Another Sweep!!

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

COLUMBIA, Mo. — On Tom Osborne’s first full day on the job, a top-ranked Nebraska team ran the ball up the middle a lot to wear down a conference foe.

 

Does that sound familiar to anyone?

 

T.O., the interim athletic director, scored his first administrative “W” Wednesday as the Husker volleyball team turned away a surging Missouri squad and 6,059 fans at the Hearnes Center with an efficient 31-29, 30-18, 30-14 win.

 

Middle blocker Tracy Stalls overpowered the smaller Tigers, swinging only 19 times to produce 15 kills on a big offensive night for several Huskers. The Nebraska senior was 8-for-8 to open the match, including more than her fair share of eye-popping laser shots to the open court.

 

“I don’t know whether it was just good timing or good connection, but I do know that the passers did a nice job,” said Stalls, who hadn’t reached double figures in kills in her last seven matches. “I felt a lot more dynamic today, and that felt good.”

 

There were plenty of good vibes to go around on Nebraska’s side, considering all the positives that the Huskers could take from another impressive road win.

 

Sarah Pavan added 18 kills on .561 hitting, moving the senior right-side hitter within 15 of tying Nebraska’s all-time record for kills.

 

Christina Houghtelling and Kori Cooper both had efficient nights offensively, and what can you say about Rachel Holloway? The sophomore setter was brilliant, at one point contorting her body to somehow give Pavan a perfect swing.

 

And while Jordan Larson may have struggled at times offensively, she combined with Rachel Schwartz for 29 of NU’s 47 digs. Behind the service line, Larson and Houghtelling strung together runs that effectively took Missouri out of any chance to win the final two games.

 

The opener, however, went down to the wire, with Nebraska having to fend off a game point to extend its streak of games won this season. Now at 47, this year’s Huskers rank behind only their 1995 counterparts, who set the school record with 68 consecutive games won en route to the program’s first national championship.

 

“Our team weathered that flurry by Missouri, and it probably took the crowd out a little bit,” said coach John Cook, whose team was extended to deuce points for only the second time this season.

 

Pavan closed out the game with a kill, and from there, any suspense was reserved for which fan the Tigers’ mascot would throw a T-shirt to.

 

The Huskers (17-0, 10-0 Big 12) scored 10 consecutive points on a Houghtelling serving run in game two and eight straight on the serve of Larson early in game three as Missouri passes went everywhere but to their intended target.

 

“It’s easy to play the game when you don’t have to defend,” said Missouri coach Wayne Kreklow. “We talked about that going in. If you’re going to give them a free ball, you might as well catch it and throw it to them and say, ‘Go ahead and serve.’”

 

One of four native Nebraskans in Mizzou’s regular rotation, libero Tatum Ailes said it hurt to see the Huskers bring in reserves with game three getting out of hand.

 

Lincoln Christian graduate Megan Wilson added that it was one of the few times she could remember the Tigers being broken down by servers this season.

 

Nebraska served seven winners against a team that had allowed only 80 all year. Missouri (12-7, 5-5) came in as the leading defensive team in the league, yet Nebraska hit .458.

 

“They’re going to get their aces, they’re going to get their blocks and they’re going to make good plays. Just look at their players,” Wilson said. “We proved that we could stick with them, that we could beat them, but our confidence level just dropped.

 

“That’s so frustrating to me.”

 

Wilson had 11 kills to lead Missouri, which entered the match having won five straight.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

These girls rock!!!!