Road to Omaha

[Eric the Red]

Huskers blast Duke

 

BY TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star

Jennifer Saleaumua said goodbye to the Coliseum with a wave to the fans, a celebratory victory lap, and appropriately, another terrific all-around match.

 

It was a special night for the senior from National City, Calif., who has accomplished much in her Nebraska career. Everything except play in an NCAA final four.

 

On Saturday, she moved one step closer to that goal, contributing a team-high 10 digs, adding six kills and four blocks in a 30-19, 30-19, 30-20 second-round win against Duke in the NCAA Tournament.

 

“I had to make it a good one before I left,” said Saleaumua, who capped a perfect 16-0 season at the Coliseum in her 127th career match as a Husker. “There’s no place as loud as here, no place where you feel so much support. I had to give them another show.”

 

 

Christina Houghtelling (center) puts down a kill against Duke's Jourdan Norman (12) and Ali Hausfeld (1). (AP)

 

Just as she did on Senior Night last month, Saleaumua provided some memorable moments for her adoring fans.

 

In game one, she capped the longest rally of the night with a kill, and in game two, it was Saleaumua’s brilliant coverage that allowed the Huskers to turn what could have been a block for the Blue Devils into a block of their own.

 

In game three, Saleaumua rose up for a solo block against Duke’s Jourdan Norman. The crowd roared, only to outdo itself in saluting Saleaumua when she came out of the game on match point.

 

Head coach Cook planned Saleaumua’s exit as a salute to the senior, and the victory lap as a salute to the fans.

 

“The fans are so connected with this team,” Cook said. “It was a lot of fun at the Coliseum tonight.”

 

Next week, the fun moves down Interstate 80 to Qwest Center Omaha, what Cook now calls, “Coliseum East.”

 

Top-ranked Nebraska (30-1) will meet 14th-ranked UCLA in Friday’s late semifinal. The early match pits fourth-ranked Florida against No. 9 Louisville.

 

The winners will meet Saturday for the right to play in the final four in San Antonio Dec. 15-17.

 

Earlier this season, Nebraska won the Volleyball Showcase at Qwest, defeating Hawaii and defending national champion Stanford on back-to-back nights. The tournament MVP was Christina Houghtelling, the junior who continued her breakout season Saturday with a standout effort against Duke (24-8).

 

Houghtelling hit .476 with 12 kills and added eight digs in what she said was a momentum-building victory.

 

“Just to be making great plays, having fun, making eye contact is all important,” Houghtelling said. “We’ve very confident right now.”

 

For the second night in a row, Nebraska served tough, generating seven aces and making a Duke attack, which was unstoppable Friday against American, appear disoriented.

 

Middle attackers Norman and Carrie DeMange combined for seven kills, but 15 errors, against Nebraska, which had 15 blocks. Ten came from senior Melissa Elmer, who secured the single-season school record for blocks after setting the career record on Friday.

 

Tealle Hankus had a double-double of 10 kills and 11 digs to lead Duke, which suffered its first loss since Nov. 4.

 

“We knew that they were a very strong, physical team,” Duke coach Jolene Nagel said of the Huskers. “But even more of an issue is the way we passed. We didn’t even worry about the block because we weren’t passing well enough to do anything about it offensively.”

 

Early on, Nebraska’s middle blockers were a big part of the offense. Elmer and Tracy Stalls combined for four kills as the Huskers went up 15-8 in game one. In one stretch, Nebraska held Duke without a point on serve in eight straight rotations.

 

Game two was tight until the Huskers went on a 12-2 run to go up 19-10. Nebraska reeled off five straight points, and then seven straight, in game three.

 

As the sell-out crowd of 4,076 rose to acknowledge match point, Cook called for Dani Mancuso to replace Saleaumua at the service line. Saleaumua walked off, slapping hands with her coach and hugging Elmer, Nebraska’s only other senior.

 

After Nebraska ended the match on a rare Dani Busboom kill, Cook called for the victory lap, a tradition stemming from the baseball program’s trips to the College World Series.

 

Now it’s the Husker volleyball team headed to Omaha with a national championship at stake. And as she did Saturday, Saleaumua will have to play great for NU to win it all, Cook said.

 

“When she wants to play, then you really notice her,” Cook said. “She can impact a match.”

 

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

[NamelessHusker]

NU begins it's final 4 games of the season tonight in hopes of capturing a National title this year.

 

4 games to go baby

[Eric the Red]

Huskers Hungry For Final Four Spot In NCAA Volleyball Tournament

 

By KATELYN COHEN / Daily Nebraskan

December 09, 2005

 

 

The seats will be packed, the volume will be up and the competition will be fierce Friday at the opening of the NCAA Regional volleyball tournament in Omaha.

