Nebraska Sweeps Tigers, 3-0

Columbia, Mo. ? It was too much Tracy Stalls, as top-ranked Nebraska continued its winning ways with a 31-29, 30-18, 30-14 victory over Missouri Wednesday night in front of a crowd off 6,059 at the Hearnes Center.

Stalls, who is second nationally in hitting percentage, hammered home 15 kills on just 19 swings for the Huskers (17-0, 10-0 Big 12). The senior middle blocker set season bests in both hitting percentage (.737) and blocks (six) to power a potent Husker attack. It was Stalls’ highest kill total since Aug. 25, and the first time in eight matches that she reached double figures in kills.

Sarah Pavan led Nebraska with 18 kills on .516 hitting and four stuffs, while outside hitter Christina Houghtelling was the third Husker to finish in double figured in kills with 11 while adding three service aces ? all coming in a 10-0 Husker spurt in game two.

Rachel Holloway guided the Huskers to .458 hitting percentage, totaling 55 assists ? her best three-game total of her career ? and adding five digs and four kills on seven swings of her own. She helped NU hit over .400 in all three games, including at a .513 clip in the finale, as NU posted its 15th consecutive sweep.

The Huskers overcame a near flawless first game by Missouri and fought off game point before rallying for a 31-29 victory in the opener. Both teams hit .400 in the opener, as the Tigers had only one hitting error in the first 59 rallies before a big block by Pavan Stalls turned the game’s tide. Stalls totaled six kills on as many swings and added two blocks, while Pavan had six kills on nine swings. With the score tied at 12, Stalls keyed a 5-1 Husker spurt with three kills and a block, including consecutive kills to spot NU a four-point lead and force a Tiger timeout. The lead would be short-lived as Missouri ran off the next five points to take an 18-17 lead on a block by Catie Wilson and Weiwen Wang. From there, the teams traded points with neither team taking a two-point leads. MU had a chance to take game one after taking a 29-28 lead on Catie Wilson’s kill, but the Huskers fought back. Cooper’s tip capped a long rally and tied it at 29 before Stalls and Pavan combined on a block of Megan Wilson to put NU up 30-29. Pavan then closed out game with her sixth kill of the game a thunderous cross court shot to help the Huskers escape the opener.

Nebraska’s offensive continued to roll in game two, as NU hit .472 in rolling to a 30-18 victory in game two. While Pavan and Stalls combined for 11 kills, it was the serving of Houghtelling that was the difference. She totaled 12 points at the service line, including a run of nine straight points. Houghtelling’s run was highlighted by three straight aces as part of a run of 10 straight points for NU, turning a 6-5 deficit into a 15-6 cushion. Missouri got to within 20-14, but Stalls was there again, delivering a kill and combing with Larson on a block to trigger a 4-0 run that allowed NU’s lead to reach double figures.

The Huskers were precise in the finale, jumping out to an 8-2 lead and never looking back in a 30-14 rout. NU totaled just two hitting errors, while Houghtelling totaled six of her 11 kills in the finale. The Huskers took the crowd out of the game early, using running off eight of the first 10 points to take a commanding 8-2 lead on a Kori Cooper kill. The Tigers pulled to within 12-6, but two straight Stalls kills keyed a 10-3 run that saw NU double up the Tigers at 18-9 on a Jordan Larson kill and take a 22-10 lead after Houghtelling slammed home back-to-back kills. The only suspense came late in the match when freshman Tara Mueller totaled kills on NU’s last two points, thrilling the nearly three dozen friends and family members who charted a bus from St. Louis to see her play.

Weiwen Wang led Missouri (12-7, 5-5 Big 12) with 11 kills, as NU snapped Missouri’s five-match win streak.

 The Huskers return to action on Saturday, as they host Kansas beginning at 6 p.m. The match ? the 100th consecutive sellout at the NU Coliseum - will be carried on B107.3 FM and on Huskers.com

 

                            The Automated ScoreBook
            #1 Nebraska vs Missouri (Oct 17, 2007 at Columbia, Mo.)    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| 11   1  26  .385|  0|  3   2|  0|  7| 1  1  0|  0
9  Pavan, Sarah........  3| 18   2  31  .516|  0|  1   1|  0|  5| 0  4  0|  0
10 Larson, Jordan......  3|  9   6  16  .188|  1|  1   2|  0| 18| 0  1  1|  0
11 Stalls, Tracy.......  3| 15   1  19  .737|  1|  0   1|  0|  0| 1  5  0|  0
12 Holloway, Rachel....  3|  4   0   7  .571| 55|  0   1|  0|  5| 0  1  0|  0
15 Cooper, Kori........  3|  7   1  18  .333|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  2  0|  0
1  Griffin, Maggie.....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
2  Banwarth, Kayla.....  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  1   0|  1|  1| 0  0  0|  0
4  Licht, Lindsey......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
5  Schwartz, Rachel....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  1   3|  2| 11| 0  0  0|  0
19 Mueller, Tara.......  1|  2   0   3  .667|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 66  11 120  .458| 59|  7  10|  3| 47| 3 14  1|  0 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  24  6  45  .400   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  20  3  36  .472   Nebraska............ (3) 31 30 30  17-0, 10-0 Big 12
   3  22  2  39  .513   Missouri............ (0) 29 18 14  12-7, 5-5 Big 12   Missouri               |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1  Wang, Lei...........  3|  1   2  11 -.091| 20|  0   0|  0|  5| 0  0  1|  1
3  Vann, Caitlyn.......  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  1   0|  0|  4| 0  0  0|  0
4  Hantouli, Amanda....  3|  4   2  19  .105|  0|  0   0|  0|  2| 1  1  1|  2
10 Yang, Na............  3|  6   3  23  .130|  1|  0   0|  5|  9| 0  0  1|  0
13 Wang, Weiwen........  3| 11   2  17  .529|  1|  1   1|  0|  0| 0  2  0|  0
15 Wilson, Catie.......  3|  3   0   4  .750|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  3  0|  0
2  Meyer, Shayli.......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  3| 0  0  0|  0
9  Ailes, Tatum........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  1   0|  2|  9| 0  0  0|  0
11 Wilson, Megan.......  3| 11   4  26  .269|  1|  0   0|  0|  3| 1  0  0|  0
12 Smith, Lindsay......  1|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0
14 Jarocka, Luiza......  3|  0   0   1  .000| 11|  0   0|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 36  13 101  .228| 36|  3   1|  7| 37| 2  6  3|  3 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                               TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 5.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct
   1  16  2  35  .400   Site: Columbia, Mo. (Hearnes Center)
   2  13  6  34  .206   Date: Oct 17, 2007   Attend: 6059   Time: 1:20
   3   7  5  32  .062   Referees: Mike Hamilton, Dan Apol