Different shade of red* W
reaches NCAA Final Four
John Adkisson
Senior Editor _
. - *
Throw out Nebraska, but throw a
splash of red into this season’s NCAA
Volleyball Final Four.
i__-Buckeye red.__
Ohio State combined inspired,
aggressive' defensive play with just
enough offense Saturday and defeated
No. 7 Nebraska 9-15, 15-9, 17-16,
15-7 in the Mideast Regional final
and earned,a ticket to this weekend’s
national semifinal in Los Angeles.
The Comhuskcr loss, before an
estimated 4,000 fans at the Bob De
vaney Sports Center, knocked Ne
braska out of the Final Four for the
first time since 1988 and left the
Huskers with a 27-5 final record.
Nebraska Coach Terry Pettit said
that despite the upset loss, he was
pleased with the way his team set its
goals high throughout the season.
“Rather than choosing to be just a
good team, they staled to themselves
that the goal was to try and win a
national championship,’’ Pettit said.
“That makes tonight a little more
painful, but it also got us to tonight as
an exceptional team.”
Ohio Stale Coach Jim Stone said
the win had capped several years of
effort by his team to break into the
nations upper echelon of volleyball
teams.
“For so many years, we were tak
ing a back seat to teams in our confer
ence, in our region that we thought
we were as good as,” Stone said.
“This is good for our program, but
more than that, it’s good for our play
ers.”
About the only good thing for
Nebraska was the exceptional play of
tri-captain Cris Hall. The senior from
Chanute, Kan., unloaded for a career
high 30 kills in the match and re
corded a .349 hitting percentage.
“I thought Cris played tonight really
like she’s been playing the last six
weeks,” Peuit said. “She’s a domi
nant player.”
But even Hall was not enough to
pull off what would have been one of
Nebraska’s best comebacks ever.
With the match tied at one game
apiece, Ohio‘State sprinted to a 14-6
lead in the third game. Then Hall and
the Huskers came back, scoring slowly
and holding Ohio State without a point
on the Buckeyes’ next 14 serves.
The Huskers pulled into a 14-14
tie when Hall slammed a kilk Then
Nebraska went ahead 15-14 four serv
er; later when Janet Kruse and Stepha
nie Thaler blocked a kill attempt by
the Buckeyes’ Julie Chcllcvold.
The rally fell short, however, when
Nebraska was unable to convert on
five consecutive game points. Kills
by Ohio State’s Lcisa Wissler and -
Erika Schlitz gave the Buckcyesa 16
15 lead before a kill by Nebraska’s
Eileen Shannon tied the game at 16.
Ohio State then got the serve back,
and a Chellevold kill off of the hands
of Nebraska’s Kim Tonnigcs sailed
beyond the baseline, giving the Buck
eyes a 17-16 win, under a NCAA rule
implemented this year which puls a
17-point cap on the first four games.
Hall said the Huskers’ rally, de
spite its outcome, took heart.
“Not too many teams can come
back from a 14-6 deficit,” Hall said.
“I think that we showed a lot of poise,
and showed that we arc one of the top
teams in the country.”
Pettit said the turning point of the
match had not been the emotional
See FINAL on 10
1,it ■
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