Husker volleyball team rallies to defeat Texas

 5 comment(s)  
 E-mail Story
 Print Story
  Share

 digg it!
 Facebook
 del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit

Text Size: 

Tools Sponsor

BY TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star

AUSTIN, Texas — Pieced together after an injury to Christina Houghtelling in the offseason, Nebraska’s top-ranked volleyball team showed signs Wednesday that it may have hit on the right formula to win a national championship.

On a night when the Huskers clearly struggled, when Texas freshman Destinee Hooker displayed what can only be described as superpowers, and with 3,822 Texas fans  — the largest crowd in six years at Gregory Gym — poised to party, Nebraska somehow pulled out its most dramatic win in recent memory.

Junior All-American Sarah Pavan, who had struggled throughout the night, took over the match when it truly mattered. She saved six of her 22 kills for game five, and none of her 12 errors.

When Tracy Stalls took a quick set from Rachel Holloway and popped it to the Texas court for the game winner, head coach John Cook celebrated with a thrust of the fist and the knowledge that his team, with four players who are either first-time starters or at new positions, has an answer for the best the country has to offer.

“We had to find out what we’ve got, otherwise there’s always that question mark,” Cook said. “Tonight, these guys found out.”

Nebraska’s 27-30, 30-22, 22-30, 30-22, 15-13 victory essentially reduced the Big 12 Conference to a two-team race. Nebraska (18-0, 10-0) remained a win ahead of upstart Oklahoma, which swept Missouri on Wednesday to move to 9-1 after the first half of league play.

Ninth-ranked Texas (12-5, 7-3) remained tied with the Tigers, a disappointment considering how close the Longhorns were to a win that would have re-established them as a legitimate title contender.

“We just lacked a little consistency tonight,” said Texas coach Jerritt Elliott, “but that’ll get better and we’ll be a good team by the end of the season.”

Nebraska may be there already, for a rare time showing that it could stick with a quality opponent without Pavan leading the way.

Frightful in games one and three, Nebraska got key contributions from everywhere to force a fifth game in which Pavan managed to overshadow Hooker’s amazing contribution.

Pavan scored kills for six of Nebraska’s first 11 points and set the stage for the Huskers to take control. Tied 11-11, Holloway, NU’s redshirt freshman setter, bravely flung a dump to the Texas court.

The Huskers went up 13-11 when Dani Mancuso and Kori Cooper teamed to block Jennifer Todd, and after trading sideouts, Nebraska won on Stalls’ swing.

Nebraska, which lost in five games at Texas a year ago, became the first Big 12 opponent in two years to win in Austin. It was Nebraska’s first five-game win since defeating Missouri at home a year ago.

“Everybody found a way to make a huge play when it counted,” said Pavan, who salvaged a .175 hitting night. “(Holloway) took over the match, and having confidence in Tracy the last point of the game, that just proves how much we trust each other.”

Nebraska, which was outhit and outdug, got another double-double from Jordan Larson and 13 kills from Stalls.

But just as key were nine kills and six blocks from Mancuso, seven kills and eight blocks from Cooper and eight kills from Holloway. All are in new roles this season.

The night’s most notable newcomer, however, had to be Hooker, the NCAA high jump champion who showed she can play volleyball, too, with 24 kills on .538 hitting in her first match against Nebraska.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Cook said, describing Hooker’s ability to consistently hit over the block of the 6-foot-5 Pavan. “There’s nothing you can do except serve an ace.”

That, or have someone across the net capable of making her own statement when it counts.

“Pavan backed up what she’s been saying, that she’s not going to let this team lose,” Cook said. “The way we won is really what’s gratifying. We had to find a way to win ugly.”

Reach Todd Henrichs at 473-7439 or thenrichs@journalstar.com.