I meant to do a season preview on Nebraska volleyball, but it just didn't work out, so here we are. Lots of things going on in Husker volleyball.

- GONE!

Sarah Pavan, arguably the greatest athlete in Nebraska athletics history, so many awards we can't list them. AVCA Volleyball player of the year twice. 
Christina Houghtelling - AVCA Player of the Year, gobs o' awards.
Tracy Stalls - blocking machine, hitting machine, two-time All-American.
Rachel Holloway - quit volleyball and moved somewhere else, never to be heard from again.

- POLITICS!
    Jessica Yanz tried to transfer this past season from perennial volleyball power Penn State (even after PSU won last year's national title). Penn State refused to release her from her scholarship, so she has to sit for a season. This kind of stuff happens frequently in lower profile sports like volleyball or baseball. It's just irritating, isn't it? Those Penn State bastards!

- NEW FACES - NEW STARS!

Setter Sydney Anderson, hasn't placed since 2006. Transferred from Utah, where she lead the Utes to a 28-4 record.
Jordan Larson isn't a new star by any means. On any other team, last season she would have won a gob of major awards. This year, this team, it's Larson's time to shine.
Tara Mueller is key because her play keeps other teams from keying on Larson.
Same goes for Lindsey Licht, another hitter that should have a huge season.

Rachel Schwartz - It's time for her to shine. Libero-setter, whatever she plays. CN is rooting for you for your senior year!
Junior Kori Cooper, sophmore Kayla Banwarth and senior Amanda Gates are gonna be big-time players as well.

- PRESSURE!
Last season, with Houghtelling, Pavan, Stalls, on the team, everyone expected the greatest team in the history of college volleyball. Didn't happen, Nebraska lost before even making the Final Four, going 32-1. This season the pressure is off.
 Or is it? Volleyball season tickets sold out in 10 Minutes! Holy Cow! Is that about expectations or not?

- CHANGES!
This year volleyball has gone from a 30 point game to 25 to align more with, like, international rules or something.
They're wearing bikinis! Okay, I'm kidding, although Nebraska is one of the schools that is advocating sand/beach volleyball for obvious reasons.
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Nebraska volleyball started the season last night at the Runz/AVCA Showcase tournament in Omaha, a tournament that features Nebraska, #2 Stanford, #3 Texas, and #4 USC. Unlike football where everyone good starts with patsies, volleyball begins with a real challenge.

Nebraska comes into the season ranked #7, then started the season by sweeping the Cardinal 25-17, 25-19, 26-24, including coming back from a five point deficit in game three. It's a great start to a team that's seen it's share of adversity already, before the season had even started.

If you're a VB fan, I'd love to hear some comments on the setter position. I think with Larson and Mueller and Licht, we're not going to see the drop off that we thought we would, but I'd love to hear about the team.

Last Saturday, the Lincoln Journal Star/Husker Extra published an article by Katelyn Kerkhove about Sarah Pavan. The article presented Pavan as someone who has reached just about as far as she could as an athlete and student, but still feels misunderstood and doesn't like the attention she receives. She also feels somewhat slighted by her teammates.

It doesn't take a lot of reading between the lines to understand what happened to the 2007 volleyball team. Between setter Rachel Holloway's transfer and Pavan's comments  there obviously was a problem with team chemistry last season.

Some Husker fans are upset that the LJS printed the article, from the Husker Extra blog by a poster calling himself woodstock we get:

Todd Henrichs, sports editor made this comment on why the story was published, again from the Husker Extra blog:

He's a newspaper guy, an editor. What's he supposed to do, print articles about flowers, and bunnies and how they're loved by Husker women athletes? If someone brings him a story like this and it's properly vetted, isn't it his job to publish it? Or do you honestly think that he's supposed to bury it in the interest of the athletic department while those might be contrary to those of his publisher?

The story isn't done yet. According to an article in the Daily Nebraskan, the Husker Extra/LJS article has lead to Pavan being removed from the team. The DN article includes this quote from former setter Rachel Holloway, who has quit volleyball and transferred to Alabama:

John Cook has removed Sarah Pavan from practicing with a team that's moving on without her. Can you blame him? His 2008 season depends on his team coming together, not whether or not Sarah Pavan is happy, sad, misunderstood or frustrated.  

There is some indication from reading through the comments at the LJS blog and the Daily Nebraskan article that this story was never intended to be published, but instead was a journalism class assignment. That sounds a little off since it was done for "Redwire", which is a publication from the College of Journalism.

If all that weren't enough,  Rich Kern's comments on the DN article are as disturbing as anything in the articles:

Ouch. Unfortunately the comments by Holloway and Pavan's refusal to apologize to her former teammates imply that her comments weren't slanted.

