Huskers Host Tigers in Top-20 Showdown

No. 20 Missouri vs. No. 4 Nebraska
Lincoln, Neb.  I  Bob Devaney Sports Center  I  Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, 6 p.m.
Live Video: www.huskers.com (subscription required)
Live Stats: http://www.huskers.com//liveStats/liveStats.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100

- Nebraska Head Coach: Dan Kendig (19th Year)
- Current Team Record: 2-0 (0-0 Big Ten)
- 2012 High Score: 197.375 (Denver, 1/13/12)
- 2011 NCAA Finish: 4th (196.725)

After capturing its first road victory of the year last weekend, the No. 4 Nebraska women's gymnastics team returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 28, when they host the No. 20 Missouri Tigers at the Bob Devaney Sports Center starting at 6 p.m.

The Huskers are a perfect 2-0 on the young season, having already defeated a top-20 opponent in their first meet against Denver and taking down Iowa State, 195.775-193.925, last Friday. The Tigers are 3-0 after defeating Denver in their last meet, 194.725-194.625.

Live video of the meet will be available on HuskersNside on Huskers.com (subscription required), or fans can follow along on live stats at Huskers.com.

Promotion: Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night
Saturday night at the Devaney Center will be Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night. All faculty and staff members at UNL will receive free admission to the meet, along with five of their family and friends. Faculty and staff must show a valid NU ID at the door to receive free admission.

Scouting the Competition: No. 20 Missouri
- Head Coach: Rob Drass         
- 2012 Record: 3-0 (1-0 Big 12)
- 2012 High Score: 195.525 (at Southern Utah, 1/13/2012)
- 2011 NCAA Finish: N/A

A Glance at the Tigers...
- No. 20 Missouri is 3-0 this season and has defeated the same two opponents the Huskers have faced off against this year in Iowa State and Denver.

- The Tigers are led by true freshman Rachel Updike, who was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week for the third consecutive time after her performance in MU's victory over Denver. Updike won the vault, beam and floor titles to lead MU. Her 9.925 on floor was a career high.

- Missouri scored a season-high score of 195.525 against Southern Utah on Jan. 13. Mary Burke finished atop the all-around standings with a 39.175, while also capturing the uneven bars title with a 9.875 and finishing in the top two of the vault and beam.

- Last season, Nebraska defeated Missouri three times, first at the Metroplex Challenge by a score of 196.50-193.40.  The Huskers also defeated Missouri in a dual meet, 196.075-195.40 and at the Big 12 Championships, 196.775-194.975.

- Missouri is coached by Rob Drass, who is in his 13th season as head coach of the Tigers. Drass owns a 137-98 career record at Missouri.

Nebraska's Competition Order vs. Missouri
Rotation            Missouri            Nebraska
1                      Uneven Bars      Vault
2                      Vault                 Uneven Bars
3                      Floor Exercise   Balance Beam
4                      Balance Beam   Floor Exercise

Evenstad, DeZiel Earn Big Ten Honors
Senior Lora Evenstad and freshman Jessie DeZiel both earned weekly Big Ten honors for their performances in NU's road victory over Iowa State last Friday, Jan. 20. Evenstad earned Co-Big Ten Gymnast of the Week, while DeZiel was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the second straight time, as the conference announced the weekly awards Monday afternoon.

Evenstad, who was joined by Penn State's Sharaya Musser as Co-Gymnast of the Week, helped the Huskers improve to 2-0 after she captured one event title against the Cyclones and the all-around. Evenstad tallied her second 9.90 of the season to win the floor and finished in the top three of every event en route to winning the all-around with a score of 39.450.

DeZiel won her second and third event titles of the year with her performances on the vault and beam. The Rogers, Minn., native has finished inside the top four of every event she has competed on this year, while finishing in the top two of all but two of her routines. DeZiel bested her beam score from the Huskers' first meet against Denver from a 9.875 to a 9.90 and scored a 9.875 on the vault. The reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week finished second in the all-around behind Evenstad with a 39.40.

Last Time Out: Huskers Capture Road Victory over Cyclones
The top-ranked Nebraska women's gymnastics team captured all four event titles, along with the all-around, and improved its record to 2-0 on the season after defeating the Iowa State Cyclones, 195.775-193.925, in Ames, Iowa on Friday, Jan. 20.

Along with winning all four event titles, the Husker gymnasts placed the top two scores on every event except the floor exercise, while also placing the top three all-arounders in Lora Evenstad (39.450), Jessie DeZiel (39.40) and Emily Wong (39.225).

Nebraska jumped out of the gate on the bars, scoring their second-highest event score of the night at 49.10. Janelle Giblin took home her second consecutive bars title with a score of 9.90. Evenstad finished in second with a 9.875, while DeZiel recorded a 9.80.

Following the uneven bars, the Huskers competed in the vault where they would have two true freshmen in the lineup in DeZiel and Jennifer Lauer, who was seeing her first action as a Husker. Lauer finished fifth in the vault with a 9.80, while DeZiel tied Wong for the event title, both scoring 9.875. Jamie Schleppenbach and Evenstad each scored a 9.85 to tie for 3rd-place.

