 "Photo: Clay Lomneth | Daily Nebraskan")
When two of the best volleyball teams in the country square off in the sport's palace that is the NU Coliseum, a certain elegance is expected.
A showcase of athleticism seemed realistic.
But high emotions led to an ugly affair Wednesday night as No. 1 Nebraska drubbed No. 7 Texas 30-24, 30-17, 30-25 in its Big 12 Conference opener.
"There's a rivalry in the Big 12 - especially for volleyball - with Nebraska and Texas," NU senior outside hitter Sarah Pavan said. "You can see how cocky they are when they walk in here. You just want to beat them handily every time."
The oddities started on the Longhorns' bench.
Texas outside hitter Destinee Hooker entered the match lugging the conference's second-highest kill total behind Pavan.
But Hooker spent the evening wearing a burnt-orange warm-up jacket and watching from the sideline. She was suspended for academic reasons.
When the eligible players stepped inside the lines, things looked less than pretty.
Four straight errors to open the match helped quiet an electric crowd. Texas started by spiking a ball long and firing a serve directly into the net. Nebraska (8-0, 1-0 Big 12) began with two consecutive service errors, including a bomb by junior outside hitter Jordan Larson that nearly hit some courtside fans on the other side of the gym.
"We might have been a little too pumped up to start there," NU Coach John Cook said. "We were serving balls all over. I think we hit about three ZIP codes with some of our serves to start that match."
Those woes never really subsided. The teams combined for 19 total serving errors.
Inevitably, however, the Cornhuskers gathered themselves. Cook calmed his players by telling them the basics. Take deep breaths. Relax. Whenever a Husker player served, Cook tapped his chest lightly with an open palm.
In the midst of a Texas run during the first game, NU senior outside hitter Tracy Stalls delivered an ace to give the Huskers a 24-21 lead. The Longhorns never threatened again, though it wasn't without a desperate effort.
"I mean, it's the No. 1 team in the country," UT freshman Juliann Faucette said. "They won last year. I think anybody coming into this match would be pretty fired up. It's a big game."
With Hooker watching from the bench, Faucette torched the Huskers for 20 kills. But Texas' lone bright star wasn't enough to overcome NU's weapons.
Pavan racked up 16 kills, moving her into second-place on NU's all-time list with a total of 1,637. Freshman middle blocker Kori Cooper added nine of her own with an impressive .692 hitting percentage.
But the match's telling moment wasn't a big kill or ace. It was a Texas mistake in the early moments of game three. As UT shuffled and lined up for Nebraska to serve, a referee's whistle blew: Illegal rotation.
The Longhorns turned to toward their coach in shock. They had already committed a slew of errors, and this put them behind 12-4.
The match was all but over.
Yet Texas wasn't the only team feeling pressure Wednesday night. They simply came out on the losing side of one of the conference's most heated rivalries.
"It's tough when you got everything going tonight," Cook said. "It's the first Big 12 match. It's Texas. It's real natural to have a lot of adrenaline going through your body."
michaelmchale@dailynebraskan.com