But wait, there's more! An editorial in the DN calls on coach John Cook to apologize to Pavan, saying:

The University of Nebraska and the media around the program have typically done a pretty decent job of wrapping the Husker package and putting it under the tree with a nice, big bow. Our media isn't nearly as vicious as most other programs are treated. I'm not 100% sure that's a good thing.  On the other hand, you can't have members of any organization going around saying whatever they want to the media because there are always consequences.

The bottom line is that Pavan knew that her comments would be published. Honesty is one thing, but teams are supposed to act like families, and I can tell you right now that I wouldn't print an article here about a fight with one of my sisters without first telling her that it was coming. Some things should stay within the family, unless my goal was to intentionally hurt my sister.

Here's the thing about my sisters. None of them have a public forum on which they can respond. Neither do any of the current Husker volleyball players, otherwise the whole thing becomes a "she said, she said" mess out of which nothing but more damage will occur. This is exactly why you try to keep a handle on your team, your family, even your co-workers.  

Neither Pavan nor Holloway are members of the team moving forward. They can take whatever shots they like without consequences of anything other than ruining any relationships they might have had. That puts them at an unfair advantage, and that's where I have a problem with what Pavan did. She threw a grenade at her former teammates and coach. Given the chance to take it back, she refused. One can only conclude that the damage it did was intended. That's unfortunate as the one who will most likely be hurt the most in the long run is Pavan.

If you're a Husker fan you know by now that the volleyballers were swept Saturday evening by Cal. The saddest part of that is that Husker Sarah Pavan's career as a Husker is over.  What do you do when the weight of the world is on your shoulders? I suppose
that you shrug.

Wait a minute baby...
Stay with me awhile
Said youd give me light
But you never told be about the fire

Sarah Pavan. Beauty in motion.

I love Sarah Pavan. I do. But Mrs Corn Nation and I have been married 18 years already so I've already found the love of my life. Oh, but Sarah. She's the uber athlete. And she's the uber student. She's the full package.

Drowning in the sea of love
Where everyone would love to drown
And now its gone
It doesnt matter anymore
When you build your house
Call me home

I wanted to write an article about how Sarah Pavan is the greatest Husker athlete ever, in any sport. I was counting on a second national title to provide the impetus for it. With the Huskers' loss against Cal,  Pavan didn't win two national titles.  I wanted her to win two national titles. She didn't.

I guess she didn't prove herself, right? Such stinking thinking. She doesn't need to prove herself to anyone. She has won so many awards. And a 4.0 with a major in biochemistry.

She didn't win two national titles, though. I think most people thought that was a given, with Pavan and Houghtelling on the same team (not to mention Tracy Stalls).

Sara, youre the poet in my heart
Never change, never stop
And now its gone
It doesnt matter what for
When you build your house
I'll come by

Still, she is beautiful, Sarah Pavan. I don't want her to go. I don't want her to leave the University of Nebraska. We talk so much about the toughness of football. What about the toughness of trying to return a kill by these young women? Doesn't that count for something just as tough as football? It should. Dammit.

Drowning in the sea of love
Where everyone would love to drown
And now its gone
It doesnt matter anymore
When you build your house
Call me home

It's not just Sarah. It's Tracy. And it's Christina. And it's Maggie. Their careers are over. At least at the University of Nebraska as volleyballers. Does it mean anything less that  they couldn't repeat? I wouldn't love my daughter less regardless of the games she won or lost and that's what they all are, daughters of the Nebraska spirit.

All I ever wanted
Was to know that you were dreaming
(theres a heartbeat
And it never really died)

They are forever Huskers, Sarah, Maggie, Tracy, Christina. Over their career, they won 125 games and lost only seven. It's Monday and I have to get to work. Should you and I get that percentage of winning in whatever we do, the world would be a significantly better place.

So, good bye Sarah Pavan. And Christina, and Tracy and Maggie. Thanks for what you've given us. I only wish that it would have lasted a little while longer.  

Michigan State took Nebraska to five games tonight, winning the first two 30-25, 30-28 before coming back to win the next three 30-17, 30-28, and 15-9. No doubt many of you found the same thing as I, that the UWBadgers site couldn't handle the load of all us Husker fans wanting to watch their streaming video. I ended up listening to the Husker radio broadcast over the Internet.

The 2007 Season Continues Tomorrow Night on ESPNU.

Nebraska survived, despite 13 service errors and only .300 hitting for the match.

Jordan Larson finished with 20 kills with a .317 hitting percentage.
Pavan had 18 kills, but only .191 hitting, Tracy Stalls with 15 at .500 and Kori Cooper finished with 12 kills at .417.

It was clear from the radio that Christina Houghtelling was fighting her back injury, not moving well laterally, but came up with a couple huge blocks in game four to score two points.

Freshman Kayla Banwarth played very well, with 21 digs and two service aces.

