Kansas takes on defending national champs

No. 1 Cornhuskers look to continue early-season dominance

By Rustin Dodd

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Ever seen a team without a weakness? You might tonight.

When No. 1 Nebraska takes on Kansas at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center at 7 p.m., Kansas coach Ray Bechard hopes his team can finally find a flaw in the defending national champions.

“If there is one, it hasn’t been exposed yet,” Bechard said.

Nebraska is that good. After a NCAA runner-up finish in 2005 and a national title in 2006, the Huskers are 10-0 this year, giving them a 106-5 record since the beginning of the 2004 season.

VolleyballBB

Kansas Vs. Nebraska

7:00 p.m. Horejsi Family Athletics Center

Sold Out

All reserve tickets are sold out, but there may be a limited amount of General Admission tickets on sale at 6:30 at the Horesji Family Athletics Center.

By The Numbers

3 – National Titles for Nebraska since 1995

10 – NCAA Final Fours for the Huskers since 1986.

2 – Seniors on Kansas’ roster -- setter Emily Brown and middle blocker Caitlin Mahoney.

1001 – Career kills for Brown. The Baldwin City native ranks 9th on KU’s all-time kills list.

16 – Aces by sophomore Melissa Grieb, the most by any Jayhawk

Nebraska also has the last two American Volleyball Coaches Association National Players of the Year in its starting lineup. Senior Christina Houghtelling won the award in 2005, while senior Sarah Pavan earned the honor last year.

Nebraska has blown through its early season schedule with relative ease. The Huskers have completed three-game sweeps in nine of their 10 matches – the only blemish coming in a 3-1 win against No. 5 UCLA.

But Kansas (9-5, 2-2 in the Big 12) is playing its best volleyball of the season. With a 3-2 win at Missouri last Wednesday and a sweep of Texas Tech at home on Saturday, the Jayhawks snapped a 12-game conference losing streak, dating back to last year.

“We’re starting to pull it together and get healthy,” Bechard said.

Senior setter Emily Brown was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, after averaging 11 kills, 27 assists and nine digs during last week’s victories, and the team’s trio of freshmen continues improving. Freshman libero Melissa Manda is eighth in the Big 12 with 3.83 digs per game, and freshman outside hitters Jenna Kaiser and Karina Garlington have also been impressive. Kaiser is the team’s leading hitter with 2.49 kills per game, and Garlington notched a career-high 14 kills against Missouri last week.

Kansas’ youth could be an advantage against Nebraska.

“Sometimes the freshman don’t know any better,” Bechard said. “Seniors understand the whole Nebraska phenomenon.”

Bechard’s “phenomenon” description stems from Kansas’ 77 straight losses against its northern neighbor. Brown has been on the team for six of those losses, but the Baldwin native said she was always ready for a chance to take on the best.

“I love it; I can’t wait,” Brown said. “We’ll see if we can catch them off guard a little bit.”

—Edited by Chris Beattie

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