At nine points a piece in the first game, the Huskers
passing a little sloppy to begin the first game of the first match of the NCAA
tournament, one might have wondered if this was typical Nebraska, playing
somewhat to the level of their competition.
The wondering ceased shortly
thereafter, junior outside hitter Christina Houghtelling ripping off six
straight points for the Huskers, serving three aces, the Huskers racing to a
15-9 lead.
After that, it was a series of runs, freshman outside hitter
Jordan Larson taking over in the first game, going back to serve with a 16-11
lead, and when she was done, the Huskers’ margin ballooned to 13, NU leading
AAMU 24-11. During the nine-point run for the Huskers, Larson had three aces.
The Huskers set a school postseason record with 14 aces in the match.
The Huskers took game one 30-15,
but in game two Nebraska put an exclamation point on their stature in this
tournament versus that of their opponent. The
Bulldogs
were out of game two quickly with the Huskers jumping up 4-0, A&M fighting
back for a point, but then Nebraska would go on yet another run.
At 13-5
of game two, senior outside hitter Jennifer Saleamua served eight straight
points, sophomore setter Maggie Griffin then followed that up with serving six
in a row, the Huskers’ now bashing on the Bulldogs 27-6. Houghtelling would
serve out the second as Nebraska beat Alabama A&M a whopping and tournament
best in regard to margin of victory in a game, 30-7. The disparity in hitting
percentage was equally dramatic, Nebraska hitting a whopping .565, while A&M
hit a negative .273.
Even prior to game three, head coach John Cook had
been substituting fairly liberally. Dani Mancuso had played even early in the
first game. Freshmen Amanda Gates (middle blocker), Rachel Schwartz (Libero) and
sophomore middle blocker Meghan Smith also saw time in games two and three. In
fact, outside of injured freshman setter Rachel Holloway, every Husker played at
some point.
That didn’t help their opponent, though, A&M doing
markedly better in the final game, but Nebraska’s service kept humming, Nebraska
scoring at least three consecutive points on serve from both Houghtelling and
Griffin, while Saleamua accomplished the same feat twice. It all added up to
Nebraska hitting a solid .368 in the final game, the Bulldogs unable to get in
the positive again, hitting a negative .031.
On the match, Nebraska hit
.405 to A&M’s negative .0.72 and the Huskers were led by Houghtelling, who
notched 11 kills on 18 attacks, hitting .556 in the match.
Of the record
number of serves, Houghtelling, Larson and Saleamua each had three aces,
followed by sophomore outside hitter Sarah Pavan and junior outside hitter Dani
Mancuso, who had two, Griffin finishing it up with an ace of her own.
Nebraska moves their record to 29-1 and will face Duke (24-7) at 7:00
P.M. CST this evening. The Blue Devils also swept their first round opponent,
beating American University 30-14, 30-16, 30-16.
Match
Highs:
Hitting percentage: .750 – Melissa Elmer
Attacks: 18 – Christina Houghtelling
Kills: 11 –
Chrstina Houghtelling
Digs: 9 – Christina Houghtelling
Aces:
3 – Christina Houghtelling, Jordan Larson, Jennifer Saleamua
Blocks: 2
– Christina Houghtelling, Meghan Smith
Sets: 21 – Maggie Griffin
POST GAME AUDIO
Nebraska
Alabama A&M
Nebraska Quotes
Head Coach John Cook
Opening
statement
"It’s good to get
our first win of the NCAA Tournament. I thought (Alabama) A&M came out and
really hit some tough serves right away to start play tonight, and then the
Huskers served tough back at them, and it became pretty much a serving contest
tonight. The crowd was great. I think the highlight of the night for me was that
big long rally in game three. I don’t remember if we won it or they won it but
the crowd was almost in a standing ovation for these student-athletes. That was
just a super job by our crowd tonight to applaud these athletes."
On his team's total of 14
service aces
"We’ve been working
on serving. You’ve got to serve tough this time of year, and we’ve been working
on it. Part of it is that I’m sure Alabama A&M isn’t used to our level of
serving. That’s such a huge thing for us. If we can get teams out of system then
it plays into our favor with our blocking defense.”
On everyone on the team getting
a chance to play
“I think these kids
have worked really hard, it’s the NCAA Tournament, and if we have a chance to
get everybody in, and we did tonight, we don’t know when we’re going to need it,
and I really wanted to do it. It really helps our team morale, and it’s exciting
to be in the NCAA Tournament and it’s a different feel. For everyone to get in
was great.”
On how Duke played and how the
team will fare against them tomorrow
“Well they hit well
tonight and pretty much took care of American. I think their setter is really
good. She was doing a really nice job running their offense. I’ve got to study
them on tape tonight and tomorrow, but they didn’t make a lot of errors. That’s
what you’ve got to do this time of year. I thought their sets going to the
outside were going pretty fast. I don’t know if it’s something they normally do.
Ironically we’ll match up much better against Duke than we did (against Alabama
A&M) tonight.”
Senior
middle blocker Melissa Elmer
On how the team
played tonight
“We did some good
things but I think there’s some things that we need to work on. Serving and
passing continues to be one of them.”
On how far she has to
come to play at the level needed to reach the Final Four
“Pretty far, but
it’s hard to judge it based on the teams you play, too. But we definitely have
to play better and our serving and passing has to be better. Just ball handling
and execution.”
On getting the career
school record for blocks at Nebraska on her first block of the
night
“Yeah, (I knew).
Mostly because everyone has been asking me about it. I think for the program
here it’s definitely continuing a legacy here of great middle blockers. I just
try my best to continue that legacy and follow in the footsteps of some great
blockers.”
Alabama
A&M Quotes
Coach Betty
Austin
Opening
statement
“It was pretty much what I expected. Nebraska is the No. 1 team in the country and
they have been all year. It is very
hard to prepare for that. You just
have to try the very best that you can to enjoy the experience of playing the
No. 1 team in the nation. We’ve
enjoyed being here despite the fact that we got beat. The hospitality has been nice and we
wish Nebraska
well as they move on to the next round.”
On the
experience of playing Nebraska
“It was everything that I thought and more. They are a very good team.”
On Nebraska’s
size
“We’re not a big team.
Nebraska is extremely big. But I knew that. It’s not my first time coming to the
NCAA tournament. When you get to
this level you’re going to play bigger teams. The average height is six feet. We have two players that are six
feet. They’re good players, they
just aren’t tall.”
Alexandria Brazelton
On Nebraska’s size
“This is my fourth time coming to the NCAA Tournament, so the height
wasn’t unusual from what I’ve seen in the past. I never really looked at it. We’re playing the No. 1 team in the
nation and I knew the competition was going to be tougher than usual, so that’s
just how I looked at it.”
Elizabeth
McDeffie
On Nebraska’s
serves
“I don’t think the serves were any tougher, it was just a matter of
making adjustments and today we were slow on the adjustments. Early in the season we made the
adjustments quicker.”