Huskers Head to Louisville to Make School History

Matches: #31-32: Nebraska at NCAA Regionals
Fri.-Sat., Dec. 10-11 ? Kentucky International Convention Center (4,000)
Tournament Schedule
Friday, Dec. 10 4 p.m. No. 8 University of Southern California (21-5) vs. No. 11 University of San Diego (24-4)
Friday, Dec. 3 6 p.m.* No. 1 Nebraska (29-1) vs. No. 15 Louisville (30-2)
Saturday, Dec. 11 5 p.m. Friday’s Winners
All times listed are central; *-30 minutes following the first match; USA Today/CSTV Rankings (12/6)

Tickets: Fans can purchase NCAA Regional Tickets from the Louisville Ticket Office (502-361-3100). All-Session Reserve ($25-adult; $8-student; $15-Senior Citizens; $5-Children (3-5) Single-game Tickets - Match Day only ($15-adult; $5-student; $10-Senior Citizens; $3-Children (3-5) NU Radio: Pinnacle Sports Network (B107.3 FM in Lincoln and Omaha) and Huskers.com
Television: Saturday’s Regional Final will be shown live on College Sports Television (Ch. 305 on Time Warner in Lincoln; Ch. 610 on DirecTV)
Live Stats: Huskers.com 
Live Internet Video: TBA
Web Audio: Huskers.com

Nebraska vs.: USC (USC leads 6-1) ? San Diego (NU leads 2-0) ? Louisville (NU leads 3-0)

Huskers Head to Louisville to Make School History
Top-ranked Nebraska continues its postseason quest this week, as the Huskers travel to Louisville, Ky., for the NCAA Regionals. Louisville is one of four regional sites this weekend (also Green Bay, Minneapolis and Seattle) with the four winners advancing to the NCAA Semifinals in Long Beach, Calif., Dec. 16-18. The Huskers, 29-1 on the season and riding a 26-match winning streak, will take on the host Cardinals (30-2) in one regional semifinal on Friday, while eighth-seeded USC will take on ninth-seeded San Diego in the other match-up. Friday’s winners will meet Saturday at 5 p.m. (central) in a match carried nationally on College Sports Television. Nebraska’s matches will be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Radio network, including volleyball flagship station B107.3 FM and on the Internet at Huskers.com.

Storylines
?- Nebraska will be making its 11th consecutive NCAA Sweet 16 appearance and 21st in school history, as the Huskers are 58-20 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Louisville is appearing in its third NCAA Regional, with the most recent appearance coming in 1998. The Huskers and Cardinals have met one other time in NCAA postseason play, when the Huskers swept Louisville in the Sweet 16 of the 1996 NCAA Tournament.

?- This season marks the first time since 1999 that Nebraska has been on the road for regional play, as the Huskers will look for their first NCAA Final Four appearance away from Lincoln. NU has been on the road for regionals seven times and reached the regional final four times (1984, 1985, 1987 and 1997).

?- Friday’s contest will feature two of the nation’s longest winning streaks, as Nebraska has won its last 26 matches, while Louisville has won 22 straight matches. Louisville did not drop a game at home during the regular season, although the regional is at the Kentucky International Convention Center - not at Cardinal Arena.

?- The Louisville Regional features three of the last four NCAA champions in Nebraska (2000) and USC (2002-03). Of the nine schools to ever win an NCAA title, seven have advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2004.

?- With a win against Louisville, Nebraska can clinch its 16th 30-win season and fourth in five years under Head Coach John Cook.

?-Nebraska has won its last 17 matches away from Lincoln and has lost only twice on the road over the last three years (USC in 2002; KSU in 2003).

?- NU was 16-1 in 17 regular-season matches against NCAA Tournament qualifiers, including two wins each over sixth-seeded Texas and No. 16 seed Missouri.

?- NU enters the NCAA Regional with a 12-0 record against ranked teams, as more than 40 percent of the Husker wins were against ranked foes.

? - Nebraska leads the nation in defense, holding opponents to .097 hitting, and blocking, averaging a national-high 4.08 blocks per game. In 2004, NU has held six opponents below .000 hitting, including Iowa State, which was held to -.089 hitting on Oct. 30.

? - Nebraska has had six different players lead the team in kills this season (Sarah Pavan, Christina Houghtelling, Melissa Elmer, Jennifer Saleaumua, Tracy Stalls and Dani Mancuso).

?- Sarah Pavan has six 20-kill efforts this season, which is the most since Nancy Metcalf had 10 in 1999. In fact, Pavan’s total tops the entire team total of 20-kill efforts during the 2003 (three), 2002 (none) and 2001 (four) seasons and is one away from tying the 2000 national title team, which had seven (five by Laura Pilakowski and two by Amber Holmquist) en route to a 34-0 record.

