Pavan Leads Huskers to Perfect Big 12 Mark

College Station, Texas ? Sarah Pavan had a match-high 20 kills on .529 hitting, as second-ranked Nebraska closed out Big 12 play with a 30-23, 30-22, 30-28 win over No. 18 Texas A&M Saturday evening at G. Rollie White Coliseum.

Pavan, who had 23 kills in the first meeting in September, was nearly unstoppable, needing just 34 swings to record her sixth 20-kill match this season, as the Huskers (27-1, 20-0 Big 12) completed its 15th perfect conference season, and became the first conference team to win in College Station this year.

Pavan had seven kills in game two and added nine kills on 12 swings in the finale, as Nebraska rallied to complete its 11th straight win over the Aggies (18-8, 14-6 Big 12), dating back to the 1999 season.

The Huskers, who improved to 12-0 against ranked foes, hit .331 as a team and were sharp at the service line with eight aces, including a season high four by Melissa Elmer, who also had nine kills and four blocks. NU out-blocked the Aggies, 10-1, as Tracy Stalls finished with a match-high five blocks.

Elmer showed her versatility in game one, carrying the Huskers at the service line in a 30-23 win in game one. She accounted for 10 of NU’s points from the service line, including a season-best three aces the opener. With the match tied at 12, Elmer sparked a 6-0 Husker run with three aces in a five-point span, as NU took a 17-12 lead. Texas A&M trimmed the Husker lead to 23-21, but Nebraska scored the next four points to take a 27-21 lead after a Jennifer Saleaumua and Stalls blocked Christi Hahn, ending the Aggies’ best opportunity in game one.

Pavan was the star in NU’s 30-22 win in game two, delivering seven kills with no errors on 10 swings, as Nebraska out-hit Texas A&M, .316-.167. Leading 11-9, the Huskers took advantage of Aggie hitting errors, scoring four straight points to take a six-point lead. Texas A&M cut the Husker lead to 20-16 on a Laura Jones kill, but Nebraska came right, scoring four straight points on consecutive kills by Elmer and Pavan and a pair of Aggie hitting errors. Nebraska eventually pushed the lead to nine points before Ally Rebholz’s kill closed out the 30-22 win.

Game three went back and forth, featuring 14 ties and eight lead changes as neither team could take control early on. The Huskers led 7-4 after a Michelle Lynch service ace, but Texas A&M fought back to tie the match at eight. The Aggies held on two-point lead several times, the last at 23-23 only to see Nebraska fight back every time. With the match tied at 25, Nebraska took the lead for good on an Aggie hitting error before Saleaumua’s service ace gave the Huskers a 27-25 lead and forced an Aggie timeout. Nebraska led 29-26 on an Elmer kill before Texas A&M came back with two points, closing to within 29-28 after a Pavan hitting error, one of only two in the match. Christina Houghtelling closed out the match moments later with her seventh kill of the match.

Laura Jones led the Aggies with 14 kills, as Texas A&M was without All-American Melissa Munsch, who missed the match with an injury suffered on Wednesday against Kansas State.

The NCAA selection show takes place Sunday afternoon at 5:45 p.m (central) on ESPNews, as first and second-round action will take place at 16 campus sites next weekend.

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| 7 1 23 .261| 1| 2 3| 0| 9| 1 1 0| 0| 10.5 8 Elmer, Melissa...... 3| 9 5 20 .200| 0| 4 0| 0| 2| 2 2 0| 0| 16.0 9 Pavan, Sarah........ 3| 20 2 34 .529| 1| 0 0| 0| 3| 0 2 1| 0| 21.0 11 Stalls, Tracy....... 3| 5 2 9 .333| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 2 3 0| 0| 8.5 18 Busboom, Dani....... 3| 2 0 3 .667| 39| 0 1| 0| 8| 0 2 0| 1| 3.0 26 Saleaumua, Jennifer. 3| 8 3 21 .238| 0| 1 0| 1| 3| 0 2 0| 0| 10.0 1 McCormick, Amanda... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 2| 0 1| 0| 11| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0 2 Lynch, Michelle..... 3| 0 0 1 .000| 6| 1 2| 0| 3| 0 0 0| 0| 1.0 13 Rebholz, Ally....... 3| 3 1 10 .200| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 3.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Totals.............. 3| 54 14 121 .331| 49| 8 7| 1| 39| 5 12 1| 1| 73.0

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.0 Game K E TA Pct 1 17 4 40 .325 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS 2 18 5 39 .333 Nebraska............ (3) 30 30 30 27-1, 20-0 Big 12 3 19 5 42 .333 Texas A&M........... (0) 23 22 28 18-8, 14-6 Big 12

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|POINTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 Frantz, Lindsay..... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 1 1| 0| 2| 0 0 0| 0| 1.0 6 Kelley, Kari........ 3| 1 1 4 .000| 44| 0 1| 0| 10| 0 0 0| 0| 1.0 7 Stanton, Kelly...... 3| 6 1 11 .455| 0| 0 1| 0| 0| 0 1 4| 0| 6.5 14 Hahn, Christi....... 3| 10 5 22 .227| 0| 0 0| 0| 5| 0 0 0| 0| 10.0 22 Jones, Laura........ 3| 14 6 39 .205| 0| 0 1| 4| 8| 0 1 0| 0| 14.5 35 Felder, Kendra...... 3| 8 6 24 .083| 1| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0| 8.0 9 Clay, Holly......... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 1| 11| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0 15 Vick, Sarah......... 2| 2 0 4 .500| 0| 0 0| 1| 2| 0 0 0| 0| 2.0 21 Burton, Cristin..... 3| 7 3 16 .250| 0| 0 0| 1| 2| 0 0 1| 0| 7.0 23 Moreira, Carrie..... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 1| 8| 0 0 0| 1| 0.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Totals.............. 3| 48 22 120 .217| 47| 1 4| 8| 49| 0 2 5| 1| 50.0

TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 1.0 Game K E TA Pct 1 16 8 41 .195 Site: College Station, TX (G. Rollie White Col.) 2 16 8 42 .190 Date: Nov 27, 2004 Attend: 1601 Time: 1:30 3 16 6 37 .270 Referees: Michael Blalock, Thomas Pingel