Jigs. read er and weep.....

[katrina]

» MAIN » Schedule & Game Information
» 2006 Football Roster » 2007 FBC commitments
» Football Depth Chart







Published Wednesday
October 4, 2006

Huskers feeling it after sweeping K-State

BY CHAD PURCELL



WORLD-HERALDBUREAU

RELATED STORY



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


»
NU Volleyball

»
Big 12 Volleyball

»

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


»
NU 3, KSU 0 - Oct. 4, 2006

LINCOLN - NU coach John Cook hears it from just about every corner of the Big 12.


Nebraska's Kori Cooper powers the ball past K-State's Megan Farr.

The sentiment throughout the league seems to be that the Huskers are more vulnerable than years past, and that the team might not deserve its No. 1 ranking.

Heading into Wednesday night's match with Kansas State, Cook challenged his team to start making conference foes "feel" what NU volleyball is all about. The Huskers must've bought into the mission, because the struggling Wildcats never had a chance.

Jordan Larson had a career-high 20 kills, hit .400 and finished with 10 digs in Nebraska's 30-17, 30-22, 30-17 thrashing of K-State. Sarah Pavan added 13 kills for the Huskers, who improved to 14-0 overall and 6-0 in the Big 12.

AVCA Top 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• No. 1 Nebraska def. Kansas State 30-17, 30-22, 30-17

• No. 9 Purdue def. Indiana 30-24, 30-26, 30-27

• No. 10 LSU def. Arkansas 30-24, 20-30, 30-26, 32-30


"It was fun playing, and it was fun watching - and today we really focused on what we want to be remembered for," said Rachel Schwartz, who had a career-best 14 digs. "When somebody plays Nebraska, we want them to remember us as a good team and an all-around team, and I think we proved that tonight."

Through the opening portion of its conference schedule, Nebraska had been frustrated by its inability to open with a strong showing in game one. Larson, in particular, wasn't satisfied with the way she was playing early in matches, but the star sophomore turned in what might've been her most complete performance of the season Wednesday.

"I was tired of being just mediocre and just going with the flow," said Larson, who had an eye-popping 17 kills on .519 hitting through games one and two. "I really wanted to go in there and make an impact. It was just one of those nights I was feeling it."

Larson also surpassed the 500-kill plateau in her 48th career match.

Because Larson does so much for the Huskers besides attack the ball, Cook would take issue with the idea that his outside hitter has been playing so-so volleyball.

Then again, the coach had to search hard just to find anything to correct after his team dismantled K-State.

The Huskers finished with a 60-26 edge in kills, outhit the Wildcats .291-.061 and recorded a whopping 72-48 advantage in digs. Those 72 digs were the most of any Big 12 team in a three-game match this year, and that total also tied NU's high mark for a sweep during the rally-scoring era.

Three other Huskers besides Larson and Schwartz had double-digit digs, led by libero Dani Busboom's 19. Setter Rachel Holloway, who had 46 assists, finished with 11 digs, while Pavan had 10 more.

Tracy Stalls, Dani Mancuso and Kori Cooper each had eight kills for Nebraska. That mark represented a career-high for Cooper - a freshman middle blocker who has started three of NU's past four matches - and she also had a career-best five blocks.

"Our team kept the pedal to the metal and stayed after it tonight," Cook said.

"They came out very focused. We've had a lot of tough battles with K-State over the years, and I think our team was very excited to play this match."

Although Kansas State traditionally has been one of the Huskers' biggest rivals, the Wildcats appear to have slipped significantly since 2003 - the year K-State won the Big 12 and beat Nebraska twice.

The 8-8 Wildcats never led while losing their seventh straight match, the team's longest skid since 1993. Kansas State, which likely will miss the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1995, also fell to 0-6 in the league.

Kansas State (8-8, 0-6) ........ 17 22 17
At Nebraska (14-0, 6-0) ..........30 30 30
• Kansas State (kills-aces-blocks): Farr 1-0-0, Werner 6-0-2, Gabruseva 5-0-3, Jantsch 5-0-2, Spiegelberg 2-1-0, Kroeker 3-0-3, Townsend 0-0-0, Lastra 0-0-0, Chipman 4-0-4, Rosenthal 0-0-0.
• Nebraska (kills-aces-blocks): Schwartz 0-0-0, Pavan 13-1-5, Larson 20-0-2, Stalls 8-0-2, Holloway 2-1-1, Cooper 8-0-5, Griffin 0-0-0, Mancuso 8-0-0, Busboom 1-0-0.
• Set assists: Kansas State 24 (Spiegelberg 21); Nebraska, 56 (Holloway 46). A - 4,101.

