Clockwise from left:
Nebraska’s Janet Kruse celebrates the win.
Nebraska’s Cris hall shows plenty of emotion
after recording a kill.
Kruse lunges for a return.
Val Novak (left) and Virginia Stahr sail high into
the air while attempting a block.
Hall attempts a spike against two Hawaii defend
ers.
Kruse soars while attempting a kill.
Photos by David Hansen and David Fahleson
Cornhuskers don’t give up against Hawaii
The Rainbow Wahincs were the last un
beaten major college volleyball team in the
country.
“The thing to celebrate was our fans,”
Nebraska coach Terry Pettit said. “This has
been a major event this weekend. Tickets were
hard to come by.
“That says something about Nebraska vol
leyball.”
Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said he also was
impressed by the turnout.
“I think this is tremendous,” Shoji said. “I
think this is great for Midwest volleyball and
great for volleyball in general.”
In losing Friday, Nebraska had 39 kills in
compiling its lowest hitting percentage of the
season with .162. Hawaii, led by two-time All
American Teec Willian s-Sandcrs, smashed 44
kills while hitting .383.
Williams-Sanders finished with 24 kills and
a .333 hitting percentage.
Nebraska initiated the attack Saturday by
totaling 70 kills and hitting .253, compared to
the Rainbow Wahines’ .164 average on 62
kills.
After Friday’s performance, Nebraska
couldn’t help but play better, Pettit said.
“We had a lot of things we could do better
and to our credit we hal'd the talent to do it,” he
said.
Nebraska was led by Janet Kruse, who to
taled 23 kills and a .439 hitting percentage. The
sophomore outside hitler was limited to eight
By Darran Fowler
Senior Reporter
Neither Nebraska’s volleyball team nor its
fans gave up.
This weekend against top-ranked Hawaii,
the No. 4-ranked Cornhuskers and their fans
showed the spirit that is the foundation of a
winning tradition.
A sellout crowd of 2,716 watched as Ne
braska was stunned and beaten convincingly
by the Rainbow Wahines in straight sets 15-9,
15-9,15-9. An estimated 600 fans were turned
away when the NUColiseum wasdcclarcd full.
But fans returned and began lining up for
tickets two hours before the start of Saturday’s
match, which was sold out one hour before it
started. Those without prc-purchascd or season
tickets were turned away.
Saturday’s attendance was 2,856.
In a manner as unyielding as their fans, the
Huskers, who saw their 14-malch winning
streak come to an abrupt halt the night before,
played the aggressor and defeated Hawaii 15
7, 14-16, 16-14, 15-12.
kills for an average of .143 Friday.
Freshman Eileen Shannon finished with 15
kills and sophomore Cris Hall totaled 13 kills.
In addition, Hall picked up 19 digs.
Pettit credited the Huskers’ defense with a
better effort on Saturday. That effort made
Hawaii’s offense -- specifically, Williams
Sanders - work harder.
Williams-Sanders was limited to 14 kills
and a .290 hitting percentage Saturday.
“We played some good defense,” Pettit
said. “Teee Williams-Sanders, you’re not
going to block her very often. To our credit she
usually got the kill but wasn’t until the third try.
“We made them work for sideouts.”
Kruse said a short practice on Saturday
helped the Huskers overcome a lot of the prob
lems they had in their three-game setback
Friday. She said “things just clicked a little
more” on Saturday.
“We went over some adjustments we
needed to make,” Kruse said. “It helped a lot.
I think that made us come in a little more
mentally prepared.”
Most of Nebraska’s troubles were defensive
problems, she said, and that practicing helped
the Huskers iron out those difficulties.
“A lot of it was our defense,” she said.
“We really picked up our defense. It made us
play a lot smoother and we showed that we can
play with them.”
Shoji said a different Huskcr team showed
up on Saturday.
“Nebraska was the difference,” he said.
“Obviously, they played inspired volleyball.
They beat us i n j ust about every ski 11.1 think we
learned a lot of things (Saturday night). In the
heat of the battle, we made some wrong deci
sions and we just couldn’t make any quick
adjustments.”
Hawaii came into Lincoln after sweeping
two matches from No. 3-ranked Pacific and
No. 5-ranked Long Beach State.
“Emotionally, we were due for something
like this,” Shojisaid. “There was nothing left.
I know the girls tried but they just didn’t have
the drive.”
Pettit said a team effort contributed to the
Rainbow Wahincs’ woes on Saturday.
“They all followed our game plan,” he
said. “Wc just went in and did what wc had to
do. When it works well, we all look good.
When it doesn’t work well it doesn’t look
pretty.”
While beating a tough Hawaii team was
difficult, the Huskcrs’ biggest task - to keep
improving - still lies ahead, Pettit said.
“This doesn’t tell us we’re the best in the
country or the second-best in the country,” he
said. “It tells us wc have a lot to work on.”
Playing teams of Hawaii’s caliber prepares
the Huskcrs for postseason play. Pettit said.
‘ ‘The key to (Friday’s) match was not losing
and the key to (Saturday’s) match was not
winning,” he said. “The key was wc played a
great team.”
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