Huskers In China Day 14: Toppled in Tianjin

The Huskers lost to a better team today.  Tianjin is not only the reigning Chinese pro team champion, Tianjin is the New York Yankees of Chinese pro volleyball.  At dinner we were told that Tianjin regularly wins the national pro volleyball title.
 
The Huskers played five sets to 25 today and lost the first, third, and fourth sets.  Hannah Werth was the only Husker to play each rally, recording a team high 15 kills and hitting .293.  Morgan Broekhuis also had 15 kills, and Brooke Delano had ten. Overall, the Huskers hit a very respectable .299.  Nebraska outblocked Tianjin 14 to 9.
 
Passing was the difference. Tianjin is probably the best passing team Nebraska has faced since Christy Zartman and the 2003 UCLA Bruins- or perhaps that 2002 Hawaii team that never let anything drop.  Nearly every pass was right to the setter, allowing her to have three options.  On serve-receive, Tianjin was in system all afternoon. Coach Cook told the players that they have to serve better tomorrow, stressing the talented Tianjin passers more.  The Huskers aced Tianjin only twice all five sets.
 
The Huskers hung with Tianjin early in each of the first three games.  But a 5-5 set #1 tie suddenly turned into a 11-5 Tianjin lead, a 7-7 set #2 tie turned into 12-7 Husker deficit, and 6-6 set #3 tie turned into a 13-8 Tianjin advantage.  While Tianjin controlled the first two sets after seizing the lead, the Huskers fought back in the third, ultimately leading 22-17 and prevailing 27-25. Sydney Anderson set while the Huskers turned a five-point deficit into a two-point lead.
 
Tianjin dominated set #4, 25-14, and the Huskers won the fifth, 25-21, when Tianjin put in a few reserves.  Allie McNeal and Tara Mueller played the first three sets, and Jordan Wilberger and Gina Mancuso played the final two.
 
Brooke Delano had her best match of the trip, hitting .444 thanks to those 10 kills; she added 5 blocks.  She admitted afterwards that the transition in time zones and opponent playing styles had affected her play.  She also has had minor shoulder pain, a holdover from her high school years at Bellevue West.  Sleeping the wrong way can aggravate it.  She says she'll be fine again when the season begins in late August.
 
Tianjin, a 'medium-sized' Chinese city of 10 million people, turned out to be a 3-hour drive southeast of Beijing, just 30 miles from the Pacific Ocean. A two-hour feast hosted by the Tianjin team and local communist party officials followed the match. This best-of-three series with Tianjin continues tomorrow with a morning match again at their practice facility, followed by lunch, and then an afternoon match at a nearby arena with some dignitaries and fans in attendance.  We're spending the evening in a Tianjin hotel- the Huskers will have minimal travel time tomorrow.
 
I'm John Baylor, describing what I see.  To ask questions or offer commentary, just email us at John@JohnBaylorTestPrep.com.