A Big Red B1G Week for the Huskers
It was one great week for the Huskers in their new home, the Big Ten. Just a quick thumbnail of activities: Football a win, Soccer a win that could put them into the B1G tournament, Volleyball a win over the #1 ranked team., Swimming a win and Men’s and Women’s Tennis, just starting a tournament but showing wins, the fans, always are winners. So lets start with the biggest win.
Volleyball:
The Illini ranked #1 in both the Coahes and the AVCA polls came to town Saturday to take on the AVCA #4 ranked Huskers but #2 ranked Coaches poll. The visitors were looking to maintain their first time top spot. The Big Red was looking to extend their 31 home game winning streak.
Everything pointed to one great night of volleyball and it was. But unfortunately, the Big Ten Network was replaying the match Sunday afternoon, just as I was writing this. So time out. I just have to watch this match. Hope you remembered to watch it too. Oh do I love this Big Ten Network.
There is only one thing to say about this 3-1 win by the Huskers. Domination. It was domination in every way. Well except surveying since the Illini out served the Huskers with 5 aces to 4. But this was relinquished with the visitors committing 9 serving errors to the Huskers 2.
Lauren Cook, the setter for NU had a big 54 assist game. This player is a wonder to watch and very difficult for the opponents to determine which way she will set. And perfection is her style. Many times she is facing to the left and then sets the ball behind her in perfect position. It is up to her on each set to determine which way she should go. To left or to right or just a flimsy little offensive tip and that makes it very difficult for the defense to set blocks.
Yes Lauren is the Coach’s daughter. But like Coach Cook says, on Sunday night we get to maintain the daughter/father relationship and the rest of the time it is coach/player. Now I am sure there is more to it than that. But she is a mainstream of the Husker attack. Can you imagine the constant pressure she is under, being the coaches daughter? But she performs without a doubt.
When the Huskers lost the first set 24-26, you could tell this didn’t set well with the team. They came out in the second set saying, “Not in our house you wont?”
They took a quick 10-4 lead but then it dropped to 12-9 and then point by point they kept building the margin 16-11, 18-14 , 22-17 and closed it at 25-18.
The third set was a little tighter with the score tied 8 times and 4 lead changes. With the lead bouncing back and fourth, the Huskers finally took the lead 14-7 and then kept moving on to win the third set 25-19.
Now up 2-1 in sets the crowd of 4,198 didn’t bother to sit down’ They were standing through out the whole fourth set, smelling an upset. Quickly the Big Red women took an 8-3 lead and never relinquished their dominance as they upset the favored Illini 25-11 and won the set and the BIG Ten leadership with a perfect 10-0 conference and 17-1 standing for the year.
Tomorrow the new standings will be posted and it will be interesting to see how the Huskers fair, particularly in the American Coaches Volleyball Association ratings that had the Huskers at fourth, while the Coaches poll had them #2.
Another very strong factor in this game was the spread of the active force the Huskers displayed. For kills the Huskers had Morgan Broekhuis with 17, Gina Mancuso, 15, Hannah Werth, 14 and Brooke Delano with 11.
Also on defense, digs, diving for the ball, showed Hanna Werth with 17, Mancuso 15, Cook 13, Lara Dykstra 12 and Broekhuis with ll. Now you can’t have it any better than everyone on the team contributing. By the way Hanna, or as she is known by her fans “Hanna the Hammer”, was selected defensive player of the year last year.
In comparison Illinois had two players with kills, Michelle Bartsch with 22 and Colleen Ward with 17. And only three with digs , Ward 10, Annie Luhrsen 10 and Jennifer Beltran with 15.
That’s the difference between winners and losers. One last comparison, the Huskers hit 72% to the Illini 54%. that’s a big margin in a game like this.
Next weekend the Huskers travel to Columbus, Ohio to face the Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday, Oct. 28 and then head to University Park, Pa., for a showdown with the Penn State Nittney Lions on Saturday, Oct. 29.
