Huskers Host OU, Northern Iowa This Weekend

#11 Nebraska (18-3, 10-2) vs. Oklahoma (10-13, 2-9)
When: Saturday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m.
Where: NU Coliseum
Series: NU leads, 59-6
Last Meeting: NU won, 3-0, 10/4/03
Cook vs. Oklahoma: 7-0

#11 Nebraska (18-3, 10-2) vs. #12 Northern Iowa (18-3, 10-1)
When: Sunday, Nov. 2, 5 p.m.
Where: NU Coliseum
Series: NU leads, 2-0-1
Last Meeting: NU won, 3-0, 12/3/87
Cook vs. Northern Iowa: 0-0

Huskers Host OU, Northern Iowa This Weekend
No. 11 Nebraska returns home for the first of two weekend matches when it takes on Oklahoma at 7 p.m. in an NETV match. The Huskers will follow their match against the Sooners with a Sunday contest versus No. 12 Northern Iowa at 5 p.m. The match will be televised nationally on CSTV.

Nebraska has traditionally dominated Oklahoma, as the Huskers own a 59-6 all-time series advantage. Oklahoma has not won a game against Nebraska since sweeping the Huskers in 1997. Since then, NU has won 36 consecutive games.

Although close geographically, the Huskers and Panthers have met just three times previously, and all three contests were more than 15 years ago. In the last meeting, NU eliminated Northern Iowa from the first round of the NCAA Tournament Dec. 3, 1987, at the Coliseum. Nebraska is 2-2 against ranked teams this season, falling to Georgia Tech and Kansas State in five games but defeating Santa Clara and Michigan State.

Nebraska enters the weekend coming off a 3-1 win at Texas Tech Wednesday night in Lubbock. The Huskers struggled early, dropping game one and ending a 20-game winning streak against the Red Raiders. However, Tech couldn’t find an answer for NU middle blockers Melissa Elmer and Sara Westling. Elmer led NU with 18 kills and hit . 486, while Westling had career highs in kills (15 on a .464 hitting percentage) and blocks (eight). Both middle blockers are hitting over .300 on the season. Elmer ranks eighth in the Big 12 with a .336 hitting percentage, while Westling is swinging at a .307 clip. Against Tech, the Huskers also received a lift from freshman outside hitter Dani Mancuso, who played on the left side most of games three and four. Mancuso contributed six kills and had three service aces. Classmate Amanda McCormick got the starting nod at libero for the third time in the last four matches and tallied a match-high 19 digs.

Media Information
Television: CSTV (DirecTV 610) will televise the Northern Iowa match live with announcers Kevin Eschenfelder and Heather Cox. NETV will also televise the Oklahoma match live statewide.
Radio: Both matches can be heard live on B107.3 and selected Pinnacle Sports Network affiliates. John Baylor NU volleyball Director of Operations Diane Mendenhall will call the matches.
Live Stats and Live Audio: Huskers.com.
Live Video: A live video stream of the OU match will be available through HuskersNside. Click on Huskers.com to subscribe.

35 Consecutive Sellouts
Nebraska owns a streak of 35 consecutive sellouts at the NU Coliseum. The Huskers sold out all 17 matches they played at the Coliseum last season (NU played one match at the 13,595-seat Bob Devaney Sports Center). NU ended the 2001 season with 10 straight sellout crowds at the Coliseum. The Huskers sold out every match at the Coliseum in 2001 except a Tuesday, Sept. 25, match against Creighton. In 2003, NU has sold out all eight of its matches at the Coliseum. The Huskers drew 6,142 fans for their match against Iowa State Oct. 25 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Oklahoma Quickly (10-13, 2-9)
Oklahoma is 10-13 overall and 2-9 in the Big 12 after picking up its second Big 12 Conference win Wednesday night in a five-game triumph over Baylor. The Sooners also defeated the Bears Oct. 1 in Waco, Texas.

Like Nebraska, Oklahoma features one of the league’s youngest squads. Nine of the Sooners’ 14 players are either freshmen or sophomores. OU’s top offensive threat is freshman outside hitter Joanna Schmitt, who ranks among the conference leaders with 4.34 kills per game, and she had 24 in the win over Baylor. Schmitt also leads the team in digs with 2.63 per game. Setter Rachel Jackson is also a freshman. Jackson had 45 assists against the Bears.

The Sooners are coached by Kalani Mahi, who is 26-86 in his third season at OU.

