 5 Nebraska (22-2, 14-1) vs. Kansas State (10-15, 4-10)
Wednesday, Nov. 10 • NU Coliseum • 7 p.m.
TV: NET Lincoln - (Time Warner: SD-12/HD-112 | DirecTV: 29 | DISH: 12) Omaha - (Cox: SD-12/HD-712 | DirecTV: 379 | DISH: 26)
      CBS College Sports Lincoln - (Time Warner: SD-305/HD-125 | DirecTV: 613 | DISH: 152) Omaha - (Cox: 234 | DirecTV: 613 | DISH: 152)
      Metro Sports Lincoln - (Time Warner: 232)
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. 5 Nebraska volleyball team (22-2, 14-1 Big 12) will host the Kansas State Wildcats (10-15, 4-10 Big 12) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night at the NU Coliseum. Nebraska owns a 79-3 all-time record over Kansas State, including a 31-2 record in Lincoln.

Fans should have no problem finding TV coverage of the match as it will be shown on NET, Metro Sports and CBS College Sports. Huskers.com will also provide a free live video stream.

The Huskers enter the match as the Big 12's top team and are a perfect 10-0 at home this season, including 7-0 in league matches. Nebraska's wins at the Coliseum have come in dominant fashion as of late as the Huskers have swept their last four matches at home.

The Wildcats are 1-8 in their last nine matches and had lost eight straight until they took down Texas Tech (3-1) in their last match. K-State has struggled on the road this season with only two wins, both have come during Big 12 play over Texas Tech and Texas A&M.

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

Scouting the Wildcats

• The Wildcats enter Wednesday night's match with a 10-15 overall record and a 4-10 conference record. K-State is 2-5 in Big 12 road matches this season and hasn't won away from Manhattan since Oct. 2 when it swept Texas A&M (3-0) in College Station.
• Kansas State is one of three Big 12 programs to win two or more matches in Lincoln. Texas has won four times while both Missouri and Kansas State have won twice.
• Alex Muff's 1.25 blocks per set has helped the Wildcats rank third as a team in the Big 12 with 2.43 blocks per set. Even though Muff has raised her game with 1.32 blocks per set during Big 12 play, the Wildcat defense has slipped in league matches with 2.04 blocks per set.
• Alex Muff is the only Wildcat to average more than a block per set. Kaitlynn Pelger is second on the team with 0.91 blocks per set.
• JuliAnne Chisholm leads the K-State offense with 2.99 kills per set, but she is hitting just .131 on the season (260-139-926). Chisholm's 926 attacks are 337 more than anyone else on Kansas State's roster.

The Last Meeting Between Nebraska and Kansas State (Oct. 16, 2010)
The No. 3 Nebraska volleyball team reeled off its 16th straight win and handed Kansas State its fourth straight loss with a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 24-21, 25-18) over the Wildcats at the Ahearn Field House.

The Huskers hit .305 on the night with a match-high 12 kills from Brooke Delano and 10 kills from Hannah Werth, as they both hit over .400 and were the only players on either team to hit double digits in kills. Werth added 10 digs to notch her seventh double-double of the season.

The Huskers also brought their serve to Manhattan as they put away a season-high eight aces, including three from Lauren Cook and two from Kayla Banwarth.

Scouting the Huskers

• The Huskers are ranked No. 5 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll for the second straight week. Nebraska have been ranked as high as No. 2 this season and have been in the top 10 all season.
• The Huskers are 20-0 this season when holding opponents below .200 hitting after the Huskers held Texas Tech to .058 hitting. Nebraska is 2-2 when opposing teams hit above .200.
• After hitting a season best .423 against Kansas, the Huskers are 181-0 under Head Coach John Cook when they hit .300 or better.
• The Huskers are 10-0 at home the season and have dropped just three sets all season at the NU Coliseum.
• Nebraska has won the past 13 meetings between the Huskers and Wildcats. Overall the Huskers are 78-3 in the series and own a 31-2 record in Lincoln.
• After posting double-digit blocks in nine of their first 14 matches of the season the Huskers have hit double figured just twice in their last ten matches.
• Junior middle blocker Brooke Delano leads the nation with a .437 hitting percentage and ranked fourth in blocks per set at 1.53.
• The Huskers enter the week ranked in the top-five nationally in three categories, including blocks (1st-3.10), kills (4th-15.05) and assists (4th-14.07) per set.
• Only four times this season has a team hit .200 or better against the Husker defense, including Florida (.270), Illinois (.216) and Texas twice (.272 & .252).
• During Big 12 play the Huskers are tops in opponent hitting (.147), as well as assists (14.32), kills (15.30) and blocks (3.16) per set.
• Under Head Coach John Cook, the Huskers improved to 296-8 when winning the first set of the match after their 3-0 win over Texas Tech. The last time Nebraska won the first set and then lost the match was during the 2009 NCAA Regional Final, when Texas won 3-1 after NU took set one, 25-21.
• During Big 12 the Huskers are third in the conference with 1.10 aces per set. Lauren Cook ranks second with 0.28 aces per set while Tara Mueller is fourth with 0.24.
• Four Huskers have combined for 16 double-doubles on the season, including nine from Hannah Werth, three each from Tara Mueller and Lauren Cook and one from Sydney Anderson.
• Three Huskers have earned four All-America honors, including Sydney Anderson (2), Tara Mueller (1) and Brooke Delano (1).

