Monson Leads NU to Sweep of Western Michigan

Gainesville, Fla. - The third-ranked Nebraska volleyball team dominated Western Michigan in the first two games and then rallied from a 12-6 deficit in game three to hand the Broncos a 15-3, 15-7, 15-13 loss in the Florida SunTrust Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., Saturday.

The Huskers (2-2) fell behind early in the third game as Western Michigan stormed to a 5-0 lead, before taking a 12-6 advantage. However, junior rightside hitter Nancy Meendering stopped the Bronco run by serving three straight points, including one service ace, to bring the Huskers within three points at 12-9. After back-to-back blocks assists by Angie Oxley and Jenny Kropp, Oxley answered with a cross-court kills to tie the match for the first time at 13-13. Nebraska then put the match away by scoring two quick points off a Meendering kill and WMU hitting error to notch its second win of the season.

"I thought we played very alert and served very tough the first two games," Head Coach Terry Pettit said. "In the third game, Western Michigan came out with more intensity, they got back in system and scored some points on us. Overall, I thought our ball handling was improved and we did a better job of handling the off-play."

Senior Mandy Monson, who finished with a match -high 12 kills, posted double-figure kills for the third time this season after recording double-figure kills just three times last season. It was also the first time she led the team in kills since recording a career-high 19 kills against Texas Tech as a sophomore.

Nebraska hit over .300 for the second straight match, with senior Tonia Tauke paving the way with her .692 hitting percentage, recording 10 kills on 13 swings.

The Huskers got off to a strong start in the first game thanks to five kills from Monson, running 12 straight points to take a 12-1 lead. Nebraska was near-perfect offensively, hitting .500 with 16 kills and just two hitting errors. In comparison, the Broncos hit -.038 with five kills and six errors.

The Huskers featured a balanced attack in the second game as four players had three kills, including Tauke, who hit .500 in the second frame. Nebraska opened the game by running seven straight points, before Western Michigan answered with two unanswered points. Nebraska returned with a 6-1 run to take a 13-3 lead and all but ice the game. The Husker defense remained stingy, holding the Broncos to .075 hitting in the second frame.

In the tournament's first match, Florida defeated Iowa, 15-3, 15-5, 15-6. The Huskers play Iowa at 5 p.m. Saturday night in NU's second match of the SunTrust Invitational.