OMAHA — Remember the days when defense at Nebraska meant only a big block? Or those big matches when the Huskers’ outside hitters struggled to produce kills?

On Sunday, those memories for NU fans were as distant as some of the deficits that Penn State faced on the Qwest Center Omaha scoreboard. Those among the record crowd of 13,081 who turned out to see a touted, top-five battle went home shaking their heads only over the lopsidedness of the Huskers’ 30-20, 30-21, 30-27 win.

“It was a good example for us to see a team that plays with a lot more confidence and maturity than we do,” said Penn State coach Russ Rose, who rotated in 12 different players, including swapping setters, in a futile attempt to stem what was a stout Nebraska performance from the outset.

Six rallies into game two, top-ranked Nebraska (4-0) already had as many kills as No. 3 Penn State would muster combined in the first two games.

The Nittany Lions, who were hitting .300 as a team coming in, hit .135 against Nebraska and failed to notch a single ace. Penn State (3-1) had averaged nearly seven aces in its first three matches this season, all coming against nationally-ranked teams.

“We shut them down with our block and defense early on, and when that’s going well for us, we all feed off of it,” said Nebraska setter Rachel Holloway.

The Huskers hit only .233, but ultimately, it was hard to argue with anything that Nebraska did offensively.

As NU won games one and two with relative ease, national player of the year Sarah Pavan had only five kills — against five errors — for the Huskers. There to pick up the slack were Christina Houghtelling and Jordan Larson, who combined for half of NU’s kills in game one, and sophomore Kori Cooper, who reached 10 kills for the second time in Nebraska’s first four matches.

Cooper was in double figures in kills only once all of last year.

“I think we have a great team that any person can take over a match,” Larson said. “That really shows how well-rounded our team is.”

Nebraska won for the 10th time in 10 tries at Qwest, extended its streak of wins against ranked opponents to 14 and pushed its home-state winning streak to 62.

Sunday’s crowd topped the preview NCAA record for a regular-season, volleyball-only event set back in 2000, when NU swept Colorado before 12,504 at the Devaney Center.

“It’s great to have been a part of that,” said Rose, a one-time Nebraska assistant who managed to maintain his sense of humor in Sunday’s defeat.

“Unfortunately, we were only there for attendance, and not much of a participant,” he said, “but some people grade on attendance.”

Nebraska coach John Cook gave Nebraska an “A” for executing the game plan and effectively neutralizing potent outside hitters Nicole Fawcett and Megan Hodge. Combined, the first team All-Americans needed 74 swings to produce 21 kills. Fawcett had only six kills and hit .000 for the match.

Houghtelling and Larson, Nebraska’s two first-team All-American outside hitters, also combined for 21 kills but needed only 51 swings. They combined for 25 digs, including eight in the first game by Houghtelling.

“We set the tempo right away in the very first game when we dug some shots,” Cook said. “I think that sent a really strong message.”

Penn State managed more than one point on serve only once in game one, while Nebraska took control with a six-point run on the jump serve of Larson.

The Huskers opened game two with another six-point run and later strung together five points, both runs coming with Holloway at the service line. Including the end of game one and the start of game two, Nebraska won 16 of 19 rallies.

Game three was tighter, but the Huskers prevailed with a few highlights mixed in. The best may have been Larson’s kill in transition after libero Rachel Schwartz had dove to her right and thrust out her right arm to dig a blast to the back row by Fawcett.

There was a time when Nebraska was known for not making those type of game-changing back-row plays. Now, the Huskers are not only making them, they’re taking the next step by focusing on turning those digs directly into points.

“I knew we were going to be a great defensive team, so if we can score off that, it really puts a lot of pressure on the other team,” Cook said.

Play shifts back to the NU Coliseum for today’s match between the Huskers and No. 18 Cal Poly. The Mustangs (3-2) swept Creighton in Sunday’s preliminary match.

Reach Todd Henrichs at 473-7320 or thenrichs@journalstar.com.