Huskers win national title

[Eric the Red]

Huskers win national title

 

BY TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star

Sunday, Dec 17, 2006 - 12:39:01 am CST

 

Nebraska's Dani Busboom (18), Jordan Larson (10), Rachel Schwartz (5), Sarah Pavan (9) and Tracy Stalls (11) celebrate their national championship at the end of Game 4. (William Lauer)

 

Celebration today

 

Nebraska will celebrate its 2006 national volleyball championship today at 11 a.m. at the NU Coliseum.

 

Doors will open at 10 a.m. and no admission will be charged. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. No reserved seating will be available.

OMAHA — Home has never been so sweet. As kids, it’s hard to believe that Jordan Larson and the other homegrown Huskers ever dreamed of winning a national championship in their own backyard. But there’s no doubt they always dreamed of being Huskers. And what a dream come true Saturday was for those players and little girls from Omaha to Scottsbluff yearning to one day play for the Big Red. Related: Photo gallery

 

Together, they celebrated a national championship.

 

Nebraska, with key contributions from five in-state players, defeated Stanford 27-30, 30-26, 30-28, 30-27 to claim the program’s third national title and the first in the last three seasons as the nation’s No. 1 team.

 

Omaha native Dani Mancuso must have hugged everyone in Qwest Center Omaha by the time she finally made it into the happy Husker locker room. As cell phones buzzed with text messages of congratulations and tears mixed with wide smiles, Mancuso said her dream had come true.

 

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“I couldn’t ask for a better group to win this with,” she said, including her coaches, teammates and the NCAA volleyball record crowd of 17,209 that shared in the moment.

 

The taxpayers who helped to foot the bill for Qwest Center Omaha apparently did so with Nebraska volleyball in mind. The Huskers, who have won 58 straight matches in their home state, are now 7-0 at the venue where they’ll return to open the season next year.

 

The crowd roared as Nebraska pushed to a 28-21 lead in game four, and it was just a matter of counting down the points. Mancuso, an Omaha Gross graduate, got No. 29, a kill key in thwarting a Stanford rally.

 

But once the Cardinal got to within 29-27, Nebraska had to use a timeout. With Mancuso and injured Husker All-American Christina Houghtelling arm in arm on the sideline, the Huskers came out with a perfect pass, a precise set and Larson’s match clincher.

 

Head coach John Cook described the title with terms such as “unbelievable” and “awesome,” and said it was a fairy tale for Nebraska to clinch it on back-to-back kills from home-state players.

 

It could also be described as unexpected, even though Nebraska had been ranked No. 1 all season. The Huskers (33-1) did it without Melissa Elmer and Jennifer Saleaumua, the greatest blocker and digger, respectively, in program history.

 

They won without Houghtelling, who wore an ice pack on her surgically repaired shoulder before the match and mixed expressions of sadness and joy after it. When she joins up with Sarah Pavan next season, Nebraska will have the luxury of two national players of the year on the court at the same time.

 

Now that’s pressure.

 

Nebraska, however, learned to deal with pressure this season. When the magnitude of trying to make it to Omaha seemed to be weighing on his team and the result was up-and-down performances, Cook organized a meeting and told the team to let it go. If they didn’t make it, he’d take the heat.

 

A November loss at Colorado served more as a springboard to success than a recipe for disaster — that is until Nebraska found itself in a heap of trouble against Minnesota in the NCAA regional final.

 

Down two games to none, Nebraska went to the locker room and regrouped. Pavan took over when the match resumed, making good on her pledge that she wouldn’t let Nebraska lose and guaranteeing this would be quite a week in Omaha.

 

The Huskers didn’t beat just anybody. Washington’s Huskies won the title against Nebraska last year, but Stanford is the sport’s big dog. The No. 2 Cardinal (30-4) sought its seventh title and a sixth straight national championship for the Pacific-10 Conference.

 

Indeed, Stanford is where Pavan, this year’s Academic All-American of the Year, thought she would attend college and win championships. But after falling in love with Nebraska and its fans, to not get Saturday’s win might have crushed her.

 

Instead, she cut loose with 22 kills and added 13 digs.

 

“I’m a lot more relaxed right now,” she said. “It’s unbelievable to know we’re the best team in the country.”

 

Even in losing game one, there were positive signs for the Huskers. Foremost was the start of Larson, whose seven kills in 12 first-game swings equaled her total in 70 swings over Nebraska’s last two final four matches.

 

In game two, it was Nebraska that made the late push. After Pavan blasted an overdig for a 24-24 tie, setter Rachel Holloway bounced off the court and screamed encouragement to her teammates. On the next rally, Holloway rushed to the net to dig a ball that NU turned into an out-of-system kill from Mancuso.

 

When the Huskers closed out the game to tie the match, the volume from the crowd reached its volleyball-week peak.

 

And that was only the beginning.

 

With Amanda Gates coming off the bench to spark Nebraska, the Huskers stormed from behind to win game three, overcoming a 26-22 deficit. Game four was tight until Gates lunged to pass a tight-to-the-net serve and Larson flew out of nowhere to block a ball that seemed destined as a kill for Stanford.

 

“I thought at that point, all the doubt went to Stanford.” Cook said.

 

Suddenly, Nebraska found itself counting down the points to a championship. Libero Dani Busboom, who had 21 digs, tried to block it out and couldn’t. Holloway tried not to smile, but couldn’t.

 

Why not enjoy it?

 

“This team definitely maxxed out to get to this point,” Cook said.

 

The journey that started last December in San Antonio in the loss to Washington, that continued half a world away in Japan and China, that included the jolting regular-season loss at Colorado and an exhilarating season-saving victory in Florida, ended as a dream come true.

 

For all the Huskers and future Huskers everywhere.

 

Reach Todd Henrichs at 473-7439 or thenrichs@journalstar.com.

[skersfan]

Thanks Eric,,

 

But I think this should be on the football board for a couple of days. I know it does not fit there and rules being rules, but these kids need the recoginition.

 

I had to search for this, most won't.

 

Bob