Pavan Propels No. 7 Huskers to Sweep over No. 11 Texas A&M

Lincoln ? Sarah Pavan’s 23 kills led seventh-ranked Nebraska to its sixth consecutive win, as the Huskers downed No. 12 Texas A&M, 30-20, 30-20, 30-27 in front of a sellout crowd of 4,135 and a national television audience at the NU Coliseum Saturday evening.

The 6-foot-5 freshman from Kitchener, Ontario, hit .500 on 40 swings and added eight digs, as she was one kill off her career high of 24 against Florida A&M earlier this month. Pavan has hit .500 or better in two of the Huskers’ last three matches and has topped the Huskers in kills nine times in 10 matches this season.

"She may be the most influential freshman I’ve ever seen in college volleyball," Texas A&M Coach Laurie Corbelli said. "It’s difficult to stop her."

"She was in the zone tonight," Nebraska Coach John Cook said. "That is the first time that she has been in the zone this year. The temptation is to set her every ball, but you have to have a balanced attack."

The Huskers (10-1, 4-0 Big 12) did just that in posting their 10th straight win over the Aggies, as five players had at least eight kills. All-American Melissa Elmer tied a season-high with 13 kills and added five blocks, while Christina Houghtelling and Tracy Stalls chipped in seven kills apiece.

Jennifer Saleaumua had seven kills and 17 digs, while libero Amanda McCormick had 25 digs ? three shy of a 20-year-old record in a three-game match ? as the Huskers totaled 72 digs and held Texas A&M (6-4, 2-2 Big 12) to a season-low .103 hitting.

The Huskers shut down Texas A&M All-American Melissa Munsch, who had just four kills on 24 swings against a Husker defense that has held five of its last six opponents to under .125 hitting. The Aggies, who ranked third nationally in blocking, had just one block in the first two games and were out-blocked 6-5 by the Huskers.

The Huskers took control early in game one, jumping to an 8-2 lead and never trailing in a 30-20 win. Pavan had three kills in the early spurt and totaled eight on just 12 swings, as the Huskers hit a blistering .352 in game one. The Aggies, behind Laura Jones, who had six of her team-high 12 kills in game one, closed to within 11-9, but the Huskers quickly responded with an 8-1 run before cruising to the win.

Game two was tight early on before Pavan and Dani Busboom keyed the 5-0 Husker run. Busboom, who had 46 assists and eight digs, served four straight points, highlighted by three straight Pavan kills that put the Huskers up 15-10. The Aggies would get to within 15-12, but an attack error and two quick kills by Stalls pushed the lead to 18-10 and ended any hopes for an Aggie comeback.

Elmer took over down the stretch, as she had five of her 13 kills in the finale. With the match tied at 24, Pavan gave the Huskers the lead for good before combining with Elmer on two consecutive blocks, as the Huskers took a 27-24 lead and forced an Aggie timeout. Elmer pushed the margin to 28-24 on her 13th kill of the night, but A&M would score three straight points to get within 28-27. The Aggies would get no closer, as Pavan closed the match with two straight kills and complete its sixth straight sweep.

"For two and a half games, we played great," Cook said after the Huskers’ fourth win of the year against a ranked opponent. "We kind of let go in game three, but we did an outstanding job of block defense."

The Huskers will return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 29, when they travel to No. 21 Kansas. First serve is at 7 p.m. and the match will be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network, while video streaming of the match is available at HuskersNside.com.

          #11 Texas A&M vs #7 Nebraska (Sep 25, 2004 at Lincoln, Neb.)



   Texas A&M              |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4  Munsch, Melissa.....  3|  4   0  24  .167|  3|  1   1|  0| 15| 1  2  0|  0
6  Kelley, Kari........  3|  0   0   3  .000| 21|  0   0|  0| 11| 0  0  1|  0
21 Burton, Cristin.....  3|  3   6  18 -.167|  1|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
22 Jones, Laura........  3| 12   4  32  .250|  0|  1   2|  0|  5| 0  2  0|  1
23 Moreira, Carrie.....  3|  1   1  14  .000|  2|  0   0|  1|  8| 0  0  0|  0
35 Felder, Kendra......  3|  7   3  23  .174|  1|  1   0|  0|  3| 1  1  0|  0
1  Kainz, Meghan.......  1|  3   1   6  .333|  3|  0   2|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
2  Moore, Jennifer.....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   2|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
5  Frantz, Lindsay.....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  6| 0  0  0|  0
9  Clay, Holly.........  3|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  6| 0  0  0|  0
14 Hahn, Christi.......  2|  2   1   9  .111|  0|  0   0|  1|  0| 0  1  2|  0
15 Vick, Sarah.........  1|  0   2   6 -.333|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 32  18 136  .103| 31|  4   7|  3| 60| 2  6  3|  1

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 5.0
Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  13  7  55  .109   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  10  5  36  .139   Texas A&M........... (0) 20 20 27  6-4 (2-2 Big 12)
   3   9  6  45  .067   Nebraska............ (3) 30 30 30  9-1 (4-0 Big 12)

   Nebraska               |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3  Houghtelling, Chris.  3|  8   3  28  .179|  1|  2   2|  0| 12| 1  0  0|  0
8  Elmer, Melissa......  3| 13   4  25  .360|  0|  1   2|  0|  2| 1  4  1|  0
9  Pavan, Sarah........  3| 23   3  40  .500|  2|  0   2|  0|  8| 0  4  1|  0
11 Stalls, Tracy.......  3|  8   2  17  .353|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
18 Busboom, Dani.......  3|  1   1   7  .000| 46|  0   1|  0|  8| 0  0  0|  2
26 Saleaumua, Jennifer.  3|  7   3  27  .148|  1|  0   2|  3| 17| 0  0  0|  0
1  McCormick, Amanda...  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   1|  1| 25| 0  0  0|  0
2  Lynch, Michelle.....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
10 Fautsch, Kelsey.....  1|  0   1   1-1.000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
13 Rebholz, Ally.......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 60  17 145  .297| 52|  3  10|  4| 72| 2  8  2|  2

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 6.0
Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  22  3  54  .352   Site: Lincoln, Neb. (NU Coliseum)
   2  22  4  48  .375   Date: Sep 25, 2004   Attend: 4135   Time: 1:34
   3  16 10  43  .140   Referees: Marty Prochko, Ed Halik