Huskers regain sense of purpose
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BY TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star
For the first two months of the season, head coach John Cook compared the way Nebraska was playing to a game of cat and mouse.
As the frisky feline, the defending champion Huskers would kick the mouse around just enough to keep it interesting.
“We knew we’re pretty good, but we were just kind of messing around,” Cook said.
Behind the scenes news on the Huskers:
The early period for letter of intent signings begins Wednesday, Nov. 14.
Big story
For a team that was picked to finish fourth in the Pacific-10 Conference, Washington is preparing for a pretty important match Thursday night.
The fourth-ranked Huskies play host to No. 5 Stanford with the Pac-10 lead at stake. Washington (22-1, 11-1) won at Stanford earlier this year, a bit of a surprise considering that the Huskies have a freshman setter replacing three-time All-American Courtney Thompson.
“The sky’s the limit if we just keep doing the things we’re supposed to do and we do them for longer periods of time,” Washington coach Jim McLaughlin told The Seattle Times last month. “That’s the challenge: Can we become a great team? There are signs of it.”
Those signs include solid play from Jenna Hagglund, who has played a part in seniors Christal Morrison and Stevie Mussie performing at a high level. Middle blockers Jessica Swarbrick and Alesha Deesing are experienced, as is sophomore libero Tamari Miyashiro.
Washington has reached the final four each of the past three seasons.
Headline news
* In three matches last week, national player of the week Alexis Crimes of Long Beach State hit .621 while averaging 6.44 kills per game.
* Ranked for the first time since 1999, No. 24 Clemson promptly was swept by Virginia and fell from the coaches’ top 25.
* Winthrop’s 63-match winning streak in the Big South Conference was snapped by Liberty.
Conference call
News around the Big 12:
It’s down to bubble-blowing time in the Big 12, which with three weeks remaining has four teams with NCAA Tournament berths locked up but four others on the fence.
While Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas State are worried about seeding (Could all four end up as first-round hosts?), there is a second tier of teams asking how many berths the Big 12 might get.
Missouri (projected RPI of 44), Iowa State (48), Baylor (70) and Texas A&M (77) all have NCAA hopes given the fact that the four teams are separated by only two matches in the league standings. The Tigers, arguably, are in the best position, with only one match remaining against the league’s top four teams.
Iowa State, on the other hand, has three matches with the Big 12’s big four remaining, all at home. If the Cyclones can’t steal a win there, they’ll need to win road matches at Missouri and at Kansas next week.
Chart toppers
The Journal Star’s Todd Henrichs votes in the weekly Molton media poll. His top 10:
1. Washington. Huskies a distant ninth in RPI projections.
2. Nebraska. Last back-to-back five-game wins? 1998.
3. Penn State. One of two teams over .500 in Big Ten play.
4. Texas. Hitting .368 since Engle rejoined lineup.
5. Stanford. Frosh Klineman leads Cardinal in kills.
6. USC. 31 digs from Hillgren in win over UCLA.
7. California. Third in blocking behind Ellen Orchard.
8. Florida. Next win clinches SEC title.
9. UCLA. One win in last six matches.
10. Hawaii. Replaces Wisconsin in top 10.
Then Texas blasted the unbeaten Huskers from the No. 1 spot in the polls, and ever since, the Jerry in volleyball’s version of the cat-and-mouse cartoon hasn’t taken the trap. Indeed, compared with the teams that Nebraska faced earlier, Missouri and Kansas State waged battle with a cast-iron frying pan last week.
In two frantic five-game wins, things got mighty hot for the Huskers.
“It was fun, but a little scary,” said NU’s Rachel Holloway. The sophomore setter has taken note of the change in the quality of the opposition since that Texas defeat.
“It felt like people were almost scared to play us until they saw that we lost,” she said. “But once Texas had beaten us and exposed our weaknesses, then it was like everyone said, ‘We can beat them, too.’
“Then they all started playing well. The second half has been a lot tougher than the first.”
Entering tonight’s televised match against Colorado, the No. 2-ranked Huskers (21-1, 13-1 Big 12) figure they must win out to protect a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament and keep pace with co-leader Texas in the race for the Big 12 title.
Colorado (6-17, 1-14) is coming off its first league win, a four-game victory over Texas Tech on Saturday in Boulder. The Buffs have lost seven five-game matches in Big 12 play.
Until Saturday, Nebraska had not played back-to-back five-game matches since 2003. But being pushed to the brink seemed to provide a spark for the Huskers.
Nebraska dominated game five against Missouri, and after dropping the first two games at No. 12 K-State, Nebraska won 70 of the last 113 rallies.
“Finally at K-State, the last two games I started to see us play with a tremendous sense of purpose,” Cook said. “When we get into those situations … it really narrows their focus on playing well as a team and eliminates all of the other distractions.”
Cook said that at times, it’s been easy for the Huskers to be lulled by the ease of their victories. And what they’ve missed out on is love of competing, something that was evident in Holloway’s celebrations during Nebraska’s comeback on Saturday night.
Holloway had 72 assists, the most by an NU player in the rally-scoring era, added 13 digs and a career-high six blocks in the victory.
Cook said the All-American has been very consistent in directing Nebraska’s attack this season, as evidenced by some impressive offensive numbers.
Nebraska is hitting .325, compared with .300 at the same point a year ago, and from the service line, the Huskers have 14 more aces and eight fewer errors. At their current pace, the Huskers will challenge the two-decade-old school record for hitting percentage (.331).
Opponents, however, are hitting .161, compared with .133 a year ago. Much of the difference there is the lesser impact of Nebraska’s block this season. The Huskers have 193 blocks in 2007, compared with 228 at the same point a year ago.
Cook said defense comes down to a mentality, the same mentality that Nebraska will need to fight off more opponents like Missouri and Kansas State set on causing mischief for the Huskers down the stretch.
“If you want to call that a funk, or a slump, or the midseason blues, every team goes through that at some point,” Cook said. “The good thing is we’ve had some really tough matches and we’ve found ways to be successful.
“Saturday night, it started feeling like we were competing, we’re playing hard and we had to dig down deep. That’s the part that’s been missing.”
Reach Todd Henrichs at 473-7320 or thenrichs@journalstar.com.
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