 

Nebraska will take on UCLA at the Qwest Center. In the evening’s first match, Florida and Louisville will fight for a spot in the Regional Championship match.

 

With all the hype surrounding the tournament and what it could mean for Nebraska's practically perfect season, the Cornhuskers' competition will have to be up for some tough matches.

 

Nebraska leads the all-time series against UCLA 6-3, and has a 2-1 post-season record against the Bruins. But most die-hard Husker volleyball fans remember NU's devastating 3-1 loss to UCLA in the 2003 Regional Semifinal match.

 

The players of that victorious team two years ago have mostly moved on, and UCLA Coach Andy Banachowski said this year's UCLA team has changed from the 2003 version.

 

``It's going to be a totally different experience because so many of our kids weren't involved in that,'' Banachowski said. ``For us to perform well we're going to have to play to our strengths. From what I've seen, (the Huskers) are an extremely well-balanced team and we're going to have to play well to compete with Nebraska at home.''

 

Banachowski said the focus has been on passing and making sure his players can handle Nebraska's tough serves.

 

But the biggest challenge could be preparing his young team - seven freshmen, including setter Nellie Spicer - for what is in store when they take on the No. 1 seed. They were able to knock-off No. 2 Washington back on Nov. 12.

 

``It was a validation for so many of our players that they could be successful and beat a team that was top-ranked,'' Banachowski said.

 

NU Coach John Cook said that the Huskers see UCLA as a typical Pacific-10 Conference team. He said they play great defense, handle the ball well and are very athletic. However, just like much of NU's competition this season, the Bruins could have a hard time standing up to the Husker's block.

 

``They're just a really well-balanced, solid team, and they've been playing their best volleyball the past month,'' Cook said. ``I'm not sure they've played a team as physical as we are, though, and I think they'll have trouble matching up with us. We'll have ways that we can attack them.''

 

Other than the fight between UCLA and Nebraska, the match between No. 8 Florida and No. 9 Louisville could prove entertaining.

 

Louisville's roster is unlike any in the nation, with six international players and seven players over 6-foot-3.

 

Combating this height will be difficult, Florida Coach Mary Wise said. But there is nothing better than a challenge.

 

Over all, Louisville Coach Leonid Yelin said his team would change little about its game plan, as it has worked well for them all season.

 

``I think a key for us is going to be ball control, and most importantly serve receiving,'' Yelin said. ``We are the kind of team who loves to run its offense pretty quick, so the serve receive is going to be a huge factor for us. So I think that if we will do well in the serve receive area, I think we could stay in the game.''

 

For Nebraska, confidence has been building all season and, according to Cook, they won't be backing down any time soon.

 

``Our players have worked really hard so that they would be healthy at this time of year, and that means physically and mentally good,'' Cook said. ``The groundwork was laid all the way back in January and February, when they were walking over here in snowstorms to work out. No team has out-worked Nebraska to get ready for this weekend.''

 

________

 

More Nebraska Volleyball Coverage

 

Top-ranked Nebraska and No. 14 UCLA are hungry for a return to the Final Four. Read more.

 

As a kid in Adams, NU’s Dani Busboom wasn’t the girl you would have expected to be a top player. Read more.

 

In Cambrdge, Houghtelling generates a lot of memories of athletic heroics. Read more.

 

Jordan Larson of Hooper is an impact player on the Husker volleyball team. But hometown folks also remember when she played pickup football games with the boys. “She kicked all their butts!” Read more.

[Eric the Red]

Hey if you get a chacne you have got to watch this game tonight....it will be on NETV or I suspect www.huskers.com..7pm

[NamelessHusker]

Yeah, i believe NU is broadcasting the game tonight for free on Huskers.com. Anyone who gets a chance, check out the packed house. UCLA is gonna fold

[NamelessHusker]

Quality teams give Omaha Regional

a final four feel

BY TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Dec 09, 2005 - 12:19:10 am CST

 

OMAHA — Combined, the four volleyball coaches in this weekend’s Omaha Regional represent 2,320 career victories.

 

Nebraska, Florida and UCLA together have been to the NCAA final four 24 times. UCLA has three championships. Nebraska owns two.

 

Yet with a final four berth at stake this weekend, all four programs have the hunger of a rookie.

 

Seventh-ranked Louisville, which faces No. 4 Florida in today’s 5 p.m. semifinal, would make history with a first-ever trip to a regional final. The Gators, meanwhile, would be one step closer to forgetting about last year’s loss in the second round.

