Elmer?s Effort Leads No. 3 Huskers to Win at Oklahoma

Norman, Okla. ? Melissa Elmer recorded her first double-double of the season, leading third-ranked Nebraska to a 30-27, 33-35, 30-13, 30-19 victory over a valiant Oklahoma squad Saturday evening.

Elmer finished with a season-high 18 kills on .485 hitting and tied a season best with 12 blocks, as Nebraska (25-1, 18-0 Big 12) clinched the outright Big 12 title for the sixth time in seven years. Elmer’s kill total  topped her previous season high of 13 set five times and was one off her career best of 19 vs. Kansas State last season.

The Huskers had five players record 10 or more kills, including Tracy Stalls, who had 11 kills and hit .385 in the win, NU’s 15th straight over the Sooners. Sarah Pavan had 13 kills, while Dani Mancuso and Jennifer Saleuamua added 11 and 10, respectively, as the Huskers hit .294 as a team, including totals of .385 and .357 in the final two games. Dani Busboom recorded her team-best 12th double-double with 55 assists and 12 digs, while Amanda McCormick also chipped in a match-high 17 digs.

Elmer led the Huskers’ blocking efforts, as she reached double figures for the fourth time this season, as her 12 blocked tied the single-match high in the Big 12 this season. In all, NU, which has won 23 straight matches, out-blocked Oklahoma, 18-7, as Pavan and Mancuso chipped in five blocks apiece.

The Huskers survived a scare in the opener, using a late rally to hold off the hard-charging Sooners, 30-27. Oklahoma got off to a quick start, using a 5-0 run to take a 7-5 lead before the Huskers regrouped. With the score tied at 10, Nebraska used a 7-1 run to take a 17-11 lead on a Pavan kill. The Huskers built a 20-15 lead before the Sooners came roaring back, scoring six unanswered points to regain the lead at 21-20 after a Husker hitting error. Nebraska trailed 24-23 before scoring four straight points to take a 27-24 lead after kills by Sarah Pavan and Dani Mancuso. OU got to within 28-27 before a kill by Mancuso and a combined block by Ally Rebholz and Tracy Stalls clinched the win.

In game two, the Huskers dug themselves a big hole and fought off six game points before the Sooners evened the match with a 35-33 victory. Nebraska trailed 19-12 before roaring back, using a 13-5 spurt to regain the lead at 25-24 on a block by Dani Mancuso and Stalls. NU led 26-25 after another Stalls kill, but OU retook the lead with three straight points, as an Anna Stadel kill gave the Sooners a 28-26 lead. Oklahoma led 29-27 and had two match points before NU tied the match at 29 on kill by Stalls and a combined block by Melissa Elmer and Dani Busboom. The Huskers continued to push back, tying the match at four more times, the last at 33, before the Sooners recorded the final two points to take a 35-33 victory, to take their first game from the Huskers since 1997.

The Huskers regrouped after the intermission, jumping to a 6-1 lead and rolling to 30-13 victory. The Huskers out-hit OU, .385-.033 as Melissa Elmer had eight kills and three blocks in game three alone. Leading 13-7, Elmer and Busboom led the Huskers to 10 unanswered points to build a commanding 16-point cushion. Elmer had four kills and two blocks in the spurt, while Busboom served nine straight points, including a pair of aces, as NU cruised to the win.

The Huskers continued the momentum in game four, as they led wire to wire in a 30-19 victory. Leading 11-8, Elmer had two blocks and a kill in a 3-1 run to give NU a 14-9 advantage. The Sooners eventually got to within 21-16, but Nebraska scored four straight points, including three kills by Elmer to take a 25-16 lead and stifle Oklahoma’s efforts to take the match to five games

Joanna Schmitt led OU with a match-high 21 kills, while Gabriela Tonon added 17 for OU, which dropped 11-16 overall and 3-15 in the league.

The Huskers return home to take on No. 11 Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 24, at 7 p.m. The match, which is already sold out, will be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln, and shown state-wide on Nebraska Educational Television.

