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Nebraska Set For No. 14 Pepperdine, No. 11 Arizona
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Courtesy: NU Media Relations
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Release: 09/02/2002
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Nebraska Volleyball Highlights vs. Pepperdine
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Nebraska Volleyball Highlights vs. Arizona
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Matches 4-5 (Wildcat Classic)
#2 Nebraska (2-1) vs. #14 Pepperdine (3-2)
When: Friday, 6:30 p.m. CST. Where: McKale Center, University of Arizona. Capacity: 14,545. Series: Tied, 3-3. Last Meeting: Nebraska won, 3-0, 9/7/01. Win Streak: Nebraska has won the last three. Cook vs. Pepperine: 2-0.
#2 Nebraska (2-1) vs. #11 Arizona (2-1)
When: Sunday, Sept. 1, 2 p.m CST. Where: McKale Center, University of Arizona. Capacity: 14,545. Series: Nebraska leads, 4-1. Last Meeting: Nebraska won, 3-0, 12/9/00. Win Streak: Nebraska has won the last four. Cook vs. Arizona: 2-0
Media Information
Radio: Nebraska?s matches will be broadcast live by volleyball play-by-play announcer John Baylor and NU Volleyball Director of Operations Diane Mendenhall on B107.3 FM (Lincoln and Omaha) and the Nebraska Volleyball Network.
Internet Audio: www.huskers.com
Huskers Briefly
The second-ranked Nebraska volleyball team travels to Tucson, Ariz., this weekend for the Wildcat Classic, where they will face No. 14 Pepperdine at 6:30 p.m. Friday and No. 11 Arizona at 2 p.m. Saturday. The two matches represent Nebraska?s second and third matches of 2002 against opponents ranked in the AVCA/USA Today Coaches poll.
NU and both of the teams it will face will attempt to rebound from rocky starts to the 2002 season. Arizona fell five spots to No. 11 in the Sept. 2 AVCA poll after falling in three games to No. 22 Louisville. No. 14 Pepperdine also fell out of the top 10 after starting the season 0-2 with losses to Northern Iowa and Minnesota.
Meanwhile, Nebraska defeated Pittsburgh and Ball State in three games and suffered a disappointing loss to third-ranked USC Monday at the Radisson Hotel Roberts/Nike Classic. The Huskers dominated Pittsburgh throughout but struggled offensively at times against Ball State and USC, hitting just .248 and .185 in those matches, respectively.
However, impressive performances by several newcomers provided NU with a few bright spots. Starting in their first collegiate matches, freshman outside hitter Jennifer Saleaumua and redshirt freshman middle blocker Melissa Elmer more than held their own. Elmer averaged 2.22 kills per game and led the team with a .472 hitting percentage, while Saleaumua produced 2.56 kills per game on a .281 efficiency and added 2.89 digs per game.
Redshirt freshman setter Michelle Lynch also played in her first collegiate match. The Jacksonville, Ill., native made her debut as a serving specialist against USC, and the left-handed jump server recorded two service aces and zero errors.
Through three matches, senior middle blocker Amber Holmquist leads Nebraska with 3.67 kills per game and 1.11 blocks per game. Senior outside hitter Laura Pilakowski owns a 3.44 kills-per-game average.
Arizona Briefly
Like Nebraska, Arizona (2-1) will also be looking for redemption this weekend. The Wildcats slipped five spots to 11th in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches Poll released Sept. 2 after falling to Louisville in three games over the weekend. Monday?s poll marked the first time since September of 2002 that Arizona has not been ranked in the top 10.
The Wildcats have been led this season by AVCA All-American outside hitter Shannon Torregrosa and freshman Kim Glass. Torregrosa has produced 4.60 kills per game and 1.10 blocks per game, while Glass owns a 4.40 kills-per-game average and is swinging at a team-best .378 clip.
Arizona Head Coach David Rubio: Now in his 12th season at Arizona, David Rubio owns a 199-68 record. He led the Wildcats to an upset of USC last year in the regional finals, as Arizona earned a berth in the NCAA semifinals.