?- Jennifer Saleaumua is in second place on NU’s career digs list with 1,105 entering Friday’s match with Louisville. The junior outside hitter is five digs away from tying Lindsay Wischmeier’s school record of 1,111 set between 1999 and 2002. While Saleaumua is on track to hold the career mark, libero Amanda McCormick has 441 digs this year and is one dig away from holding sole possession of NU’s single-season digs mark.

?- Nebraska has made great improvement at the service line as the year has progressed. The Huskers were ranked at the bottom of the Big 12 the first month of the season, but have climbed to fourth overall (1.61 SA/gm) and second in league matches only (1.63 SA/gm)

Month Service Aces/Gm
Sept. 1.31
Oct. 1.52
Nov./Dec. 2.06

Husker Probable Starters
L - #1 Amanda McCormick (5-8, So., Muncie, Ind.) - Co-captain who is in her second year as a starter at libero and is second in the Big 12 with 4.50 digs per game. She has reached double figures in her last 19 matches and 28 times in 30 matches this season. She is tied with Jennifer Saleaumua for the single-season school mark in digs with 441. McCormick has had 20-or-more digs three times, including a season-high 25 against Texas A&M on Sept. 25, a total that tied Mandy Monson for the second-most digs by a Husker in a three-game match. McCormick averaged a league-high 4.55 digs/gm in conference matches and is looking to become the first Husker to ever lead the Big 12 in digs.

MB - #8 Melissa Elmer (6-2, Jr., Fort Wayne, Ind.) - Two-time first-team All-Big 12 middle blocker who averages 2.92 kills and a nation-best 1.91 blocks per game. She tops NU in hitting percentage (.364), an average that ranks fifth in the Big 12, and is hitting .434 with 3.41 kills/gm over NU’s last seven matches. With 187 blocks in 2004, she sits in sixth place on NU’s single-season list and can vault into second with 10 blocks this week. Elmer has three matches of at least 10 blocks this season, including a 12-block, 18-kill effort on .485 hitting at Oklahoma on Nov. 20. Elmer earned All-Big 12 honors in 2003, leading NU with 1.59 blocks per game along with a .352 hitting percentage. A team co-captain this season, Elmer spent the spring working with the U.S. National Training Team.

MB - #11 Tracy Stalls (6-3, Fr., Arvada, Colo.) - Stalls ranks second in the Big 12 (and 14th nationally) with 1.67 blocks per game. She ranks second among freshmen nationally in blocks and is second only to Sarah Pavan among Big 12 freshmen in hitting percentage (.322, eighth in the Big 12). She has had at least five blocks in 20 matches, including a season-high nine on three occasions, most recently against Iona on Dec. 3. With her nine blocks against the Gaels, she tied NU’s postseason record for blocks in a three-game match. Stalls notched her first career double-double at Baylor on Oct. 23 with 10 kills and 10 digs. She hit a career-best .824, including a career-high 14 kills against Iowa St. on Oct. 16. Stalls served a two-year stint in the U.S. National Developmental Program after high school before enrolling at NU.

S - #18 Dani Busboom (5-11, So., Cortland, Neb.) - Busboom is third in the Big 12 (22nd nationally) with 13.12 assists while averaging 2.55 digs and 0.57 blocks per game. She leads the team with 13 double-doubles (assists-digs), including a 35-assist, 14-dig perfomance in a sweep of No. 11 Texas on Nov. 24. She guides an offense that ranks the top 20 nationally in hitting percentage (.288) and kills per game (17.16).

Her 14 digs against the Longhorns were a season-high, topping the 13 she had against MU on Sept. 15. Her 66 assists at KSU on Oct. 13 tied for 17th on NU’s all-time single-match list (seventh in four-game matches) and is one of eight 50-assist matches this season. She totaled 700 assists in 2003, which is the second most by any Husker freshman, while splitting time with Michelle Lynch in the 6-2 offense.

OPP - #9 Sarah Pavan (rhymes with Have-in): 6-5, Fr., Kitchener, Ontario - The Big 12 Freshman of the Year and a first-team All-Big 12 selection, Pavan is fourth in the Big 12 with a team-best 4.46 kills per game. She also ranks 10th in the league in blocks per game (1.20) and seventh in hitting percentage (.331). She has led NU in kills 19 times, including six 20-kill efforts - as she has been in double figures 25 times in 30 matches. Pavan has been on a tear over the last two weeks, hitting .445 with 4.85 kills per game over the last four matches after her 16-kill effort against Wichita State. She was named the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week two weeks ago after averaging 7.00 points, 5.83 kills, 1.83 blocks and 1.17 digs per game while hitting .455 in wins over No. 11 Texas and No. 18 Texas A&M. She had 20 kills on .529 hitting against Texas A&M, while recording 15 kills and a career-high nine blocks against Texas. She held Big 12 Player-of-the-Year Mira Topic to a season-low six kills on -.081 hitting. Pavan also had 23 kills on .356 hitting in a win at No. 16 Kansas State on Oct. 13 and a season-high 24 kills vs. Florida A&M and Baylor. Pavan recorded her first double-double vs. FAMU when she set highs in kills (24) and digs (15). Considered by many to be the nation’s top freshman, Pavan has been a member of the Canadian National Team since July of 2003 - at age 16.

