Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Relentlessness. It’s what John Cook hoped to see when he scheduled Hawaii on the back end of a two-match weekend, and it’s what Dave Shoji and the record crowd of 13,396 saw plenty of in a markedly easy Nebraska volleyball win on Sunday afternoon. The top-ranked Huskers routed No. 11 Hawaii 30-22, 30-16, 30-24, allowing the Rainbow Wahine only 11 points on serve. By comparison, Nebraska won nine straight rallies in one stretch and seven in another in earning its 17th consecutive sweep. “You can only look at scores, but until you actually play them … they just don’t give up a lot of points,” Shoji said. “You might get one, or maybe two — and you might hear the crowd get a little bit restless — but that’s about it.” As Hawaii’s head coach, Shoji has lost just 167 times in a 1,109-match, 33-year career. And of those losses, only a select few compared to Sunday’s, when, beyond the first half of game one, the Rainbow Wahine struggled to remain competitive. Nebraska outscored Hawaii 13-6 to end the opening game, led 18-6 midway through game two and never let off the throttle. In different stretches of game three, the Huskers outscored the Rainbow Wahine 7-1 and 6-1. Senior Tracy Stalls, who led the Huskers in kills for the first time all season, said she was proud of how her teammates responded to the challenge of facing Hawaii less than 24 hours after finishing off Kansas. “We did a good job of working together and especially maintaining our composure,” Stalls said. “That’s a big part when you’re going up against a highly motivated team that came a long way to play today.” Fans, too, came from near and far to get a glimpse of the Huskers. The sell-out crowd was an NCAA regular-season record, surpassing the mark set earlier this season when Nebraska faced Penn State at Qwest Center Omaha. It wasn’t as loud as the normal din of the NU Coliseum, where Nebraska celebrated its 100th consecutive sellout Saturday night, but Sunday’s turnout was another significant statement for a Nebraska program that whatever it does this season, it does emphatically. Nebraska has won 53 straight games and opponents have reached 25 points only in 13 of them. “We had to play a perfect match to even be in the game, and we didn’t,” Shoji said. “But it’s a credit to them, they put a lot of pressure on us.” Stalls finished with 13 kills, Sarah Pavan added 11 and Jordan Larson finished with 15 digs for Nebraska. But the real key to the match was passing. Nebraska scored four times off Hawaii overpasses in game one, then in game two, the Husker servers recorded five aces. Nebraska, meanwhile, did not yield a single ace, and by hitting .322, the Huskers turned the anticipated match into a mismatch along the same lines of most of NU’s wins this season. Nebraska (19-0) now turns its attention to Wednesday’s showdown at No. 6 Texas, the fourth match in an eight-day stretch that Cook designed to help prepare the Huskers for the NCAA Tournament. Jamie Houston had 16 of the Wahine’s 37 kills, a team total offset by 22 hitting errors. Hawaii (16-4) saw its winning streak halted at 13 matches. link Quote Link to comment
huskersrule95 Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 I was able to go to the game today since they were letting students get in free with their student ID's. I was really impressed again but how we just dominated. I am glad that we still have one team that can dominate. Quote Link to comment
Eric the Red Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Relentlessness. It’s what John Cook hoped to see when he scheduled Hawaii on the back end of a two-match weekend, and it’s what Dave Shoji and the record crowd of 13,396 saw plenty of in a markedly easy Nebraska volleyball win on Sunday afternoon. The top-ranked Huskers routed No. 11 Hawaii 30-22, 30-16, 30-24, allowing the Rainbow Wahine only 11 points on serve. By comparison, Nebraska won nine straight rallies in one stretch and seven in another in earning its 17th consecutive sweep. “You can only look at scores, but until you actually play them … they just don’t give up a lot of points,” Shoji said. “You might get one, or maybe two — and you might hear the crowd get a little bit restless — but that’s about it.” As Hawaii’s head coach, Shoji has lost just 167 times in a 1,109-match, 33-year career. And of those losses, only a select few compared to Sunday’s, when, beyond the first half of game one, the Rainbow Wahine struggled to remain competitive. Nebraska outscored Hawaii 13-6 to end the opening game, led 18-6 midway through game two and never let off the throttle. In different stretches of game three, the Huskers outscored the Rainbow Wahine 7-1 and 6-1. Senior Tracy Stalls, who led the Huskers in kills for the first time all season, said she was proud of how her teammates responded to the challenge of facing Hawaii less than 24 hours after finishing off Kansas. “We did a good job of working together and especially maintaining our composure,” Stalls said. “That’s a big part when you’re going up against a highly motivated team that came a long way to play today.” Fans, too, came from near and far to get a glimpse of the Huskers. The sell-out crowd was an NCAA regular-season record, surpassing the mark set earlier this season when Nebraska faced Penn State at Qwest Center Omaha. It wasn’t as loud as the normal din of the NU Coliseum, where Nebraska celebrated its 100th consecutive sellout Saturday night, but Sunday’s turnout was another significant statement for a Nebraska program that whatever it does this season, it does emphatically. Nebraska has won 53 straight games and opponents have reached 25 points only in 13 of them. “We had to play a perfect match to even be in the game, and we didn’t,” Shoji said. “But it’s a credit to them, they put a lot of pressure on us.” Stalls finished with 13 kills, Sarah Pavan added 11 and Jordan Larson finished with 15 digs for Nebraska. But the real key to the match was passing. Nebraska scored four times off Hawaii overpasses in game one, then in game two, the Husker servers recorded five aces. Nebraska, meanwhile, did not yield a single ace, and by hitting .322, the Huskers turned the anticipated match into a mismatch along the same lines of most of NU’s wins this season. Nebraska (19-0) now turns its attention to Wednesday’s showdown at No. 6 Texas, the fourth match in an eight-day stretch that Cook designed to help prepare the Huskers for the NCAA Tournament. Jamie Houston had 16 of the Wahine’s 37 kills, a team total offset by 22 hitting errors. Hawaii (16-4) saw its winning streak halted at 13 matches. link This Hawaii coach said if NU runs the table, he will most likely consider them the greatest v-ball team ever Quote Link to comment
HUSKERWANK07 Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Im sure we will run the table Quote Link to comment
MUTigerFan Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Im sure we will run the table I think it's quite possible that they won't lose another game, much less a match. This, I think, is the best team I've ever seen, in any sport. (Although the 1964 Cardinals were rather potent) Quote Link to comment
CornFedHusker55 Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 How can the paper and press not embrace the volleyball team instead of focusing on the downfall of Husker Football? It's sad, that Nebraska Volleyball has stomped over everyone. Quote Link to comment
Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red Posted October 23, 2007 Author Share Posted October 23, 2007 This Hawaii coach said if NU runs the table, he will most likely consider them the greatest v-ball team ever I heard that too. Quite the compliment from a man who's been around as long as he has. I'm pretty worried about the Texas game coming up. First high ranked opponent we've faced this year where we've had to travel outside the state of Nebraska. Quote Link to comment
c-flush Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Wow, these girls are good! Hope they can sweep Texas, too. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.