Nebraska volleyball team advanced to the program’s ninth national semifinal

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#1 Nebraska def. #8 Florida, 3-0: 30-26, 30-24, 30-16 NCAA-record crowd of 15,119

Dec. 10, 2005

Omaha -- Junior Christina Houghtelling pounded a match-high 18 kills on .615 hitting, the sixth-best postseason total in school history, as the top-ranked Nebraska volleyball team advanced to the program’s ninth national semifinal with a 3-0 sweep (30-26, 30-24, 30-16) of fourth-ranked Florida in front of an NCAA-record crowd of 15,119 Saturday night at the Qwest Center Omaha.

Houghtelling was named the Omaha Region Most Outstanding Player. Teammates Sarah Pavan and Jennifer Saleaumua were also named to the all-region team while Florida’s trio included Angie McGinnis, Amber McCray and Jane Collymore.

Nebraska punched its ticket to next week’s semifinal in San Antonio by hitting .300 as a team, including a blistering .567 in game three, to become the first opponent to hit better than .300 against the Gators this season. While the offense clicked, the Husker defense held Florida to a season-low .084 hitting percentage. The Huskers (32-1) will face the winner of the Palo Alto Region (Arizona or Santa Clara) Thursday, Dec. 15, at 5 p.m. at the Alamodome.

The Huskers have won all 12 games in the 2005 NCAA Tournament and improved to a perfect 4-0 at the Qwest Center this season, with each victory coming via a sweep over a ranked opponent, including three wins over top-five foes.

Husker Nation came out in full force, topping Friday night’s attendance record as Saturday’s attendance was the first volleyball match in NCAA history to have more than 15,000 fans in attendance. The 29,608 all-session attendance was also an NCAA record.
The loss snapped Florida’s 12-match winning streak and ended the Gators’ season at 33-3.

In the early going of game one, Nebraska opened a 5-3 lead before Florida responded with three unanswered points. After a net violation by the Gators that tied the game, Florida ran off three consecutive points to take a 9-6 advantage. Nebraska pulled even at 14-14 and took the lead after a double-stuff block from Tracy Stalls and Sarah Pavan. A Pavan kill extended the Huskers’ advantage to 16-14 and capped a 6-1 run for NU, forcing a Gator timeout.

After the break, Florida stormed back to take a 17-16 lead after scoring the next three points. The Gators enjoyed a 21-18 advantage before the Huskers tied it with a 3-0 run capped by a double-stuff block from Melissa Elmer and Houghtelling. Nebraska retook the lead at 23-22 on an Elmer kill, before the Gators tied it on a kill from Kisya Killingsworth. A Gator service error and a Nebraska block gave the Huskers a 25-23 lead, forcing
Florida to take its final timeout of the first game. The teams exchanged point until a Florida attacking error gave the Huskers a 28-25 lead. Leading 29-26, Nebraska clinched the first game when Houghtelling and Stalls combined to block UF’s Kari Klinkenborg on the Huskers’ first match point, one of eight NU blocks in the game.

Houghtelling led Nebraska with five kills on eight swings in the game, as the Huskers hit just .125. Jane Collymore and Killingsworth led Florida with four kills each, as the Gators were held to a .095 hitting percentage in game one.

Nebraska jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the second game, before the Gators closed the gap to 7-6. The Huskers responded with a 4-1 run to take an 11-7 lead and expanded the advantage to 13-8 before a Florida timeout. At the break, Nebraska had produced nine kills on 11 swings without an error and was hitting .818 in the game. NU scored the first two points after the timeout to cap another 4-1 Husker run. Trailing 15-8, the Gators took the next three points to pull to within four and force a Nebraska timeout.

Florida maintained its momentum after the timeout, scoring six consecutive points to run the Gators’ lead to 17-15 before another Nebraska timeout. With Rachel Engel still at the service line for UF, the Gators increased the lead to 18-16 before Elmer ended Florida’s 10-0 run with a kill.

Elmer’s kill ignited a run of four straight Nebraska points, including a Houghtelling kill that ended the longest rally of the night. With the Huskers leading 19-18, the teams traded points until Nebraska won two straight to take a 23-21 advantage and force Florida to burn its final timeout.