Around the nation:

Gainesville, Florida Regional

Texas advances, beating Florida in four games.
USC advances, beating St. Johns in five games.
So tomorrow night, it's Texas versus USC to advance to the Final Four.

University Park, Pennsylvania Regional

Penn State advances, sweeping Michigan.
BYU advances, sweeping Middle Tennessee.
Penn State versus BYU.

Madison, Wisconsin Regional

California advanced, sweeping Iowa State.
Nebraska beat Michigan State in five games.
Nebraska versus California for the Final Four.

Stanford, California Regional

Not reported at time of publication.

Ooooooeeeeee! The season continues tomorrow night as Nebraska 30-1 takes on Cal-Berkely tomorrow night at 8:00 pm.

Nebraska advanced to the Wisconsin regional by sweeping South Dakota State and Wichita State. Iowa State may have done the Huskers a big favor when they swept Wisconsin to advance to the Madison regional. Not only did they sweep the highest seed the Huskers would face, but they reinforced the idea that the tourney goes to the team playing best, not necessarily the best team.

The Cornhusker volleyballers continue NCAA Tourney play tonight, taking on Michigan State at around 7:00 pm or after the Iowa State - California game. You can see Friday's game streamed live on UWBadgers.com. The Regional final will be shown on ESPNU at 8:00 pm Saturday night.

On paper Nebraska has the easiest path to the Final Four, as the Huskers must defeat Michigan State and the winner of Iowa State/Cal to advance. By comparison, check out what Texas has to do to advance to the Final Four:

Madison, Wisconsin Regional

Iowa State (19-13) vs. (10) California (24-7)
Michigan State (21-13) vs. (2) Nebraska (29-1)

Stanford, California Regional

(1) Stanford (29-2) vs. (16) Cal Poly (23-7)
Oregon (22-10) vs. (8) UCLA (22-10)

Gainesville, Florida Regional

(5) Southern California (27-4) vs. (12) St. John's (33-3)
(13) Florida (29-2) vs. (4) Texas (26-3)

University Park, Pennsylvania Regional

(3) Penn State (30-2) vs. Michigan (24-10)
Middle Tennessee (35-2) vs. BYU (23-7)

Other Volleyball Bits:

• Nebraska had five first-team AVCA Central Region selections – Rachel Holloway, Christina Houghtelling, Jordan Larson, Sarah Pavan and Tracy Stalls.  The Huskers were the only program in the nation to have five first-team all-region selections.

Being named to the regional team makes the players eligible for AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) All-America team. Sarah Pavan is on her way to becoming only the fourth player in NCAA Division I history to become a four-time first-team All-American.

• Going through the notes on Huskers.com, a few things stick out:

Christina Houghtelling is four kills shy of 1,000, while Sarah Pavan needs 26 kills to be the first Husker with 2,000 kills.

Nebraska has won 15 straight matches against Big Ten teams dating back to the 1999 season, while NU Head Coach John Cook is 13-0 against teams from the Big Ten since taking over the Husker program in 2000.

I still have to remind myself that Rachel Holloway is a sophomore.

•  The Grand Island Independent has an update on Houghtelling's injury - toward the bottom of the article.  Watching the Wichita State game online, it was clear she was in pain, although it was unclear whether the pain was physical or she was upset that she wasn't playing. As Bill Callahan would say - she's "day to day". Let's hope she's able to go.
• Mrs Corn Nation loves how Jordan Larson serves. She has good taste, as Larson is currently fourth on Nebraska's All-Time Service Ace list with 145. She is two ahead of Pavan.
• If you're on Facebook, you might consider joining the group "Husker Volleyball: Easy on the Eyes ...Hard on the Balls".  BTW, Corn Nation is available on Facebook with the profile "Corn Nation".

The Nebraska volleyballers finished the regular season Saturday night as Big 12 co-champions, tying with the Texas Longhorns after both teams swept each other on their home floors with neither losing another conference match the rest of the season. Both teams ended conference play at 19-1, while Nebraska finished the regular season with an overall record of 27-1 compared to Texas at 24-3.

Four Seniors with the 2007 Big 12 Trophy. Griffin, Pavan, Houghtelling and Stalls.

The second-ranked Cornhusker volleyballers start NCAA tourney post-season play this Friday, starting against 25-10 tourney rookies South Dakota State in Lincoln. If the Huskers win, they'll play the winner of Wichita State versus Western Kentucky. They would then advance to the Madison, Wisconsin regional site.

Six Big 12 teams qualified for the NCAA tourney. Nebraska is the highest national seed at #2, followed by Texas at #4, Kansas State at #12, Oklahoma at #21. Iowa State and Missouri both made the tourney as at-large teams.

The Four National Regional Sites are:

• Stanford -
• Florida -
• Penn State
• Wisconsin

Regional Play will be December 7th and 8th.

