Tonia Tauke Season 1999

1999 Season

Tonia Tauke finished her career as one of Nebraska's all-time elite blockers, finishing second on the schools' all-time charts with 463 block assists and fourth on the total block list with 538.

Tauke played in 22 matches as a senior, recording 85 kills and 83 blocks for a team-high average of 1.54 blocks per game for the second-ranked blocking team in the nation. She also recorded the second-best hitting percentage on the team, a .304 mark.

Tauke got off to a hot start in 1999, recording double-figure kills in three of the first four matches, including a season-high 14 in the season opener against Pacific. In fact, she hit .432 through the first nine matches, averaging 2.3 kills per game. Tauke's numbers dropped in conference play, turning in a .073 hitting percentage in Big 12 play.

Tauke had one of her best defensive efforts of the year in Nebraska's home loss to Kansas State, registering a season-high 11 blocks. For the year, she had eight matches with at least six total blocks.

1998 Season

Tauke had the best season of her career and helped build the Huskers into the top blocking team in the nation. Tauke led the Huskers in solo blocks (24) and block assists (164) and ranked fifth nationally in blocks per game with 1.72. She finished with the second-best blocking totals in school history, as her 164 block assists set a Big 12 record and were one shy of tying Thater's 1990 school record. Her 188 total blocks were second-best in Big 12 history and were nine shy of thater's school-record 197. She set a three-game school and Coliseum record with 11 block assists in a win over Colorado, as the Huskers set the team mark with 38 block assists for the match. She tied her own five-game Coliseum record against Pepperdine in the regional semifinals with 11 block assists to lead the Huskers.

Tauke, who started 32 of 34 matches, had a breakthrough year offensively, finishing third on the team in kills (260), kills per game (2.39) and hitting percentage (.333). She hit .321 in league matches (ninth in the Big 12) and proved clutch in the postseason, tallying a career-high 15 kills against both Pepperdine and Wisconsin in the NCAA Pacific Regional. She was nearly unstoppable in the confines of the Coliseum, hitting .393 at home. For the season, she led the team in blocks in 12 matches an dhad team-high kills on three occasions.

1997 Season

Along with Katie Jahnke, tauke posted the team's best hitting percentage at .302 and ranked third on the team in solo blocks (14), block assists (100), total blocks (114) and blocks per game (1.20). Tauke played an exceptional early-season match against Penn State, posting a season-best 11 kills and a .391 hitting percentage, along with a season-best three solo blocks. She tied that season-best with her 11 kills vs. Texas Tech in Lubbock.

1996-Freshman Season

Tauke made an impressive debut in her first season as a Husker, having one of the best freshman season in NU history. Although not a starter, Tauke was one of the first players off the bench, earning playing time in all 34 matches, tied for third-most ever for a freshman. She set a freshman record by playing 115 games and eclipsed Jen McFadden's freshman record of 121 block assists by finishing the season with 127. She finished second on the freshman single-season charts with 26 solo blocks, 153 total blocks and 1.33 blocks per game.

She ranked second on the team with 1.33 blocks per game and led the Big 12 Conference with 1.52 blocks per game in leauge matches. Tauke posted the top hitting percentage on the team with a lofty .326 mark, the fourth-best mark in the Big 12. She averaged 1.46 kills per game, including a season-best 10 at Iowa State. In a 3-2 victory over No. 5 Michigan State, Tauke set a Nebraska Coliseum record for a five-game match with 11 block assists and 15 total blocks. She led the Huskers in blocks in 12 matches and tallied nine or more total blocks in four matches.

High School

An alternate for the 1995 U.S. Junior National Team, Tauke led Abraham Lincoln to a 44-2-2 record and a state semifinal appearance, earnign first-team all-state honors. Selected to the Iowa Elite Eight Team, she played club volleyball with Husker senior Kim Crandall under Coach Gwen Egbert, leading the River City Juniors to the 1995 USVBA Club national championship. She was a three-time meember of the All-Southwest Iowa team, the Council Bluffs player of the year in 1994 and 1995, and an all-state basketball player. A member of the National Honor Society, tauke graduated with a 4.0 grade-point average after earning four letters in basketball, three in volleyball and one in track.