NU took control of the game and pushed its lead to 27-21 with freshman Rachel Schwartz serving six straight points. A kill from Jane Collymore ended the Huskers’ run and the squads traded points until Florida pulled to within 28-24. A Houghtelling kill gave the Huskers four consecutive match points and the Cambridge, Neb., native finished the game off with another kill on the next point.

Down two games, Florida responded by taking a quick 3-0 lead in game three, before Nebraska responded with four consecutive points. The game remained close until the Huskers took an 11-8 advantage before a Florida timeout. NU increased the lead to 16-9 before the Gators burned their second timeout.

Nebraska continued to pound away at Florida, racing to a 21-10 lead with a 5-1 run after the timeout. The Huskers pushed their lead to 29-16 on an ace serve from Houghtelling for their largest lead of the match. On match point, Elmer and Pavan combined to stuff Collymore and send the Huskers to San Antonio.

NU will be seeking its third national title at the Alamodome next weekend. Joining the Huskers in San Antonio are Washington and Tennessee, as well as the winner of the Santa Clara/Arizona match late Saturday night. -- Courtesy Nebraska Nebraska Quotes Nebraska Head Coach John Cook Opening Statement "First of all I'm very happy for Melissa (Elmer) and Jen (Saleaumua).

They've accomplished everything that they could have in the last four years except this step and winning a national championship, so I'm very happy for those two. To be able to play a regional final today in this atmosphere; what an incredible experience for both teams. I think the play was reflected on a little bit of tension out there. It was an awesome feeling being down there on that court with the crowd into it. It was a great regional final and we're happy we were able to pull it out."

On Nebraska's initial defensive struggle "At times we can play ugly and still be effective. Both teams were struggling with passing today, and I think it's being in this environment.
It just made everyone just a little bit tight. And both teams served very well. But we were able to hang in there through the ugly parts. I think that shows how mentally tough we are. Game one could have gone either way and in game two we made a big run, and I thought that gave us a huge momentum burst going into game three." On making adjustments "Once we got to play for a little bit we got a better feel for their tendencies and what they were trying to do. We adjusted really well to that. This team just wears on teams. We're like a Hummer, we're just going to crush everything and plow along. We'll be the last car running. We're not going to drive like a Porsche all the time but we're just going to keep rolling along. This team is hard to play against when you have three hitters
coming at you all the time and firepower from everywhere." On holding the regional in Omaha every year "The bottom line is that volleyball needs to be where we're selling out
arena's like we did tonight. You look at the attendance figures from other regionals and it's a sad statement for the level of support in those communities for regional volleyball. So I think the committee's going to have to take a look at how they're going to continue to grow this. As a coach of Nebraska volleyball I can't tell you how proud I am to see this
kind of support. It's a great statement and we have certainly raised the bar for everyone else now." Christina Houghtelling On taking the lead in game one "It just takes being disciplined and being aware of everything on the court like where the defense is set up and where you're teammates are. I got some really great sets and I just wanted to get a good swing."

On being the Most Outstanding Player of the regional "It's a nice award but it was definitely a team effort. Everyone put effort in tonight and everyone deserves it. We're all in this together and we just really came out and executed tonight really well and just had fun." On Nebraska's confidence "We had a good week of practice this week and we came in really confident coming off of last night. It seems like we always give up a couple of points at the beginning of every game but about when we hit 20 points we
just start to roll. We talked a lot about trust this year and it shows because we stepped up when we needed to." On the atmosphere at the Qwest Center "We're basically the only team that gets to see fan support like this every game. With a crowd like this in Omaha, it's awesome. If I were another team coming in I would just think it's amazing. You can't really put it into words until you experience it. I think we played a part in history because
you don't see this very often." On struggling through game one "Obviously we came out struggling a little bit, but we just always battle. We can't get tentative like we sometimes do and give up three points or more. But I think the whole team's confidence was there. We knew we were going to come out on top."

Outside Hitter Jane Collymore On Nebraska's defense "They had a good defensive match. That's what kept them going in the match." On the atmosphere "The atmosphere and the energy the crowd creates make your energy level go up." On this season "This team has grown together from the start of the year to the finish. I'm so proud of my teammates."
Setter Rachel Engel On Florida's chances as the game wore along "The whole match, we felt like we were in it. We know that they are hard to stop."