Huskers Return Home to Face Texas

After a successful week on the road, No. 10 Nebraska returns to the NU Coliseum Wednesday when it takes on Texas in an 8 p.m. match televised nationally on CSTV. The match will also be televised statewide on NETV.

With just five regular-season matches remaining, Nebraska is playing its best volleyball of the season. During four matches in November, the Huskers have posted numbers well above their season averages in several categories, including hitting percentage (.280) and blocks per game (3.79). Seven Huskers are averaging more than 2.00 kills per game in November, led by sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Saleaumua (4.08) and junior right side hitter Ally Rebholz (3.25).

The Huskers have swept three straight ranked opponents, including two (No. 21 Texas A&M and No. 25 Missouri) on the road. Saleaumua has played at an All-America level against the top competition, averaging 4.78 kills per game on a .315 hitting percentage to go along with 4.33 digs per game. Senior middle blocker Sara Westling has also stepped up her game, averaging 1.56 blocks per game and 1.78 kills per game on a .417 hitting percentage.

The Huskers appear to be on a roll, but the toughest test awaits. If the Huskers defeat Texas Wednesday, their match at No. 5 Kansas State Nov. 15 could decide the Big 12 conference title. The Huskers remain in second place in the Big 12 standings with a 13-2 record, while Kansas State is first at 13-1.

Nebraska used a school-record performance to defeat Texas in Austin Sept. 20. NU produced a season-high 16 service aces to tie the school record for service aces in a three-game match. The total was NU’s highest since Oct. 6, 1990, when it produced 16 aces against Missouri at the NU Coliseum.

Media Information
Television: The Texas match will be televised live on CSTV and NETV. The announcers are Chris Marlowe and Heather Cox.
Radio: Both matches can be heard live on B107.3 and selected Pinnacle Sports Network affiliates. John Baylor and 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 Texas match is available on HuskersNside. Click on Huskers.com for more information.

A Win for the Huskers ...
With a victory over Texas Wednesday, the Huskers would:

• Extend their winning streak to eight straight.
• Improve to 7-0 in 2003 against teams from the state of Texas.
• Improve to 327-18 all-time vs. Big 12 teams.
• Improve to 22-1 all-time against the Longhorns.

Texas Quickly (11-12, 6-8)
The Longhorns were picked by the league’s coaches to finish third in the conference race in 2003. However, Texas has had an up-and-down season while playing a tough schedule. UT is 2-6 against ranked teams this season, defeating Texas A&M in five games Oct. 1 and Missouri in four games Oct. 29. However, since defeating the Tigers, Texas has lost back-to-back games to Iowa State and Kansas and has fallen to seventh in the league standings.

Texas features two of the conference’s top offensive weapons in Mira Topic and Bethany Howden. Topic, a junior outside hitter, averages 4.36 kills per game on a .253 hitting percentage. Howden, a junior middle blocker, leads the team with 4.68 kills per game. Freshman middle blocker Brandy Magee leads Texas with 0.99 blocks per game.

The Longhorns are coached by Jerritt Elliott, who owns a 63-43 record in his fourth season at Texas.

Nebraska-Texas Series
Nebraska is 21-11 all-time against Texas, and the Huskers have won eight straight matches in the series with UT. Nebraska is 11-2 at home against Texas, and NU has swept four of the last five meetings in the series. Perhaps the most memorable match in Nebraska-Texas history was before the creation of the Big 12 Conference. The Huskers defeated Texas, 3-1, in the 1995 NCAA championship game in Amherst, Mass., to claim its first national title.

The Last Time We Met
Eighth-ranked Nebraska produced a season-high 16 service aces to tie the school record for service aces in a three-game match and cruise to a 30-20, 30-19, 30-19 victory over Texas Sept. 20 in front of 1,960 fans at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Texas. The total was NU’s highest since Oct. 6, 1990, when it produced 16 aces against Missouri at the NU Coliseum.

Three Huskers had at least four aces, including sophomore setter Michelle Lynch, who led the way with five. Freshman middle blocker Christina Houghtelling and sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Saleaumua each tallied four service aces.

Saleaumua also led NU in kills, pounding a match-high 13 while hitting at a .407 clip. Saleaumua contributed six digs and tied her career-high with five blocks.

Texas was led by Bethany Howden, who recorded 12 kills.

37 Consecutive Sellouts
Nebraska owns a streak of 37 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 10 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.

Coming Up
Nebraska travels to No. 5 Kansas State Saturday, Nov. 15, in a match that could decide the Big 12 Conference title. The Wildcats remain in first place in the league standings with a 13-1 record, while Nebraska is second with a 13-2 mark. A once hotly-contested battle for the conference crown has turned into a two-team race, with Texas A&M and Missouri falling off pace with recent losses. If Nebraska were to defeat Kansas State and win out, the Huskers would secure at least a share of their seventh Big 12 Conference title.

KSU defeated Nebraska Oct. 11 in Lincoln, but Nebraska owns a 66-2 lead in the series record.

