Lincoln – Jordan Larson’s 16 kills led three Huskers in double figures, as No. 1 Nebraska moved into the NCAA Sweet 16 with a 3-0 sweep (30-16, 30-16, 30-14) of Northern Iowa Saturday afternoon in front of a sold out NU Coliseum crowd.
The Huskers, who improved to 29-1 on the season, advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 13th consecutive year, where they will take on San Diego, a 3-2 winner over Duke, next Friday at 3:30 p.m. (central). Northern Iowa, which took an 11-match win streak into Saturday’s match, finished the year with a 28-8 record.
Larson, who topped NU in kills for the 10th time this season, led a balanced attack with 16 kills on .464 hitting, three aces and three blocks, as
the Huskers hit .423 in the match. NU had six attackers hit over .300, as the Huskers’ .423 hitting marked the fourth time in the last six matches that NU hit .400 or better.
Rachel Holloway guided a potent attack, finishing with 39 assists and five kills, as NU hit .400 or better in all three games for the first time this season.
Sarah Pavan and Tracy Stalls joined Larson in double figures in kills, totaling 11 and 10 kills, respectively, as Stalls hit .467 and totaled a match-high four blocks, while Pavan hit .375 on 26 swings, including seven kills in the opener.
The Huskers, who improved to 19-0 at home this season, were equally stout on defense, holding the Panthers to just .092 hitting and out-blocking UNI, 9-5. Dani Busboom led NU with 17 digs and became the first Husker to go over 500 digs in a season, while Rachel Schwartz totaled 10 digs, as NU out-dug the Panthers, 47-28.
Nebraska came out firing in the opener, hitting a blistering .409 clip in posting a 30-16 victory. Pavan led the charge with seven kills on 14 swings, while five Huskers totaled at least three kills. Leading 11-8, Holloway and fellow freshman Kori Cooper sparked a 7-0 run for NU, as Holloway served six straight points and Cooper recorded a solo block and a kill that forced a Panther timeout as NU built a commanding 18-8 lead. From there, the Huskers were able coast to the win.
While Pavan carried NU in game one, Larson took over in the second game, leading the Huskers to another 30-16 win. The sophomore totaled eight kills on 11 swing, two blocks and an ace, as NU out-hit UNI, .464-.038. Leading 14-11, the Huskers took control of the game with a run of five unanswered points off the serve of Busboom, pushing the margin to 19-11. UNI got to within seven points, at 20-13, but could get no closer, as the Huskers ran off four of the next five points to push the lead into double digits. Larson closed out the game with three straight points from the service line, as NU took a 2-0 lead into the locker room.
The Huskers took all of the suspense out of the finale early on, scoring 10 of the first 11 points to cruise to a 16-point win. Nebraska’s strong serving was key, as the Huskers totaled four aces, including two by Rachel Schwartz. NU raced out to a 19-4 lead after a Schwartz service ace and was never threatened in recording their 23rd sweep of the year.
Shannon Achoff led UNI with 12 kills on .367 hitting, while no other Panther finished with more than six kills.
Nebraska Volleyball
Northern Iowa vs #1 Nebraska (Dec 02, 2006 at Lincoln, NE)
Northern Iowa | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
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3 Belzung, Kristin.... 3| 0 1 3 -.333| 22| 0 1| 2| 3| 1 0 0| 2| 1.0
4 Stelken, Ashten..... 3| 2 4 14 -.143| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 1 2| 0| 2.5
8 Rowen, Laura........ 3| 6 4 27 .074| 0| 0 2| 4| 5| 0 2 0| 0| 7.0
13 Humpal, Trista...... 3| 4 4 10 .000| 0| 0 1| 0| 2| 1 2 0| 0| 6.0
14 Aschoff, Shannon.... 3| 12 1 30 .367| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0| 12.0
18 Brazda, Danielle.... 2| 3 4 9 -.111| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 1 0| 0| 3.5
1 May, Stephanie...... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 2| 0 1| 1| 9| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
6 Bakker, Brittany.... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 0| 3| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
10 Dietz, Patricia..... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 0| 4| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
11 Sampson, Amy........ 1| 1 1 5 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0| 1.0
19 Schmitz, Melissa.... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
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Totals.............. 3| 28 19 98 .092| 26| 0 5| 7| 28| 2 6 2| 2| 33.0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 5.0
Game K E TA Pct Sideout Pct
1 9 4 36 .139 13-30 43% GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS
2 9 8 26 .038 13-29 44% Northern Iowa....... (0) 16 16 14 28-8
3 10 7 36 .083 9-30 30% Nebraska............ (3) 30 30 30 29-1
Nebraska | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
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5 Schwartz, Rachel.... 3| 0 0 1 .000| 2| 2 0| 0| 10| 0 0 0| 0| 2.0
9 Pavan, Sarah........ 3| 11 2 24 .375| 2| 0 3| 0| 2| 0 1 0| 0| 11.5
10 Larson, Jordan...... 3| 16 3 28 .464| 2| 3 1| 0| 9| 2 1 2| 0| 21.5
11 Stalls, Tracy....... 3| 10 3 15 .467| 0| 0 0| 0| 1| 0 4 0| 0| 12.0
12 Holloway, Rachel.... 3| 5 1 7 .571| 39| 1 1| 0| 4| 0 0 1| 0| 6.0
15 Cooper, Kori........ 3| 6 2 12 .333| 2| 0 0| 0| 1| 1 2 0| 0| 8.0
4 Bartek, Brooke...... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
7 Mancuso, Dani....... 3| 8 2 16 .375| 0| 0 0| 0| 3| 0 4 0| 0| 10.0
17 Gates, Amanda....... 1| 1 0 1 1.000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 1| 0| 1.0
18 Busboom, Dani....... 3| 0 0 0 .000| 4| 1 0| 0| 17| 0 0 0| 0| 1.0
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Totals.............. 3| 57 13 104 .423| 51| 7 5| 0| 47| 3 12 4| 0| 73.0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
Game K E TA Pct Sideout Pct
1 23 5 44 .409 13-16 81% Site: Lincoln, NE (NU Coliseum)
2 18 5 28 .464 14-17 82% Date: Dec 02, 2006 Attend: 4094 Time: 1:15
3 16 3 32 .406 9-14 64% Referees: Mary Feragher, Daryl Korinek
ID-517026
1 2 3 Total
Tie scores 1 0 0 1
Lead changes 0 0 0 0
Courtesy: Associated Press
