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Post by huskervbfan on Oct 13, 2004 21:40:05 GMT -5
Would you happen to have any stats on the match? Mancuso Carries Huskers to Win at No. 16 Kansas State Manhattan, Kan. - Sophomore Dani Mancuso recorded a career-high 22 kills on .559 hitting, as fourth ranked Nebraska downed No. 16 Kansas State, 28-30, 30-21, 30-25, 30-23 in front of a crowd of 2,123 at Ahearn Fieldhouse Wednesday evening. The 6-foot-2 sophomore from Omaha sparkled off the bench, delivering 21 kills over the last three games, easily topping her previous season and career high of 16, as the Huskers (14-1, 8-0 Big 12) won their 11th straight match. Mancuso's big night was one of many highlights, as Nebraska snapped a two-match losing streak to Kansas State. Sarah Pavan had a match-high 23 kills on .356 hitting, while Tracy Stalls set career highs in both kills (12) and blocks (eight), as the Huskers out-blocked KSU, 14-7. Sophomore setter Dani Busboom had a career-high 66 assists -a total which tied for 17th on NU's all-time list, as the Huskers hit .356 as a team. Kansas State snapped Nebraska's 30-game win streak by taking the opener 30-28. The teams battled back and forth, as the game featured 17 ties and 10 lead changes before the Wildcats scored the final three points to take the opener. Sandy Werner had six kills and hit .455, but NU struggled at the service line, committing five service errors. With Nebraska leading 28-27, KSU tied the game on a Husker serving error before Gabby Guerre's kill put the Wildcats up 29-28. Melissa Elmer was blocked by Joy Hamlin and Werner for game point. Behind the play of Sarah Pavan, the Huskers jumped to a 7-2 lead, as the freshman had seven kills in game two alone. KSU fought back and took a 17-16 lead, but it would be its only lead, as the Huskers seized the momentum behind the play of Elmer. With the score tied at 18, Elmer keyed three quick Husker points with a pair of kills, putting NU up 21-18 and forcing KSU to call timeout. While Elmer gave NU the lead, Dani Mancuso slammed the door, as she finished game two with six kills on eight swings and closed out Nebraska's 30-21 win with consecutive services aces. The Huskers trailed for much of the third game before using a 9-3 game-ending run to win 30-25. The Huskers hit .415 in game three, including eight kills by Pavan and five by Mancuso, while KSU was held to .167 hitting. NU trailed 22-21 before Elmer and Dani Busboom combined on a block to tie the game. The block was the first for Elmer, who ranked second nationally in that category, and sparked the run, KSU then committed consecutive hitting errors, giving the Huskers a 24-22 lead and forcing a Wildcat timeout. Nebraska extended the lead to 26-22 on a Mancuso block and a KSU hitting error and the Huskers held on for the win. In game four, Kansas State built a seemingly commanding 19-13 lead before the Huskers fought back with four straight points to get within 19-17. NU eventually tied the score at 21 on a block by Pavan and Stalls. Mancuso then accounted for four straight points as NU pulled away down the stretch. The Huskers return to action on Saturday, Oct. 16, when they host Iowa State at 7 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Tickets are $6 (adults) and $4 (children and seniors) while UNL students with a valid ID are admitted free of charge. The match will be carried on B107.3 FM in Lincoln while live video streaming will be available on HuskersNside.com -- Huskers - |
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Post by vbfan on Oct 13, 2004 23:51:26 GMT -5
I was able to be at the game tonight and it was very exciting. The Wildcats are very tough at home and the crowd was amazing. Pavan carried the Huskers getting many timely kills and the result might have been different without her on the floor. Mancuso had a great night and the Cats couldn't stop her. I will be eager to see the rematch in the coliseum in November but I think the Huskers will play better in that match than they did tonight with THEIR crowd behind them. So the matchup is set for next Wednesday in Austin. It is still early, but it looks like it will be Texas or Nebraska this year taking home the Big 12 hardware. If Texas wins it this year, it will be like KSU winning it last year with two great seniors (Howden and Topic) and it will most likely be the last year as Nebraska will dominate for the next 3 years with Pavan and Jordan Larson.
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Post by bucky415 on Oct 14, 2004 1:21:59 GMT -5
Nice win for the Huskers. It is too bad Fox Sports doesn't do Big 12 volleyball so they could show the UT match. Oh well. I did get to see the less than half inch tall Huskers on the free video of the Creighton match on sunday. It looked like their passing was an issue then, but they looked really good when it was on. It is strange to see an RS towering over the middle, but I am sure it is not a fun thing to block against. As far as Pavan, she looked like a force offensively and blocking but not great in the back row yet. Would you NU fans agree with that, or was it just maybe an off day for her in that regard? I thought Creighton did a nice job of digging some of her shots, but she hit a few balls that no one was digging.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2004 8:15:13 GMT -5
Good win for NU, listening on the radio sounded like NU did not pass well. The announcers really didn't mention specific people--stats say Houghtelling and Mancuso each got aced twice. Cook made the comment that Busboom got to a lot of difficult balls. KSU is the best serving team in the conference. Can't wait for UT.
