Husker seniors get fond, fast farewell
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BY TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star
Well, at least Nebraska’s seniors will have something to remember.
OK, so Tracy Stalls, Christina Houghtelling, Sarah Pavan and Maggie Griffin already had a scrapbook full of Husker volleyball memories and milestones. But after Saturday’s sweep of Texas Tech, they might want to order some extra pages.
Hope you remembered the tissues.
Senior Night had everything. Standing ovations. And tears. An NCAA record. And tears. Breathtaking serving runs. And more tears.
And did I mention Canada’s national anthem — played at Pavan’s request — and Tom Osborne presenting the Big 12 championship trophy? This night really did have everything.
“The sentimental aspect of things kind of takes you over,” said Stalls, whose final regular-season match at the NU Coliseum will be remembered as the night she converted all 13 swings for kills.
It’s the equivalent of a perfect game in baseball, one achieved only once before at Nebraska —Megan Korver went 10-for-10 against Iowa State in 1998 — and only 22 times in Division I history.
“That is a bonus, a blessing,” Stalls added. “To be connecting with Maggie like that is something truly special.”
Making her only start of the season, Griffin said it was a night worth waiting for. Nebraska hit .472 under her direction, winning 30-18, 30-10, 30-11 in just 71 minutes.
Pavan led second-ranked Nebraska with 18 kills on season-best .640 hitting, but her five service aces and a 13-point serving run in game two are what will be forever locked in the memory bank.
At one point, Pavan said she became so tired ripping jump serve after jump serve that she was almost pulling for the Red Raiders to somehow steal a point.
That wasn’t easy for a Texas Tech team (7-22, 1-19) that lost its final 19 matches of the season and whose starting setter Saturday was the team’s manager until a midseason injury pressed her into action.
“It felt so good to play a match like this, so calm and so relaxed,” Pavan said. “You don’t always get the chance to chill out.”
For the seniors, there won’t be many of those opportunities remaining, what with their incredible careers reduced to Nebraska’s next loss.
With Saturday’s win, the Huskers (27-1, 19-1) earned a share of their 29th conference championship in 33 seasons of volleyball. Third-ranked Texas swept No. 12 Kansas State 30-25, 30-18, 30-26 on Saturday to secure its share of the Big 12 crown, and like Nebraska, the Longhorns likely locked up one of the top four seeds in the NCAA Tournament that begins this week.
The 64-team postseason bracket will be unveiled today at 7 p.m. on ESPNU (Lincoln cable channel 235).
Considering how well the Huskers played Saturday, Nebraska coach John Cook said the timing is perfect.
“They’re going to feel great going into the tournament, and that was our goal for this team,” Cook said. “It really comes down to the next three weeks now, three weeks that for them will define this season.”
But whatever happens to this team, another national championship run or a momentary disappointment, they’ll always have this night to remember. A night where crying daughters gave volleyballs to their dads, where a sellout crowd celebrated both the sensational and the sentimental.
“You can see how close these guys are and how much they really care about each other,” said Cook, who shared roses with not only Nebraska’s seniors but those from Texas Tech.
“This kind of stuff can carry you for a while,” he said.
Briefly
Northern Iowa joined South Dakota State as potential opponents for Nebraska in first- and second-round tournament matches next weekend. The Panthers won the Missouri Valley Conference championship Saturday.
Reach Todd Henrichs at 473-7320 or thenrichs@journalstar.com.
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