Nebraska Advances to NCAA Regional Final With Win Over CSU

Lincoln, Neb. -- Sophomore outside hitter Anna Schrad produced a career-best 17 kills and a team-high 13 digs to lead the second-seeded Nebraska volleyball team to a 29-31, 30-21, 30-26, 36-34, victory over No. 15 seed Colorado State Friday night in a NCAA Tournament regional semifinal match at the NU Coliseum.

Nancy Metcalf and Laura Pilakowski each added 13 kills for the Huskers, and Jenny Kropp tallied a mach-high 10 blocks, as the Huskers out-blocked CSU 18-11 while holding the Rams to a .168 hitting percentage in the nailbiter.

Courtney Cox, Soraya Santos and Becky Sarauer each recorded kills for Colorado State, which ended its season with a 29-4 record.

The Huskers (30-1), who extended their streak of NCAA Tournament victories to nine, will face Florida (28-1) Saturday night at 7 p.m. a regional final match. The Gators swept Pepperdine in the first match of the night. Nebraska, which improved its postseason record to 50-18, will be playing for a berth in its eighth NCAA Final Four.

"Tonight was a great match," Cook said. "It was everything that we expected it to be. I think that it is unbelievable that they (Colorado State) are a No. 15 seed. We knew coming in tonight that we were in for a war. All you have to do is look at the tape of the Colorado-Colorado State match (last week) to see that. Colorado State does everything well. It was a great effort on our team to pull out a win. I can't even hear right now, my ears are ringing. The Coliseum crowd was into it. It was a great volleyball match."

In game four, the Huskers saw their 18-15 lead disappear as Colorado State scored five straight behind the serving of Kelly Kerr, who notched an ace in the run. Schrad cut the Rams' lead to one with a kill, but a Nebraska service error and another kill by CSU made it 22-19, Colorado State. The Rams went up 24-19 after a kill by Peckham. Colorado State maintained its five-point lead with kills by Angela Knopf and Santos. Nebraska finally answered with a kill by Amber Holmquist and a block of Cox by Greichaly Cepero and Kropp to pull within three.

With Amy Sibbernsen at the service line, Kropp blocked a CSU overpass to cut the lead to two. Then Sibbernsen produced an ace serve to bring Nebraska within one. Knopf stopped the run with a kill, then committed a foot fault on her serve as it remained a one-point game. Metcalf and Kropp combined on a block to tie it at 27. The score was tied twice more before Metcalf broke a 30-30 tie with a kill. Sarauer answered with a kill, followed by back-to-back kills by Holmquist and Cepero. Leading 33-22, Nebraska was out of substitutions, and was forced to send Holmquist to the service line. Her net serve tied the score again at 33. Pilakowski and Cox exchanged kills before NU took a one-point lead on a CSU service error. Metcalf and Kropp combined to block Cox for the 36-34, fourth-game win and the match.

"The first thing that I want to say is how proud I am of this team," CSU Coach Tom Hilbert said. "It has been an honor and a privilege to coach them. They are warriors. I thought that we came within a ball bounce of taking it to five games, and then who knows what happens. Nebraska is a tremendous team, and they create a great environment here (at the Coliseum). They have great tradition, and they are a great team."

Game one was an offensive battle, as both teams hit over .300. Nebraska surrendered a one-point lead when a serve by Schrad sailed wide to make it 25-25. Two kills by Cox and a Nebraska hitting error gave the Rams a three-point lead, and a kill by Knox forced a game-point situation. The Huskers responded with a 3-0 run, sparked when Cepero and Holmquist combined to block Cox. Cepero tied it at 29 with a kill, but Santos answered with a kill to give CSU the advantage. The Rams wrapped up the 31-29, first-game win Becky Sarauer and Knox combined to block Holmquist.

Game two was all Nebraska, as the Huskers out-blocked CSU 8-3 and hit .282 while holding the Rams to .000 at the net. NU turned a four-point lead into a 21-13 advantage with the help of three kills from Schrad, who tallied six on a .500 hitting percentage in the second game. Two attack errors by Cox made it 23-13, NU. Cox then responded with a kill to halt the Huskers' momentum temporarily, but Pilakowski, Holmquist, Cepero and Schrad all produced a kill down the stretch as Nebraska secured the 30-21, second-game win on a CSU service error.

The Huskers carried their momentum into game three, jumping to a 10-3 lead behind two kills by Metcalf. Colorado State cut the lead to four with kills from Santos and Sarauer. The Rams pulled within two to make it 20-18, Nebraska, after a Husker hitting error. CSU never got closer than that. Two kills by a Holmquist and one from Pilakowski opened NU's lead to 24-19, and Nebraska scored the last two points of the 30-26 win on consecutive kills by Holmquist and Metcalf.