Huskers Travel to Kansas on Saturday

Nebraska (24-1, 15-1 Big 12) at Kansas (12-13, 6-10 Big 12)
Saturday, Nov. 15 ? Lawrence, Kan. ? 7 p.m.
Radio:  Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and Twister 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on Huskers.com
Live Stats:     Huskers.com
TV:     None
Live Video:     HuskersNside

Nebraska at Texas (20-3, 14-2 Big 12)
Wednesday, Nov. 19 ? Austin, Texas ? 8 p.m.
Radio:  Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and Twister 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on Huskers.com
Live Stats:     Huskers.com
TV:     ESPNU (Ch. 614; DISH Network Ch. 148; Time Warner Cable Ch. 235; Cox Cable Ch. 220)
Live Video:     None

 The Nebraska volleyball team begins the homestretch of the 2008 campaign this weekend, as it travels to Lawrence, Kan., to take on the Kansas Jayhawks. First serve at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center is set for 7 p.m. and the match will be carried on selected Husker Sports Network stations, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and Twister 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on the Internet at Huskers.com. John Baylor and Lindsay Peterson will call all of the action. The match is also tentatively scheduled to be carried on HuskersNside as well.

The Huskers (24-1, 15-1 Big 12) begin a stretch where they play three of their final four regular-season matches away from the NU Coliseum.

On Wednesday, Nebraska rolled to a 3-0 sweep of Missouri to remain in front in a tight conference race. The Huskers hit .351 as a team and had three players finish with at least 10 kills in the win. Jordan Larson’s 16 kills and 13 digs led a strong offensive night, as Tara Mueller and Kori Cooper added 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Nebraska also received a strong performance from redshirt freshman Brooke Delano, who stepped into the right side hitter spot and added four four kills and four blocks.

Kansas (12-13, 6-10) welcomes the Huskers into town following a four-set loss at Oklahoma on Wednesday night. The Jayhawks feature last week’s AVCA National Player of the Week in Karina Garlington, who hit .354, while averaging 5.00 kills per set in a pair of wins last week. Garlington is among the Big 12 leaders with 3.71 kills this season. The Jayhawks have been tough on their home court, going 5-3 in the league with the only losses being a four-set loss to Texas on Sept. 24, a five-set loss to Kansas State on Oct. 1 and a five-set loss to Texas  A&M on Oct. 8.

Quick Sets
?-NU will go for its 25th win of the season on Saturday. The Huskers will bid to reach the 25-win plateau for the 16th straight year and 33rd time in the program’s 34-year existance.
?-The Huskers have hit over .350 in each of ther last two matches, the first time that has occurred this season. NU has now hit .300 or better in 11 matches this season.
?-Rachel Schwartz is 12 digs away from reaching 750 in her career.
?-Brooke Delano became the seventh different Husker to lead NU in blocks this season, as she tied Amanda Gates for team-high honors against Missouri.

Worth Noting
?-Nebraska is 82-5 (.943) on the road in Big 12 action over the nine seasons under Coach John Cook.
?-Jordan Larson collected her 47th career double-double against Missouri on Wednesday night. The Huskers are now 46-1 in her career when she has a double-double.
?-With 13 digs on Wednesday, Larson is now four digs shy of being just the second Husker to reach that plateau. Larson is also on pace to become the first-ever Husker to average more than 3.00 kills and 3.00 digs per set in an entire career. She enters the KU match with 3.55 kills and 3.15 digs per set in 125 career matches.
?-The Huskers are a perfect 6-0 against ranked opponents in 2008, including wins over No. 2 Stanford and No. 4 Texas.
?-The Huskers have won their last 54 Big 12 home contests dating back to the 2003 season and are 87-2 (.978) in conference home matches under John Cook.
?-The Huskers are 94-4 (.959) in conference action dating back to the end of the 2003 season.
?-The Huskers lead the Big 12 in four team categories, including kills (14.60/set), blocks (2.64/set), assists (13.40/set) and opponent hitting percentage (.138) and also rank second in hitting percentage (.269) and third in service aces (1.33/set).
?-Tara Mueller has been on a tear of late, averaging 4.05 kills and 2.84 digs per set, while recording double-doubles in three of her last five matches.
?-The Huskers have swept 17 of their 25 opponents during the 2008 season.
?-Nebraska reached the 20-win plateau with its win at Oklahoma on Oct. 25. The Huskers have won at least 20 matches every year in program history (a total of 34 years). The second-longest active streak in the Big 12 is five by Texas.
??Nebraska’s senior class of Amanda Gates, Jordan Larson and Rachel Schwartz will go for their 121st career win on Saturday at Kansas. The trio has helped NU to a 120-6 record (.952 winning pct.) over the last four years. Of the previous 126 matches, NU has been ranked lower than third for only two of them.
?-NU’s nine non-conference opponents are a combined 154-66 (.700) entering this weekend’s action. All nine teams have winning records, while Stanford, Tulane and Oral Roberts and New Mexico have already won at least 20 matches.
?-The Huskers were ranked third in the latest NCAA’s RPI rankings released on Nov. 10. NU is 6-0 against top-20 teams in the RPI, including wins over No. 2 Stanford and No. 5 Texas.