Top Digger
With her second dig of the match against Texas Tech on Saturday, Nov. 6, senior libero Kayla Banwarth took over the top spot on the NU career digs chart with the 1,569th dig of her career.

Banwarth broke Jennifer Saleauma's record of 1,568 digs and now has a career total of 1,585 digs after charting 18 against the Red Raiders.

Last season, Banwarth compiled 570 digs, which nearly broke Dani Busboom's 2006 single-season record of 580.

Anderson All-Time
Entering the season ranked ninth on Nebraska's career chart with 2,683 assists, senior Sydney Anderson's 497 assists this season have already moved her to sixth place on the career list with 3,180 dishes.

After recently passing Lori Endicott (3,117), Anderson now needs four assists to pass Christy Johnson (3,183) for fifth on the all-time chart. Val Novak ranks fourth on NU's all-time charts with 3,303 assists.

Legendary Liberos
Wednesday night's match will feature a showdown of two of the Big 12's all-time best liberos in Nebraska senior Kayla Banwarth and Kansas State senior Lauren Mathewson.

Both liberos rank in the top 10 on the Big 12's all-time career list with Mathewson ranked fourth (1,632) and Banwarth ranked sixth (1,585).

Four of the Big 12's top all-time diggers are seniors this season as Iowa State's Ashley Mass continues to add to her conference record with 2,159 digs while Missouri's Caitlyn Vann sits fourth with 1,810 digs.

Delano Dialed In
Junior middle blocker Brooke Delano continues to swing a hot hand as she enters the week ranked No. 1 in the NCAA with a .437 hitting percentage.

An All-American in 2009, Delano has hit .500 or better 11 times in 2010, including two matches where she hit over .700.

In her eight matches in the month of October Delano hit at a .490 clip, with her worst match coming against Texas A&M where she still fired at .333. She hit .500 or better four times, including a .875 performance against Missouri.

The hot streak has continued into November as she hitting .410 through two matches, including a .647 (12-1-17) performance against Kansas.

Delano is looking to become just the fourth Husker in school history to hit .400 or better in a season. Tracy Stalls was the last Husker to do so when she set the NU single-season record in 2007 when she hit .473. Stalls also hit .400 in 2006.

The Great Wall
The Husker defense has shutdown opposing hitters all season and for it the Huskers enter the week ranked No. 1 in the country in blocks with 3.10 per set. Nebraska has posted double-digit stuffs in 10 matches this season, including 15 or more three times.

During Big 12 play the Huskers have been even tougher on opposing attackers with 3.16 blocks per set.

Along with Brooke Delano's conference-best 1.53 blocks per set, which ranks fourth nationally, Jordan Wilberger and Lindsey Licht join Delano on the Big 12 top-10 list with 1.20 and 1.13 blocks per set, respectively.

Since Head Coach John Cook took over at Nebraska in 2000, the Huskers have earned the NCAA blocking title five times, including 2000, '01, '02, '04 and '05.

Playing as One
It is all about the team at Nebraska and it shows this season as the Huskers enter the week ranked in the top-15 nationally in four categories, including three top-five rankings. What makes the feat even more impressive is the fact that Nebraska only has one player that ranks in the top 50 of any individual national category as Brooke Delano enters the week ranked first nationally in hitting percentage and is fourth in blocks per set.

As a team the Huskers are first in blocks (3.10), fourth in kills (15.05), fourth in assists (14.07) and are 15th in hitting percentage (.280).

Passing the Test
The Huskers have fared well this year against the nation's top-50 RPI teams with a 10-2 record. The Huskers, who are third in the latest RPI standings, have posted wins over No. 2 Illinois, No. 12 Texas, No. 13 Dayton and have two wins over NO. 16 Iowa State.