 

[jigs]

we watched part of the game. oldest daughter is into Volleyball big time right now......a few weeks and it will be basketball fever I suppose.

was pretty impressed with NU's run last year, but gotta admit, I smiled after the finals game!!!

 

[katrina]

Prolly had the scrubs in on that last set. :wink: Husker girls are HOT!!!!

 

[katrina]

No. 22 Nebraska 28, Iowa State 14
Story Tools:
Print Email Blog This
Associated Press
Posted: 9 hours ago



AMES, Iowa (AP) - No. 22 Nebraska went Old School on Iowa State, using a punishing running game and smothering defense to pick up its first road win of the season.

Cody Glenn rushed a career-high 148 yards and two touchdowns, Brandon Jackson added 116 yards and a score and the Cornhuskers' defense did the rest in a 28-14 victory Saturday night.
Nebraska's defense, which was lit up by Kansas for 574 yards last week, looked more like the Blackshirts of old Saturday. The Cornhuskers (5-1, 2-0 Big 12) held the Cyclones to just 53 yards rushing.

"Our defense really rose to the occasion, and I'm proud of our offensive line," Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said. "We wanted to start fast and finish strong, and that's what we did."

Nebraska blew leads of 17-0 and 24-7 against the Jayhawks, needing overtime to survive, 39-32. According to linebacker Corey McKeon, the Blackshirts were "feeling great" after responding to one of the worst defensive performances in Nebraska history.

"Last week we played a half, and then we quit a little bit...This week, we knew had to come out and play four quarters of physical football. That's exactly what we did." McKeon said.

Iowa State (3-3, 0-2) fell to 0-3 against ranked teams and two games back in the Big 12 North standings, with a trip to Oklahoma looming next week.

The Cyclones were expected to compete with Nebraska and Missouri for the division title. But after losing three of its last four, Iowa State's once-promising season is quickly turning sour.

"There is still half the season left, but you're not going to win many Big 12 games scoring 14 points," Iowa State Dan McCarney said.

Facing a Cyclones defense ranked 108th in the nation against the pass, Nebraska found its groove running the ball early - then stuck with it once it had the lead. The Cornhuskers used the running part of the West Coast offense to build a 21-7 halftime lead.

"Any time you win in the Big 12 North on the road, they're huge wins. They're hard to come by," Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said. "If you can run the ball, and take the crowd out of it, have them sit on their hands, that's what you want to do as an offense."

Glenn's five-yard TD run with 1:33 left pushed Nebraska's lead to 28-7. Todd Blythe caught a 13-yard TD pass with six seconds left to round out the scoring.

Iowa State had chances to cut the lead in the second half, but twice failed to convert fourth downs in Nebraska territory - and missed a third when it was stopped on a faked field goal try. Quarterback Bret Meyer, who finished 18-of-39 for 262 yards, also threw an interception that sailed 10 yards over his receivers' head.

Zac Taylor, who threw for a Nebraska-record 431 against the Cyclones last year, finished an efficient 17-of-21 for 131 yards. But the one time the Cornhuskers leaned on their senior quarterback, he came through with a crucial score.

Ahead by 14-7 with 1:15 left in the first half, Nebraska got the ball at its own 40 with no timeouts. Led by Taylor, the Cornhuskers marched to the Iowa State 28 with 10 seconds left.

The Cyclones came with a blitz, but Taylor hung in long enough to lob a 28-yard TD strike to Maurice Purify to put the Cornhuskers ahead by 14 at halftime and silence the second-largest crowd in Iowa State history.

Callahan said that they were contemplating settling for the field goal, but decided to take one crack at the end zone.

The risk paid off.

"It really gave us momentum. It was a huge play," Callahan said. "It set the table going into the second half."

Jackson's 1-yard touchdown run gave Nebraska a 14-7 lead. The 68-yard drive looked like a carbon copy of Nebraska's opening possession, as the Cornhuskers marched down the field behind Jackson, Glenn and an offensive line that opened massive holes for both of them.

Meyer tied the game at 7 with a 1-yard plunge.

Nebraska marched 80 yards on its first possession to take a 7-0 lead with Glenn rushing for 49 yards - including a 36-yarder on third-and-1. He finished it with a 3-yard TD run.

"They really just couldn't stop us," Jackson said. "Our offensive line just kept pounding."