Series: Nebraska leads, 4-1. Win Streak: NU has won the last four. Last Meeting: NU defeated Arizona in three games in Lincoln in the 2000 NCAA regional finals.Cook vs. Arizona: Cook is 1-0 vs. Arizona.
Pepperdine Briefly
Like Nebraska and Arizona, Pepperine (3-2) has also struggled early this season. The Waves, ranked eighth in the AVCA preseason poll, went 0-2 at the State Farm/NACWAA Classic Aug. 23-24, falling to Northern Iowa and Minnesota. Pepperdine has rebounded to win three straight, but fell to 14th in the Sept. 2 poll.
The Waves are led by AVCA All-America outside hitter Katie Wilkins, who is averaging 4.50 kills per game but is hitting just .153. The Waves are hitting just .206 overall, as just two players own averages higher than .300.
Pepperdine Head Coach Nina Mathies: Mathies is 361-228 in her 20th year at the helm.
The Series: The series is tied, 3-3. Last Meeting: Nebraska won, 3-0, in Lincoln, Aug. 7, 2001. Win Streak: NU has won the last three.Cook vs. Pepperdine: 2-0.
Nebraska Streaks to Watch
The Huskers carried several streaks into the 2002 season. A few to watch:
4 The Huskers have won 46 consecutive home matches, including 44 straight matches at the NU Coliseum (Nebraska won two games at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln during the streak). NU?s home-match winning streak is the NCAA?s second-longest active streak and the longest in school history. Northern Iowa is first with 48 straight home victories.
4 NU Head Coach John Cook is 40-0 in the Big 12 Conference. Cook is 67-3 in his third season at Nebraska, with his only losses coming to 2001 NCAA champion Stanford, 2001 NCAA runner-up Long Beach State and USC, which is ranked third in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll.
4 The Huskers have won 50 consecutive Big 12 matches. NU?s last lost to a Big 12 opponent was at Texas Oct. 24, 1999.
4 NU has won 29 straight Big 12 matches at home, dating back to a five-game loss to Kansas State Sept. 22, 1999.
4 Junior defensive specialist Lindsay Wischmeier has played in a team-best 103 consecutive matches.
4 The Huskers have not lost more than seven matches since 1981 ? 20 straight seasons.
All-American Girls
Nebraska is the only NCAA Division I team in the nation that lists three AVCA All-Americans on its roster. The Huskers? AVCA honorees include senior setter Greichaly Cepero (first team, 2000; second team, 2001), senior middle blocker Amber Holmquist (second team, 2000, first team, 2001) and senior outside hitter Laura Pilakowski (first team, 2000).
NU is also one of three teams that returns two AVCA All-Americans from the 2001 season (Cepero and Holmquist). The others are Stanford (Logan Tom and Ogonna Nnamani) and Florida (Aury Cruz and Benavia Jenkins).
Twenty-two NU players have earned 42 AVCA All-America certificates, which ranks first nationally.
Freshman Phenoms
The Huskers featured two new faces in the starting lineup when they opened the season Aug. 31 at the Radisson Hotel Roberts/Nike Classic. Redshirt freshman Melissa Elmer replaced 2001 All-American Jenny Kropp in the second middle blocker spot, and true freshman Jennifer Saleaumua started in the right side position vacated by three-time All-American and U.S. Olympic Team hopeful Nancy Metcalf (Meendering). The last true freshman in the starting lineup for a season-opening match was Greichaly Cepero in 1999.
The 6-foot-2 Elmer has been NU?s most efficient offensive threat so far in 2002. Elmer is hitting .472 through three matches, averaging 2.22 kills per game and 1.11 blocks per game. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native was the only Husker to hit over .300 against USC Sept. 1, as she posted a .545 efficiency.