-- Huskers -

 

Nebraska vs Oklahoma (Nov 20, 2004)

• Box Score

Volleyball Box Score

Volleyball Box Score 2004 NEBRASKA VOLLEYBALL #3 Nebraska vs Oklahoma (Nov 20, 2004 at Norman, OK)

Nebraska | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN ## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3 Houghtelling, Chris. 3| 4 5 16 -.062| 0| 0 1| 0| 7| 1 0 0| 0| 5.0 7 Mancuso, Dani....... 4| 11 3 27 .296| 0| 0 1| 1| 9| 1 4 0| 0| 14.0 8 Elmer, Melissa...... 4| 18 2 33 .485| 0| 0 1| 0| 1| 0 12 0| 0| 24.0 9 Pavan, Sarah........ 4| 13 6 28 .250| 0| 1 2| 1| 4| 0 5 0| 0| 16.5 11 Stalls, Tracy....... 4| 11 4 19 .368| 0| 1 1| 0| 3| 0 3 0| 0| 13.5 18 Busboom, Dani....... 4| 3 2 6 .167| 55| 4 1| 0| 12| 0 2 1| 0| 8.0 1 McCormick, Amanda... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 1| 1| 17| 0 0 0| 1| 0.0 2 Lynch, Michelle..... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 5| 0 2| 0| 6| 0 1 0| 0| 0.5 13 Rebholz, Ally....... 4| 2 2 7 .000| 1| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 3 0| 0| 3.5 26 Saleaumua, Jennifer. 3| 10 1 24 .375| 1| 0 0| 0| 5| 0 2 1| 0| 11.0 TEAM................ | | | | 1| | | | 0.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Totals.............. 4| 72 25 160 .294| 62| 6 10| 4| 64| 2 32 2| 1| 96.0

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 18.0 Game K E TA Pct 1 16 7 42 .214 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4 TEAM RECORDS 2 22 9 51 .255 Nebraska............ (3) 30 33 30 30 25-1, 18-0 Big 12 3 20 5 39 .385 Oklahoma............ (1) 27 35 13 19 11-16, 3-15 Big 12 4 14 4 28 .357

Oklahoma | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN ## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Chester, Julie...... 4| 2 3 6 -.167| 49| 1 1| 0| 10| 0 1 0| 1| 3.5 3 Stadel, Anna........ 4| 7 5 18 .111| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 1 3 0| 0| 9.5 4 Tomes, Laura........ 4| 4 4 17 .000| 0| 1 0| 0| 1| 0 2 1| 0| 6.0 8 Schmitt, Joanna..... 4| 21 12 73 .123| 1| 0 2| 1| 4| 1 2 0| 0| 23.0 13 Coats, Keri......... 3| 4 8 18 -.222| 0| 0 0| 0| 3| 0 1 0| 0| 4.5 14 Tonon, Gabriela..... 4| 17 4 36 .361| 0| 0 1| 0| 5| 0 1 0| 1| 17.5 2 Jackson, Rachel..... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 1 1| 0| 9| 0 0 0| 0| 1.0 5 Tengram, Stephanie.. 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 9| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0 10 Monsen, Anna........ 4| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 1 0| 0| 14| 0 0 0| 0| 1.0 11 Adams, Jennifer..... 2| 0 1 1-1.000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0 16 Gabriela Tonon...... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0 TEAM................ | | | | 5| | | | 0.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Totals.............. 4| 55 37 169 .107| 51| 4 5| 6| 55| 2 10 1| 2| 66.0

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 7.0 Game K E TA Pct 1 19 9 53 .189 Site: Norman, OK (McCasland FieldHouse) 2 19 10 51 .176 Date: Nov 20, 2004 Attend: 503 Time: 2:09 3 6 5 30 .033 Referees: Fred Buehler, Ed Halik 4 11 13 35 -.057 First time since 1997 that OU won game from NU

1 2 3 4 Total Tie scores 11 9 0 1 21 Lead changes 8 2 0 0 10