Nebraska Cornhuskers volleyball

Infobox College Volleyball Team
name = Nebaska Cornhuskers Women's Volleyball

logo_size = 138
university = University of Nebraska, Lincoln
conference = Big 12 Conference
conference_short = Big 12
division =
city = Lincoln
stateabb = NE
state = Nebraska
coach = John Cook
tenure = 9th
arena = Nebraska Coliseum
capacity = 4,030
nickname = Nebraska Cornhuskers
color1 = Scarlet
color2 = Cream
color3 =
fontcolor = FFFDD0
hex1 = FF2400
hex2 = FFFDD0
NCAAchampion = 1995, 2000, 2006
NCAArunnerup = 1986, 1989, 2005
NCAAtourneys = 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
conference_tournament =
conference_season = Big 8: 1976-1992, 1994-1995- Big 12: 1996, 1998-2002, 2004-2007

Nebraska is home to one of the nation's top volleyball programs. The Nebraska women's volleyball team has won three national titles, in 1995, 2000, and 2006 and has had three NCAA runner-up finishes in 1986, 1989, and 2005 as well as 4 other NCAA Final Four Appearances in 1990, 1996, 1998 and 2001, making the program to have 10 NCAA Final Four appearances in all. [cite web | url = http://www.huskers.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&KEY=&SPID=23&SPSID=18| title = Nebraska volleyball history | last = | first = | date = | publisher = NU Athletics | accessdate = 2008-08-01]

Nebraska volleyball is a popular spectator sport in the state. In 2005, an NCAA volleyball-record 13,252 tickets were pre-sold for the NCAA regionals. The vast majority of these sales are attributed to Nebraska volleyball fans, as the games were played at the Qwest Center in Omaha. [cite web | url = http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=11&SPID=23&DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=219589| title = Omaha breaks NCAA ticket sales mark | last = | first = | date = 2005-12-07 | publisher = NU Athletics | accessdate = 2008-08-01]

The Husker Volleyball program started in 1975. In those 33 years, the huskers have an outstanding 1029-185-12 record. [cite web | url = http://www.huskers.com//pdf1/139972.pdf| title = 2008 Media Guide p. 144]

NU Coliseum

History

Pat Sullivan

1975-1976

Terry Pettit Era

1977-1985

1986-1989

1990-1994

1995

Nebraska won their first ever NCAA championship by defeating Texas in the final, 3-1. After losing the second match of the season to then-No. 1 Stanford, the 1995 championship team reeled off 31 consecutive wins. [cite web | url = http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=231&SPID=23&DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=2192| title = 1995 NCAA Champions | last = | first = | date = 2002-07-29 | publisher = NU Athletics | accessdate = 2008-08-01]

1996-1999

John Cook Era

John Cook succeeded Terry Pettit after serving as the head coach at the University of Wisconsin in 1999.

2000

In his first year as the NU head coach, he guided the Huskers to their 2nd NCAA title, capping off a 34-0 season, and oddly, defeating Wisconsin for the national title. Nebraska was pushed by the Badgers to five games, but came home with the title. Nebraska became just the second team since 1981 to go undefeated. [cite web | url = http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=231&SPID=23&DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=2191| title = 2000 NCAA Champions | last = | first = | date = 2002-07-29 | publisher = NU Athletics | accessdate = 2008-08-01]

2001-2004

Nebraska earned the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament, where they made it to the regional finals, falling to two-time defending NCAA champion Southern California in a five game marathon. AVCA National Freshman of the Year Sarah Pavan led a trio of talented freshman to the squads fourth 20-0 Big 12 conference record in the last five seasons.

2005

Nebraska got back onto the national scene, going through regular season play with a 19-1 Big 12 record. Nebraska was the overall top seed in the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year. After sweeping through each opponent leading the the NCAA final against Pac-10 champion Washington, Nebraska could not finish off with an NCAA title, despite being the overwhelming favorite to win the title. They lost to number 3 seeded Huskies in a somewhat stunning fashion, never finding a rhythm and losing 3-0. [cite web | url = http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=13&SPID=23&DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=221268| title = Omaha breaks NCAA ticket sales mark | last = | first = | date = 2005-12-17 | publisher = NU Athletics | accessdate = 2008-08-01]

2006

The Huskers once again went through the competition leading up to the NCAA tournament, losing only one match to Colorado. For the third consecutive year, Nebraska was the overall top seed in the tournament.