 

For No. 1 Nebraska and No. 14 UCLA, combatants in the 7 p.m. semifinal, the excitement is just as intense. UCLA was last at the final four in 1994. For Nebraska, the drought extends to 2001, when senior All-American Melissa Elmer was a redshirt freshman.

 

“That’s a very long time ago,” said Elmer, who has compiled 1,177 kills and 740 blocks since watching the Huskers lose to Stanford in the 2001 semifinals in San Diego. “I couldn’t tell you really what happened during that match. It was my redshirt season, it was a new experience for me, and I think I was a little more hyped about the whole experience rather than the actual match.”

 

You can be sure that Elmer is focused on tonight’s match, step three of what the Huskers have laid out as a six-step plan to win the program’s third national championship. With a victory, step four would come in the regional final Saturday at 7 p.m., again at Qwest Center Omaha.

 

Against UCLA, Nebraska (30-1) will face a team that turned around its season in spite of a rash of injuries. As a result, the Bruins (20-10) are one of the youngest teams in the country, but a group that grew up in a late-season win against Washington.

 

The win over Washington was a big confidence builder for our team,” UCLA coach Andy Banachowski said. “We have so many freshmen, and we have so many new players stepping into roles that they haven’t been in before. It was a validation for so many of our players that they could be successful and play with and beat a team that was ranked so much higher.”

 

It made for a memorable night for Banachowski, who collected career win No. 1,000 against the previously unbeaten Huskies. Now in his 39th year, Banachowski is the winningest coach in Division I women’s volleyball history.

 

In terms of winning percentage, Banachowski ranks ninth among active coaches. Just ahead are Louisville’s Leonid Yelin (eighth), Nebraska’s John Cook (seventh) and Florida’s Mary Wise (third).

 

Of the top nine, only Wise and Yelin have yet to win a national championship. Wise, however, stressed that no one on her team is looking past tonight’s match with the Cardinals (31-2). Not after what happened to the Gators (32-2) last year.

 

“When you go out in the second round as we did a year ago, it’s a different mind-set,” said Wise, whose Florida team lost to eventual champion Stanford. “It wasn’t just losing in the second round, it was up two games to one, leading 27-24. We were that close.

 

“But it sure did motivate the players in understanding we weren’t that far away. That (Stanford) team played its best volleyball in December.”

 

All four teams at this weekend’s regional understand it will take that just to make it out of Omaha. Whether you compare records, rankings or RPI projections, the Omaha Regional comes out as the toughest of the four regions.

 

In terms of attendance, the Omaha Regional is already a record-setter. As of Thursday afternoon, nearly 13,900 all-session passes had been sold, topping the previous postseason attendance record set in 1998 at Wisconsin. Capacity at Qwest Center Omaha is approximately 15,200.

 

If all four teams can perform up to expectations this weekend, the coaches agree that all those fans are in for a treat.

 

“In some ways, this might be more challenging than a final four,” Cook said. “Whoever comes out of this regional is going to have a lot of confidence going into San Antonio.

 

“But first they know they’ve got a job to do tomorrow night.”

 

Link

[NamelessHusker]

Busboom has put trash can in her past

By Brian Christopherson / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Dec 09, 2005 - 12:03:29 am CST

 

ADAMS — It’s funny. One day, you’re serving volleyballs at a little girl wearing a trash can. The next, you look up from your sofa to see her in a Husker volleyball uniform coolly handling interviews on the evening news.

 

That’s when it really hits you: Little Dani Busboom, the girl who grew up down the road, has grown into some sort of star.

 

Even so, Julie Gramann can remember when Dani was just an eighth-grade student manager for the Freeman High School volleyball team.

 

A senior on that team, Julie recalled it like this: “We had a drill where we’d serve balls and try to hit Dani while she ran around in a trash can.”

 

The trash can couldn’t hide her forever. Anyone who knows a lick about the small town of Adams knows that Busbooms and athletic glory are linked. Busbooms appear to be a step faster, a smidgen stronger. They throw hay bales a foot farther.

 

“Those,” Freeman girls basketball coach Ken Cook said, “are some good genes.”

 

A year after carrying the trash, Dani carried Freeman to a state volleyball title as a freshman. What followed were two state basketball championships, a gold medal in the Class D 100-meter hurdles and a bounty of all-state honors.

 

But now … well, now she’s topped all that. Now, she’s a junior setter for the Husker volleyball team, which continues its pursuit of a national title in the NCAA Tournament this weekend in Omaha.

 

And don’t think the people of Adams (home of Freeman High), Cortland (near where the Busboom farm is located), and Filley (which combines with Adams to make Freeman High) aren’t a tad keyed up about the whole deal.

