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Pavan, Larson to represent NU at beach volleyball tournament

 

BY TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Apr 20, 2007 - 12:04:03 am CDT

 

 

 

When it comes to volleyball, Sarah Pavan and Jordan Larson normally exude confidence.

 

After all, the Nebraska teammates won a national title last year. In three years at NU, Pavan has experienced a loss five times. For Larson, it’s been three losses and two trips to the national championship match in the last two seasons.

 

Yet, all of that success came indoors playing on a traditional volleyball court. Neither All-American knows exactly what to expect when they represent Nebraska this weekend in the Collegiate Beach Championships in San Diego.

 

“I think they will be great playing sand volleyball,” said Nebraska coach John Cook, himself a longtime sand player who paired Larson and Pavan because of their all-around skills.

 

“In beach volleyball, if you have a weakness, you can really exploit it,” Cook added. “We thought this would be the toughest team we could put together because both do a lot of things really well.”

 

Eight schools from last fall’s top 20 accepted invitations to participate in Sunday’s made-for-TV event. Nebraska will face Minnesota, Texas and Cal Poly in pool-play matches, with Stanford, Penn State, Florida and San Diego comprising the other pool.

 

The semifinals and finals will be featured in telecasts May 18-20 on CSTV (Lincoln Time Warner channel 305).

 

That kind of offseason national exposure, Cook said, is what has him most excited about the event. A CSTV crew spent the better part of two days in Lincoln last week to conduct interviews and shoot video of the Huskers’ finely manicured sand court located inside Hawks Championship Center.

 

It’s a unique training facility for the team and another sign to recruits of Nebraska’s commitment to the sport. Neither Pavan nor Larson has thought much about a sand volleyball career to this point, but they’re preparing this week by studying video, performing drills suggested by sand legend Misty May and playing in a tournament among teammates.

 

At Wednesday’s practice, Pavan and Larson edged fellow Huskers Tracy Stalls and Rachel Holloway in the finals. The doubles partners say they’re excited to see how they’ll match up against some of the other top players in the college game.

 

“All I know is Coach Cook said I’d be a pretty good sand player because I have all the shots,” Larson said last week. “We haven’t really practiced that much in the sand, so we’ll see what happens.”

 

Although the net is the same height as indoor volleyball, the sand court is smaller by three feet on both ends and both sidelines. The sand game doesn’t necessarily favor taller players, Cook said, but those who pass well, can serve, set, block and attack.

 

To gain NCAA approval for the event, participating schools had to first agree to use one of their four allotted spring competition dates for this weekend’s two-person event.

 

Stanford’s team will feature All-Americans Cynthia Barboza and Bryn Kehoe. Other stars on hand include Nicole Fawcett of Penn State, Rachel Hartmann of Minnesota, Ashley Engle of Texas and Angie McGinnis and Marcie Hampton of Florida.

 

New Nebraska assistant coach Lizzie Stemke will coach the Huskers this weekend.

 

Looking beyond Sunday’s tournament, some members of the American Volleyball Coaches Association would like to see beach volleyball become a sanctioned NCAA sport.

 

That would be fine with Cook, who has no concern that players in California can play on the beach year-round. Cook joked that the hardest adjustment for Pavan, a Canadian, and Larson, a native of Hooper, will be avoiding a sunburn.

 

“The wind and the sun,” Cook said. “We’re not used to being outside yet.”

 

http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2007/0...3f071069365.txt

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Blackshirt Backup

Blackshirt

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San Diego, Calif., –- Whether on the court or in the sand, Nebraska volleyball proved to have the queens of the sport, as the Husker duo of Jordan Larson and Sarah Pavan teamed to win the Powerade Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championships Sunday afternoon.

 

Pavan and Larson led Nebraska to the event title, as they rallied for a three-game win over the Stanford team of Cynthia Barboza and Bryn Kehoe, prevailing 19-21, 23-21 and 18-16. Nebraska also defeated Stanford to win the NCAA volleyball team title last December in Omaha.

 

Pavan and Larson, who were playing their fifth match of the day, were down 1-0 to the Cardinal in the title match and trailed 19-17 in game two before rallying to tie the match and send it to a decisive third game. In the finale (first team to 15), the teams traded points throughout the final game and Stanford had match point at 14-13 before a Barboza service error tied the match. The teams continued to battle until the Huskers broke a 16-all deadlock with two points to win the hour-long match.

 

“It was a back-and-forth match all afternoon,” Assistant Coach Lizzy Stemke said. “We were able to make the defensive plays we needed to late to win the match.”

 

Pavan said that while the Huskers were challenged with an unfamiliar surface in a different setting, the key was to keep errors to a minimum.

 

“The game was just up and down,” Pavan said. “We would get a sting of points, and then they go on a run. It came down to who made errors and when. There were obviously a few things we struggled with but we held our own. Jordan and I are very competitive and we just went out there to win.”

 

The Huskers advanced to the finals with a 23-21 and 21-16 victory over the seventh-seeded San Diego pair of Andrea Csaszi and Jaimarie Sutherland. Barboza and Kehoe lifted the Cardinal to the championship match with a 21-16, 21-12 win over the eighth-seeded Cal Poly team of Kylie Atherstone and Chelsea Hayes.

