Post by Thrill of the 'ville on Dec 18, 2006 15:47:28 GMT -5
From Sports Illustrated On Campus:
Omaha Stakes
Observations from the women's volleyball championship
By Jeff Sheldon
Didn't catch the Women's Volleyball Championship in Omaha over the weekend? Don't worry, we've got you covered. Nebraska won its third title in front of a record crowd of 17,209. Sarah Pavan was selected as the tournament's most outstanding player and was joined on the all-tournament team by fellow Huskers Jordan Larson, Tracy Stalls and Rachel Holloway and Stanford's Kristen Richards, Foluke Akinradewo and Cynthia Barboza. But that wasn't all. SIOC's Jeff Shelden took in the festivities and filed this report:
Worst Heckler: UCLA fan Chase Lyman, brother of Bruins' outside hitter Colby Lyman. Maybe the biggest indicator of the growth of college volleyball wasn't the record crowd that packed the Qwest Center for the semifinals, but the arrival of the most revered of college traditions: the annoying guy who sits in the second row and won't shut up.
Enter Lyman, who finished his football career as a wide receiver for UCLA in 2005 and was the most vocal individual among the small Bruin contingent in Thursday's national semifinal against Nebraska.
Some gems from Chase included: "No, that's too long" when players had a little too much on their serve, and "I know you can hear me" in the stillness before the ball was sent into play.
We'll cut him some slack since he was just released from the practice squad of the New Orleans Saints, but you would think someone who has a degree from one of America's best public universities could do better.
He agreed, but countered with: "There's 15,000 Nebraska fans and 50 of us. We've got to do something." Good point.
Best Band: UCLA. Any pep band that can pull off Carl Orff's Carmina Burana and Green Day's Welcome To Paradise in the same night while wearing Hawaiian shirts can play anywhere.
Biggest Smiles: UCLA. The Bruins looked like a bunch of kids on Christmas before the start of Thursday's semifinal with Nebraska, despite the fact they were playing in front of about 17,000 people cheering for the hometown Huskers. While NU played with the pressure of the entire state, the Bruins danced and grooved around the court before the match's first serve.
UCLA was used to having a large home crowd against them in the tournament, though, having just won their regional at Hawaii in front of nearly 10,000 opposing fans.
"We're a very fun team," senior outside hitter Katie Carter said. "Playing in front of Hawaii really was good for us and I don't think we let (the crowd) get to us."
Most honest player: Sarah Pavan, Nebraska. The AVCA National Player of the Year has a jump serve in her repertoire that can be unpassable if on, but often, Pavan is just as curious where the serve will end up. The 6-foot-5 junior from Kitchener, Ontario, notched four aces against UCLA in spite of the fact she considered her approach less-than-ideal.
"Some of my tosses were just God-awful," the reticent Pavan admitted.
Least amount of sales tax spent in Omaha: Washington fans. It seemed like the crowd had just got resettled for Thursday's second semi-final before Stanford put the lights out on the Huskies' season with a 30-12, 30-25, 30-15 loss. The match was played in an eye-blinkingly brief 1 hour, 22 minutes. Washington hit .000 (24 kills and 24 errors) including negative marks in the first and third games of the sweep.
The "You Really Need To Get Out More" Award: Cynthia Barboza, Stanford. Instead of flying home after a regional final win in Austin, Texas, Barboza and the rest of the Cardinal came right to Omaha and spent all week studying for finals and going to practice.
And what else?
"Basically nothing," the All-American sophomore said. "My teammates haven't seen me for four days. I've been in my room studying for econ[omics]. I went outside yesterday and was blinded by the sun because I hadn't seen it for four days."
The "Better Late Than Never" Award: Jordan Larson, Nebraska. You had to wonder about the big-match mettle of the Huskers' All-American sophomore outside hitter. In the 2005 national championship match against Washington, Larson had only one kill in 20 swings. She followed that up with a jittery night Thursday against UCLA with only six kills and six errors on 50 attempts. But ask Stanford about Larson's maturation in just two days. The Hooper, Neb. (pop. 798), native put down 19 kills against just two errors, including a rocket on championship point that ricocheted into the stands to clinch Nebraska's third national title.
"I remember telling my parents when I was 11 or 12 that I wanted to play volleyball for Nebraska," Larson said. "To win a national championship in your home state, it doesn't get any better than that."
Biggest winner besides Nebraska: The city of Omaha. Sure it helped the fans in the Qwest Center had their home team to cheer for, but the vast majority of the tickets were sold in 2004, when the NCAA announced the city would be the site of the Final Four before the new arena had even been completed.
The two sessions drew a combined crowd of 34, 222 -- more than 10,000 more fans than the old high mark set in 1998 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Omaha city leaders are using the success of this weekend's event as part of a pitch to make the city the permanent home for the volleyball Final Four.
Stanford coach John Dunning said while he didn't think the NCAA should settle down in the heartland quite yet, he acknowledged Saturday's championship match in front of 17, 209 "was the biggest match in (women's college volleyball) history, in some scope."
