Reds sweep Whites before wild crowd

daily nebraskan
Coming into the Red-White scrimmage Saturday with seven freshmen and one senior, Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook didn't expect midseason form.
What he got, however, was a big-game crowd, exceptional freshman performances and solid play from his upperclassmen.
"These guys are making unreal plays," Cook said. "Balls should be going down, and they're coming up. And they just play with great energy and passion, and I think our crowd fed off that tonight."

The Cornhuskers evoked plenty of "oohs" and "ahs" from a crowd of 4,158 at the NU Coliseum.
But, as expected, there were plenty of grimaces and missed hits to match.

Leading all Huskers with 15 kills, freshman Gina Mancuso powered the White to two near comebacks in the opening sets. Mancuso also totaled 21 digs and three blocks to cap off her Husker debut.
Mancuso led a freshmen charge that had Cook surprised with their youthful poise and energy.
Cook said he realized mistakes would happen, but his freshman didn't act or look like it was their first time on stage.
Megan Pendergast matched Mancuso with 21 Digs on the night – 15 of which came from her libero position for the White.
It was her time on the Red team, however, that the freshman defensive specialist showed her potential.

"I love playing with (Pendergast)," junior Kayla Banwarth said. "She's such a little fire, such a little spunk out there. She'll always just pick you up when you play with her."

After two weeks of practice, Cook said he hadn't seen Pendergast display the level of consistency she showed Saturday.
Cook said he was happy with the poise all his freshmen showed and added that being in front of a full crowd made it even more impressive.

That composure led to exceptional plays and inspired a raucous atmosphere inside the NU Coliseum – something that even had Cook a little excited afterward.
"It was a very spirited effort by our players, and I thought the crowd was really into it," Cook said. "A lot of Red-White games, I feel like people are just sitting and watching with no energy. It was electric down there tonight."

That excitement stemmed from breakout plays across the roster. Lindsey Lict's powerful spikes, Banwarth's diving digs and Mancuso's timely kills all had the sellout crowd exhilarated.
Despite all the highlights, it was the steady play of the Husker upperclassmen that gave the Red a 4-0 sweep (25-23, 25-23, 25-15, 25-19). Junior All-American Tara Mueller led the Red with 14 kills, while picking up 11 digs and two service aces. Fellow all-American Sydney Anderson impressed with 44 assists, 12 digs and three blocks.
"We did really good at some things, and there's a lot of things that we really need to work on," Mueller said. "We're all really competitive, so it was fun because we like to compete, and we like to play against each other."

Banwarth said after the game that she agreed, and that plenty of work remained before the Cornhuskers would be ready for this weekend's AVCA showcase in Omaha. The junior added, though, that emotionally the team is more than ready to begin the season.

"We're definitely itching to get out and play some competition," Banwarth said. "Obviously, we saw tonight that we're good competition for each other. We're ready to show everybody that we're still a good team this year, and we're still going to be contending for a title."

That's been the story for the Husker women since last December. The intensity and determination showed.
"It's going to be a wild ride with this group," Cook said. "They're going to be entertaining as heck."

davehoufek@dailynebraskan.com