Nebraska Weekly Wrapup, 10/22/98

Lincoln -- The third-ranked Huskers will look to extend their 17 match win streak this weekend as Nebraska hosts Oklahoma and Kansas. The Huskers enter the weekend after taking sole possession atop the Big 12 Conference standings. Last weekend Nebraska posted key victories over No. 13-ranked Texas, the defending Big 12 champions, and No. 15 Texas A&M.

Nebraska swept the Longhorns on Friday night to sweep its 13th consecutive opponent, 15-7, 15-11, 15-12. On Sunday, the Huskers downed Texas A&M in a four-game battle, 15-8, 15-7, 14-16, 15-12. NU's loss in game three snapped a 44-game win streak that was the longest current streak in Division I. Nebraska now owns a 51-2 game record this season.

Nebraska is off to its best start since 1994 and its third-best start in school history. In fact, dating back to last season, the Huskers have won 29 of their last 30 matches. The Huskers also improved to a perfect 7-0 against top-25 teams this season, a mark that leads NCAA Division I schools.

Huskers sweep Defending Big 12 Champs
The third-ranked University of Nebraska volleyball team took its first major step in claiming the 1998 Big 12 title by defeating No. 13 defending conference champion Texas, 15-7, 15-11, 15-12, in front of a season-high crowd of 4,314 in the Nebraska Coliseum on Friday.

The Huskers got career-high performances from All-America candidate Megan Korver and sophomore Nancy Meendering. Korver, ranked second in Division I in hitting percentage last week, had a career-best 23 kills and hit .432 from the floor. Meendering chipped in personal-bests with 20 kills and 17 digs.

Nebraska dominated the Longhorns in game one, jumping out to a 12-4 lead. The Huskers scored on every rotation, hitting .281 in the first frame. Texas hit into four Husker blocks and had 10 kills and 10 hitting errors in game one.

The Huskers built a 7-2 lead in game two, but Texas chipped away at the lead and tied the game at 8-8. Despite committing three service errors with the game knotted at 10-10, the Longhorns took an 11-10 lead after a kill by junior middle blocker Erin Aldrich. However, the Huskers rallied in front of a frenzied crowd and Korver served the final five points to notch game two, 15-11.

Texas was again tied with the Huskers in the third game at 4-4 before NU scored six straight points on four Korver kills to take a 10-4 lead. But the Longhorns answered with a 6-3 run to close the gap at 13-10. Nebraska appeared to have the match won with a 14-12 advantage, but UT fought off eight match points before the Huskers' two-time All-American setter Fiona Nepo posted her sixth kill of the night to finish off the Longhorns.

Nebraska's .284 average was its second-lowest hitting percentage of the season, however, Texas had not let an opponent hit over .260 this season.

Nepo, Nebraska's National Player of the Year candidate, finished with 60 assists, five digs and three blocks to go along with her six kills.

UT's Demetria Sance, the preseason pick for Big 12 Player of the Year, carried the Longhorns with 20 kills and a .378 average. She also had eight digs and three blocks. The rest of the Texas team combined for just 27 kills and hit .074. Texas fell to 12-3, 6-1 in the Big 12.

Texas A&M tests Nebraska
The Huskers turned away an upset-minded Texas A&M squad to give Husker coach Terry Pettit his 700th career victory by downing the 15th-ranked Aggies, 15-8, 15-7, 14-16, 15-12, in front of 4,221 fans in the Nebraska Coliseum on Sunday afternoon.

Pettit, who notched his 650th NCAA victory in Friday's win over Texas, improved his collegiate coaching record to 700 wins and 147 losses Sunday, while the Huskers improved to 17-0 and 8-0 in the Big 12 Conference.

After dropping the first two games, Texas A&M rallied to hand Nebraska its first setback in 44 games, ending a streak of 13 straight 3-game victories. Nebraska had not dropped a game since Sept. 4 against fourth-ranked Stanford. Nebraska's 44-game win streak was the longest in Division I.

Texas A&M's senior outside hitter Stacy Sykora shattered the Nebraska Coliseum record for attacks in a four-game match. Sykora took 73 swings before finishing with 23 kills. She broke the record of 59 attacks set by former Husker Lisa Reitsma in 1996. Sykora was just five attacks of breaking the all-time Coliseum record of 77 attacks.

Pettit said he was pleased with his team's effort, but indicated the undefeated Huskers have room for improvement.

"You really can't make adjustments unless someone is playing hard against you," Pettit said. "I'm sure the match got our players attention. If that doesn't get your attention then I don't know what would.

"I think we've done a good job to this point," Pettit said. "But this team has a lot more potential than what it's playing at right now. I think every player we have can get significantly better. I don't think we're anywhere near where we will eventually be."

Korver and Jaime Krondak carried the Nebraska attack as each posted 19 kills. Nepo tied a career-high with 76 assists, while adding a career-high 21 digs. Korver finished with a career-high 18 digs, while Krondak added 17.

Nebraska's offense was nearly unstoppable in the first game as Korver pounded out eight kills in the first frame, leading Nebraska to a .359 average. Nebraska overcame a sluggish start, turning a 5-5 tie into a 13-8 advantage. The Aggies returned with three consecutive points, before NU closed the game at 15-8. Texas A&M hit just .143 in the game.

The Huskers continued to roll in game two by jumping out to a 10-4 lead. Junior middle blocker Tonia Tauke stole the spotlight in game two with five kills on 10 attacks for the Huskers. The Aggies continued to struggle offensively, hitting just .128 in the game.

It appeared as if the Huskers would cruise to their 13th straight sweep by building a 14-8 lead in the third game. However, the Aggies refused to die and held off six match points before tying the game at 14-14. The Aggies then used a service ace from Sykora and a hitting error from Korver to claim the third game.

Texas A&M continued to roll in the fourth game and stunned the Husker crowd by taking a 7-2 lead. Nebraska returned with a run of its own and trailed just 8-5 after a Korver kill. Nebraska was awarded a point after a red card was issued to the Aggie bench and the Huskers responded by running off six more points, taking a 12-8 lead. Texas A&M managed to close the gap at 14-12, but could not repeat its third-game heroics, falling 15-12.

Nebraska now stands atop the Big 12 standings with a perfect 8-0 mark. Texas and Colorado are tied for second with a 7-1 record. The Huskers will continue conference play in the Coliseum next weekend as the Huskers host Oklahoma and Baylor on Friday and Saturday.