The Four National Seeds are:

• Stanford -  Pac-10 Champs two years in a row
• Nebraska  - Big 12 Co-Champs with Texas
• Penn State - Big 10 Champs for the fifth straight year
• Texas  - Big 12 Co-Champs with Nebraska

2007 NCAA Division I Tourney Bracket

This volleyball team is loaded with stars, but still has a long way to go yet. Until 2006, the Huskers had never advanced to the national title game by winning a regional outside of Lincoln.

We'll be breaking down the top volleyball teams in the nation in the upcoming days to see what kinds of challenges await them.

We interrupt your flight-tracker session to inform you that the Husker volleyball team is the #2 national seed, and will host the first and second rounds at the NU Coliseum this weekend.  Nebraska will play South Dakota State at 7 pm on Friday night, with the winner to play the winner of the Wichita State/Western Kentucky game on Saturday afternoon at 5 pm.

The winner of Saturday night's game goes onto the Madison regional, where the winner of the Lincoln games could play host Wisconsin in the regional final.

Nebraska lost the first two games, 24-30, 27-30, then took the next two 30-25, 30-19. Kansas State was never in game five, which Nebraska won 15-8. I didn't see the first two games, but pulled up the live stats, went into shock, and found that Huskers.com was showing the match over the Internet and watched it online.

The Cornhusker volleyballers seem to have this problem from time to time - starting slow, then they become like a boulder sliding down a mountain. Jordan Larson came on fire in game four and continued in game five. It was good to see as Larson hasn't played that well in the past couple weeks. Larson finished with 12 kills, hitting .242. Tracy Stalls finished with 15 kills, hitting .480 and nine blocks. Sarah Pavan would not be beaten, finishing with season-high 31 kills, hitting .375.

Games three, four and five were great volleyball, although its disturbing that Nebraska needed to be behind two games to get interested in the match. That's the problem that coach John Cook must fight the rest of the season. There may come a time at which they cannot recover.

Nebraska is fighting Texas for the Big 12. If they were to lose a match, Texas will most likely take it. When the volleyball tourney comes there is no margin for error, so it's possible that this team would finish with no championships to it's name.

That's why it's such a fine line between success and failure for these young women.

Don't know if all y'all watched it tonight, but Mizzou drove the Husker volleyballers to five games this evening at the Coliseum, with Nebraska winning the match in game five.

Rachel Schwartz, libero. Keep it going!

It went 30-19, 32-34, 30-11,24-30, and then 15-10, Nebraska. After the whole trick r' treating affair, I came in and watched the final two games. Wow. Great volleyball.

Mizzou has four players from the state of Nebraska, so like John Cook said at the start of the match, they were expecting a tough match. Add to that that Mizzou has three Chinese girls as starters, and they're NOT going to be intimidated just because they're coming into the Coliseum.

Missouri's Na Yang finished with 20 kills, Amanda Hantouli with 10, Weiwen Wang with 10, and Lei Wang with 7. For Nebraska, Sarah Pavan had 22 kills, Jordan Larson, 17, Christina Houghtelling 14, and Tracy Stalls with 10. While the kills seem much higher for the Huskers they were countered by a season-high 14 service errors, and 14 hitting errors.

If you missed this match, you missed some great volleyball. Good win for Nebraska. Here's what you get from Cornhusker coach John Cook:

Good match, but not great, and great is what we're expecting from this team. They have a lot of work yet to do.

Saturday night the Huskers play Kansas State in Manhattan.

We're at that time of the year at which I'll increase our volleyball coverage. These young women deserved to be recognized. At much as Nebraska defines itself by football, so it does by volleyball. We have had incredible success at volleyball over the past 20 years.

Pay attention. Like I said, they deserve it.

The #1 Huskers went to Austin tonight and got themselves beat up by a fired up #5 Texas team, 30-22, 30-25, 30-20.

The Huskers had swept their last 17 opponents and had a 29-match win streak snapped. Nebraska didn't play very good volleyball tonight. We had a lot of service errors. Hitting percentage for the games were .085, .269, and .065, for an overall percentage of .145. Compare that with .275, .409, and .438 for the Longhorns who overall were at .371.

Texas was on fire with Destinee Hooker who had 17 kills, and Juliann Faucette with 13. Sarah Pavan finished with 17 kills, bu the next Husker was Tracy Stalls with 8. Jordan Larson had a negative hitting percentage with five errors and four kills.

I hate it when we lose to Texas in any sport, but this isn't all bad. Now we can lose the "Best Team Ever" stuff and get on with playing volleyball. If you recall, last year's volleyballers went 33-1, the only loss being to Texas in Austin. We then went on to beat Stanford and win the 2006 national title.

Both teams move to 11-1 in the Big 12. Nebraska had earlier swept Texas in Lincoln, and tonight the Longhorns returned the favor.