Nebraska, ranked number 1 all season long, made it to their second consecutive final four, by doing something no other Nebraska team in the program's history could do. In the NCAA regional final against Minnesota in Gainesville, Florida, Nebraska saw their opponent take a commanding 2-0 lead on them. Nebraska fought back to win the next three games, thus making it the first time Nebraska ever won a regional title outside of the state of Nebraska, and also the first time they came from an 0-2 deficit to win the regional title. [cite web | url = http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=11&SPID=23&DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=717942| title = Huskers headed to Omaha| last = | first = | date = 2006-12-09 | publisher = NU Athletics | accessdate = 2008-08-01]

The Huskers entered the championship match after defeating UCLA in four sets. On December 16, 2006, Nebraska played in front of an NCAA record 17,209 crowd in Omaha, Nebraska at the Qwest Center. Playing Pac-10 champion Stanford, Nebraska dropped the first game, but, like the UCLA semifinal match, rebounded to win the next three games to take home the title. [cite web | url = http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/volleyball/2006-12-16-ncaa-volleyball-final_x.htm| title = Nebraska wins NCAA volleyball title | last = | first = | date = 2006-12-18 | publisher = "USA Today" | accessdate = 2008-08-01] This win by Nebraska broke the Pac-10 conference's streak of 5 straight NCAA champions. Junior Sarah Pavan finished the season as one of the most decorated in NCAA history, garnering numerous awards, including AVCA National Player of the Year, the Honda-Broderick Cup award, and the Big 12 Player & Female Athlete of the Year. [cite web | url = http://www.avca.org/collegiate/DIawards/06DIPOY.asp| title = Nebraska's Sarah Pavan named AVCA National Player of the Year | last = | first = | date = 2006-12-15 | publisher = AVCA | accessdate = 2008-08-01] [cite web | url = http://awards.honda.com/?p=1&year=2007| title = Nebraska's Sarah Pavan is Honda-Broderick Cup winner | last = | first = | date = 2007-06-18 | publisher = "Honda" | accessdate = 2008-08-01]

2007

Nebraska won their fourth consecutive Big 12 title, this time sharing it with Texas. Only losing one match up to the NCAA tournament, Nebraska was awarded with the number 2 overall seed. After sweeping past each opponent, Nebraska was put into a large scare by unseeded Michigan State in the regional semifinals, finding themselves down 2 games to 0 before rebounding to win the match. The luck ran out in the regional finals, losing to 10th seeded California 3 games to none, ending their bid to become the first repeat NCAA champions since USC in 2002-03. [cite web | url = http://www.avca.org/CollegiateDetail.asp?id=10391&catid=2| title = California stuns Nebraska to advance to final four | last = | first = | date = 2007-12-08 | publisher = AVCA| accessdate = 2008-08-01] Sarah Pavan became just the fourth player in NCAA history to garner AVCA First Team all-American honors all four years of her collegiate career and was also named the Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row. Pavan joined Texas softball pitcher Cat Osterman as the only athlete to repeat the award. [cite web | url = http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=11&SPID=23&DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=1504261| title = Pavan named 2008 Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year | last = | first = | date = 2008-06-27 | publisher = NU Athletics | accessdate = 2008-08-01]

NCAA Records

Team

The Nebraska Cornhuskers hold 3 NCAA team records: [cite web | url = http://www.ncaa.org/library/records/volleyball/volleyball_records_book/2006/2006_w_volleyball_records.pdf| title = 2006 NCAA women's volleyball records | last = | first = | date = 2006 | publisher = NCAA| accessdate = 2008-08-01]
- Assists in a Five-Game Match (116) Nebraska vs Texas, November 15, 1988 (Record is a combined total, shared with Texas)
- Winning Percentage (1.000) Nebraska, 2000 (34-0), shared with Long Beach State and Southern California
- Consecutive Winning/non losing Seasons (27) Shared with Hawaii, Penn State, Stanford, UCLA

Individual

All-Americans

Nebraska leads the nation with 36 first-team AVCA All-American selections. [cite web | url = http://www.huskers.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&KEY=&SPID=23&SPSID=189| title = Nebraska All-Americans] [cite web | url = http://www.huskers.com//pdf1/139972.pdf| title = 2008 Media Guide p. 126]

NCAA Tournament

References

External links

* Huskers.com – [http://www.huskers.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&KEY=&SPID=23&SPSID=11 Volleyball main page]