Wahine swept in Nebraska

The Hawaii volleyball team didn't fare any better than the other teams that have tried to play defending national champion Nebraska.

The No. 1-ranked Cornhuskers made short work of the No. 11-rated Rainbow Wahine, 30-22, 30-16, 30-24 before an NCAA regular-season record crowd of 13,396 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Nebraska remained the lone unbeaten in women's volleyball thanks in part to the play of senior middle blocker Tracy Stalls. She led Nebraska with 13 kills, hitting a match-high .522. Fellow middle blocker Kori Cooper managed nine kills, while senior Sarah Pavan added 11. She is the Cornhuskers all-time career kills leader.

Nebraska hit a stellar .322 for the match. Hawaii countered with a .140 hitting percentage. The loss snapped the Wahine's 13-match win streak and puts a damper on any thoughts Hawaii belongs with the nation's elite programs.

Jamie Houston led Hawaii with 16 kills, but also had eight errors to hit .211. The Wahine had no aces and five service errors. Nebraska had six aces and seven service errors.

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LINCOLN, Neb. » The University of Nebraska drumline performed and the Hawaii volleyball team only saw fit to get its groove on.

Jamie Houston and Juliana Sanders shimmied while their teammates bobbed to the beat just prior to yesterday's match against host Nebraska.

That's about all the fun the Rainbow Wahine had.

Nebraska, the defending national champion and top-ranked team in the country, humbled No. 11 Hawaii 30-22, 30-16, 30-24 before 13,396 at the Devaney Center, the largest crowd to watch a regular-season volleyball match in NCAA history. The defeat also snapped a 13-match win streak for the 16-4 Rainbow Wahine.

"I think we played a great team tonight and we knew that coming in," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "We had to play a perfect match or close to it to even be in the game. Our team has to use this as a learning experience and we'll go back to the (Western Athletic Conference) and just try to get better."

Hawaii shouldn't be too bummed. Nebraska has been making nationally ranked teams look like also-rans the entire season. The Huskers are 19-0 and have dropped just one game all year. The Huskers outhit Hawaii .322 to .140 and controlled the net on defense.

Still, the Rainbow Wahine will surely fly home today thinking about all their miscues that made life easier for the Huskers. Take Game 2 for example. Nebraska peeled off the first eight points, and Hawaii couldn't mount a comeback after committing 13 errors that led directly to points for the Huskers.

Late in a much more competitive third game, Shoji sprung off the bench and chewed out his team when it let three Nebraska dink shots flutter to the floor.

"We had rehearsed all the things that were happening," Shoji said. "Our kids lost their focus at some critical times and we couldn't convert."

Houston, though, knows the area Hawaii has to shore up the most.

"I just think we didn't pass well," said Houston, who led Hawaii with 16 kills. "We couldn't play to our potential because our passing wasn't there. When our passing is good I think we can play with them."

The Rainbow Wahine did for much of the opening game, which was no shock to Shoji. He's seen Nebraska start sluggishly in game film. Hawaii just didn't have enough to hang in, and credit Nebraska for that, Shoji said.

He wasn't particularly impressed with Nebraska's serve. A lesser team like Louisiana Tech could have served just as tough, he insisted. He just hasn't seen such talent spread out across the floor like what the Huskers have.

Shoji praised Nebraska's middle blockers, including Tracy Stalls, a senior All-American, who led Nebraska with 13 kills and two blocks and hit .522.

Nebraska's tenacity was also something to behold, he'd tell you.

"I think they're relentless," Shoji said. "They may hit a ball out or we may make a good play, but it's just constant. They don't let anybody make any runs on them. You might get one or two, but that's about it. Every point, you've got to earn it and they're hard to come by."

Following the game, Shoji wasn't distraught by any means with how his team got thumped.

There were valuable lessons to take away for the postseason. He said he was glad his team found out how the pace of play quickens when you take on the elite. Sometimes that can get lost when you're stuck with playing only WAC games in the second half of the season.

"I think we need this," he said. "We'd like to do it again. We need a big match like this around this time every year."