Nebraska wins title in front of record-breaking crowd
Nebraska Women Take Volleyball Title
OMAHA, Neb. -- The people of Nebraska mean no disrespect to those in sunny California, but they've long claimed their state to be the true volleyball capital of the nation.
Playing in their home state before more than 17,000 charged up, red-clad fans at the Qwest Center, and with a roster stocked with home-grown talent, the University of Nebraska defeated Stanford 27-30, 30-26, 30-28, 30-27 and raised the trophy as NCAA Division I volleyball champs.
Sarah Pavan, the 6-foot-5 Canadian with a cannon left arm and intimidating stare, pounded 22 kills while Nebraska natives Jordan Larson and Dani Mancuso were right behind her with 19 and 12, as Nebraska (33-1) captured its third national crown.
And appropriately enough, it was Mancuso, playing in her hometown of Omaha, and Larson, from a small Nebraska farm town, who put down the final two kills to close out the match when Stanford (30-4) threatened to even it up.
"It was a fairy-tale ending," said Nebraska coach John Cook, never one to shy away from touting the status of volleyball in his state. "There is no place like Nebraska."
The match pitted two heavyweights, Stanford and Nebraska, who have combined to win nine of the last 15 titles. Yet this was the first time the teams had ever met in an NCAA final.
And it came on the biggest night college volleyball has ever seen. Some 17,209 fans came to watch Nebraska in the Omaha arena that is its home away from home, the largest -- and perhaps loudest -- turnout ever to watch a college volleyball match. It produced an atmosphere never before seen in a college volleyball match.
"The red wave is pretty powerful," said Stanford coach John Dunning. "It was probably the biggest match ever in NCAA history."
The crowd beat the record 17,013 who watched the tournament's semifinal matches on Thursday. The biggest college volleyball crowd ever before that, not surprisingly, was also in Nebraska. Which anyone in Nebraska would tell you is no surprise.
If corn is king in Nebraska, then volleyball is the queen.
Just as young boys growing up here on the Plains dream of playing football for Nebraska, girls dream of one day digging, setting and spiking for the Huskers.
Club and high school programs draw big numbers. Nebraska produces almost twice the number of Division I volleyball players as California per capita.
Seven of the 12 players on this year's Nebraska roster are home-grown, as are almost half of the school's record 27 All-Americans. Larson, a multi-talented sophomore, this year became the latest to join that list.
Five years ago, Larson was a high school sophomore in tiny Hooper, Neb., who was already committed to the Cornhuskers. That's when Omaha was awarded the chance to host the 2006 volleyball final four. She recalled telling everyone back then, "Hey, you better get tickets, because we are going to be there."
Indeed, everyone in Nebraska expected the Huskers to be here, which is why tickets sold out a year ago in just two hours. It gave Nebraska a rare chance to win a national championship in its own back yard. But it also meant big expectations that at times weighed heavily on the team.
When Nebraska had won its last title in 2000, Cook and the Huskers took a preseason trip to China to build camaraderie and teamwork. They proceeded to sweep through that season undefeated.
Nebraska took the same trip this summer and got into a similar groove, losing only once in 34 matches. Yet the road wasn't always smooth; the Huskers did have to come back from down 2-0 to Minnesota in the regional final to stamp their ticket to Omaha.
The Omaha final four included volleyball's four top-ranked teams: season-long No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 and defending champion Washington and No. 4 UCLA.
Nebraska needed four games to dispatch UCLA on Thursday in an opening act to Stanford's three-game thrashing of the Huskies, its Pac-10 nemesis.
Against the Bruins, Larson was jittery in front of the home crowd and played her worst match of the year. She recorded only six kills with six attack errors while taking 50 swings. And her trademark big jump serve was way off too, causing Cook to joke afterward that she had handed out a lot of souvenirs to the home-state fans.
The night before the finals, Cook showed Larson a videotape of her career highlights, including several shots of her putting kill after kill right down the line in a regular-season match against Stanford last year.
It worked. Jordan's performance in Saturday's final was a highlight tape in itself.
She had 17 kills without a single error as Nebraska dropped the first before winning the next two games. And her serve was back in a big way, keeping Stanford's attack off balance.
Then in game four, as they often do, the Huskers turned to Pavan. She had been named player of the year on Friday, but before accepting the award made it clear it wasn't her goal.
"I came to Nebraska to win championships," she said.
And by the end of game four, the junior had her first. She called for the ball repeatedly and pounded out six kills before Mancuso and Larson put on the finishing touches.
In the raucous celebration afterward, Mancuso drew the biggest cheer when she hoisted the trophy in front of her hometown fans.
Nebraska has no plans to give up its spot at the top of volleyball's heap anytime soon. With the return of Christina Houghtelling, a Nebraska native who sat out this year with a shoulder injury, Nebraska figures to have two player of the year award recipients on next year's roster.
And the 2008 final four? It is scheduled to be back in Omaha again.
Henry J. Cordes writes for the Omaha World-Herald.
