Nebraska rally dooms the Huskies

Published 9:07 am Monday, December 15, 2008

BC-VOL—Nebraska-Washington,0323

Nebraska rally sends Huskers to final 4

SEATTLE (AP) — Nebraska staged a furious rally to come from two sets down and defeat Washington in five sets to win the NCAA volleyball West Regional and advance to the final four on Saturday night.

Set scores were 14-25, 23-25, 25-17, 26-24, 15-13.

Fourth-seeded Nebraska rallied from a 9-3 deficit in the fifth set of the match, going on a 9-0 run to take a 12-9 lead over Washington. The fifth-seeded Huskies battled back, scoring four of the next five points to even the match at 13-13.

But a missed shot by Kindra Carlson and an ace by senior Jordan Larson capped off the rally and gave Nebraska the 15-13 victory.

Nebraska will face top-ranked, undefeated Penn State on Thursday in the final four in Omaha, Neb.

Washington finished the first set on an 8-2 run, with Airial Salvo capping it off with an ace to give the Huskies a 25-14 win.

Nebraska had a 16-13 lead in the second set, largely due to six kills from Tara Mueller. But the Huskies rallied and were ahead 23-22 when a Mueller serve missed long, and a block by Bianca Rowland won the set for Washington, 25-23, to give them a two set advantage.

In the third set, Larson accounted for four of Nebraska’s first eight points as the Huskers jumped out to an 8-5 lead. The cushion held for most of the set with Washington never getting within three points of Nebraska, which won 25-17.

Nebraska withstood a late rush by Washington in the fourth set to even the match at two sets apiece. Trailing 22-15, Salvo scored five points in an 8-1 Huskies run to even the score.

After trading the next two points, Larson and an ace from Kayla Banwarth gave the fourth set to the Huskers. 26-24.