Nebraska-Oklahoma Series
Nebraska is 59-6 all-time against Oklahoma. NU has won 12 consecutive matches in the series with the Sooners, Nebraska’s fourth winning streak of 10 or more matches in series history. Oklahoma has not won a game against Nebraska since sweeping the Huskers in 1997. Since then, NU has won 36 consecutive games.

The Last Time We Met
Right side hitters Ally Rebholz and Kelsey Fautsch combined for 19 kills to lead the seventh-ranked Huskers to a 30-17, 30-17, 30-22 win over Oklahoma at the OU Field House on Oct. 4. Rebholz pounded 10 kills on a .529 hitting percentage to go along with two blocks, while Fautsch tallied nine kills, hit .667 and also had two blocks.

Nebraska dominated the match statistically, hitting .361 to OU’s .046, as setters Michelle Lynch and Dani Busboom combined for 44 assists. NU out-blocked the Sooners, 8-2, and held a 43-29 advantage in digs. Sophomore middle blocker Melissa Elmer led Nebraska with four blocks, and Jennifer Saleaumua had 13 digs and 11 kills.

Northern Iowa Quickly (18-3, 10-1)
Northern Iowa is 18-3 overall and 10-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Panthers have swept two straight opponents since suffering a four-game upset loss at Southwest Missouri State on Oct. 18. UNI had been ranked in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll top 10 all season before the defeat.The Panthers’ other two losses were at No. 1 USC and against No. 23 Minnesota.

Senior setter Jill Arganbright is averaging 13.23 assists per game, leading Northern Iowa to a .290 team hitting percentage, which ranks ninth nationally. Arganbright is the Northern Iowa career leader with 5,390 assists, and she ranks second all-time in Misssouri Valley Conference history. Senior middle blocker Molly O’Brien, who was named the MVC Player of the Week Oct. 27, is averaging 4.11 kills per game ranks third all-time at UNI on the career kills list. O’Brien also leads UNI with 1.48 blocks per game and is the Panthers’ career blocks leader.

UNI is led by head coach Bobbi Petersen, who owns a 101-17 record in her fourth season. Petersen was named the 2002 AVCA Coach of the Year after leading the Panthers to a 34-3 record and the NCAA regional finals.

Nebraska-Northern Iowa Series
Nebraska is 2-0-1 all-time against Northern Iowa, but all three matches took place over 10 years ago. The Huskers defeated UNI In 1976 and tied with the Panthers in a two-game match in 1977. The last time the teams met, Dec. 3, 1987, at the NU Coliseum, Nebraska eliminated Northern Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Coming Up ...
The schedule doesn’t slow down for Nebraska any time soon. The UNI match kicks off a brutal five-match stretch in which the Huskers play four ranked teams in 13 days. Three of those matches are on the road, including Nov. 5 at No. 21 Texas A&M, Nov. 8 at No. 24 Missouri and Nov. 15 at seventh-ranked Kansas State. NU is 2-2 against teams ranked in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches top 25 this season.

Rank and File
Nebraska is ranked 11th for the second straight week in the Oct. 27 USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll. NU fell to No. 11 Oct. 20 after suffering back-to-back losses to eighth-ranked Kansas State and No. 24 Missouri. The ranking is the Huskers’ lowest since 1999, when they were voted No. 11 in the final poll of the season.

Nebraska is one of two teams that have been ranked in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll for all 291 weeks of its existence. The Huskers have been ranked in the top 10 for 260 of the 291 weeks, which ranks second behind Stanford’s 272. Nebraska has spent 38 weeks in the top spot, and its most recent No. 1 ranking was Sept. 24, 2001.

Around the Big 12
With eight league matches remaining, Nebraska is still in the thick of the Big 12 Conference race. The Huskers, who have won five straight league titles, are in second place place in the conference standings with a 10-2 record. Seventh-ranked Kansas State leads the league with an 11-1 record, and Missouri fell from a tie with the Huskers to third place at 9-3 after falling to Texas Wednesday night. Texas A&M (8-3), Kansas (6-5), Colorado (6-5) and Texas (6-6) round out the top seven.

Freshman Phenoms
While making an impact on the court, Nebraska freshmen Dani Busboom and Amanda McCormick are climbing the Husker freshman charts. Busboom, a setter in NU’s 6-2 offense, has totaled 414 assists, which ranks second all-time behind Lindsay Wischmeier’s 724 in 1999.

