Huskers sweep Creighton at Qwest Center

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BY TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star

OMAHA — The NU volleyball team can still bang away offensively. The Huskers can fire off aces and throw up a big, intimidating block.

But in rattling off 15 straight wins to open this season, the unbeaten Huskers have gained a new reputation.

John Cook, the coach who routinely refers to Nebraska’s opponents as “scrappy,” said it’s a label that seems just as appropriate in describing his own team.

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Nebraska's Sydney Anderson (1), Kayla Banwarth (2, white), Jordan Larson (10), Lindsey Licht (4), Tara Mueller (19) and Amanda Gates (17) celebrate a second set point on Sunday. (Ted Kirk)

“We have Jordan and Tara and Kayla and Schwartz and Sydney,” Cook said. “They’re pretty scrappy players. And they had to scrap tonight.”

Second-ranked Nebraska was never seriously threatened in its 25-19, 25-18, 25-19 win Sunday at Creighton, but it was far from an easy victory.

The Huskers relied on 12 blocks and 65 digs, their highest output in a three-set match in more than two seasons.

Libero Kayla Banwarth had 20 digs to lead Nebraska, while Jordan Larson added 19. Both matched season highs.

Creighton, meanwhile, had 54 digs — 16 from libero Bianca Rivera — as the Bluejays, at times, effectively slowed Nebraska. The Huskers hit just .217, their lowest mark since beating Northeastern in September.

“I thought we made Nebraska earn points today,” said Lincoln native Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Creighton’s sixth-year head coach. “Blocks and great digs build momentum, so that’s what we fed off of.”

A crowd of 8,037, the third-largest in the country this season, turned out for what technically was a Creighton home match, but was staged in a venue where the Huskers are much accustomed.

Nebraska improved to 13-0 at Qwest Center Omaha, where the Bluejays remain winless. Creighton’s traditional home court is the Civic Auditorium, where the Bluejays have averaged 845 fans for matches this season.

Nerves clearly got the best of Creighton early in Sunday’s showdown. Nebraska jolted the Bluejays with a 10-2 run to open the match. Included were three blocks apiece from Lindsey Licht and Kori Cooper.

The Bluejays settled in, but after reaching 18 points in a set, Nebraska outscored them a combined 10-2.

“That’s what great teams do,” Cook said.

With the NCAA final four in Omaha now only 10 weeks away, Cook said there are other things that the Huskers must do to still be  national-title contenders when there’s snow swirling in the Old Market.

The Huskers will need to eliminate many of the “silly errors” that they’re making, errors that Cook still attributes to their relative inexperience.

Cook added that Nebraska will need to continue to improve its blocking and expand on its offense, something that is routinely a focus for the Huskers during the second half of Big 12 play.

Tara Mueller had 15 kills and  Cooper added seven on .455 hitting to lead Nebraska, but Sunday’s win was more about defense. Jessica Houts led Creighton with seven kills, but the Jays’ other top hitter, senior Amanda Cvejdlik, was blocked a minimum of four times.

Creighton, now 6-7, but with five losses to top-25 teams, hit a season-low .091.

Briefly

With the win, Nebraska’s seniors became the first class in school history to never lose a regular-season nonconference match. The Huskers are 34-0 in their four seasons.

Reach Todd Henrichs at 473-7320 or thenrichs@journalstar.com.