Lincoln -- The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball
team defeated Oklahoma, 30-21, 30-24, 30-16, at the Bob Devaney Sports
Center Saturday afternoon before 8,976 fans, the largest crowd in
NCAA Division I volleyball this season.
Nebraska, which has
broken the all-time
NCAA regular-season attendance record three times at the Devaney Center,
shattered the nation’s previous 2001 attendance mark of 7,723, which
was set Sept. 2 when Hawaii hosted UCLA. The Huskers normally play
in the 4,200-seat NU Coliseum.
“When you talk to a lot of
the kids at this match, they’re from all around the state,” Nebraska
Coach John Cook said. “This is the only time this season that a lot
of people are going to see us play, so I think it’s very important
for our program and for the state to play this match at Devaney each
year.
“The logistics aren’t
easy. It makes things difficult on the basketball teams and our event
staff, and it isn’t easy for us to find more than one date that we
can play here, but it’s something that means a lot. We appreciate
the support we receive from the fans.”
Anna Schrad and Nancy
Metcalf combined for 20 kills and 14 digs to help the Huskers improve
to 13-1 overall and 6-0 in the Big 12 Conference. Schrad swung for
a season-best .556 hitting percentage, tallying 10 kills with zero
errors on 18 attacks.
Overall, the Huskers
hit .396 under junior setter Greichaly Cepero, who posted five kills,
seven digs, three blocks and 38 assists. Six Huskers hit .333 or better,
including Schrad, Amber Holmquist (seven kills, .500 pct.), Laura
Pilakowski (nine kills, .553 pct.), Jenny Kropp (seven kills, .445
pct.), Pam Krejci (one kill, 1.000 pct.) and Sara Westling (three
kills, .333 pct.).
After taking game one,
30-21, the Huskers started slowly in game two, as Oklahoma cut the
lead to one with two kills from Denise Griffin and one from Candace
Woods. But kills from Metcalf and Cepero gave NU a 19-16 advantage,
and the Sooners never got closer than that. Nebraska. A service error
by OU forced a game-point situation for the Huskers, and Nebraska
wrapped up the 30-24 second-game victory on a kill by Metcalf.
In game three, Cook
used a season-high 13 players. Nine Huskers recorded a kill in the
third game, and NU hit .441 in the period.
Logan Pierce posted
a match-high 11 kills for Oklahoma, which fell to 2-13 overall and
1-4 in the Big 12.
Nebraska returns to
action Wednesday, Sept. 10, when it plays host to Kansas in a 7 p.m.
match at the NU Coliseum. The match will be televised live by NETV.
Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.
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