Scouting Kansas
Under coach Ray Bechard (173-157 in 11 years), the Jayhawks are 12-13 on the year following a four-set loss at Oklahoma on Wednesday night. The loss snapped a two-match win streak for Kansas, which had swept both Colorado and Texas Tech last week. The Jayhawks have been tough at home, going 8-4, with three of those losses coming to teams currently in the top 15 (Texas, Oregon and K-State). Sophomore outside hitter Karina Garlington paces the Jayhawk attack, averaging 3.71 kills per set to rank among the Big 12 leaders. Sophomore outside hitter Jenna Kaiser is second on the team with 2.35 kills per set, as KU six players are averaging at least 1.50 kills per set. The Jayhawks have two players from Nebraska on the roster in senior Savannah Noyes (1.89 kills and 0.55 digs per set) and middle blocker Paige Mazour (0.66 kills and 0.44 blocks per set).

Series History: The Huskers have not lost to KU since the start of Big Eight affiliated volleyball and are a perfect 25-0 against the Jayhawks since the Big 12 began in 1996.

Last Meeting: Behind 12 kills and three aces from All-American Jordan Larson, second-ranked Nebraska remained unbeaten, knocking off Kansas, 3-1 (25-15, 25-19, 22-25, 25-15) at the NU Coliseum on Sept. 24.
Larson, who added 11 digs for her third straight double-double, wasted little time taking sole possession of Nebraska’s all-time ace record, ripping her first serve of the night on the end line for her 162nd career ace. The ace broke the mark of 161 she shared with Val Novak (1987-90), earning an extended standing ovation from the crowd of 4,123 in attendance.

Tara Mueller tied Larson for team-high honors with 12 kills on .300 hitting and added three blocks for Nebraska. Kori Cooper and Lindsey Licht added nine and eight kills respectively. Nebraska held Kansas to just .067 hitting, as Cooper totaled a team-high five blocks.

Husker Probable Starters
MB - #17 Amanda Gates: 6-2, Sr., Columbus, Neb. - Gates is in her first year as a full-time starter for NU after being the Huskers’ top backup at both spots. She averages 1.61 kills and a team-best 1.18 blocks per set, ranking fourth in the league in blocks and ninth in hitting percentage (.312). She has led NU in blocks 13 times, including an eight-block effort against Texas A&M on Oct. 22. Gates had eight kills and a pair of stuffs in the win over No. 15 Kansas State on Nov. 8 and five kills on seven swings and  four blocks against Missouri on Nov. 12. Gates had eight kills on a career-high .700 hitting and four blocks at Oklahoma on Oct. 25. She had 10 kills on .571 hitting at Texas Tech on Oct. 1 and totaled a personal-best 11 kills at Iowa State on Sept. 27. It is the second time she has tied or bettered her career high this season, as Gates tied career highs in both blocks (10) and kills (eight) at Kansas State on Sept. 17. Last year, she averaged 1.29 kills and 0.81 blocks per set over 16 matches. Gates appeared in 23 matches as a sophomore and had a career-high 10 blocks against San Diego in her first career start in 2006. Gates will also contend for academic honors, carrying a 3.96 GPA in communication studies.

MB - #15 Kori Cooper: 6-2, Jr., Amarillo, Texas - A preseason All-Big 12 selection, Cooper is averaging 2.10 kills on .389 hitting and 0.92 blocks per set, ranking second in the Big 12 and 18th nationally in hitting percentage and ninth in blocks. Cooper has hit .500 or better seven times in 2008, including a season-best .875 against New Mexico on Sept. 13. She has reached double figures in kills four times, including 10 kills and a pair of blocks in a sweep of Missouri on Nov. 12. Cooper tied her season high with six blocks and added nine kills on .467 hitting in a win over Iowa State on Nov. 1. She also had six blocks in wins over Creighton (Oct. 5) and USC (Aug. 31). Cooper’s season best in kills was 12 in a win at Iowa State on Sept. 27. Cooper dominated the inside at K-State on Sept. 17, pounding 11 kills without an error and five stuffs. She had her best weekend of the year, averaging 2.50 kills on .636 hitting and 1.50 blocks per set at the Players Challenge to earn all-tournament honors. Last year, Cooper averaged 2.31 kills and 1.01 blocks per set, ranking seventh in the Big 12 in hitting percentage (.356). Her career high for kills is 14, set against Missouri in 2007. Cooper was one of NU’s starting middle blockers as a freshman, averaging 1.67 kills and 0.95 blocks per set in 30 contests. She also carries a 3.81 GPA in speech language pathology.