Busboom also leads the team with 31 service aces, which ranks third all-time among NU freshmen. She needs just six more aces to break the record of 36 held by Maria Hedbeck (1993) and Kim Tonniges (1991). If Busboom continues at her current pace (0.41 service aces per game) and NU plays a minimum of 27 games (nine remaining regular-season matches), she will finish the season with 41 service aces. Busboom currently ranks first in the Big 12 with 0.50 aces per game against league teams.

McCormick, who was sidelined for much of the season with an elbow injury, has played in just 25 games but has been in the lineup as NU’s libero in 14 of the past 15 games. She is averaging 3.48 digs per game, the highest average ever by a Husker freshman and the most since Maria Hedbeck in 1993. McCormick recorded a career-high 31 digs in her first career start Nov. 8 against Missouri, the third-highest total in school history and the most by a Big 12 player this season.

Youth Movement
With a lineup low on experience and depth at some positions, Nebraska’s freshmen, as well as several players who saw little time in 2002, have been asked to contribute immediately. Seven Huskers who are freshmen or first-year starters have seen significant playing time in NU’s 6-2 (two-setter) offense this year.

Freshmen Dani Busboom (setter), middle blocker Christina Houghtelling (middle blocker) and Kelsey Fautsch (right side), a redshirt freshman, have played in at least 14 matches. The Huskers’ lineup may even be getting younger. Freshman libero Amanda McCormick has started three of the past four matches and has played libero in 14 of the last 15 games. Freshman outside hitter Dani Mancuso has started the last two matches and can play on both the right and left sides.

Other first-year starters include junior right side hitter Ally Rebholz, sophomore setter Michelle Lynch, senior libero Jenae Dowling and senior middle blocker Sara Westling, who has shared time at the second middle blocker spot with Houghtelling, although Houghtelling is out until mid-November with a knee injury.

When McCormick is in the lineup and Houghtelling is healthy, NU has played at times with up to five freshmen (Fautsch, Busboom, Mancuso) on the court.

Elmer Emerging as All-America Candidate
Second-year starter Melissa Elmer is one of the Big 12’s best middle blockers and the Huskers’ top candidate for All-America honors. Elmer leads the Big 12 with 1.61 blocks per game and ranks fifth in the league with a .336 hitting percentage. She is hitting .522 in Big 12 matches, which ranks second in the conference. Elmer also ranks second on the team with 26 service aces.

Elmer has been at her best in big matches, and she leads Nebraska in matches against ranked teams in kills per game (3.35), hitting percentage (.394), service aces per game (0.35) and blocks per game (1.24)

Elmer is one of just two middle blockers to have earned Big 12 Player-of-the-Week honors in 2003. She won the award Oct. 14 for her career performances against Kansas Oct. 8 and Kansas State Oct. 11. Elmer had a career-high 15 blocks at Kansas, the highest number of blocks by any player in the Big 12 Conference this season. The total ranks third all-time on the NU single-match performance charts behind former All-Americans Amber Holmquist (16, 2000) and Karen Dahlgren (18, 1984) and is also the highest by a Husker in the rally-scoring era.

Against KSU, Elmer posted a career-high 19 kills, seven more than any other player involved in the match.

Saleaumua Does Everything for NU
NU Coach John Cook has labeled Jennifer Saleaumua the Huskers’ top all-around player, and the sophomore outside hitter is proving why during Big 12 Conference play. In league matches, Saleuamua has taken over the team lead in kills per game (3.34) and digs per game (4.05), which ranks third in the conference. Saleaumua leads NU with 10 double-doubles, and she has had a double-double in each of the last seven matches.

Saleaumua posted a career-best 23 digs against Kansas State Oct. 11, then bettered the mark with 27 digs against Missouri Oct. 15, which is the second-highest total by a Big 12 player this season.

Offensively, Saleaumua has posted double-figure kill totals in 13 of her last 134matches after reaching the mark just once in NU’s first six contests. She tallied a then-career-best 17 kills Sept. 17 to help Nebraska defeat Texas A&M in a come-from-behind victory. Oct. 8 at KU, Saleaumua recorded 19 kills on a .340 hitting percentage.

Super Servers
Through 21 matches, Nebraska has compiled 150 service aces to its opponents’ 64 after amassing 169 in 33 matches last season. NU’s 2003 average of 2.00 service aces per game ranks second in the Big 12. In conference matches, the Huskers lead the Big 12 with 2.14 service aces per game. Nine Huskers own a service ace, and six have at least 15. Freshman setter Dani Busboom leads NU with 31 service aces and ranks first in the Big 12 with 0.50 per game in league matches. Sophomore middle blocker Melissa Elmer is second on the team with 26 aces, and sophomore setter Michelle Lynch has 23.