Soccer:
With the win over Iowa, the Husker positioned themselves into an invite position for the B1G tournament. But then they lost the match with a tough 3-1 decision to the No. 25 Illinois Fighting Illini on Sunday afternoon at the Nebraska Soccer Field on Senior Day. Junior Morgan Marlborough scored her 20thgoal of the season in the second half, but NU was unable to turn any of their other 18 shots into goals.
Nebraska, who falls to 7-8-1 overall and 4-6-0 in Big Ten play, will have to win there game next week at Minnesota to have any shot at the Big Ten Tournament. Nebraska will now head on the road to Minneapolis, Minn., for a Friday night showdown with the Minnesota Golden Gophers at 5 p.m. on BTN.com. It will be the final regular-season game for each team and the Huskers will be able to jump ahead of the Gophers with a win as Minnesota currently leads NU by two points in the Big Ten standings after each team lost on Sunday.
Football:
Well we did face an undersized opponent this weekend. But maybe it was beneficial that we got to see some players who have not received some attention in the first games. This game had little effect on the rankings as the Huskers remained around 13 place in poles.
Nice to see Rex Burkhead, “The Machine”, plugging up 117 yards for an average 5.1. Kenny Bell with his big reception for a TD. Rex led the Huskers by producing his second straight 100-yard rushing effort with 117 yards and one score on 23 attempts. Burkhead’s fourth 100-yard performance of the season and eighth of his career powered a Husker ground game that rolled for a season-high 346 yards. That total bettered NU’s previous season best of 333 yards at Wyoming, while giving the Huskers their third 300-yard rushing effort of the year.
Has the offense been waiting for this? The redshirt freshman, Kennie Bell on his first career rushing attempt, ran 82 yards for a second-quarter touchdown Saturday in Nebraska’s 41-14 victory against Minnesota.
“I told Kenny after he ran that for a touchdown, I said, ‘That’s all coaching,’” Nebraska receivers coach Rich Fisher said with a smile. “Actually, at one point, I thought that guy had the angle on him and was going to knock him out of bounds, and the next thing I know he’s stiff-arming him and taking off to the house.
Next up is the square off with he Michigan State team who just defeated the Wisconsin Badgers to take on the undefeated lead in the Legends division of the B1G. This game is scheduled for 9:00 PM Saturday and we will be in action at our two watch sites, Fox and Hounds and Touchdown. Be there we need you support that will raise to Lincoln our support of the Huskers.
I attended the last game at the Fox and Hounds, and there was only like 30+ people there for Nebraska. Iowa had our allotted space before our game and they outnumbered us by a hand full. Now let me ask you is that Nebraska Pride?
Yes I know of some of the complaints. Cant hear the commentators. The screen is obsolete and not sharp, but yet the excitement of being together can sure beat you sitting at home with only you and your better half. I mean, how many times do you clap out “There is now place like Nebraska” at home and then yell Go Big Red and drift from table to table doing a high five”. At our watch sites it is always happening and leads to the enjoyment of being together.
Tennis:
Both the men’s and the women’s team are in action over the weekend. So lets go ladies first.
The Nebraska women’s tennis team finished its time at the USTA/ITA Division I Women’s Central Regional on Sunday. Patricia Veresova and Madeleine Geibert advanced as far as the tournament semifinal before falling to opponents. The Huskers completed the weekend with an overall singles record of 13-6 that included 4-1 records from Geibert and Veresova.
In quarterfinal action, Geibert put away No. 3 seed Katerina Morozova of Kansas, 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the semifinal. Veresova also made quick work of her opponent, downing Oklahoma’s Marie Pier-Huet, 6-3, 6-2.
Teammate Mary Weatherholt was edged by Tulsa’s No. 4 Sam Vickers, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. Vickers would capture another win over a Husker on the day, defeating Veresova, 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinal. Geibert was also unable to advance to the tournament final, falling to No. 2 Sonja Molnar of Iowa, 6-1, 6-3.
