What seemed to be just another sweep for the Nebraska volleyball team turned into a first in the career of NU Coach John Cook on Wednesday night.
The Cornhusker coach got emotional in the midst of game two against Texas A&M on Wednesday night and, surprisingly to him, Cook was charged with a red card.
In volleyball, the card system is very similar to soccer. There is a red card and a yellow card, with the red card being the more severe penalty. However, unlike soccer, a red card doesn't get you kicked out of the match, at least the first time.
Had Cook gotten a second red card, he would have been ejected from the match, but just one red card meant Texas A&M received a free point. Cook said the red card came from his opinion of the line judge calling the match.
"He is not a good lines official," Cook said. "I have never gotten a red card in my life, and I'm very upset with the referees because I had told the officials before the match that we were very concerned about the lines official."
Cook said the concern came because of a Nebraska match the official called earlier this year against Iowa State. Cook said the official had made several bad calls in the match, and Cook expected to see more of the same Wednesday night, and he felt he did.
The point when Cook lost his patience with the line judge was when NU junior outside hitter Jordan Larson hit a ball near the sideline and it was called in. The following play, senior Christina Houghtelling hit a ball a foot inside of Larson's, according to Cook, and it was called out.
"I said they needed to overrule it," Cook said. "He told me to sit down, and I asked him how many points our team needed to win the game; 30, 33 or 35? He didn't like that."
Nebraska (24-1, 16-1 Big 12 Conference) swept the Aggies 30-26, 30-23, 30-22 on Wednesday night, and with the dramatics in game two, it proved to be a night when the No. 2 Huskers learned something about their coach.
"It shows that he's got our back," Larson said. "He wasn't going to let that call go. It was a really bad call and it shows the trust he has in us."
Fortunately for Cook, the way NU's defense was playing, the Huskers had room for free points in the match.
NU was led defensively by freshman Kayla Banwarth, who received her second consecutive start for the Big Red. Banwarth tallied 11 digs for the Huskers, but what might be even more surprising is the defensive show put on by one of the most offense-oriented Huskers.
Senior Sarah Pavan led the team in digs through the late part of game three and finished with 10 total. Larson said the Huskers came out timid in the first game, but after they got turned on, there was no stopping them.
"We finally got on it, and I thought it was a great match for us," Larson said. "We had to attack with our serve, and I think we just had a couple of passing lulls."
Those passing lulls proved to be a moderate scare for the Huskers in both games two and three. NU trailed by as much as five in game two.
The lead vanished quickly for the Aggies (18-10, 7-10 Big 12) in game two from that point on, however, as NU piled on a 9-4 run that all but deflated A&M.
Game three also caught Nebraska by a surprise, but not early. The Huskers led 12-6 midway through the final game, but the Aggies mounted a run to bring the score to 12-11. Cook called a timeout, and that was all he needed as NU went on a 18-11 run to finish the game and match.
The part of NU's game that stood out Wednesday and inevitably earned it the win was its serving. The Huskers collected nine service aces compared to A&M's one.
"We talked about attacking with our serve tonight," Cook said. "There were some ugly parts in the match, but we worked ourselves out of it and made some runs. I thought our players did a really good job of hanging in there."
A&M came into its match with Nebraska coming off losses to Kansas State and Texas.
Larson said it's exciting to see her team get out of College Station after just playing three games, and it can only mean good things for the Huskers as they continue toward the NCAA Tournament later this month.
"I think it was a great win on the road," Larson said. "It's going to boost our confidence, and it's giving us back that Nebraska confidence and swagger. I think we are on our way up to the top. It's the best time to peak for us with the tournament getting closer."
SPENCERSCHUBERT@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