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Post by SaltNPepper on Oct 14, 2004 8:46:27 GMT -5
It was a fun match to see. Maybe a couple hundred Husker fans there in a crowd reported at 21 something. Nice student section along one side that were fun to watch - we miss that at the Coliseum.
I thought the Huskers played well - but not as well as a few matches recently - may be in part because of KSU. Cook and this years team doesn't seem "happy" most of the time - more focused or determined. I don't know whether that's good or bad. With the talent on the bench he seems to be subbing more than earlier in the year. Houghtelling had a couple of unforced errors and he pulled her and put in Mancuso. She had one or two and he pull her and put Houghtelling back in and when she had another then Mancuso went back in and played very well the rest of the match. It's like he's really trying to send a message to step up your game or you'll be on the bench. It will be interesting to see who starts Saturday after the way Mancuso played tonight.
Pavan's serve continues to be erratic. I wonder if it is a mental thing. I think it may be worse that it was at the beginning of the year. She had 4 service errors and no service aces. I think she may be taking something off her serve trying to get it in but it's not working. They subbed her out with Lynch serving for her quite a bit in the last half of the match. Pavan (and the whole team for that matter) attacks from the back row a lot more this year than I can recall any Nebraska team in the recent past. Pavan hit .356 with 23 kills and she did have her share of out of system sets. She's really becoming a dynamite "go to" player.
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Post by huskervbfan on Oct 14, 2004 21:18:21 GMT -5
Good win for NU, listening on the radio sounded like NU did not pass well. I watched it on HuskerNSide and the passing was atrocious for a good part of the match. The fact that we still hit about .350 was a real tribute to Busboom and her athleticism. It is also a tribute to the attackers. K-State has some passing problems too (not as bad as the Huskers I didn't think) but when they didn't get good sets, they underhand passed a free ball over. When the Huskers didn't get good sets, there were still attacking and keeping K-State on defense instead of just setting them up for an easy offense. Of course the flip side of that is that we were shanking easy free balls too so we sort of balanced out on that part. Pavan really does have a mental issue with the serve. Nobody that good should not be able to get the serve at least just into the court. She finally did get some in for Creighton and served four aces. They were awesome serves but at this point, just an easy underhand would be more of an offensive weapon that just a serving error nearly every time. |
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Post by huskervbfan on Oct 14, 2004 21:21:48 GMT -5
They subbed her out with Lynch serving for her quite a bit in the last half of the match. This may just be part of getting ready for Texas too. While Busboom isn't a bad blocker, Fautsch is much better. If they don't get Pavan on Topic, they can put Lynch and Fautsch in and still be pretty formidible. And that would leave Pavan as a much more offensive weapon than she would be against Topic. I haven't seen any of Topic stats. What are those like? |
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Post by SaltNPepper on Oct 14, 2004 21:33:09 GMT -5
This may just be part of getting ready for Texas too. While Busboom isn't a bad blocker, Fautsch is much better. If they don't get Pavan on Topic, they can put Lynch and Fautsch in and still be pretty formidible. And that would leave Pavan as a much more offensive weapon than she would be against Topic. I haven't seen any of Topic stats. What are those like? I think it had more to do with Pavan's serving, because some of the time it was just for the one rotation (rather than all three back row positions) and then he'd immediately go back to Pavan/Busboom. |
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Post by outsider on Oct 14, 2004 21:48:31 GMT -5
This match is supposed to be "replayed" on Fox Sports Midwest on Sunday at 4:00 pm EDT. This is one of five matches that is scheduled to be broadcast on satellite this Sunday! Thank God for TIVO or it could be a long day in front of the TUBE.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2004 22:01:32 GMT -5
Fautch struggles setting up a good block. Big time.
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Post by huskervbfan on Oct 14, 2004 22:23:29 GMT -5
I think it had more to do with Pavan's serving, because some of the time it was just for the one rotation (rather than all three back row positions) and then he'd immediately go back to Pavan/Busboom. Could be, or it could just be part of the strategy. No sense in showing Texas any more than is necessary. |
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Post by huskervbfan on Oct 14, 2004 22:26:33 GMT -5
Fautch struggles setting up a good block. Big time. But do you think 5-10 Busboom is that much better than 6-1 Fautsch at setting the block? If Topic gets paired up with Busboom, she will have a field day. |
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Post by SaltNPepper on Oct 15, 2004 5:53:28 GMT -5
If Topic gets paired up with Busboom, she will have a field day. This is an interesting point. I wonder if any coaches that feel one particular match-up would be nearly essential for a win has tried the following. Start a game with 6 subs (probably would only work for teams that have at least 14 or so players available). Then after the first point and seeing what match-up would work best, substitute all the starters into the game at the position that makes for the best match-up . If you have a team where a lot of the subs are seldom used, this could be a way to get the match up you're looking for. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2004 6:00:46 GMT -5
I think that Busboom continues to improve at blocking. Fautch has had now going on year three in doing this and still has problems--it isn't always about size. I don't think we have to control Topic, just slow her down a bit. Huskers SHOULD have a huge mental advantage over the Horns. Wish the first one was in Lincoln though.
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