Post by bigfan on Nov 20, 2006 13:15:39 GMT -5
NU secures share of Big 12 title with win over Baylor
By: Brian Ortmeier
That loud noise you heard this weekend coming from the NU Coliseum was either the sellout crowd of 4,096 cheering or the door slamming shut on the rest of the Big 12 Conference.
With Saturday's three-game sweep, 30-17, 30-20, 30-22 over Baylor (18-13, 6-12 Big 12), the No. 1 Cornhuskers (25-1, 17-1 Big 12) clinched at least a share of the Big 12 title and can win it outright with a victory this week in one of its final two matches.
Nebraska dominated much of the action against the Bears with strong play from junior All-American Sarah Pavan. The 6-foot-5 outside hitter continued right where she left off on Wednesday, putting down 23 kills on 36 attempts.
Pavan's .528 hitting percentage against the Bears was the second time in a week she went over the .500 hitting mark.
"Part of it is she is fresh," NU Coach John Cook said. "I think she also made some decisions mentally how she was going to play. It all stems from the Colorado match. I don't think she wants to go where she was in that match again."
Since the five-game setback to Colorado, Pavan is averaging 7.67 kills per game on .557 hitting, again showcasing her improved play on Saturday.
With the Huskers up 8-5 in game one on Saturday, Pavan extended the NU lead with a kill and three straight ace serves. Pavan added another ace at 26-13, tying her career-high for aces in a match with four.
Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Larson also chipped in two ace serves in game one to swing the match in favor of the Huskers.
"I guess it just took them awhile to get used to the serves," Pavan said. "When you get a team down from your serving when you either ace them or they can't control it, it makes the rest of the game so much easier because you know where the ball is going to go. In the first game you could definitely tell serving made an impact."
Offensively, the Huskers looked unstoppable, committing a season match-low eight errors while posting two games of .500 hitting.
"I think it's great that we've been hitting so well lately," Pavan said. "We took a little dip there for awhile, but we're definitely coming back and we're hitting better than we could even hope to do."
Eight Huskers put down kills in Saturday's match, including three in double figures. Pavan finished with a match-high 23, while Larson added 11 and senior outside hitter Dani Mancuso put down 10.
NU outplayed Baylor on defense as well, out-digging the Bears 55-40. Senior libero Dani Busboom led the Huskers with a match-high 16 digs and sophomore libero Rachel Schwartz added 11. Redshirt freshman setter Rachel Holloway also reached 10 digs as part of a double-double with 37 assists.
"On Wednesday, we hit so well, but there's lots of other aspects that were not up to par," Pavan said. "Tonight I don't think we could find much of anything wrong with what we did. So that's really encouraging to be able to improve that much over the course of a week."
By: Brian Ortmeier
That loud noise you heard this weekend coming from the NU Coliseum was either the sellout crowd of 4,096 cheering or the door slamming shut on the rest of the Big 12 Conference.
With Saturday's three-game sweep, 30-17, 30-20, 30-22 over Baylor (18-13, 6-12 Big 12), the No. 1 Cornhuskers (25-1, 17-1 Big 12) clinched at least a share of the Big 12 title and can win it outright with a victory this week in one of its final two matches.
Nebraska dominated much of the action against the Bears with strong play from junior All-American Sarah Pavan. The 6-foot-5 outside hitter continued right where she left off on Wednesday, putting down 23 kills on 36 attempts.
Pavan's .528 hitting percentage against the Bears was the second time in a week she went over the .500 hitting mark.
"Part of it is she is fresh," NU Coach John Cook said. "I think she also made some decisions mentally how she was going to play. It all stems from the Colorado match. I don't think she wants to go where she was in that match again."
Since the five-game setback to Colorado, Pavan is averaging 7.67 kills per game on .557 hitting, again showcasing her improved play on Saturday.
With the Huskers up 8-5 in game one on Saturday, Pavan extended the NU lead with a kill and three straight ace serves. Pavan added another ace at 26-13, tying her career-high for aces in a match with four.
Sophomore outside hitter Jordan Larson also chipped in two ace serves in game one to swing the match in favor of the Huskers.
"I guess it just took them awhile to get used to the serves," Pavan said. "When you get a team down from your serving when you either ace them or they can't control it, it makes the rest of the game so much easier because you know where the ball is going to go. In the first game you could definitely tell serving made an impact."
Offensively, the Huskers looked unstoppable, committing a season match-low eight errors while posting two games of .500 hitting.
"I think it's great that we've been hitting so well lately," Pavan said. "We took a little dip there for awhile, but we're definitely coming back and we're hitting better than we could even hope to do."
Eight Huskers put down kills in Saturday's match, including three in double figures. Pavan finished with a match-high 23, while Larson added 11 and senior outside hitter Dani Mancuso put down 10.
NU outplayed Baylor on defense as well, out-digging the Bears 55-40. Senior libero Dani Busboom led the Huskers with a match-high 16 digs and sophomore libero Rachel Schwartz added 11. Redshirt freshman setter Rachel Holloway also reached 10 digs as part of a double-double with 37 assists.
"On Wednesday, we hit so well, but there's lots of other aspects that were not up to par," Pavan said. "Tonight I don't think we could find much of anything wrong with what we did. So that's really encouraging to be able to improve that much over the course of a week."
