Husker Runner

10-8 Nebraska.

Nebraska takes the lead 9-8. Timeout Illinois.

Tied at 8.

It's going to a fifth set.

Illinois without DeBruler and now Bartsch...that's a lot of their offense.

If this keeps up we'll be going to five sets. :-)

Penn State's streak ended at 109 matches. Word on Bartsch now is that it is 100% an ankle injury...she won't be back tonight, her ankle is taped but no other sign of serious injury or damage.

Huskers win set 3, 25-22.

23-22 Nebraska.

22-21 Nebraska.

Awesome! Hope the Huskers can come back. Looking good in the third set.

Stanford was the last team to beat Penn State before the streak, and is now the team to end the streak. Congrats to Penn State on an incredible run. Michelle Bartsch (Illinois OH) was carried off the floor due to injury. Hope it's not as bad as it sounds.

#3 Illinois (7-0 overall, 0-0 Big Ten) at #7 Nebraska (7-1, 0-0 Big 12) Ameritas Players Challenge When: Saturday, September 11th, 7pm CT Where: Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, Nebraska TV: NONE Video Webcast: CLICK HERE (subscription required) Audio Webcast: CLICK HERE Live Stats: CLICK HERE If I'm not mistaken, this is the first sports event for the Huskers against a Big Ten opponent since the announcement of Nebraksa's conference move, and will be a sneak peek of a future Big Ten volleyball rivalry. As of Wednesday, over 11,000 tickets have been sold for tonight's match. Illinois is a legitimate contender for the national championship this season, and swept then #2 Texas in Austin last week. They will be playing without their first team All-American OH Laura DeBruler, who is out with mono. Even without DeBruler, this will be a huge test for the Huskers. For a volleyball version of "The Blind Side", read this great story about Illinois libero Jennifer Bonilla.

#1 Penn State has an even bigger test tonight against #2 Stanford. If they get through Stanford, their next big test will be at #3 Illinois on 9/24. I predicted at the beginning of the season that the streak would end against either Florida or Stanford in this tournament. Stanford is a better defensive team than Florida, so maybe that will be the difference tonight. I'm still sticking with my prediction but I'm not as confident about it now that I've seen Penn State play a couple of times. It's going to be a great match either way though. Sadly, even with #1 vs. #2 and the "possible of the streak" angle, it won't be televised anywhere, or even have a video webcast.

The only players still active in college volleyball that have ever beaten Penn State are the Nebraska and Stanford seniors.

Huskers sweep -17 -17 -11. Penn State beats Florida to keep that ridiculous win streak alive. This was one of the big tests for Penn State after losing some of their key players.

Great match going on in Florida if you're interested, Penn State vs. Florida. Penn State is up 2-1 and it's 17-17 in the fourth set. FREE VIDEO HERE

I just got back from practice, had to coach my 12's team tonight. From Live Stats it looks like Mancuso started in place of Mueller and McNeal started instead of Wilberger tonight.

WMU was swept by Illinois in the early match (-17 -22 -23) so I updated their season record above. Illinois was playing without their first team All-American senior OH Laura DeBruler, who will miss at least the next five matches--including tomorrow's big match against Nebraska--due to mono.

Western Michigan (6-2 overall, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) at #7 Nebraska (6-1, 0-0 Big 12) Ameritas Players Challenge When: Friday, September 10th, 7pm CT Where: NU Coliseum, Lincoln, Nebraska TV: NONE Video Webcast: CLICK HERE (subscription required) Audio Webcast: CLICK HERE Live Stats: CLICK HERE Western Michigan faces two top ten teams today, starting with a match against #3 Illinois at 11am before playing Nebraska tonight. The Broncos have not lost a set in their last five matches, and their only loss for the season was in four sets against #26 Ohio State. This is a young team, with only one senior on their roster (OH Allyson Doyle), and six freshmen, four of which see significant playing time. Their tallest player is 6-1 MB Emily Harris, and the height differential against the Huskers may pose some problems for Western Michigan. The Broncos are led by talented junior setter Sam Viox. Sam Viox

Tara Mueller Hannah Werth Jessica Yanz

Great night for Brooke Delano, hitting .706. Tara Mueller and Lindsey Licht were solid. The Husker defense really seemed to frustrate Dayton at times.

Nebraska cruising in the fourth set.

Delano is having a monster night, hitting over .900 so far! EDIT: Oops, dropped to .769 as I was posting. LOL.

Mancuso subbed for Broekhuis who was having a rough night.