 

You should’ve been at the auction this year for the Goldcrest Retirement Center in Adams. Up for bidding came a pair of Husker football tickets. Big item in this state, right? Sold for 100 bucks.

 

Then, came the Husker volleyball tickets. The bidding wars didn’t stop until someone was finally handing over $200.

 

In Adams, population 489, volleyball tickets are passing hands like the Stones are playing during intermission.

 

The Busbooms estimate that 50 people from town will probably attend the final four in San Antonio if Nebraska advances.

 

“She’s made a lot of women’s volleyball fans out of old men,” said Dani’s dad, Gene.

 

And old women, apparently. There is one elderly lady who makes it a point to tell Dani’s mom, Bonnie, after each church service she watches Dani on TV.

 

“And if the games aren’t on TV, she’s mad about it,” Bonnie said. “Dani has so many people following her so closely, I don’t even know if she realizes.”

 

One of those people is Jim Libal, an assistant girls basketball coach at Freeman. He’s fond of saying he’s coached for six decades since he started toting whistles in 1959.

 

“I coached against her father, you know. I was coaching at Lewiston then. My first season, we play Adams in basketball and they beat us by 41 (points). That big guy over there had about 30,” Libal said, nodding toward Gene.

 

“After the game, a townsperson comes up to me, a guy who probably had a little whiskey in his belly, and he asks, ‘Tell me, are you ever going to win a game?’”

 

The Busbooms have made a lot of people wonder if they’ll win again. Twice an all-stater in football and basketball, Gene never lost on the gridiron while playing for Adams. Bonnie was no slouch, either, earning all-state honors in volleyball.

 

But Dani seems intent on outdoing them all. Gene has done the math and figured out she’s lost just 23 games in both volleyball or basketball since her freshman year of high school. That’s counting college.

 

“Yeah, 15 times in high school and eight in. ...”

 

Hearing this, Bonnie put down her cup of cocoa and rolled her eyes, more out of endearment than annoyance.

 

“Oh, Gene, you would know that.”

[NamelessHusker]

Cambridge loves Houghtelling

BY JOHN MABRY / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Dec 09, 2005 - 12:03:29 am CST

 

 

CAMBRIDGE — It was close to 4 p.m. Wednesday when Tyler Shifflet walked into Macke’s Sports Bar to get a snack after work. It wasn’t long before he was wishing he’d chosen Big Mama’s Eatery next door instead.

 

After being introduced to an out-of-town visitor as one of the stars of the legendary Trojan football team of 1994, Shifflet had to fess up to another claim to fame.

 

Slowly, the truth emerged. Shifflet, who stands about 6-foot-4, got stuffed by “little” Christina Houghtelling during a pick-up basketball game at the school a few years ago.

 

“She was a heck of an athlete,” Shifflet said, “no doubt about it.”

 

Anyone who follows Nebraska volleyball knows it. But some might not know that before she became a 6-2 Academic All-American at NU, Houghtelling was one heck of a clarinet player at Cambridge High.

 

And if they had high school swimming for the small schools, a lot of Cambridge residents are convinced she would have been an all-stater in that sport, too.

 

“She was so talented in every aspect,” said Al Gaskill, former editor and publisher of the Cambridge Clarion.

 

The Houghtelling family has cost that newspaper a lot of ink over the years.

 

Ken Houghtelling’s name is listed just across from his daughter’s on the Cambridge basketball records board at school.

 

Christina scored 700 points in 2002-03, 117 more than her dad’s boys record of 587 in 1975-76. Only former Husker basketball star Nicole Kubik takes up more space on the girls records list than Christina.

 

Ken and his brother, Dennis, share the boys single-game record of 42 points with current Trojan Waid Vontz, but that’s one short of Christina’s single-game high.

 

And you can bet she rubbed it in when it happened.

 

“Just a little,” Ken said.

 

Christina’s name is all over the volleyball and track and field charts as well. She excelled in the high jump, long jump and triple jump.

 

She also has quite a reputation as a candy junkie. Lollipops, Gummi bears, whatever.

 

“There was always a sucker in her mouth,” said Lori Macke, who runs the sports bar with her husband, Tim. Their daughter, Liz, was Christina’s setter at Cambridge.

 

Ken Houghtelling farms. Beth Houghtelling, Christina’s mom, works three days a week at J.P. Repair. She helps J.P. (John P. Trumble) with the books.

 

Those GONE markings on the office calendar tell J.P. when Beth has volleyball to watch in Lincoln. At 210 miles each way, it’s an all-day proposition.