The 5-11 Saleaumua, who was Volleyball Magazine?s 2001 National High School Player of the Year, has proven to be a solid all-around player. Through Nebraska?s first three matches, Saleaumua produced 2.56 kills per game on a .281 hitting percentage, 2.89 digs per game and 0.67 blocks per game. She also recorded two service aces.
Senior Success
The 2002 senior class of Greichaly Cepero, Amber Holmquist, Laura Pilakowski and Lindsay Wischmeier may prove to be the most successful ever at Nebraska. In their first three seasons, NU compiled a 92-8 overall record and a 57-3 Big 12 Conference mark. The Huskers have won three Big 12 titles and advanced to two NCAA semifinals, capturing the national title in 2000. The four players have combined for five AVCA All-America awards, three Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, seven All-Big 12 honors and eight academic All-Big 12 honors.
The most successful four-year period in NU history thus far was 1998-01, when the Huskers posted a 124-10 record. NU totaled a 118-10 mark from 1993 to 1996. Nebraska has never been to three straight NCAA semifinals, a feat the 2002 senior class could accomplish this season.
Radisson Hotel Roberts/Nike Classic Wrapup
Nebraska went 2-1 at the Radisson Hotel Roberts/Nike Classic Aug.-Sept. 2 at Ball State?s Worthern Arena in Muncie, Ind. The Huskers swept Pittsburgh and Ball State but lost to No. 3 USC in three games. NU was led offensively by senior middle blocker Amber Holmquist, who averaged 3.67 kills per game on a .404 hitting percentage while adding a team-best 1.56 blocks per game.
Holmquist led Nebraska in kills against Pittsburgh in the 2002 season opener, as she tallied 15 kills on 20 attempts with no errors for a .650 efficiency. Senior outside hitter Laura Pilakowski led NU in kills in the other two matches, recording 12 against Ball State and 13 against USC.
The Huskers hit .375 against Pittsburgh but struggled offensively the rest of the week, hitting .248 vs. Ball State and just .185 against the Women of Troy. After averaging 4.18 blocks per game in 2001, NU produced just 2.89 per game in the three weekend matches.
Block Party
Amber Holmquist already owns 10 Nebraska individual blocking records, and she will likely add to that total in her final season at NU. Despite playing in just 69 games as a freshman, Holmquist is on track to shatter Stephanie Thater?s (1989-92) 10-year-old career total blocks and career block assists records. Holmquist, who produced 166 block assists last season, has 13 in 2002 and needs just 15 more to surpass Thater?s mark of 502. Holmquist needs just 47 total blocks to break the career record of 591. She had 190 in 2001 and has 14 this season.
Overall, Holmquist, the 2000 NCAA blocking champion and the 2000 and 2001 Big 12 leader in that category, owns 12 school records ? the others are hitting percentage in a postseason four-game match (.600 vs. KSU, 12/1/01) and freshman season hitting percentage (.373, 1999). Holmquist could become the first player in school history to lead NU in hitting percentage and blocks per game in four consecutive seasons.
Pilakowski Power
Senior outside hitter Laura Pilakowski broke two all-time, all-sport records and five Nebraska volleyball program records in the team?s preseason testing. Pilakowski set a new athletic department female record for performance index points with 2,394, bettering the previous record of 2,294 held by women?s basketball player Margaret Richards in 2000. Pilakowski, the 2000 Husker Power Lifter of the Year, also claimed the record for most vertical jump points by a female with a score of 776, breaking NU softball player Peaches James? 2001 record by 18 points.
In addition to her all-sport records, Pilakowski, a native of Columbus, Neb., also broke three other volleyball program records, including vertical jump (29 inches), pro agility run (4.45 seconds) and pro agility run points (564).
Overall, Nebraska scored a 1,452 performance index average, an increase of 48 points from 2001. NU also increased its vertical jump average from 22.9 inches in 2001 to 23 inches in 2002.
