Elmer Stars as Huskers top Santa Clara

Lincoln ? Sophomore middle blocker Melissa Elmer led the way with 15 kills and nine blocks as the fifth-ranked Nebraska volleyball team beat No. 13 Santa Clara 30-10, 24-30, 30-26, 30-27 Friday night at the NU Coliseum.

 

The Huskers ran their regular-season winning streak to 30 matches and won for the 53rd straight time at home in the regular season. NU (7-0) held the 5-2 Broncos (5-2) to .072 hitting and accumulated 14 team blocks in the second four-game match of the year for the Huskers.

 

Elmer, whose kill total established a career best, hit a team-high .370 and contributed the Huskers' only two solo blocks of the match. Senior outside hitter Anna Schrad notched 12 kills, and freshman right-side hitter Kelsey Fautsch added 10. Senior libero Jenae Dowling led the Huskers with a career-high 21 digs, and sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Saleaumua had 16 digs to go with seven kills.

 

It was Saleaumua who ended the match with a kill to back corner of the court after Santa Clara cut a four-point deficit to two in the final moments.

 

Senior middle blocker Becky Potter led the Broncos with 12 kills despite hitting .054. Sophomore outside hitter Cassie Perret added 11 kills, and senior middle blocker Becky Biniek added 10.

 

Nebraska held a comfortable 15-7 lead in game one before Saleaumua stepped to the service line and reeled off eight straight points, including a service ace. Junior outside hitter Ally Rebholz and Elmer each had two kills in the run, and the duo combined for a block that sparked a 5-0 run to increase the NU advantage to 27-8. The Huskers took the first game, 30-10, after Westling produced back-to-back kills.

 

The Huskers hit .481 in the first game, as Rebholz, senior middle blocker Sara Westling and Elmer all hit .667 or better and had at least three kills.

 

In game two, Nebraska struggled offensively, and after a 9-9 tie, trailed most of the way. Santa Clara led, 22-16, after Westling served into the net and freshman outside hitter Dani Mancuso committed a hitting error. Elmer then slammed a kill that started a 6-0 Husker run, tying the score at 23. But Nebraska couldn't hang on. Kelli Walsh served the final five points, including a service ace. The Broncos secured the a 30-24 game two win when Alyssa Lantz drilled an NU overpass.

 

The Huskers took their largest lead of game three at 24-16 after Fautsch posted a kill. The Broncos then outscored Nebraska 7-3 to close the gap to 27-23. Fautsch and Westling blocked Perret to make it 28-23, and a Santa Clara error forced game point. NU served for the game three times before finally taking a 30-26 win on a Bronco service error.

 

With the score tied in game four, Busboom served four straight points to give NU an 18-14 lead. Nebraska pulled away with the help of kills by Saleaumua, Elmer, and Rebholz down the stretch. The Broncos fought back, cutting the Husker's lead to 27-24, after a block and an ace serve by Potter. Rebholz stopped the run with a kill, but a Santa Clara kill and an NU hitting error made it 28-26. Fautsch pounded a kill to force game point before Saleaumua ended the match.

 

Saturday, the Huskers will face Michigan State at 3 p.m. Georgia Tech and Santa Clara will play at 3 p.m.

 

Georgia Tech 3, Michigan State 0

Junior outside hitter Lynnette Moster pounded 20 kills on a .600 hitting percentage to lead No. 10 Georgia Tech to a 30-20, 30-16, 30-25 win over 17th-ranked Michigan State Friday night in the first match of the US Bank/Arby's Classic. Moster tied for the match-high with five blocks and added nine digs.

 

Georgia Tech (6-0) hit .455, producing 56 kills and erring just 10 times in 101 attacks.

 

Jenny Rood led Michigan State (5-1) with 10 kills. Spartan setter Nikki Colson, a Pius X graduate, totaled 37 assists and five kills.

 

Santa Clara Coach Jon Wallace
Opening Statement:
I thought that the match was pretty sloppy, really sloppy. They hit .201, and we hit .072. We haven't hit that low in a long time. I thought that there were a lot of missed plays. It was very sloppy volleyball.

On the sloppiness:
For them, it may have been the fact that it was the first home game. They've got a lot of young players. I really don't know. We tried a new lineup tonight, and we've got some injured players. In game one, our passing broke down, and with girls hurt, it was tough. We played better in the rest of the match. I expect us to rebound and come out and play great tomorrow.

Post-Match Quotes
Nebraska middle blocker Melissa Elmer
On the first game:
We were totally focused in that first game. We just need to keep that up the whole match, because we lost it. We just have to maintain the whole game.

On what she will go home and remember from this match:
I'll go home and think about the good things. We know what we have to work on. I'll go and visualize it and go out and do it tomorrow.

Nebraska outside hitter Anna Schrad
On focus:
When we lose our focus, we get quiet. We need to keep our communication on the court up. That keeps us focused. We need to key in on that and work on it.

Nebraska Coach John Cook
On the match:
There's too many errors. Holding Santa Clara to .072 is pretty good. We did a lot of nice things tonight. We were running a 6-2 system, which allows us to do a lot of different things.

On game one:
I think it was a mix of their adrenaline and the excitment of playing in the Coliseum. I think it was also Santa Clara just trying to get going, and I think that after the first game it really became a match.

On NU's errors:
Our setters were just inconsistent, and we made some poor attacks. In defense of the setters, they did get our right-side hitters in some good one-on-one situations. They did a good job there, but we just need to lower our errors.