Husker Runner

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.

 

I am at game right now!!!! I was lucky to get a ticket with it being at devaney.

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.

Wilberger and Delano were the starting middles. Mueller and Werth were the starting left sides.

The Huskers have dominated after blowing the lead in the first set.

On Time Warner Austin, the Big Ten Network is part of the Sports Pass that costs $6.99 per month and also includes the CBS College Sports Network, FCS Central, FCS Pacific, and FCS Atlantic, plus some channels that are totally useless to me and are just annoying to have to flip through (like autoracing and NBA networks).

John Cook said this week that if all goes as planned, the Nebraska volleyball program will leave the NU Coliseum for the Devaney Sports Center after the 2012 season.

 

NU officials, working with an outside design team, are actively pursuing an estimated $27 million project to transform the current home of Nebraska basketball into the volleyball team's future digs.

 

Once renovations are complete, the Devaney arena will be a mix of new and old. Skyboxes will overlook a brilliantly colored court, lit much like the ring at a championship prizefight.

 

A false ceiling will hang at about row 12 of the current C Section, helping to recreate the intimacy that Nebraska volleyball has enjoyed at the Coliseum for some 35 years.

 

"It really comes down to this. We could stay here (at the Coliseum) and regret five years from now not doing something big for the program," Cook said. "If we don't do it now, it will never happen, because building costs are low and the money is there.

 

"I'm convinced 100 percent that it will be the nicest volleyball facility in the country."

 

The Devaney Center, home to Nebraska's basketball programs since the fall of 1976, became available when Lincoln voters in May approved a new downtown arena for the Huskers to play in. Completion of construction is set for 2013.

 

A day after the vote, athletic director Tom Osborne said NU still planned $20 million in improvements at Devaney, potentially with volleyball in mind. But it wasn't until recently that Cook, whose teams have won two national championships and eight Big 12 titles in 10 seasons, was sold on the move.

 

From an NU athletic department survey of volleyball fans, officials determined that the demand exists to sell out an arena with 7,000 seats. Of those, a significant number expressed an interest to upgrade to courtside seats, if available.

 

Currently, Nebraska offers around 50 courtside seats, priced from $2,000-$2,500 per season. There are no skyboxes at the Coliseum.

 

"I feel like we've got to take a shot to see if we can get more fans in and build our fan base," Cook said. "The survey numbers were pretty strong. People said they would buy right now."

 

The Coliseum, which seats around 4,000, has been sold out for 135 consecutive NU matches dating back to the 2001 season. The Huskers have consistently ranked No. 2 in attendance nationally, trailing only Hawaii.

 

And no arena in the country has been tougher on opposing teams. All-time, Nebraska is 481-32 at the Coliseum, including a 49-3 mark in NCAA Tournament play. The Huskers had an 82-match winning streak at the Coliseum snapped by Texas last year.

 

While recreating that success at a new venue will be difficult, plans are to make the Devaney Center extra special.

 

Some improvements have already begun, with new seats being installed. More work will happen over the next few years. But the real work will come once the basketball teams move out.

 

At that point, officials plan to remove the C Section seats on the arena's south side, replacing them with skyboxes for fans and offices for the volleyball program with views of the court below as well as Memorial Stadium and the state capital.

 

For matches, the floor-level A Section will be redesigned, bringing fans as close to the floor as they are now.

 

The floor would have three practice courts, and when they're not training, the players would have their own locker room and a lounge. The weight room and athletic medicine area would be just steps away.

 

For fans, improvements include more bathrooms and better concession options than the Coliseum, more parking, and for many, the chance to get tickets.

 

Capacity for volleyball likely will be set at 7,000, but behind the flared ceiling and curtains would be another 3,000 or so seats available for special events.

 

"They're confident they can do it first-class," Cook said. "They convinced me that they're going to do this right."

 

The venue could still be used for gymnastics and wrestling meets and for games during the state basketball tournaments. Money for the renovation project was set aside by the athletic department in the event that the arena vote failed.

 

LINK

Right now, Hawaii is the only revenue producing volleyball program in the country, and the only school that tops Nebraska in attendance. This move should help Nebraska surpass Hawaii in both categories. As far as I know, it will be the first volleyball venue in the country to have skyboxes. A reconfigured Devaney Center will also allow for more student tickets. Put the student section close to the action like Texas has at Gregory Gym, and you can still have an intimidating atmosphere for opponents.

It will be interesting to see what happens with season ticket demand when it's easier to get individual match tickets. Even Nebraska may be hard-pressed to sell out 7000 seats against lower-tier teams. However, this will give more fans the chance to get tickets, which is only a good thing for the program and for the sport in general. Never underestimate Husker fan support!

#20 Dayton (5-1 overall, 0-0 Atlantic 10) at #7 Nebraska (5-1, 0-0 Big 12)

Ameritas Players Challenge

When: Thursday, September 9th, 7pm CT

Where: NU Coliseum, Lincoln, Nebraska

TV: NONE

Video Webcast: CLICK HERE (subscription required)

Audio Webcast: CLICK HERE

Live Stats: CLICK HERE

The 20th-ranked Dayton Flyers come into Lincoln to face more ranked competition after playing the 2010 Diet Coke Classic in Minneapolis last weekend, where they beat a tenacious #22 Northern Iowa team in five sets, beat Baylor in four sets, then got swept by a very good #8 Minnesota squad for their first loss of the season.

Former Husker Jessica Yanz is the starting setter for Dayton this season. After graduating from UNL in May, she transferred to Dayton for graduate school and still had one season of eligibility after stints at Penn State and Nebraska. She is a very good setter who just happened to end up behind two All-American setters at her previous schools. She played club ball at Sports Performance in Illinois, a top club well-known (in particular) for producing good setters, and I'm glad she is getting a chance to run the show at the collegiate level. (The previous setter at Dayton was tragically killed in a plane crash which created an emergency need at Dayton for a setter. John Cook and Tom Osborne helped clear the way for Jessica to be able to play this final season with the Flyers.)

The Huskers will have to contend with 6-6 MB Lindsay Fletemier, who recorded 28 kills and 20 blocks in three matches last weekend against good competition. She also has an active streak of 54 straight matches with at least one block. The Flyers will also look for offense from OH Rachel Krabacher, who had 38 kills in last weekend's tournament.

Jessica Yanz

The players call him T-Magic. Why does everyone think this is going to go away?

 

It's probably not going away. The question asked for five things I would like to see during the Idaho game.