S - #1 Sydney Anderson: 6-0, So., Salt Lake City, Utah - Anderson is in her first season at NU after spending 2007 with the U.S. National Team in Colorado Springs. The Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year, Anderson averages 11.71 assists, 2.00 digs, 0.58 blocks and 0.32 aces per set, leading the league in assists and ranking eighth in service aces. She is fifth in the country in assists and has five double-doubles, including 43 assists and 14 digs at Colorado on Oct. 29. She has helped NU rank in the top 20 in kills, assists and hitting percentage, as the Huskers have hit .300 or better 11 times. Anderson had 38 assists and seven digs as NU hit .351 in a sweep of Missouri on Nov. 12. Anderson had 42 assists and two blocks in helping NU hit .352 against K-State on Nov. 8. She dished out 51 assists and had four blocks and four kills against Iowa State on Nov. 1.  Anderson dished out a season-high 53 assists and added 10 digs while helping NU hit .319 in a win over No. 3 Texas on Sept. 20. Her other double-doubles came in wins over nationally ranked Kansas State and Cal Poly. Anderson was a member of the U.S. A-2 National Team at the USA Open in both 2007 and 2008. Anderson began her collegiate career at Utah, earning first-team All-Mountain West Conference honors in 2006. That year, she averaged 12.45 assists, 2.77 digs and 0.76 blocks per set en route to being named both the MWC Setter and Freshman of the Year.

L - #2 Kayla Banwarth: 5-10, So., Dubuque, Iowa - Banwarth is in her first full season as NU’s libero, averaging 4.35 digs and 0.79 assists per set, ranking third in the Big 12 in digs. She has reached double figures in digs 22 times and in 30 of her 33 career starts after recording 14 digs against Missouri on Nov. 11. She has topped NU in digs 20 times and has had at least nine digs in every match this season. Banwarth enjoyed a career night at Texas A&M on Nov. 5, setting personal bests in both digs (27) and aces (three) and chipping in four assists. That is nine matches with at least 15 digs, including 20 digs at Creighton on Oct. 4 and against USC on Aug. 31. Banwarth earned a spot on the Runza/AVCA Showcase All-Tournament team after averaging 4.85 digs per set in wins over No. 2 Stanford and No. 4 USC. Banwarth closed the 2007 season as Nebraska’s libero and averaged 2.75 digs, 0.45 assists and 0.17 service aces per set. She was a three-time all-state selection at Wahlert Catholic High School in Iowa and was a Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selection.

OPP - #4 Lindsey Licht: 6-5, So., Aurora, Colo. - Licht is in her first year as a full-time starter, averaging 2.57 kills and 0.88 blocks per set this season. Licht has hit .450 or better five times, including a season-high .667 with nine kills on 12 swings at Texas Tech on Oct. 1. Licht picked up her fourth consecutive double-digit kill effort with 11 kills against No. 15 K-State on Nov. 8.  She turned in a strong effort in the win over Iowa State, coming up with 12 kills on .435 hitting and two blocks. She had team bests in both kills (14) and blocks (six) at Colorado on Oct. 29 and had eight kills and five blocks, including three solo stuffs, at Oklahoma on Oct. 25. Licht turned in a strong effort against Colorado on Oct. 4, finishing with 11 kills on .533 hitting. She established personal bests in kills (17) and attempts (30), hitting .500 against No. 3 Texas on Sept. 20. She tied her then-career high with 10 kills and added four blocks against LSU on Sept. 12. She had 10 kills on .450 hitting against No. 2 Stanford and had a career-high eight blocks against No. 4 USC. As a freshman, Licht appeared in 13 matches, averaging 0.59 kills per set in 25 contests. Licht was a two-time Mizuno/Volleyball Magazine All-American and was a Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selection.

-or-  RS - #8 Brooke Delano: 6-4, R-Fr., Bellevue, Neb. - Delano is the Huskers’ top utility player, seeing time at outside hitter, middle blocker and right side hitter. She has appeared in 13 matches, averaging 1.00 kill, 0.67 blocks and 0.81 digs per set. She saw extensive time at right-side hitter against Missouri, coming up with four kills and four blocks, including three solo stuffs. Her best match of the year came in her first career start at Kansas State on Sept. 17. In that match, she established career bests for kills (seven), digs (16) and blocks (four) while also recording her first ace. Delano saw her first extensive action at outside hitter against Northeastern on Sept. 5, coming up wth six kills on 12 swings. A former Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 pick, Delano redshirted in 2007, as she backed up All-American middle blocker Tracy Stalls.