OH - #26 Jennifer Saleaumua (Sal-ee-ah-MOO-uh); 5-11, Jr., National City, Calif. - Three-time All-Big 12 outside hitter who is second on the team in both digs (3.78) and kills (3.08) per game. She is also second on the team with nine double-doubles, giving her 32 in her career. She posted her most recent double-double against Wichita State with 12 kills and a match-high 15 digs. The Big 12 co-Defensive Player of the Year, she ranks second on NU’s all-time digs list (1,106) and needs seven digs to take sole possession of the career mark. Saleaumua earned Big 12 Player-of-the-Week honors on Oct. 25, highlighted by a 19-kill performance at No. 10 Texas, when she hit .450 and added 11 digs. She had 15 kills on .444 hitting and 14 digs against Kansas State on Nov. 6 and had nine kills, 12 digs and matched her career best with seven blocks vs. Kansas on Nov. 12. She led the Huskers in kills (3.27) and digs (3.90) per game in 2003. Her 441 digs were a school record, breaking the previous mark of 390 by Kate Crnich in 1996.

#3 Christina Houghtelling (HOTEL-ing): 6-2, So., Cambridge, Neb. - Sophomore who moved from middle blocker to outside hitter in 2004 and has made 22 starts, averaging 2.88 kills, 2.26 digs and 0.33 service aces per game. She has 12 matches with at least 10 kills, including a career-best 17 kills against No. 25 Missouri on Nov. 17. Her .739 percentage on 23 attempts against MU was the highest ever by a Husker with at least 15 kills. She played one of her best all-around matches vs. Texas on Nov. 24 with 10 kills on .333 hitting, a career-best four aces, seven digs and three blocks. She comes off a solid match against Wichita State, when she finished with 15 kills and 11 digs for her second double-double of the year. Houghtelling, who missed part of 2003 with a knee injury provided a spark off the bench against No. 9 Colorado State on Nov. 7 with 11 kills on .391 hitting. Houghtelling had her first career double-double against Baylor on Oct. 6 with 12 kills and a career-best 13 digs.

Scouting Louisville
Under Coach Leonid Yelin (339-99 in nine seasons at Louisville), the Cardinals are 30-2 and riding a 22-match winning streak. The Cardinals, who went 14-0 in Conference USA, are one of the nation’s premier blocking teams, ranking third nationally in the final regular-season stats with 3.36 blocks/gm. The Cardinals feature a pair of All-Conference USA performers in Bing Sun, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter from Beijing, China, who averages 3.52 kills and 2.41 digs per game, and Lena Ustymenko, a 6-foot-3 middle blocker/outside hitter from Kiev, Ukraine, who has a team-high 4.08 kills/gm. In addition, middle blocker Jennifer Hoffman is hitting .433 on the season with 2.14 kills and a team-high 1.67 blocks per game. Nebraska is 3-0 all-time against the Cardinals, although the two teams have not met since the 1996 NCAA Regional semifinal in Lincoln, a match the Huskers won 15-7, 15-6, 15-4 Louisville’s Senior Associate Athletic Director/SWA Julie Hermann is the chair of the Division I NCAA Women’s Volleyball Committee and played at NU from 1981 to 1984, earning All-Big Eight honors and helping the Huskers to four Big Eight titles.

Scouting USC
Two-time defending NCAA champion USC comes to Louisville with a 21-5 record and a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Head Coach Mick Haley is 112-10 in four seasons at USC after serving stints as the Head Coach of the 2000 U.S. Women’s Olympic Team and at Texas for 17 seasons, guiding the Longhorns to the 1988 national title.

The Trojans, who finished third in the Pac-10, return three All-Americans from a team that went 35-0 in 2003, middle blockers Emily Adams (3.10 k/gm, 1.46 b/gm and .421 hitting) and Bibiana Candelas (3.06 k/gm, 1.04 b/gm and .409 hitting) and outside hitter Keao Burdine (4.11 k/gm and 3.28 d/gm). USC has faced 15 nationally ranked opponents during the season, going 12-3 against one of the nation’s top schedules. USC is 6-1 all-time against NU, sweeping the Huskers in their last meeting in 2002.

Scouting San Diego
San Diego makes its first-ever NCAA Sweet 16 appearance, as they take on USC Friday night. USD, coached by Jennifer Petrie (125-54 in six years at USD), who played for John Cook on the San Diego Juniors Volleyball Club in the late 1980s. The Toreros feature the West Coast Conference Player of the Year in outside hitter Devon Forster, who averages a team-high 5.35 kills/gm. USD has three players who average at least three kills a game in outside hitter Kristen Carlson (3.22 kills/gm) and middle hitter Emily Haas (3.00 kills/gm and 0.73 blocks/gm. Nebraska has won both meetings in the all-time series, the last coming during the 1999 season.