Net losses on the block
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BY TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star
Times are slow in the roofing business.
Within Nebraska’s volleyball program, that means blocks are down. Way down, considering that for close to a decade, the Huskers were the bullies of the block, leading the nation six times in a span of eight years in the key defensive statistical category.
But minus stalwarts like All-American middle blockers Amber Holmquist and Melissa Elmer, Nebraska’s once legendary block resides outside the top 20 statistically for the second year in a row.
This season, Nebraska has fallen to 69th, leaving Husker fans, those who traditionally celebrate each block by chanting the words, “Roof, roof, roof,” as hungry as home-repair entrepreneurs with a hailstorm in the forecast.
Nebraska’s average of 2.72 blocks per game this season ranks as the Huskers’ third-lowest mark in 25 years. Just two years ago, Nebraska led the nation at 4.12 blocks per game.
“I’d love to average four to five blocks a game, but for this team right now, we have to look at blocking as an efficiency,” Nebraska head coach John Cook said this week.
Consider it a different approach toward the same result. For Nebraska, which again leads the Big 12 in opponent’s hitting percentage, the term “controlled block” has taken on as much prominence as “stuffs.”
“A block straight down is always fun,” said sophomore middle blocker Kori Cooper. “It’s fun for the team, and it gives us a lot of motivation.
“But having a controlled block, if you can convert it to a kill, is just as good. It’s the same result — we get a point.”
Nebraska is spending as much time as ever on blocking, and Cook, who spends a fair amount of his time breaking down statistics, says the numbers show the Huskers have been effective.
He points to the number of times Nebraska has swung for points, compared with its opponents. The “significant advantage” is the result of the Huskers, by using sound technique and following the game plan, successfully funneling attacks toward the floor defense.
For further evidence, Cook points to game four and five of Nebraska’s come-from-behind win at Kansas State.
“Cooper, I think, had nine control blocks in those two games,” he said. “Those were all balls that we ran for points.
“Did she get a bunch of stuffs? No. But she did a great job of touching their (quick attacks) and getting the ball up so we can dig it.”
Cook said that there hasn’t been any change in Nebraska’s defensive philosophy, but instead the change in personnel has prompted NU’s staff to have to look at things differently.
Holmquist, who led the nation in blocks in 2000, and Elmer, who did the same in 2004 and 2005, were prototype blockers. They are Nebraska’s all-time leaders, both with more than 725 blocks in their careers.
Senior Tracy Stalls, herself an All-American middle blocker for Nebraska, is fifth on the Huskers’ career list, and at 551, is only four blocks shy of fourth. Her best year, however, came as a freshman in 2004, when Stalls ranked 11th nationally at 1.65 blocks per game.
This season, her numbers are closer to 1.1 blocks a game, a byproduct, Cook says, of blocking alongside 5-foot-10 setter Rachel Holloway in two rotations.
There are other factors in Nebraska’s diminishing blocking returns, including the number of games that Nebraska has won easily and opponents who selectively hit away from the Huskers’ hands.
But defense more than anything is a mentality, or as Cooper says, “Going up knowing that you’re going to get the block makes it that much better.”
For Cooper, the key is still hands. A moving block is a bad block, Cook says, but one that’s often the result when middle blockers are asked to patrol 30 feet of net.
Another key is knowing each opposing hitter’s tendencies. And then there’s simply being in the right place at the right time.
“In football, if a lineman is one step short, then the hole doesn’t open,” Cook said. “It’s a game of inches, where the hands get.
“It’s something you have to work at all the time.”
Reach Todd Henrichs at 473-7320 or thenrichs@journalstar.com.
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