 "Photo: STAFF PHOTO")
It's never easy to see seniors leave after a season is done. But after the run the Nebraska volleyball season has enjoyed this year, some might think it catastrophic.
Today, the Huskers get ready to take on South Dakota State University in first round action of the NCAA Tournament, which will be the last for seniors Sarah Pavan, Christina Houghtelling, Maggie Griffin and Tracy Stalls.
Nebraska Coach John Cook said each has left their own mark and their own story at NU.
"They are the complete package of a student-athlete and, specifically, a Nebraska volleyball player," Cook said.
The most decorated member of the class would have to be Pavan. She is a three-time Big 12 Conference Player of the Year, the 2006 AVCA Player of the Year, a Honda-Broderick Cup winner and much more.
She came to Lincoln in the fall of 2004 heralded by many as the nation's top recruit, and she more than lived up to her billing. She earned the first of her four first team AVCA All-American honors, while setting many Nebraska school records along the way.
She said it's hard to believe everything has gone so fast.
"I was talking to my parents the other day, and I remember the day they left my freshman year," Pavan said. "I remember it so perfectly that it seems like it was four months ago. It's hard to believe that four years have passed."
In those four years, Pavan kept busy. She has more career kills than any Husker in history, and she is on pace to average more kills per game than any Husker as well.
Cook said Pavan may have all the accolades, but the growth he's seen most in her involved something not measured by statistics.
"She wouldn't say a word when she got here," Cook said. "Now she can get up in front of a group and blow them away with the talk."
Pavan isn't the only one to talk in the senior class. That's where senior captain and middle blocker Tracy Stalls comes in.
Stalls has been the captain of the Huskers for the last two years. Whether she's yelling on the court or cheering on the bench, Stalls has been a leader from the start.
The Huskers have gone 123-6 in her four-year career at NU and, until this year, Stalls had never experienced playing on a collegiate team that was ranked No. 8 in the polls. Cook said Stalls figured out who she was early in her career.
"She has just grown more into what her strengths are," Cook said. "Her leadership and her ability has just helped her have a great mind on all of that."
Stalls said her senior year has been all she expected it to be and then some.
"It's been gradual as the season has been winding down," Stalls said. "The sentimental aspect of things gradually takes you over. It really speaks to how special these four years have been."
Stalls said she has learned, changed and grown during her career at Nebraska, and she is ready to accept the role placed upon her as the Huskers enter the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
Another senior has been identified as a role player for this 2007 squad. After transferring from Michigan State in 2005, Griffin helped lead the Huskers to a national runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament as part of NU's two-setter system.
The decision to transfer paid off quickly for Griffin, as she played in all of Nebraska's 35 matches that year, averaging 7.49 assists per game along with 1.59 digs per game.
The last two years have been a little bit different for the senior setter.
Sophomore Rachel Holloway entered the picture at Nebraska in 2006 after sitting out with a redshirt during the 2005 season. Holloway battled with Griffin for the setter position during the entire offseason, and was able to overcome a setter who helped Nebraska to the nation's fourth-best hitting percentage in the country a year earlier.
"Maggie has certainly learned how to put the team first," Cook said. "She has helped the team win even though it might not have been the best situation for her."
Griffin still saw action in most matches, but compared to '05, it was severely reduced. Griffin said she could have handled her situation in many different ways, but as Nebraska enters this year's tournament, she's never been more proud to be a Husker.
"My career here has been amazing," Griffin said. "I couldn't ask for anything more. It's been a little up and down, and it's a tough role to swallow. You need to give to make this team successful, and I think that's one reason we are successful. We have so many givers."
Houghtelling knows a thing or two about giving as well. She gave up an entire season because of injury just so she could be ready to finish her career at Nebraska in 2007.
Houghtelling, like Pavan, is one of the more decorated Huskers in the lineup, having been named the 2005 AVCA Player of the Year and a Honda Award finalist in 2005.
Houghtelling, however, may have had the toughest road of the four seniors to get to this year's NCAA Tournament. Sitting out all of last season, Houghtelling could do nothing but watch as her team won the 2006 national championship.
She said having to sit through all of that without playing added more fuel to the fire for her final campaign, and it has shown.
In the beginning of the season, Cook and other players knew they had to wait and see how Houghtelling would react to competition. She didn't leave any doubters.
Houghtelling has compiled 280 kills on the season, which ranks third among Huskers behind junior Jordan Larson and Pavan. Houghtelling said she has been anticipating an NCAA Tournament since the moment she knew she was 100 percent again.
"It's been long," Houghtelling said. "It's a lifetime opportunity year. It's unreal that it has actually come to this point of the season with it being tournament time. Just to share that with these seniors will be incredible."
Cook said he's glad to see his most battle-tested Husker excited for the tournament ahead.
"She has gone through something that none of us have had to go through," Cook said. "Her work ethic and her commitment to being a great player is really unparalleled."
Neither Cook nor any of the seniors could find a solid way to describe the group that will be departing this season. In fact, most of them didn't want to even dwell on the fact that their final matches as Huskers will be done within a month.
"I've been trying to cherish every moment this year," Cook said. "They've set the bar really high and I've really enjoyed them, but it's like that with any senior class."
This senior class might be comparable to others in Cook's mind, but in the record books, it might be the best ever. Houghtelling said she hopes this year helps show how unique she and the rest of the seniors are.
"We're a special group," Houghtelling said. "We bring a lot of different dimensions to the team. When we put it all together we can lead this team in great ways. It's really special to have that with the other three seniors."
SPENCERSCHUBERT@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
