Women's volleyball falls to top-ranked Huskers in NCAA tourney

Picture this: You step out onto the center court, ready for the biggest game of your life — the lights blazing, music blasting and the crowd deafening. Thousands of screaming fans fill the stands, dozens of cheerleaders line the court, they're all chanting in unison and you realize that all but a couple of them are cheering for the other team. Now imagine that the other team is not only favored to win this game, but also the national championship.

This was the case for the women's volleyball team Friday as it stepped on the court before a sellout crowd of 4,026 fans at the Nebraska University Coliseum in Lincoln, Neb., to face the top-ranked Cornhuskers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Though the night would not produce an upset of Nebraska (29-0), Princeton (22-8) would not give up without a fight.

From the opening minutes of the match, both Nebraska's players and fans were stunned by the strong, steady play of the Tigers — who scored four straight points in the early stages of game one to tie the score at five. Nebraska responded by scoring seven straight points, but Princeton would still not give up. Junior setter Ana Yoerg, sophomore middle Abby Studer and freshman outside Kellie Cramm made two kills each to help the Tigers fight back to 13-8, before the Huskers claimed the opening game, 15-9.

"I thought that Princeton came out and played well in the first game," Nebraska head coach John Cook said in a post-game statement. "They had a great plan, and they served us tough. Princeton played a good game. I think our key tonight was serving short and keeping our players hot. I thought that our serving took over the match."

Rising to the occasion

Realizing that Princeton was not going to hand over the match, Nebraska stepped up its attack in the second and third games. Aggressive hitting and serving led the Huskers to a 15-2 victory in game two, and to a 14-7 lead in the last game. The Tigers, however, were not about to roll over at match point. Four times, Princeton succeeded in earning the sideout thanks to consistent team-wide digging and hitting. Finally, however, the Huskers scored the last point to claim the game, 15-7.

"The whole experience was incredible," Studer said. "To play well against the No. 1 team in the country with a bunch of All-Americans, and in front of over 4,000 fans — that's something we'll probably never get to do again.

"Even though we lost, we were really happy with how we played overall. I think we surprised Nebraska when we actually gave them a run for their money."

"I thought that we played really well tonight and that we made a lot of errors," head coach Glenn Nelson said. "You need an error-free game against Nebraska to win. We didn't do that. Their crowd sure helps them. [NU Coliseum was] a very difficult place to play."

The match not only marks the end of the women's season, but also the end of collegiate volleyball for senior outside hitter Sabrina King and senior middle Emily Brown. King — who was the Ivy League Player of the Year in 1999 and first team All-Ivy this year — has led the Tigers both offensively and defensively in kills and digs all season, and added a match-high nine kills in her final performance. In the middle, Brown has been a dominant force at the net and one of the leading blockers, receiving second team All-Ivy honors for the season.

"This was an incredible way to end our collegiate play," King said. "The crowd was absolutely amazing. We never knew so many people could be so fired up about volleyball. The crowd, along with the band and the cheerleaders made the game so much more exciting.

"We had a lot of fun, and I'm happy this was the way Emily and I ended our volleyball careers."