 

Both Nebraska and Stanford earned a spot in the semi-finals after being upset in pool play to finish second in both groups behind the Cal Poly and San Diego, respectively. Cal Poly, Nebraska and Texas tied with 2-1 records in Pool A, but the Mustangs won the group with a 2.5 set ratio with the Cornhuskers second (1.67) and the Longhorns third (1.33).

 

After Cal Poly lost to Nebraska 15-7, 16-18 and 15-13, the Mustangs posted wins over Minnesota (15-13 and 15-10) and Texas (27-25 and 15-13). After Texas defeated Nebraska 15-13, 16-18 and 23-21, the Cornhuskers rebounded to advance to the semi-finals with a 15-11 and 15-11 victory over Minnesota.

 

San Diego, which upset Stanford 15-11 and 15-12 in an opening pool play match, won its group with a 3-0 record after downing Penn State (16-14 and 15-9) and Florida (15-11 and 15-13). Stanford posted wins over Florida (15-11 and 15-10) and Penn State (15-11 and 15-13) to gain the second spot from Pool B.

 

Powerade Collegiate Beach Volleyball - CSTV Broadcast Schedule

 

Sunday, May 6 - 4:30 p. m., Collegiate Nationals Preview Show

 

Saturday, May 12 - 8 p.m., Collegiate Nationals - Premier of Beach Volleyball

 

Friday, May 18 - 8 p.m., Collegiate Nationals - Premier of Beach Volleyball Semifinal No. 1

 

Saturday, May 19 - 8 p.m., Collegiate Nationals - Premier of Beach Volleyball Semifinal No. 2

 

Sunday, May 20 - 8 p.m., Collegiate Nationals - Premier of finals for Beach Volleyball

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huskerhellhound Recruit

huskerhellhound

Posted
Posted

San Diego, Calif., –- Whether on the court or in the sand, Nebraska volleyball proved to have the queens of the sport, as the Husker duo of Jordan Larson and Sarah Pavan teamed to win the Powerade Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championships Sunday afternoon.

 

Pavan and Larson led Nebraska to the event title, as they rallied for a three-game win over the Stanford team of Cynthia Barboza and Bryn Kehoe, prevailing 19-21, 23-21 and 18-16. Nebraska also defeated Stanford to win the NCAA volleyball team title last December in Omaha.

 

Pavan and Larson, who were playing their fifth match of the day, were down 1-0 to the Cardinal in the title match and trailed 19-17 in game two before rallying to tie the match and send it to a decisive third game. In the finale (first team to 15), the teams traded points throughout the final game and Stanford had match point at 14-13 before a Barboza service error tied the match. The teams continued to battle until the Huskers broke a 16-all deadlock with two points to win the hour-long match.

 

“It was a back-and-forth match all afternoon,” Assistant Coach Lizzy Stemke said. “We were able to make the defensive plays we needed to late to win the match.”

 

Pavan said that while the Huskers were challenged with an unfamiliar surface in a different setting, the key was to keep errors to a minimum.

 

“The game was just up and down,” Pavan said. “We would get a sting of points, and then they go on a run. It came down to who made errors and when. There were obviously a few things we struggled with but we held our own. Jordan and I are very competitive and we just went out there to win.”

 

The Huskers advanced to the finals with a 23-21 and 21-16 victory over the seventh-seeded San Diego pair of Andrea Csaszi and Jaimarie Sutherland. Barboza and Kehoe lifted the Cardinal to the championship match with a 21-16, 21-12 win over the eighth-seeded Cal Poly team of Kylie Atherstone and Chelsea Hayes.

 

Both Nebraska and Stanford earned a spot in the semi-finals after being upset in pool play to finish second in both groups behind the Cal Poly and San Diego, respectively. Cal Poly, Nebraska and Texas tied with 2-1 records in Pool A, but the Mustangs won the group with a 2.5 set ratio with the Cornhuskers second (1.67) and the Longhorns third (1.33).

 

After Cal Poly lost to Nebraska 15-7, 16-18 and 15-13, the Mustangs posted wins over Minnesota (15-13 and 15-10) and Texas (27-25 and 15-13). After Texas defeated Nebraska 15-13, 16-18 and 23-21, the Cornhuskers rebounded to advance to the semi-finals with a 15-11 and 15-11 victory over Minnesota.

 

San Diego, which upset Stanford 15-11 and 15-12 in an opening pool play match, won its group with a 3-0 record after downing Penn State (16-14 and 15-9) and Florida (15-11 and 15-13). Stanford posted wins over Florida (15-11 and 15-10) and Penn State (15-11 and 15-13) to gain the second spot from Pool B.

 

Powerade Collegiate Beach Volleyball - CSTV Broadcast Schedule

 

Sunday, May 6 - 4:30 p. m., Collegiate Nationals Preview Show

 

Saturday, May 12 - 8 p.m., Collegiate Nationals - Premier of Beach Volleyball

 

Friday, May 18 - 8 p.m., Collegiate Nationals - Premier of Beach Volleyball Semifinal No. 1

 

Saturday, May 19 - 8 p.m., Collegiate Nationals - Premier of Beach Volleyball Semifinal No. 2

 

Sunday, May 20 - 8 p.m., Collegiate Nationals - Premier of finals for Beach Volleyball

BOOYAHHHHHHH!! the ladies in red do it again!!! standford goes down once more serves those ivy league chicks right !! cant wait to watch Pavan and Larson beat up on em when its telievised!!!

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