No. 10 Nebraska 3, Texas 2
LINCOLN, Neb. - The University of Texas and No. 10 Nebraska traded wins in the first four games, but the Cornhuskers pulled out a fifth-game win and won the teams' Big 12 Conference volleyball match, 3-2, before an over-capacity crowd of 4,078 fans at the Nebraska Coliseum on Wednesday night. Nebraska (23-3, 14-2 Big 12) won the first, third and fifth games to take the win over Texas (11-13, 6-9 Big 12) with victories of 30-25, 27-30, 30-23, 23-30, 15-10.
After Texas went ahead 3-1 in the fifth game, Nebraska came out with a 4-0 run to move ahead 5-3 and the Huskers never looked back. Another 4-0 run at 9-6 propelled the team to a 12-7 advantage, before Jennifer Saleaumua connected for 17th and final kill of the night, which game the Huskers a 15-10 win to seal the match.
For the fourth time this season, two Longhorns recorded double-doubles in the same match. Junior Mira Topic (Kastela Kambelovac, Croatia/Vladimir Nazor) recorded her fourth double-double in a row and 11th of the season with 23 kills and 13 digs, while junior Bethany Howden (Austin, Texas/Westlake) continued her strong offensive play of late, connecting for 30 kills and 13 digs. The match marked the third time this season those two players recorded double-doubles in the same match. Howden's 30 kills also marked the second time in 2003 she had reached the 30-kill mark in a match.
"This was by far our best defensive effort of the year," said UT head coach Jerritt Elliott. "We can't seem to bring everything together in one night. While Bethany and Mira are certainly playing like All-Americans, we can't seem to connect on the big points when we need them. We've now taken the No. 5 and No. 10 teams in the country to five games on the road, which is a big boost of confidence, but we need to be able to put it all together." A total of four players had double-figure digs for Texas, including Topic, Howden, senior Whitney Garvens (New Braunfels, Texas/New Braunfels), who had 14, and sophomore Erin Larson (San Antonio, Texas/Ronald Reagan) with 16.
Texas' two games won marked Nebraska's first game losses in the month of November. The last time NU lost a game was on Oct. 29 in a 3-1 victory at Texas Tech. The Cornhuskers had won four straight 3-0 matches.
Nebraska came out of the gates strong in the first game, jumping ahead 10-5 before Texas managed to pull within two points with a 4-0 run off Topic's serve. The Cornhuskers responded with a 6-0 run of their own off Sara Westling's serve to move ahead 16-8. After NU extended its lead to 19-9, the Longhorns reeled off a 7-2 rally to move within four points at 21-17. A Husker kill ended the game at 30-25 and extinguished UT's comeback hopes. Nebraska hit .349 in the first game, while Texas managed a .270 mark.
The Cornhuskers continued their strong play to open the second game, moving ahead 3-0 immediately. Texas scored the next four points to go ahead 4-3 as the two teams played through six more ties until the score reached 10-10. NU used a 7-2 to stretch a 17-12 lead, before Texas rallied with a 10-5 to tie the score at 22-22. A Husker attack error gave UT the lead, but Nebraska continued to battle back and the two teams traded leads and ties for the next nine points. Down 26-25, Texas scored the next four points to move ahead 29-26 and a NU hitting error gave UT the game and evened the match at 1-1. The Longhorns continued to solidly, but took the game behind strong defense and limited NU to a .196 attack mark.
In the third, Texas stayed close through 7-7, but Nebraska extended a 20-13 lead after play continued. The Longhorns rattled off four successive points to pull to 20-17, and stayed within three points until 25-22, but the Huskers closed the game on a 5-1 run to take a 2-1 lead after three games.
Texas dominated the fourth game early as the team quickly led 4-1 before maintaining a three-point lead to 10-7. The Longhorns then dictated an 11-2 run to more than double-up the Huskers at 20-9. Nebraska rallied, though, with runs of 4-1 and 4-0 to pull within seven points at 24-17. Nebraska still wouldn't concede the game, clawing back to a five-point deficit at 28-23, though a service error and a Howden kill secured the game for Texas and forced the pivotal game five. Topic had eight kills in the game for UT.
Senior Kathryn Wilson (Macomb Township, Mich./Dakota) celebrated her 23rd birthday on Wednesday while the team was on the road in Lincoln. Wilson recorded one kills and two blocks in the match.
The Longhorns return to action on Saturday, Nov. 15 when they face Baylor in a 7 p.m. match in Waco.
