Huskers learning from loss
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BY TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star
Just like a juicy rumor that bounces from inbox to inbox, there is a blueprint being passed around for how to dismantle Nebraska’s volleyball powerhouse.
As Texas proved last week, the Huskers can look average, at best, when you gang up on middle blocker Tracy Stalls, when you mix up your serves to make Jordan Larson cover more territory as a passer, and you make Sarah Pavan play the ball as often as you can.
And, finally, you attack, and attack, and attack over NU setter Rachel Holloway. For Texas, the end result was a textbook victory, one opposing coaches surely will be studying as they prepare for Nebraska the rest of the season.
Behind the scenes news on the Huskers:
Were Nebraska and Texas to finish tied, the teams would share the Big 12 title. But NU would claim the league’s automatic NCAA Tournament berth on the third tiebreaker. The Huskers won 157 rallies head-to-head against Texas. The Longhorns won 156.
Big story
Although Penn State is ranked No. 1 for the first time since winning the 1999 national championship, you’ll have a hard time convincing Russ Rose, the Nittany Lions’ longtime coach.
Rose told The Daily Collegian Online he voted Nebraska No. 1 this week. The Huskers swept Penn State earlier this season.
“I have had teams that have been ranked No. 1 in the country, and they earned those rankings,” Rose said. “This team has the potential to do some things. If they earn the right to be No. 1, and I agree with it, I’ll say that.”
Although Penn State earned only one more first-place vote than did Nebraska, the 11-point difference between the teams in the poll amounts to six more coaches voting the Nittany Lions ahead of NU than reversed.
While coaches generally downplay the significance of rankings, Nebraska’s John Cook spoke candidly Tuesday when asked about his team dropping from the top spot.
“It’s unsettling, because we like being there,” Cook said. “I know for the coaches, it put a bur in our butt.”
Penn State also edged out Nebraska for the top spot in the Molten/Volleyball Magazine media poll.
Headline news
* In No. 14 Duke’s five-game win over Virginia, Carrie DeMange had 29 kills and 28 digs. Eight kills came in game five alone.
* On the same day that NU set the NCAA regular-season attendance record with 13,396 fans for its match against Hawaii, Wisconsin drew a sell-out crowd of 10,326 for its match with Penn State. It marked the first time in college volleyball history that two home teams drew crowds of more than 10,000 on the same day.
* Maryland-Eastern Shore now owns the nation’s longest winning streak at 19. The Hawks (21-3) have just one regular-season match remaining.
Conference call
News around the Big 12:
Keeping score in volleyball isn’t all that difficult, unless of course you work at the scorer’s table at Kansas, where the din of the Horejsi Center seems to throw off those counting skills a bit.
When NU won in Lawrence earlier this season, the Huskers had to win 31 rallies in game one thanks to a scoring snafu. But Saturday’s mix-up topped that, with Kansas thinking it had won game one against Missouri and the teams switching sidelines before officials caught their mistake.
Once play resumed, Kansas held on to win game one, but Missouri rallied to win the five-game, 2-hour, 40-minute marathon behind 22 kills from Na Yang and eight blocks from Amanda Hantouli.
Tonight’s match at Nebraska is a homecoming for Hantouli (Omaha Burke) and the other natives of the Cornhusker state in Mizzou’s lineup - Megan Wilson (Lincoln Christian), Catie Wilson (Omaha Gross) and Tatum Ailes (Bellevue West).
Chart toppers
The Journal Star’s Todd Henrichs votes in the weekly Molton media poll. His top 10:
1. Washington. Leads Pac-10 thanks to road win at Stanford.
2. Nebraska. Back-to-back losses since 1994? Four.
3. Penn State. Third behind Stanford and NU in RPI projection.
4. Texas. Longhorns hitting at .351 clip in conference play.
5. Stanford. School record 31 digs from Gabi Ailes in defeat.
6. USC. Kaczor’s 52 kills keyed wins over Stanford and Cal.
7. California. Golden Bears had never won at Pauley Pavilion.
8. Wisconsin. Fought off two match points and won at Indiana.
9. Florida. Gators get rematch with Arkansas on Sunday.
10. UCLA. Bruins are 6-5 in Pac-10 heading to rival USC.
The Huskers, too, have been studying up since last week’s stunning loss to the Longhorns, a defeat that dropped Nebraska to No. 2 in the polls for the first time since after the 2005 season.
“We learned a lot down there,” Nebraska head coach John Cook said Tuesday. “Now, instead of me telling them what teams are going to do, they understand. It’s given us great (preparation) in practice.”
Nebraska (19-1, 11-1 Big 12) will try to bounce back tonight against Missouri (13-9, 6-7) in a televised match from the sold-out Coliseum.
After taking three days off, the Huskers returned to practice Monday with what Cook described as “tremendous energy.” Senior Christina Houghtelling said the level of play during practice was much closer to what the Huskers have been striving for.
As Nebraska mowed through the competition this season, sweeping 17 consecutive opponents prior to last week’s loss, complacency had taken the place of NU’s usual competitive spirit.
“We definitely learned from it, and we’re taking in personally,” said Houghtelling, who said Nebraska’s off date in the Big 12 came at a perfect time.
“We weren’t rushed to get back into practice and prepare for another team,” she said. “We could actually sit back, reflect and learn about what happened and what we needed to do to get better.”
After reviewing the video, Cook said Nebraska appeared to be “fatigued” and “slow” playing its fourth match in eight days against the Longhorns. But the biggest thing missing might have been the right mentality.
Both Cook and Houghtelling agreed that Wednesday’s loss will change that.
“I think they were carrying a heavy burden,” Cook said. “That’s expectations, that’s me riding them, that’s (being the defending national champions).
“That gets heavy when you have to carry that around all the time. They got rid of some of that.”
Houghtelling said Nebraska will always be a team that strives for perfection, but added that they must find the same kind of energy within themselves that was evident from Texas’ players during last week’s match in Austin.
The Longhorns’ emotions “kind of sucked the life out of us a little bit,” said Houghtelling, who expects to see more fire in her teammates’ eyes tonight.
After facing Missouri tonight, the Huskers will move onto No. 12-ranked Kansas State on Saturday. The Wildcats, who figure to have a say in who wins the Big 12 title, already pushed Texas to five games.
Cook hopes last week’s loss will serve as a rest-of-the-season reminder that the Huskers can’t turn the switch off and on.
“We’ve been complacent, and just been going through the motions, and now, the loss obviously created more of a sense of urgency for this team,” she said. “We took it to heart.”
Reach Todd Henrichs at 473-7320 or thenrichs@journalstar.com.
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