Deep in Red: Nebraska loves its volleyball

[NamelessHusker]

 

Deep in red: Nebraska loves its volleyball

Web Posted: 10/14/2005 12:00 AM CDT

 

Natalie England

Express-News Staff Writer

 

LINCOLN, Neb. — Last week, Nebraska setter Dani Busboom was concluding a class presentation when her professor leaned over, wanting a few more details.

 

"Why don't you tell us a little about the Missouri match?" he asked.

 

Sophomore All-American Sarah Pavan often gets similar requests — at Wal-Mart.

 

"At Nebraska, everyone knows who you are," Pavan said. "Everyone is aware of what we're doing."

 

Aside from being the No. 1 team in the country, owning the Big 12's top-rated offense and defense, the Cornhuskers also have the responsibility of existing inside the state of Nebraska's giant red spotlight.

 

For 65-straight matches, the Cornhuskers, who host No. 18 Texas on Saturday, have sold out their 4,000-plus seat Nebraska Coliseum. Every Nebraska match is televised live throughout the state on public-access channels and on the Internet.

 

With an aura that rises almost mythically from the flat, rolling Midwestern plains, Nebraska volleyball is as much of an institution — a cultural staple — as it is sporting entertainment.

 

Busboom knows this firsthand, growing up in a tiny farming community 30 miles south of the Lincoln campus. Now a junior setter, averaging 6.4 assists per game, Busboom began going to Nebraska matches in 1995 — the season the Cornhuskers won their first NCAA title (they also won it all in 2000).

 

"It's addicting," Busboom said of the environment surrounding Nebraska volleyball. "I can remember, even back then, people were crazy. My friends and I always tried to act up and get on TV."

 

So, just as boys growing up on the football fields of Texas dream of donning the Longhorns' burnt orange or the Cowboys' blue star, Busboom grew up partial to a certain shade of red — the Cornhuskers'.

 

And why not? In a state that regularly draws 50,000 fans to the state high school volleyball tournament — where each final match is televised live — Cornhuskers volleyball is the pinnacle.

 

The Cornhuskers have won two NCAA titles, been ranked outside the final American Volleyball Coaches Association top 10 only three times and, since the program started in 1975, never endured a losing season.

 

With a cult-like following — people regularly drive five hours to Lincoln for home matches — the Cornhuskers have gained celebrity status in their home state.

 

"Nebraska volleyball is in my heart," Busboom said. "I experienced it. I know what it's like to be one of those girls asking for autographs after matches."

 

In 2004, Nebraska ranked second nationally in attendance (to Hawaii), averaging 4,336 per home match. This season, the Cornhuskers added 64 premium seats behind the service lines, selling them for $2,500 apiece.

 

They sold out before the season started.

 

Sure, Nebraska could build a bigger arena — the Cornhuskers would have no problem filling it. But that intoxicating Coliseum energy is what lures people inside.

 

Despite being renovated in 1991, the Coliseum is still just an old gym — metal beams in the ceiling, wooden-bench seating and a glossy hardwood floor. The only decoration is the championship banners dangling from the rafters and the names of Nebraska's 23 All-Americans painted on the walls in a Cornhuskers ring of honor.

 

Huskers coach John Cook, who has lost just 11 matches since arriving in 2000, has a simple recruiting strategy.

 

"If we can get girls to see a match, odds are they will come here," Cook said.

 

It worked for senior Melissa Elmer, a two-time All-American.

 

Elmer grew up in Indiana, and only visited Nebraska because of the persistent requests of a high school coach.

 

She took an official visit during her senior year and went to a match.

 

"I committed two days after I got home," said Elmer, who leads the Big 12 in hitting percentage and blocking. "I got chills just sitting there watching. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to play for that."

 

Same thing for Jennifer Saleaumua, who grew up in San Diego and is the only Cornhuskers player from the West Coast.

 

Originally headed to play for Hawaii, Saleaumua thought little of rejecting the sun and beach for cold and flat. But one visit to the Coliseum on match-day changed her mind.

 

"It gets so loud in there, the floor shakes," Saleaumua said. "It's intimidating."

 

The Cornhuskers have lost only 32 home matches in the program's history. They once boasted a 63 home-match winning streak from September 1999 to December 2002.

 

Yet there's pressure.

 

As the Cornhuskers continue their roll this season — they've already downed defending national champion Stanford — the expectation builds for them bring their red-clad fan base down Interstate 35 to the Alamodome in December for the Final Four.

 

That talk is fine, too.

 

"People come to play here because they want to be somebody," Busboom said. "It's a big deal for us only when we lose. We're expected to win, and we expect to win."

 

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[RedCountry]

Sweet story. These girls ROCK!!