 

Trumble is also part owner of the Cambridge six-lane bowling operation. He guessed there were about 75 of Christina’s fans in the bowling alley to catch a Husker match in the 2004 NCAA Tournament.

 

It created a little stir in town in October of 2004 when Christina and Husker teammate Sarah Pavan showed up to bowl a few frames. They ended up in Indianola, having pizza at Rocket Inn and drawing a large gathering of young admirers.

 

The Houghtelling and Frandsen (Beth’s family) farm — cattle, plus 1,000 acres of corn and 600 of wheat — is about eight miles southeast of town. Ken said the long bike trips from home to the pool helped get Christina and her older brothers (Jason and Jeremy) in shape. She worked there as a lifeguard, between shifts at Big Mama’s.

 

Christina doesn’t get to come home much during the school year, but it’s a big deal when she does.

 

“Anytime she comes back, kids just swarm around her,” said Don Sackett, the Cambridge elementary school principal.

 

Cambridge volleyball coach Judy Mousel, the one who told NU coach John Cook he needed to make a recruiting trip to Cambridge, gets a kick out of the excitement created by Christina’s visits to her alma mater.

 

“The children idolize her now,” Mousel said. “She’s a great role model.”

[NamelessHusker]

Larson's impact at NU no surprise in Hooper

BY TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Dec 09, 2005 - 10:40:05 am CST

 

 

HOOPER — These are the tales that only a mom would tell. The sad thing, for their sons, at least, is they can’t even deny the stories. Not in a small town, where word travels faster than the walk from the bank to Don’s Barber Shop on a brisk December day.

 

“Did you hear? Jordan won the punt, pass and kick contest. Beat all the boys again this year,” goes one story.

 

“Whenever there was a pickup basketball game, she kicked all their butts,” goes another.

 

Welcome to Hooper, population 827, and hometown of Nebraska freshman Jordan Larson.

 

Here, in a valley just south of the Elkhorn River, no one is too surprised to see Larson playing a key role in her first season with the Husker volleyball team. She’s dominated the sports scene in town, since, well, as long as anyone can remember.

 

Even newcomers to town have heard the stories. Deirdra French was working out Wednesday afternoon in the community’s newly opened fitness center.

 

“All I know is the people in town sure are proud of her,” French said.

 

From the table crowded with coffee drinkers in the Shell gas station to the Office Bar and Grill, one of Larson’s favorite places to eat, Hooperites all seem to say the same thing.

 

Larson is a tremendous athlete, the best they’ve ever seen come through these parts, and someone who never, ever let success go to her head. That modesty is something that even Nebraska head coach John Cook noticed in a recruiting visit to rural Logan View High School during Larson’s career.

 

“I met all of her family, grandmas, aunts, uncles,” Cook said. “These guys are 90 years old and they live seven miles down in this town and five miles down in this town.

 

“The interesting thing was Jordan interacted with everybody. There wasn’t one person that she didn’t say hi to and connect with. It was amazing.”

 

Of course, that’s a way of life in a small town. On Wednesday afternoon, Jordan’s mom, Kae Clough, could be found pushing a shopping cart through the town’s main-street grocery, a place where you can order rulleplse from a state senator working behind the meat counter.

 

State Sen. Ray Janssen and wife Nancy of Nickerson have owned the store for nearly 30 years.

 

Down the block in the office of the local State Farm Insurance agent, a grandmother of Larson, Marlene Clough, is seated in a chair just inside the door.

 

“Jordan could have been Division I in anything she wanted,” says insurance agent Bob Wiesenberg, himself a former minor leaguer in the Minnesota Twins organization. “But volleyball is definitely her thing.”

 

Whenever the Huskers are on TV, Nancy Janssen says the townsfolk are usually at home and glued to the action.

 

Hooper is located a few miles north of Fremont, one of many small towns that dot U.S. 275 on the way from Norfolk to Omaha. A bypass will soon shift the road a few miles to the south of town, not far from where Larson lived for the last nine years.

 

The family’s brick home backs up to the town’s cemetery. Neighbors, the Wiesenbergs, say it wasn’t always a quiet place at night.

 

They recall evenings when Larson would repeatedly slap volleyballs against the door of the garage. Sometimes they’d here the thud as they watched the 10 o’clock news.

 

The Wiesenbergs’ son, Brian, graduated from Logan View in 2000, five years ahead of Larson. When both were younger, Larson would often ring the doorbell and ask Brian to come out and shoot baskets.

 

When he’d come in, Brian would always say the same thing, his parents recalled. “Someday, Jordan is going to be quite a player.”