Baylor
Nebraska
Volleyball Battles, Falls To No. 1 Nebraska
11/18/2000 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 18, 2000
WACO, Texas - Baylor was held to a team attacking percentage of .048 and was out-blocked 16 to six here Saturday night in a 15-5, 15-10, 15-10 loss to No. 1 Nebraska in Big 12 Conference women's volleyball action. With the loss, the Bears fall to 14-14 on the season and 7-12 in conference play. The Huskers improve to 26-0 and 18-0.
Despite the loss, the Bears played Nebraska a tight match. Baylor's 25 points on the night is the most the Bears have ever scored on the Huskers, bettering the 23 points tallied in both matches against Nebraska last season. The Bears also reached 10 points in a game twice in one match against NU for the first time in 11 meetings.
Still, the Huskers, who became the first No. 1 volleyball team to ever play in Waco, have never lost a game to Baylor, winning all 11 meetings 3-0.
Junior Carol Selman turned in her best match of the season with four kills and a career-high six blocks despite not playing the first game. In fact, Selman was in on all of Baylor's blocks, joining Dana Chuha three times and Kirsten Berg on the other three.
Freshman of the Year and all-America candidate Stevie Nicholas led Baylor with 12 kills, and Dana Atkinson had a team-high nine digs.
The Bears jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first game, but then Nebraska came to life and outscored Baylor 13-0 the rest of the way. Angie Oxley got the Huskers to game point by serving her team to eight consecutive points, one shy of the Big 12 record.
In game two, it was Nebraska that jumped out to an early lead at 3-0. Baylor answered with three straight points, but then the Huskers went on a nine-point run to take a commanding 12-3 advantage. Baylor did not roll over, though, scoring eight straight points to pull within two. However, the Huskers did not allow the Bears to get any closer, closing the game at 15-10.
Baylor was again battling NU in the third game, leading 6-5. Nebraska then scored nine of the next 10 points to go ahead 14-7. The Bears held off four match points and got three points before falling 15-10.
Amber Holmquist led the way for Nebraska with 10 kills and a .368 attacking percentage to go along with 12 blocks. Laura Pilakowski had eight kills and 10 digs, while Jenny Kropp totaled eight kills and a match-high 14 digs. Greichaly Cepero paced the Husker offense to a .310 attacking percentage with 39 assists and nine blocks.
The Bears will return to action Monday, traveling to Ames, Iowa, to close out the Big 12 schedule against Iowa State. The Cyclones, who had Saturday off, are 2-24 on the season and 0-17 in conference play.
