UCLA ends Huskers' home streak
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By TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star
After earning tournament MVP honors and snapping Nebraska’s 5-year-old home-court winning streak, UCLA setter Lauren Cook saved the worst news for Husker volleyball fans for last.
“I already miss L.A.,” she said.
Yes, the Pius X graduate is a California girl now, and a steely one at that.
Here was a freshman playing before an NCAA regular-season record crowd of 13,870 and against a higher-ranked team, one coached by her father no less.
How would she handle it? Like a budding star. Indeed, Lauren Cook’s DNA was all over No. 8 UCLA’s 18-25, 25-17, 25-22, 24-26, 15-7 win Sunday at No. 5 Nebraska in the Ameritas Players Challenge.
“I loved it,” said Cook, who traces her fiercely competitive nature to her father. So you can guess how she responded when asked if the win was in any way bittersweet.
“Today, it was totally like, ‘Bring it on,’ and ‘Let’s see what you’ve got,’” she said.
As for his own team, John Cook said he has witnessed about what he expected through nine nonconference matches.
The Huskers (7-2) might have come out of an early season stretch with eight wins, but after dominating Sunday’s opening set, Nebraska lost its composure and “went soft” when challenged by the Bruins.
Those were breakdowns similar to what the Huskers experienced in their season-opening loss to Michigan.
“You’ve got to keep throwing them into the fire and learn from it,” Nebraska’s 10th-year coach said. “We better learn from it because we’re going to be in some tough environments on the road in the Big 12.”
That’s not to say Nebraska has many guarantees at home. While Sunday’s loss at the Devaney Sports Center brought an official end to the Huskers’ NCAA-record 90-match home-court winning streak, the fact is NU has lost three of the last seven matches played in its home state.
And Sunday’s loss shouldn’t be pinned solely on an inexperienced lineup. Yes, freshmen Hannah Werth and Gina Mancuso had their ups and downs, but All-Americans Tara Mueller and Sydney Anderson served out of bounds at key times and Lindsey Licht tipped when the match was at a tipping point.
“I don’t know if I would say it was a step backward, but like the Michigan match, there was at times a lack of trust,” said Mueller, who led NU with 17 kills. “That’s what you were seeing. It was us not trusting ourselves at times, and not trusting each other. That little bit of doubt will get you.”
Having been swept at Hawaii earlier this season, UCLA (8-1) bounced back from losing Sunday’s first set to take a 4-0 lead en route to tying the match.
Nebraska seemed set to regain its edge in set three, only to see UCLA erase a 15-12 deficit. The Huskers gave away all of a 21-15 edge in set four before recovering just long enough to force some fifth-set drama.
But the drama was short-lived, as the Bruins jumped to an 8-3 lead.
“It’s nice that it will be down in the books that we were the ones that ended the streak, but more important for us is how we were able to be in this match after getting blown out in the first game,” UCLA coach Andy Banachowski said. “I thought Lauren did a great job of leading the team and always being in control out there, and she certainly helped us establish a calmness on the court.”
Banachowski leaned over to hug Lauren Cook at the point where his setter pronounced her love for Los Angeles. John Cook, on the other hand, chose to save his sentiments for when his daughter made it home Sunday night to spend the evening with her family.
“I’m trying to let her be a UCLA Bruin player,” he said.
Briefly
Joining Cook on the all-tournament team were UCLA’s Kaitlin Sather and libero Lainey Gera, Nebraska’s Anderson and Brooke Delano, Virginia’s Lauren Dickson and Kayla Walker of BYU.
Reach Todd Henrichs at 473-7320 or thenrichs@journalstar.com.
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