Rank and File
Nebraska remained at No. 10 in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll after three-game wins over Texas A&M and Missouri last week. The Huskers have been ranked 10th for two straight weeks, originally moving into the spot in the Nov. 3 poll on the strength of their three-game win over then-No. 12 Northern Iowa Nov. 2.

NU fell to No. 11 Oct. 20 after suffering back-to-back losses to eighth-ranked Kansas State and No. 24 Missouri. The ranking was 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 296 weeks of its existence. The Huskers have been ranked in the top 10 for 264 of the 296 weeks, which ranks second behind Stanford’s 278. Nebraska has spent 38 weeks in the top spot, and its most recent No. 1 ranking was Sept. 24, 2001.

Saleaumua Tops Against Best Teams
Nebraska is in the midst of a five-game stretch in which it faces four ranked teams in 13 days. Sophomore outside hitter Jennifer Saleaumua has risen to the occasion, averaging 4.08 kills per game on a .328 hitting percentage to go along with 4.67 digs per game in November. Saleaumua has produced double-doubles in her last three matches (No. 12 Northern Iowa, No. 21 Texas A&M and No. 25 Missouri) to increase her team-leading total in that category to 13.

In league matches, Saleaumua leads the Huskers in kills per game (3.36) and digs per game (4.21), which ranks first in the conference.

Saleaumua posted a career-best 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 16 of her last 17 matches after reaching the mark just once in NU’s first six contests. Oct. 8 at KU, Saleaumua recorded a career-best 19 kills on a .340 hitting percentage.

November Progress
Nebraska has struggled at times in 2003 with a young team and several new starters, but the Huskers have continued to improve every week and appear to be peaking at the just the right time. In November, NU has swept three ranked teams, including two on the road. NU defeated No. 12 Northern Iowa at home Nov. 2 before sweeping Texas A&M in College Station Nov. 5 and avenging an October loss to Missouri with a win over the Tigers in Columbia Nov. 8.

During that stretch, the Huskers have made considerable gains in every statistical category despite playing some of the toughest matches on their schedule, as shown below.

Date

Record

KPG

Hitting%

APG

SAPG

DPG

BPG

Before November

18-3

16.17

.248

14.71

2.00

16.40

3.08

November

4-0

16.58

.280

15.25

2.00

17.42

3.79

Season Totals

22-3

16.23

.253

14.78

2.00

16.54

3.18

Rebholz Re-emerges
Junior outside hitter Ally Rebholz appears to be back on track after a rocky October. As a first-year starter on the right side, Rebholz enjoyed great success early in 2003. In the Huskers’ first 15 matches, Rebholz averaged 2.55 kills per game on a .304 hitting percentage to go along with 1.12 blocks per game. The Indianapolis native struggled with illness in October and averaged just 1.90 kills per game on .123 hitting from Oct. 8 to Oct. 29. In four November matches, Rebholz is averaging 3.25 kills per game while swinging at a .326 clip. She totaled 12 kills and hit .364 against No. 12 Northern Iowa Nov. 2.

Nebraska Notables

Since switching to the right side, senior outside hitter Anna Schrad is averaging 1.50 blocks per game. Her season average is 0.60. Sophomore setter Michelle Lynch has produced seven service aces in the last three matches. Lynch shares the team lead with freshman setter Dani Busboom. Both have with 32 service aces. Junior right side hitter Ally Rebholz posted 12 kills on .364 hitting against Northern Iowa Nov. 2. The mark was her highest since Oct. 11 when she recorded 12 kills against Kansas State. Senior middle blocker Sara Westling has produced at least four blocks in each of her last seven matches to move into the Big 12 statistical rankings. She is fourth in the conference with 1.14 blocks per game in league matches. Freshman outside hitter Dani Mancuso has served the match-winning point in each of the Huskers’ last two victories (No. 21 Texas A&M and No. 25 Missouri).

Freshmen 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 487 assists, which ranks second all-time behind Lindsay Wischmeier’s 724 in 1999.

Busboom also shares the team lead with 32 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 (0.37 service aces per game) and NU plays a minimum of 15 games (five remaining regular-season matches), she will finish the season with 37 service aces.

McCormick, who was sidelined for much of the season with an elbow injury, has started five of the past six matches. She is averaging 3.54 digs per game, the highest average ever by a Husker freshman and the most since Maria Hedbeck (3.45) 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.

All About Elmer
Second-year starter Melissa Elmer is one of the Big 12’s best middle blockers and one of the Huskers’ top candidates for postseason honors. Elmer leads the Big 12 with 1.66 blocks per game and ranks fourth in the league with a .340 hitting percentage. She is hitting .363 in Big 12 matches, which ranks first in the conference. Elmer also ranks third on the team with 29 service aces.

Elmer was named the Big 12 Player-of-the-Week Oct. 14, winning the award 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.

Cook’s Winning Ways
Nebraska Coach John Cook has been amazingly successful during his four seasons at the helm, posting a 118-7 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 73-2 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.