Winning back-to-back five-game matches helped Nebraska restore its competitiveness.
TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Monday, November 5, 2007 6:00 pm
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.
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.