Big 12 has depth after NU
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BY TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star
Nebraska fans whose only view of Big 12 volleyball are those three-game beatdowns at the Coliseum aren’t seeing the whole picture.
Behind the top-ranked Huskers — the only Big 12 team with an unblemished record — there’s a wild top-to-bottom scramble shaping up that coaches say is the true indicator of how competitive a league the Big 12 has become.
Already, Colorado — the only team to defeat Nebraska last year — has slipped to last place after dropping four consecutive five-game matches.
First serve
Behind the scenes news on the Huskers:
Nebraska has swept 10 consecutive opponents, its longest streak since 2004.
Big story
Pity Cal.
The Bears had to open Pac-10 Conference play with consecutive matches against No. 2 Stanford, No. 5 UCLA and No. 4 USC. The good news? All three were at home. The bad news? Cal has played three home conference matches and their Pac-10 record is 0-3.
And to make matters worse, Cal, ranked 10th this week, took game one in all three matches.
“There’s not a trend to let up or anything,” Cal coach Rich Feller told The Daily Californian. “It’s just those teams are awfully good, and they know how to make adjustments.
“We’re not yet ready to make adjustments on them because we’re not quite good enough at what we do well.”
Cal pushed UCLA to five games on Friday, effectively zapping the Bruins’ hopes of challenging Stanford on Saturday. The Cardinal came through the three-match stretch against Cal, USC and UCLA unbeaten.
Headline news
- Becky Pavan, younger sister of NU’s Sarah Pavan, switched her commitment to Kentucky after Ohio State coach Jim Stone announced he was resigning after the season.
- Texas sophomore Destinee Hooker earned national player of the week honors after hitting .431 and averaging 5.43 kills per game in back-to-back Longhorn victories.
- Top-25 newcomer Colorado State has lost to 6-7 Utah and 8-8 Oregon State this season.
Conference call
News around the Big 12:
In need of a lift, Missouri outlasted Oklahoma 31-29, 30-18, 33-35, 24-30, 15-13 on Saturday. It was the first conference win for injury-bitten Mizzou and the first conference loss for the Sooners.
Sophomore Megan Wilson of Lincoln Christian matched her career high with 18 kills. Wilson was one of several Nebraska natives to earn kudos from coach Wayne Kreklow after the Tigers’ win.
“Megan Wilson and Amanda Hantouli really came through and turned it on tonight,” he said.
Chart toppers
The Journal Star’s Todd Henrichs votes in the weekly Molton media poll. His top 10:
1. Nebraska. Outscored foes 180-100 in last two matches.
2. Stanford. Freshman Klineman shined against Bruins.
3. Penn State. Frosh Wilson cracked lineup with eight blocks.
4. UCLA. Bruins swept USC last season.
5. USC. Copenhagen sidelined with abdominal strain.
6. Washington. Last home match was Aug. 25.
7. Florida. Has faced two ranked foes: LSU and Santa Clara.
8. Texas. Road tests at Texas A&M and K-State ahead.
9. Wisconsin. Went 9-1 during 40-day road trip.
10. Minnesota. Gophers head to Penn State on Saturday.
Oklahoma, meanwhile, is tied for second in the Big 12 after winning in five games three times.
“There’s Nebraska and the rest of us,” Kansas State coach Suzie Fritz said Tuesday. “And the rest of us, over the course of the last few years, we’ve continued to knock each other around pretty good.”
Over the last four seasons, only Nebraska and a struggling Texas Tech program have not bounced between the top half and the bottom half of the league standings.
Oklahoma went from last in 2005 to second a year ago, while Iowa State jumped from 11th to fourth over the course of two years.
K-State went the other direction last season, slipping from fourth in 2005 to a disappointing 10th-place finish. The Wildcats, though, were the last team to dislodge Nebraska from the top spot, winning their first conference title in 2003.
“It’s very easy in this league to go from second to eighth or fourth to 10th,” Fritz said. “There’s such a fine line in so many of these matches.
“If you want to do well in the league, you’ve got to beat who you’re supposed to beat and stay away from getting knocked around.”
Fritz’s 17th-ranked Wildcats (13-3, 5-1) enter tonight’s televised match against Nebraska (12-0, 5-0) already with more league wins this season than in all of last year.
That shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise considering the Wildcats are experienced — setter Stacey Spiegelberg and libero Angie Lastra are talented seniors — and Rita Liliom has come back strong from injury.
Russian transfer Nataly Korobkova joined the Wildcats last spring and leads the team in kills this season.
K-State, which went 0-7 in five-game matches a year ago, is 2-1 in marathons this year.
“Any time you go through five-game losses like that, you’re going to have an edge to you and something to prove,” Nebraska head coach John Cook said. “They’re a different team with an edge to them.”
Fritz said she began to see significant progress toward the end of last season, but by that time it was too late to overcome the loss of Liliom, an all-around player with key responsibilities as an attacker, a passer, a blocker and a server.
Similar blows have beset Colorado and Missouri this season. The Buffs lost all-Big 12 pick Amber Sutherland to injury before the season. Mizzou is without Julianna Klein, who was averaging 4.4 kills per game when she hurt her knee last month.
Missouri, which extended Stanford to five games in last year’s NCAA Tournament, enters tonight’s match at Colorado with just one league win.
Nebraska, meanwhile, has swept every Big 12 match since losing at Colorado last year. Just remember, it’s not as easy as it looks.
“Our conference is just really competitive, so if you drop off, if there’s injuries, chemistry (issues), if something happens in recruiting, then you’re in those five-game matches and you’re trying to survive,” Cook said. “It fluctuates a lot.”
Briefly
Kansas State leads the Big 12 in aces, having reached double figures in four matches this year. … With a win tonight, Nebraska would tie the school record of 63 consecutive victories at home.
Reach Todd Henrichs at 473-7320 or thenrichs@journalstar.com.
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