Kills Keep Coming
The 2010 Huskers ranked first in the Big 12 Conference and fourth nationally  with 15.05 kills per set, but Nebraska doesn't have one player on the individual Big 12 top-10 list or national top-50 list.

Five Huskers average at least two kills per set, including Lindsey Licht (2.94), Brooke Delano (2.94), Hannah Werth (2.86), Tara Mueller (2.21) and Morgan Broekhuis (2.05).

During Big 12 play, Werth and Licht are both averaging 3.00 kills or more a set at 3.11 and 3.06, respectively.

Proving Her Werth
Sophomore Hannah Werth has come alive for the Huskers of late as she is averaging 3.55 kills and 3.05 digs per set while also hitting .347 over her last seven matches, including a .474 performance at Kansas State.  In her first 17 matches of the season Werth was hitting .205 and averaging 2.58 kills per set. Over the seven-match run Werth leads the team in kills and ranks second in digs.

November to Remember
The Huskers will be looking for a repeat performance of last season's 7-0 November that helped propel the Huskers to the NCAA Regional round. Nebraska currently holds a one-match lead over Texas and a perfect November would secure the Huskers their 31st conference title and their 12th in the Big 12 era.

Since Head Coach John Cook took over in 2000, the Huskers have posted a perfect record in November six times, including three straight seasons from 2000-02.

Short Trips
The Huskers have made quick work of their opponents of late with eight sweeps in their past nine matches. Overall this season Nebraska has posted 15 sweeps, including 10 during Big 12 play.

Head of the CLASS
Nebraska senior setter Sydney Anderson was named one of 10 finalists for the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award on Monday, Oct. 11 for women's volleyball.

A two-time AVCA All-American, Anderson was named to the preseason All-Big 12 list and is a two-time captain for the Huskers.

Fans can vote every day for Sydney at www.SeniorCLASSaward.com.

Mighty Middles
Nebraska's middle blockers have been a force both offensively and defensively this season. Brooke Delano and Jordan Wilberger rank second (.437) and seventh (.321), respectively, in the Big 12 in hitting percentage and also rank first (1.53) and sixth (1.20) in blocks.

Taking Down Ranked Foes
Following its win over No. 12 Iowa State the Huskers are now 6-2 this season against top-25 ranked teams. Nebraska is the only Big 12 school that is .500 or better against top-25 teams and is the only program with more than three wins against ranked teams. Nebraska and Texas A&M are the only Big 12 teams with a .500 or better record against top-10 programs as both the Huskers and Aggies are 1-1.

The Huskers only losses on the year came to then-No. 13 Florida and No. 10 Texas.  Florida is currently 22-1 and is ranked No. 1 in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll while Texas is 17-5 and ranked No. 7.

Lighting Up Lawrence
Nebraska may want to continue scheduling trips to Lawrence, Kan., once it joins the Big Ten next season as the trip has served the NU offense well.

The Huskers have hit over .400 as a team the last three seasons, including a .423 performance on Wednesday night. Wednesday's outing was tops for the Huskers since last season when they hit .433, also in Lawrence. During the 2008  trip to Kansas, Nebraska had its best hitting performance during conference play with a .447 outing. The only time they hit better in 2008 was in the NCAA Tournament against UAB when they hit .467.

Pair of Aces
After averaging 0.24 aces per set during non-conference play, sophomore Lauren Cook has become the No. 2 server in the Big 12 during conference matches with 0.28 aces per set. Cook leads the team with 22 aces on the year, including 14 in conference matches. Senior Tara Mueller joins Cook on the top-10 list as the league's fourth-best server with 0.24 aces per set.

Earlier in the year Cook posted an ace in 10 straight matches before she failed to produce one at home against Kansas.

During league play Nebraska ranks third in the Big 12 with 1.10 aces per set.

Dishing it Out
Setters Sydney Anderson and Lauren Cook have led the Huskers to a fourth-place ranking nationally and the top mark in the Big 12 Conference when it comes to assists with 14.07 per set.

With the Huskers running a 6-2 rotation, neither Anderson or Cook rank in the top-50 nationally, but the pair has helped the Huskers rank 15th nationally and second in the Big 12 with a .280 hitting percentage.

Try to Take a Set
In Big 12 play this season the Huskers have won 43 of the 50 sets they've played. No other team in the conference has lost less than 10 sets in Big 12 play. Overall this season Nebraska is 69-14 in sets.

At home this season in Big 12 matches the Huskers have lost only two sets, as they dropped one each to Kansas and Texas, but the Huskers won both matches.

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 144 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 (including a match at the Devaney Center). Including the Devaney Center match this season against Illinois, the Huskers are averaging 4,881 fans per home contest.