NU Sweeps No. 25 San Diego, Prepares for Sweet 16

Nebraska Def. San Diego, 3-0 NCAA Second Round
Teams	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
San Diego	12	8	9	0	0
Nebraska	15	15	15	0	0

 

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NU Sweeps No. 25 San Diego, Prepares For Sweet 16
Lincoln -- The No. 10 Nebraska volleyball team assured itself of a spot in the NCAA Volleyball Championships round of 16 for the sixth-straight year with a 15-12, 15-8, 15-9 defeat of No. 25 San Diego Friday night at the NU Coliseum. The Huskers (27-5) -- who notched their 14th consecutive postseason home victory before a crowd of 3,137 -- will now travel to Palo Alto, Calif., for the Dec. 10-11 Pacific Region semifinals.

Junior All-American Nancy Meendering led NU with 22 kills and a .347 hitting percentage. Freshman middle blocker Amber Holmquist tied a career-high in kills with 15 and totaled 10 blocks.

Petia Yanchulova, a two-time West Coast Conference Player of the Year, led San Diego with match highs in kills (24) and digs (19). San Diego ended its season with a 23-6 mark.

While NU Coach Terry Pettit praised Meendering and Holmquist after the match, he credited reserve right-side hitter Katie Jahnke for providing the Huskers with a much-needed spark in the second and third games. Jahnke tied career-highs with 11 digs and seven blocks. She also added four kills.

"I tend to think that Nancy Meendering is the best right-side blocker I've ever coached," Pettit said. "Nancy had two blocks tonight, and Katie Jahnke had eight. That shows what a great blocker Katie can be, especially against teams that try to use her. She's organized, and she plays great defense. There aren't very many players who can come off the bench and do that. But when she comes in, the team knows instantly that we're going to take things up a notch."

San Diego led much of the first game. The Toreros jumped to a 4-1 lead early and increased their advantage to 10-5 with the help of four kills from Yanchulova before Nebraska mounted a comeback. The Huskers slowly chipped away at San Diego's lead, outscoring the Toreros 5-1 to tie the game at 12. Nebraska then scored the final three points of game one on a kill by Holmquist, an ace serve by Angie Oxley, and a block by Holmquist. It was the third block of the game for Holmquist, who smashed eight kills and hit .462 in NU's 15-12 first-game win.

Nebraska carried its momentum into the second game, as Meendering served four straight points to give NU a 7-2 lead. After San Diego cut NU's advantage to three, the Huskers went on a 6-0 run to take a commanding 14-4 lead. But the Toreros didn't die quietly. San Diego forced NU to serve for game point seven times before the Huskers captured the 15-8 game two victory with Holmquist at the service line.

Holmquist led the Huskers with six kills and a .556 hitting percentage. NU's team hitting percentage fell to .195 after it hit .339 in the opening contest. Nebraska warmed up defensively in the second game, however. The Huskers totaled six team blocks and held San Diego to a .000 hitting percentage. Jahnke led the defensive charge with three blocks and three digs.

In the third game, Nebraska led 10-4 before receiving a serious threat from San Diego. Adrian Frediani led the Toreros on a 4-0 run with two consecutive kills. But San Diego couldn't hang on. With freshman setter Lindsay Wischmeier at the service line, the Huskers scored four straight points behind three block assists from Jahnke. NU closed the game on a Monson serve, and a block by Jahnke and Kropp sealed the 15-9 win.

Nebraska is making its 18th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament. After going 2-0 in Lincoln this week, the Huskers own a 41-16 all-time record in postseason play. Nebraska ranked third nationally in NCAA Tournament wins and fourth in winning percentage (.709) prior to the start of the 1999 tournament.

 

Nebraska vs. San Diego

Post-match Comments

Nebraska Coach Terry Pettit

I thought that San Diego was very good. The seeding for this tournament was tough, because they are a team that deserves to be in the final sixteen. They have some very good players, and they have a great player in Petia (Yanchulova). There were a couple of times I thought we had her on the block and she just hit around it.

Nebraska's Katie Jahnke

I just went in and tried to keep everyone calm and organized. That's my role. I've done it before, so I know how everyone is going to react. Everyone looked a little flustered to start the match, so I went in and tried to help change that.

San Diego Coach Jennifer Torns

Nebraska played a tough match. They have a lot of weapons, and they're difficult to defend. But I'm very proud of the way San Diego played. The effort was great, and I'm very especially proud of the way Petia (Yanchulova) played. She was phenomenal.

San Diego's Petia Yanchulova

I really thought we were going to win that first game. Then in the second, it seemed like the match was slipping away with every point they scored. I was so sure that we could come in here and get win. But unfortunately, that didn't happen.