-or- - DS - #5 Rachel Schwartz: 5-9, Sr., Lincoln, Neb. - Schwartz is one of NU’s primary defensive players, averaging 1.96 digs and 0.12 service aces per set. Schwartz had 15 digs and a service ace in the win over Texas A&M on Nov.  and had 11 digs off the bench in the win over Iowa State on Nov. 1. She has eight matches with at least eight digs, as he replaces the right side hitter in the back row.  Her best performance of 2008 came at No. 18 Kansas State on Sept. 17, when she had a season-high 17 digs while handling nearly all of the Huskers’ passing duties as NU’s libero against the Wildcats. In 2007, Schwartz ranked 11th in the Big 12 in digs, averaging a career-high 3.66 digs and 0.16 service aces per set. She totaled double figures in digs 17 times, including a career-best 21 digs against Missouri.

OH - #10  Jordan Larson: 6-2, Sr., Hooper, Neb. - A two-time All-American and 2008 Big 12 Preseason co-Player of the Year, Larson averages 3.81 kills, 3.12 digs and 0.37 service aces per game, ranking among the league leaders in aces (second), points (4.51, third) and kills (fourth). She has a team-high 10 double-doubles, including five of the last six matches. Larson had 16 kills, 13 digs and three service aces against Missouri on Nov. 12 and 10 kills and 14 digs in a sweep of No. 15 K-State on Nov. 8. Larson totaled 17 kills, 18 digs and a career-high eight blocks in the win at Texas A&M on Nov. 5. She was named Big 12 Player of the Week on Oct. 27, averaging 4.17 kills and 2.67 digs per set in sweeps of Oklahoma and Texas A&M. Larson had 13 kills on a season-best .407 hitting in a sweep of Texas A&M on Oct. 22. She was named AVCA National Player of the Week on Sept. 22, as she averaged 5.00 kills on .319 hitting, 2.62 digs and 0.50 blocks per set in wins over Texas and K-State. Larson had a match-high 19 kills and 10 digs in the win over the Longhorns on Sept. 20. Larson carried the Huskers to a win at K-State, matching her career best with 21 kills and adding 10 digs. She was named to the all-tournament teams in each of NU’s first three events and was chosen as MVP of the Players Challenge after averaging 3.83 kills, 0.60 aces and 0.67 blocks per set. Larson was a third-team AVCA All-American in 2007 after averaging 3.45 kills, 3.18 digs, 0.51 aces and 0.63 blocks per set. The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2006, Larson averaged 4.13 kills and 3.50 digs per set as a sophomore and was the only player in the Big 12 to rank in the top 10 in kills and digs.

OH - #19 Tara Mueller: 6-0, So., Scottsdale, Ariz. - Mueller is in her first year starting at outside hitter and averages 3.61 kills and 2.42 digs per set, ranking sixth in the league in kills per set. Mueller is second on the squad with six double-doubles, including three in her last five contests. Mueller established career bests in kills for the second straight match against No. 15 Kansas State on Nov. 8, finishing with 20 kills on .613 hitting. She set personal bests with 19 kills and 16 digs in the five-set win at Texas A&M on Nov. 5. All six of Mueller’s double-doubles have been in Big 12 action, including 12 kills and 12 digs against Iowa State on Nov. 1 and 13 kills and 12 digs in the loss at Colorado on Oct. 29. She had strong effort against Texas A&M on Oct. 22, drilling 13 kills and setting career bests in hitting percentage (.478) and blocks (five). Mueller also collected double doubles against Oklahoma on Oct. 8 (13 kills and 10 digs), at Iowa State on Sept. 27 (16 kills and 10 digs) and No. 3 Texas (14 kills and 11 digs). She was selected to the Cal Poly all-tournament team after averaging 3.67 kills, 1.67 digs and 0.78 blocks per set. Mueller opened the year with 15 kills in a sweep of No. 2 Stanford on Aug. 29.  As a freshman, Mueller averaged 1.27 kills and 0.95 digs per set. A Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selection, Mueller was the 2005 Gatorade Player of the Year in Arizona and started for the U.S. Junior National Team in 2007.

Last Time Out: Huskers Sweep Tigers
Jordan Larson’s 16 kills led three Huskers in double figures, as the No. 3 Nebraska volleyball team swept Missouri, 25-19, 25-22, 25-14 Wednesday night.

Larson totaled 16 kills and 13 digs for her 10th double-double of the year, as the Huskers posted their 17th sweep of the season. Tara Mueller added 13 kills and eight digs, while Kori Cooper chipped in 10 kills, as the Huskers hit .351 on the night and upped their home win streak to 84 matches. Sydney Anderson dished out 38 assists, while four of the Huskers’ five primary attackers hit at least .300 on the night.

The Huskers got a big boost from redshirt freshman Brooke Delano, who came off the bench to slam home four kills and add four blocks, including three solos in the right side hitter spot. Delano and Amanda Gates totaled four blocks apiece, while Gates put down five kills in seven swings.