With a 98.35-96.725 advantage through the first two events, the Huskers moved onto the floor exercise where Evenstad took the event title with her second 9.90 this season. Wong posted the second highest score with a 9.850, while DeZiel scored a 9.825. Both Schleppenbach and Lauer scored 9.65s on their floor routines.

DeZiel posted a career-high 9.90 on the beam to take home the Huskers final event title of the night. Schleppenbach had her best performance of the night on the beam, where she posted a 9.85, and Evenstad scored a 9.825 to finish third in the event.

Huskers in the Rankings
After spending one week as the top-ranked team in the country, the Huskers dropped to No. 4 in the latest GymInfo Women's Gymnastics Poll, which was released on Monday, Jan. 23. As a team, the Huskers rank in the top five in vault (4th, 49.313), uneven bars (3rd, 49.20) and the floor exercise (4th, 49.113), and inside the top 10 on the balance beam (7th, 48.950).

Individually, the Huskers have at least one gymnast ranked inside the top five for every event, including Janelle Giblin, who is ranked at No. 4 in both the vault and uneven bars. Jessie DeZiel sits at No. 4 in the balance beam, while Evenstad is ranked at No. 4 in the floor exercise.

Huskers Show Versatility in First Two Meets
The Nebraska women's gymnastics team has shown great versatility in its first two meets of the season with nine gymnasts competing in the all-around through the first two competitions. The five all-around competitors against Denver were the most for a Husker team since at least 2000. The Huskers placed the top four all-arounders of the competition against Denver, including Jessie DeZiel who finished first. Against Iowa State, four Huskers competed in the all-around, including Lora Evenstad, who scored the highest in the meet with a 39.450.

The Huskers own three of the top five spots in the all-around rankings nationally, with Giblin sitting in the top spot with an average of 39.50. DeZiel is ranked at No. 3 with an average of 39.488 and Evenstad sits at No. 5 with a 39.463 average.

Big Ten Network to Feature Two Husker Meets
The Nebraska women's gymnastics team will be featured twice on the Big Ten Network on tape delay basis this season. The Huskers road meet with Minnesota on Saturday, Feb. 18, will air on BTN on Friday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. (CT), while the Huskers meet with Iowa State in Lincoln on Friday, March 16, will air on Saturday, March 17 at 11 a.m. (CT).

The first session of this year's Big Ten Championships on March 24 will be televised on thesame day at 6 p.m., and the second session will air live. The championships are being held in Iowa City, Iowa.

Huskers Set Masters Classic as "Think Pink" Meet
The Huskers will hold their annual "Think Pink" meet, which raises awareness for breast cancer, at the Masters Classic on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. This year's Masters Classic teams include Washington, Michigan and Southern Utah and will be held at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Fans are encouraged to wear pink that night, while free lanyards, rings and glow necklaces will be given away while supplies last. The first 100 students in attendance will also receive free Valentino's pizza as part of Student Appreciation Night. Also, a special "Think Pink" price will be given to all students who wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness.

Kendig Builds One of Nation's Top Programs at Nebraska
Head Coach Dan Kendig is the all-time winningest coach in the 35 years of Nebraska women's gymnastics history. In 18 seasons at Nebraska, Kendig is 418-163-4 overall and 281-66-2 in regular-season meets. Kendig is in his 29th year of coaching and owns a career record of 531-275-5.

An eight-time Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year, Kendig has guided the Huskers to 12 conference championships and three straight regional championships from 2000 to 2002. He was most recently named the 2009 Big 12 Coach of the Year.

He has also led Nebraska to 14 NCAA Championship appearances in the past 17 seasons, including NCAA Super Six Finals appearances in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2011. Kendig was honored as the NCAA Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2003, a year in which the Huskers finished fourth nationally.

Under Kendig's guidance in 2011, Nebraska finished with a 22-12 overall record. The Huskers took fourth at the 2011 NCAA Championships in Cleveland, Ohio, in their 28th straight NCAA postseason appearance, which tied for the highest finish in school history. Five of Kendig's gymnasts --Lora Evenstad (FX), Brittany Skinner (BB), Janelle Giblin (V, AA), Jamie Schleppenbach (V) and Emily Wong (UB) -- earned All-America honors.

All-Americans Ready to Lead Huskers
The Huskers return six All-Americans off a squad that tied the best finish in school history a year ago. Lora Evenstad, Janelle Giblin, Kassandra Nathe, Brittany Skinner, Jamie Schleppenbach and Emily Wong have all earned All-America honors in their careers. In perhaps its deepest event, NU returns four All-Americans on vault, including 2011 first-team honorees Giblin and Schleppenbach. The Huskers return three All-Americans on uneven bars and All-American on both floor and beam.

Miller, Brink Join Coaching Staff
Assistant coaches Dan Miller and Heather Brink began their college coaching careers when the Huskers took Denver after being hired this offseason. Brink will coach the balance beam, while also assisting with choreography on the floor exercises. Brink was an 11-time All-American at NU and became a two-time national champion in 2000 by winning the all-around and vault title as a senior.

Miller comes to Nebraska after serving as the owner and head coach at Arena Gymnastics in Joliet, Ill. Miller will coach the Husker vault and floor squads.