Omaha – The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team used a stout defensive effort to sweep past Penn State, 30-20, 30-21, 30-27, Sunday afternoon in front of 13,081 fans at the Qwest Center Omaha, the largest regular-season crowd in NCAA history.

The Huskers (4-0) held Penn State to just .134 hitting, a mark over .150 points below its season average. Nebraska received double-figure dig efforts from outside hitters Christina Houghtelling and Jordan Larson, who totaled 12 digs apiece, as well as libero Rachel Schwartz, who totaled a team-high 14 digs. NU also held Penn State All-American outside hitters Nicole Fawcett and Megan Hodge in check for most of the match, as the duo combined for 21 kills on .081 hitting on 74 swings.

Nebraska Coach John Cook said it was important to play well defensively against a potent Nittany Lion offensive attack that features three returning All-Americans and has hit over .300 as a team in each of the past three years.

“We talked to our team and said you’re going to have to play great defense when you play teams that have as many hitters as Penn State and they hit the ball that hard,” Cook said. “I thought we set the tempo right away in the first game, and we dug some shots. I think that sent a really strong message. Our team did a great job of following the game plan. That’s probably what I was most pleased with from a team perspective, that they executed the game plan really well and stayed with it, even when things weren’t working.”

Balance was also crucial in the win, as four Huskers finished with at least 10 kills, including a match-high 12 from Sarah Pavan. NU’s left side attack of Larson and Houghtelling totaled 11 and 10 kills, respectively, while middle blocker Kori Cooper stepped up with 10 kills – the third time in her career she reached double figures – and a team-high four blocks.

Houghtelling, who picked up her second double-double of the year, was a force early on, totaling six kills and eight of her 14 digs in an impressive 30-20 victory in the opener. The senior from Cambridge had six kills on .500 hitting and chipped in a pair of assists to help the Huskers hit a blistering .378 against PSU.  After PSU pulled to within 22-18, Houghtelling sparked NU’s game-ending 8-2 run with four kills.

The crowd of 13,081energized the Huskers in game two, as Nebraska scored eight of the first nine points en route to posting a 30-21 win. NU posted five blocks, including three from Cooper, and held PSU to .000 hitting on 41 swings. Holloway keyed NU’s early spurt with tough serving, as NU took the first six rallies. Penn State eventually whittled the lead to 13-10, but two Pavan kills and a pair of Nittany Lion attack errors sparked a 5-0 Husker run, as Nebraska took an 18-10 advantage. PSU came back, running off six unanswered points and got within two points on two occasions, the last being at 20-18. Nebraska regrouped behind Tracy Stalls, whose all-around play keyed NU’s 10-3 spurt to end game two. The senior started the rally with a block and kill on consecutive rallies before serving three straight points, including an ace that gave the Huskers a 29-20 lead.

Pavan, who was held in check for the first two games, sparked the Huskers’ offensive attack in the finale, totaling seven of her 12 kills on .375 hitting in NU’s 30-27 win. Neither team could gain much traction during most of the game, as the largest lead by either team was three points before NU pulled away late. Leading 21-19, Pavan sparked a 5-1 spurt as NU pushed the margin to 26-20 on a Penn State error. Leading 29-23, the Nittany Lions roared back, running off four straight points to pull within two points before Stalls ended the match with a kill.

Hodge totaled a match-high 15 kills, while Christa Harmotto finished with 11 kills and six blocks, as the Nittany Lions suffered their first defeat in four matches.

Nebraska will wrap up the Holiday Inn Downtown Classic on Monday afternoon, as they take on Cal Poly, a 3-0 winner over Creighton earlier Sunday. First serve is set for 5 p.m. and the match can be listened to on the Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and KHUS 93.3 FM in Omaha.

                              Volleyball Box Score
                            The Automated Scorebook
            Penn State vs Nebraska (Sep 02, 2007 at Omaha, Nebraska)



   Penn State             |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1  Fawcett, Nicole.....  3|  6   6  26  .000|  0|  0   3|  0|  3| 0  6  0|  0|   9.0
2  Walbridge, Melissa..  3|  5   0  11  .455|  0|  0   1|  0|  1| 0  5  1|  0|   7.5
3  Harmotto, Christa...  3| 11   4  24  .292|  1|  0   0|  1|  1| 1  5  0|  0|  14.5
6  Glass, Alisha.......  2|  0   1   2 -.500| 11|  0   2|  0|  2| 0  0  0|  1|   0.0
11 Hodge, Megan........  3| 15   9  48  .125|  1|  0   0|  0|  7| 0  0  2|  0|  15.0
16 Price, Kate.........  3|  1   0   3  .333|  1|  0   0|  1|  7| 0  1  0|  0|   1.5
4  Holehouse, Roberta..  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  2| 15| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
5  D'Errico, Alyssa....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   0|  1|  6| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
8  Ream, Kelsey........  3|  0   0   0  .000|  0|  0   1|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
9  Brown, Blair........  3|  0   2   6 -.333|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 1  0  0|  0|   1.0
12 Yanz, Jessica.......  3|  1   0   6  .167| 22|  0   1|  0|  2| 0  4  0|  0|   3.0
17 Naylor, Ann.........  1|  0   0   1  .000|  0|  0   0|  0|  0| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 39  22 127  .134| 36|  0   9|  5| 44| 2 21  3|  1|  51.5

 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                                           TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.5
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct Sideout Pct
   1  13  5  47  .170  15-29  51%   GAME SCORES               1  2  3  TEAM RECORDS
   2  10 10  41  .000  12-30  40%   Penn State.......... (0) 20 21 27  3-0
   3  16  7  39  .231  15-29  51%   Nebraska............ (3) 30 30 30  3-0

   Nebraska               |     ATTACK      |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF|  BLOCK |GEN
## Name                 GP|  K   E  TA   PCT|  A| SA  SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3  Houghtelling, Chris.  3| 10   6  26  .154|  3|  1   0|  0| 12| 0  1  0|  0|  11.5
9  Pavan, Sarah........  3| 12   6  36  .167|  0|  1   1|  0|  7| 0  1  0|  0|  13.5
10 Larson, Jordan......  3| 11   5  25  .240|  1|  1   2|  0| 13| 0  2  0|  0|  13.0
11 Stalls, Tracy.......  3|  5   2  12  .250|  1|  1   0|  0|  1| 2  2  0|  0|   9.0
12 Holloway, Rachel....  3|  4   0  10  .400| 43|  1   1|  0|  8| 0  1  0|  0|   5.5
15 Cooper, Kori........  3| 10   3  20  .350|  2|  0   0|  0|  2| 1  3  0|  0|  12.5
5  Schwartz, Rachel....  3|  0   0   0  .000|  1|  0   3|  0| 14| 0  0  0|  0|   0.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Totals..............  3| 52  22 129  .233| 51|  5   7|  0| 57| 3 10  0|  0|  65.0

 TEAM ATTACK PER GAME                                           TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.0
 Game  K  E  TA   Pct Sideout Pct
   1  20  3  45  .378  16-21  76%   Site: Omaha, Nebraska (Qwest Center)
   2  14 10  39  .103  12-21  57%   Date: Sep 02, 2007   Attend: 13081   Time:
   3  18  9  45  .200  16-28  57%   Referees: Tom Pingel, Daryl Korinek