Super Setter
Senior setter Greichaly Cepero is in her third season at the controls for NU, and she is on the verge of becoming the winningest setter in NU volleyball history. Cepero, the 2000 AVCA Division I Player of the Year, is 67-3 as a starter and has led Nebraska to two straight NCAA Championships appearances. With Cepero at the controls, the Huskers have produced the Big 12 Conference?s best hitting percentage in each of the past two seasons.
One of the best all-around players in the nation, Cepero owns a 1.20 career blocks-per-game average. She was the only setter ranked among the league?s top 10 in blocking in 2000 and 2001, and she already ranks eighth on the NU all-time charts with 62 solo stops.
The summer of 2002 marked the first year of her career that Cepero, a two-sport athlete, did not work out with the Husker women?s basketball team during the volleyball off-season. Instead, Cepero accepted an invitation to train with the USA National Team during the summer of 2001 and was on the competitive roster for the Japan Tour, the Montreaux (Switzerland) Volley Master Tour, and the Russia Tour.
Rank and File
Nebraska is one of three teams that have been ranked in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll for all 270 weeks of its existence. The Huskers have been ranked in the top 10 for 239 of the 270 weeks, which ranks second behind Stanford?s 251. Nebraska has spent 38 weeks in the top spot, and its most recent No. 1 ranking was Sept. 24, 2001.
Rocky Road
Nebraska?s schedule for the 2002 season will once again be one of the toughest in the nation. The Huskers will play 17 regular-season matches against 11 teams that qualified for the 2001 NCAA Tournament, and four matches against teams that advanced to the Elite Eight, including NCAA semifinals participant Arizona. Six of the Huskers? scheduled opponents finished the 2001 season ranked in the USA Today/AVCA Division I Top 25, including No. 4 Arizona, No. 5 Southern California, No. 8 Pepperdine, No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 18 Kansas State and No. 23 Colorado.
The Huskers will play 14 matches at home, including 13 at the NU Coliseum and one, against Creighton on Nov. Sept. 29 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Nebraska?s home opener is Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. against Santa Clara, a 2001 NCAA Tournament team.
Nebraska Coach John Cook
Nebraska Coach John Cook is in his third season at the helm after guiding the Huskers to the most successful two-year period in school history. In his first two seasons, Cook guided NU to a 65-2 overall record and a 40-0 Big 12 Conference mark. The Huskers won the 2000 national championship, advanced to the NCAA semifinals in 2001 and captured two Big 12 championships. Nebraska was ranked in the USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll top three for 28 of a possible 30 weeks, including 19 weeks at No. 1. For his accomplishments, Cook was recognized as the 2000 AVCA Coach of the Year and the 2001 Big 12 Coach of the Year.
The Huskers have achieved great success individually as well during Cook?s tenure. In the past two seasons, Nebraska has produced one AVCA Division I National Player of the Year, one NCAA Top Eight award winner, one Honda Award winner, seven AVCA All-Americans, one Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year, four Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and two Big 12 Players of the Year. The Huskers have also combined for 10 All-Big 12 Conference awards and 16 academic All-Big 12 certificates.
After a stint as an NU assistant coach from 1988 to 1991, Cook, 46, built Wisconsin into a national power. Cook compiled a 161-73 record in seven years with the Badgers, including an 89-51 league mark in one of the nation?s toughest conferences. He was named the Big Ten Co-Coach and AVCA District 2 Coach of the Year in 1997 after leading the Badgers to a share of the Big Ten title with a 19-1 mark and school-best 30-3 overall record. In his seven years as head coach, the Badgers advanced to six straight postseason tournaments.
Cook also brings Olympic and championship experience to the Husker staff. As the first assistant coach with the U.S. Men?s National Volleyball team, Cook aided the United States to a bronze medal in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
A graduate of the University of San Diego, Cook earned his bachelor?s degree in history in 1979. He completed his master?s degree in teaching and coaching effectiveness from San Diego State in 1991.
Cook and his wife Wendy, a former two-time All-America setter at San Diego State, are the parents of two children, Lauren, 11, and Taylor, 8.
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