Nebraska tied the 13-year-old school record for service aces in a three-game match with 16 at Texas Sept. 20. Lynch led the effort with five aces, while sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Saleaumua and freshman middle blocker Christina Houghtelling each had four.

Fight To the Finish
Nebraska grew accustomed to quick matches last season while winning 28 of its 33 matches in three games. NU dropped just two games during the Big 12 season, and the Huskers played just four matches that lasted longer than two hours. NU did not play a five-game match last year, and it played just four games over the minimum.

In 2003, the nights have been longer, as a young Husker squad continues to improve against a tough schedule. Nebraska has already played four five-game matches after playing just one during the past two seasons. Eight of NU’s matches have lasted longer than two hours, and four have reached the 2-hour, 30-minute mark. The Huskers’ match with Missouri Oct. 15 lasted two hours and 50 minutes, NU’s longest contest in 152 matches. Nebraska’s 3-2 win over Wisconsin in the 1998 NCAA regional finals lasted two hours and 58 minutes.

Nebraska is 5-3 in extra-game matches, falling to No. 5 Georgia Tech, No. 12 Kansas State and Missouri in five, but defeating Texas A&M in five games. NU also defeated Texas Tech, Kansas, Santa Clara and Illinois State in four.

Block Party
Nebraska entered its Oct. 8 match against Kansas averaging 2.94 blocks per game after posting at least 3.17 blocks per game in the previous three seasons. However, the Huskers totaled a season-high 22 team blocks against Kansas, which is the best mark by a Big 12 team this season. The total was the most by a Husker team in 83 matches. NU had 23 team blocks against Hawaii in the 2000 NCAA semifinals Dec. 14. Nebraska followed the KU performance with a solid 14 blocks against Kansas State Oct. 11, and NU ranked ninth in the Oct. 19 NCAA statistics with 3.08 kills per game. NU has not fallen below 3.00 blocks per game since the KSU match.

Although Nebraska’s blocking numbers are somewhat down in 2003, NU still leads the Big 12. Sophomore middle blocker Melissa Elmer, who ranked second in the Big 12 behind former NU All-American Amber Holmquist in blocks per game last season, leads NU and ranks first in the Big 12 and fifth nationally with 1.61 stops per game. Elmer had a career-high 16 blocks against Kansas.

Cook’s Winning Ways
Nebraska Coach John Cook has been amazingly successful during his four seasons at the helm, posting a 114-7 record. Cook picked up his 100th victory as Nebraska head coach Sept. 5 when NU defeated New Orleans, 3-0.

Cook’s only losses in his first three seasons were to 2001 NCAA champion Stanford, 2001 NCAA runner-up Long Beach State, 2002 NCAA champion USC and 2002 NCAA semifinal participant Hawaii. Cook has lost just two Big 12 Conference matches, going 70-2 and winning three league titles.

Cook was the AVCA Coach of the Year in 2000 after leading Nebraska to a 34-0 season and a national title. He was also named the 2001 Big 12 Coach of the Year. In 2001, NU posted a 31-2 mark and advanced to the NCAA semifinals. Last season, Nebraska also finished with a 31-2 record and advanced to the NCAA regional finals. The Huskers have won three Big 12 titles under Cook.

The End of an Era
Nebraska’s five-game loss to Kansas State Oct. 11 snapped several of the nation’s most impressive conference winning streaks, including the following:

• Entering the KSU match, the Huskers had won 77 consecutive regular-season Big 12 matches, which ranks third in NCAA history. The streak started after NU’s loss at Texas on Oct. 24, 1999. Nebraska won 10 straight conference matches to close the 1999 season, and went 20-0 in 2000, 2001 and 2002, and was 7-0 in 2003.
• The Huskers had won 78 straight matches against Big 12 teams (the Huskers defeated Kansas State in a non-conference match in the 2001 NCAA Tournament). Nebraska’s 78-match league winning streak ranks fourth in NCAA history.
• NU had won 42 straight Big 12 matches at home, dating back to a five-game loss to Kansas State Sept. 22, 1999. After the KSU loss, Nebraska won its last nine Big 12 home matches that year, then won 10 in each of the next three seasons and had won three in 2003 before falling to the Wildcats again.
• John Cook had won 68 straight matches against Big 12 teams (67 regular season) as head coach.