The Huskers finished the tournament with a 13-6 singles record and a 4-3 record in doubles play. The team logged three singles victories over seeded opponents, including Patricia Veresova’s victory over No. 1 Natallia Pintusava of Minnesota on Saturday.
On the men’s side, Christopher Aumueller and Benedikt Lindheim both won their singles match on Sunday in the USTA/ITA Regional Championships and with the wins, the Nebraska men’s tennis team will have two players in the quarterfinals.
Nebraska’s No. 3 Aumueller defeated Oklahoma State’s Rifat Biktyakov, 6-4, 7-6(4) to advance. Aumueller will play another Cowboy on Monday in OSU’s Chris Hayworth.
No. 8 Lindheim defeated Minnesota’s No. 11 Phil Arnot, 6-2, 6-2. He will face Oklahoma’s No. 14 Tsvetan Mihov.
“It was a very good day for the Huskers,” Nebraska head Coach Kerry McDermott said. “Bene and Aui are both in the quarterfinals in singles as they both won matches today and played very well. I was impressed with their professionalism in regards to taking care of details in the warm up and throughout their matches today. These guys are senior captains who are showing this team the correctsteps to what it means to get things done and improving the program.”
Swimming:
The opening dual of the season is also promoting breast cancer awareness, as the wore pink suits and pink caps, while the coaches will be wearing pink polos for the event.
The Huskers are 7-0 all-time against the Jackrabbits, who opened their season last Saturday with a loss at Green Bay. Last year, the Huskers defeated the Jackrabbits in Brookings, S.D., 175-91.
The Nebraska swimming and diving team defeated the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State, 193-99 on Saturday afternoon at the Devaney Natatorium. It is the Husker’s eighth win all-time against the Jackrabbits. The Huskers have never lost to the Jackrabbits.
Ten different Huskers contributed wins on the day. Payton Michaud won both the 1-meter and the 3-meter dive (265.95, 290.40), while Hayley Martin won the 50-yard freestyle (24.94) and the 500-yard freestyle (53.41). Bailey Pons, Kelly Dunn, Rebekah Land, Shannon Guy, Natalie Morris, Morgan Flannigan, Kristin Strecker and Ellan Dufour also added wins for the Huskers on the day.
Ashley Valdez and Morgan McLain of South Dakota State won the two final individual events of the day for South Dakota State before the Jackrabbits too the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Rifle:
The Nebraska rifle team lost to Ole Miss on Saturday and Kentucky on Sunday, putting their record at 0-4 to start the 2011-12 campaign.
The Huskers fell to the Rebels in Saturday’s match, 4650 – 4610. In the air rifle portion of the match, Janine Dutton led NU with a score of 582. Kelsey Hansen and Sheena Mahloch added 579s to the Husker total, while Katelyn Woltersdorf and Joyce Kim each added 573s.
Kim went on to lead Nebraska in the smallbore competition, shooting 580. The second-best Husker score in smallbore was Dutton’s 576. Hansen added a 574, while Woltersdorf had 567 and Mahloch shot 556.
Against the Wildcats on Sunday, the Huskers were defeated, 4669 – 4626. In air rifle, Dutton led the Huskers once again, this time scoring a 587. Hansen showed improvement as well, scoring 584 against Kentucky. Mahloch had 581, while Kim scored 579 and Woltersdorf shot 573.
Woltersdorf responded in the smallbore competition to lead the Huskers with a 585. Meanwhile, Dutton shot 574 and Kim scored 573. Hansen scored 563 and Mahloch shot 560 for the Huskers.
Next Saturday the MSU game will be on TV at 9:AM. Hope to see you at the watch sites as this is the big game of the year. Michigan State is leading the Legends divisions with no losses. A win by Nebraska will tie the two schools but give them the edge on face to face games. Be there and lets Go Big Red.
Roger
The Red Clad Coot in the Desert.
