Missouri 0-2 to Nebraska
Published Oct. 27, 2006
LINCOLN, Neb. — Walking off the court Wednesday night at the Nebraska Coliseum, the No. 16 Missouri volleyball team got its second example in as many weeks as to why the Huskers are the No. 1 team in the country.
The Cornhuskers (19-0, 11-0 Big 12) played as close to a flawless match as is reasonably possible, hitting .425 for the match, and .529 in the second game. Despite a valiant effort, the Tigers (14-7, 8-4) were overwhelmed and fell in a sweep 30-27, 30-23, 30-16. The win sent the capacity crowd of 4,139 home happy. It was Nebraska's 94th consecutive sellout.
Missouri coach Wayne Kreklow was positive about the team's effort.
"With the exception of the first half of game three, I was pleased," he said.
But in game three, the Tigers, who in the first two games had hit .268 and had matched the Huskers almost point for point, looked listless. MU fell behind 24-9 and barely avoided setting a MU record for the fewest points scored in a game (14, set in a match against Texas in 2002).
Kreklow said Missouri let the Huskers get ahead in the final game and never put up a real fight.
"We let the gap get too big in game three," Kreklow said. "We put ourselves in a tough position."
The Tigers had 10 errors in the third game, and hit -.020 to Nebraska's .324. A team's hitting percentage is a measure of its offensive efficiency. A higher percentage means a more efficient offense.
Nebraska's senior libero Dani Busboom felt the Tigers came out in game three looking resigned.
"They looked defeated on their faces," she said.
Senior Jessica Vander Kooi led Missouri with 14 kills and 11 digs, and senior Nicole Wilson, a Lincoln native, had 13 kills.
Wilson said she was pleased with the Tigers' effort in the first two games, but said that at the level Nebraska played at tonight, it was too much to overcome.
"We stayed with them," she said. "But they kept getting little runs and pushed us back. It was a real struggle for us to stop them."
Missouri hit .160 as a team, and four players with at least one attack hit .000 or worse.
"When you've got three people in negative numbers and one at zero, it's hard to beat a good team like that," Kreklow said.
Nebraska coach John Cook attributed the closeness of the first game, in which Missouri nearly won despite being out-hit .429 to .225, to the Huskers being jittery.
"We came out anxious and were pressing a bit," he said. "But once we settled down, I like how we pressured them. Anytime you can hit the way we did against a Top 20 team, you've done a good job."
MU also had 20 fewer digs than Nebraska, getting beat in that statistic 50 to 30. Cook said that added to Missouri's frustration as the match wore on into game three.
"We started digging them every time they hit," he said. "That had to have a big effect on them."
The Tigers now have a quick turnaround, traveling to Waco, Texas, tonight to face the Baylor Bears. Kreklow wasn't worried about playing again with the sour taste of Wednesday night still fresh.
"I'd actually rather play quicker," he said. "I don't like having a lot of time to think about it. It's easier when you just turn around, play again and move on."