The Final Four comes back to the Qwest Center in 2008.
Omaha Stakes
Observations from the women's volleyball championship
By Jeff Sheldon
Didn't catch the Women's Volleyball Championship in Omaha over the weekend? Don't worry, we've got you covered. Nebraska won its third title in front of a record crowd of 17,209. Sarah Pavan was selected as the tournament's most outstanding player and was joined on the all-tournament team by fellow Huskers Jordan Larson, Tracy Stalls and Rachel Holloway and Stanford's Kristen Richards, Foluke Akinradewo and Cynthia Barboza. But that wasn't all. SIOC's Jeff Shelden took in the festivities and filed this report:
Worst Heckler: UCLA fan Chase Lyman, brother of Bruins' outside hitter Colby Lyman. Maybe the biggest indicator of the growth of college volleyball wasn't the record crowd that packed the Qwest Center for the semifinals, but the arrival of the most revered of college traditions: the annoying guy who sits in the second row and won't shut up.
Enter Lyman, who finished his football career as a wide receiver for UCLA in 2005 and was the most vocal individual among the small Bruin contingent in Thursday's national semifinal against Nebraska.
Some gems from Chase included: "No, that's too long" when players had a little too much on their serve, and "I know you can hear me" in the stillness before the ball was sent into play.
We'll cut him some slack since he was just released from the practice squad of the New Orleans Saints, but you would think someone who has a degree from one of America's best public universities could do better.
He agreed, but countered with: "There's 15,000 Nebraska fans and 50 of us. We've got to do something." Good point.
Best Band: UCLA. Any pep band that can pull off Carl Orff's Carmina Burana and Green Day's Welcome To Paradise in the same night while wearing Hawaiian shirts can play anywhere.
Biggest Smiles: UCLA. The Bruins looked like a bunch of kids on Christmas before the start of Thursday's semifinal with Nebraska, despite the fact they were playing in front of about 17,000 people cheering for the hometown Huskers. While NU played with the pressure of the entire state, the Bruins danced and grooved around the court before the match's first serve.
UCLA was used to having a large home crowd against them in the tournament, though, having just won their regional at Hawaii in front of nearly 10,000 opposing fans.
"We're a very fun team," senior outside hitter Katie Carter said. "Playing in front of Hawaii really was good for us and I don't think we let (the crowd) get to us."
Most honest player: Sarah Pavan, Nebraska. The AVCA National Player of the Year has a jump serve in her repertoire that can be unpassable if on, but often, Pavan is just as curious where the serve will end up. The 6-foot-5 junior from Kitchener, Ontario, notched four aces against UCLA in spite of the fact she considered her approach less-than-ideal.
"Some of my tosses were just God-awful," the reticent Pavan admitted.
Least amount of sales tax spent in Omaha: Washington fans. It seemed like the crowd had just got resettled for Thursday's second semi-final before Stanford put the lights out on the Huskies' season with a 30-12, 30-25, 30-15 loss. The match was played in an eye-blinkingly brief 1 hour, 22 minutes. Washington hit .000 (24 kills and 24 errors) including negative marks in the first and third games of the sweep.
The "You Really Need To Get Out More" Award: Cynthia Barboza, Stanford. Instead of flying home after a regional final win in Austin, Texas, Barboza and the rest of the Cardinal came right to Omaha and spent all week studying for finals and going to practice.
And what else?
"Basically nothing," the All-American sophomore said. "My teammates haven't seen me for four days. I've been in my room studying for econ[omics]. I went outside yesterday and was blinded by the sun because I hadn't seen it for four days."
The "Better Late Than Never" Award: Jordan Larson, Nebraska. You had to wonder about the big-match mettle of the Huskers' All-American sophomore outside hitter. In the 2005 national championship match against Washington, Larson had only one kill in 20 swings. She followed that up with a jittery night Thursday against UCLA with only six kills and six errors on 50 attempts. But ask Stanford about Larson's maturation in just two days. The Hooper, Neb. (pop. 798), native put down 19 kills against just two errors, including a rocket on championship point that ricocheted into the stands to clinch Nebraska's third national title.
"I remember telling my parents when I was 11 or 12 that I wanted to play volleyball for Nebraska," Larson said. "To win a national championship in your home state, it doesn't get any better than that."
Biggest winner besides Nebraska: The city of Omaha. Sure it helped the fans in the Qwest Center had their home team to cheer for, but the vast majority of the tickets were sold in 2004, when the NCAA announced the city would be the site of the Final Four before the new arena had even been completed.
The two sessions drew a combined crowd of 34, 222 -- more than 10,000 more fans than the old high mark set in 1998 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Omaha city leaders are using the success of this weekend's event as part of a pitch to make the city the permanent home for the volleyball Final Four.
Stanford coach John Dunning said while he didn't think the NCAA should settle down in the heartland quite yet, he acknowledged Saturday's championship match in front of 17, 209 "was the biggest match in (women's college volleyball) history, in some scope."
The Final Four comes back to the Qwest Center in 2008.
