All-American junior outside hitter Rachael Kidder led UCLA with 20 kills and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament following the Bruins’ victory.

Kidder got off to a fast start with six kills in the first set, but the Illinois block was prepared for her on the outside and held her to three kills in the second.

UCLA took the first set 25-23 and gave up a seven-point lead in the second as Illinois won the second set 25-23.

The two teams matched up evenly, and the first two sets reflected that. The first set alone featured 12 ties and big runs by both squads. The Bruins rattled off a 7-1 run to take the lead but gave up a 6-1 run to the Illini to even it up.

The Illini went on a 12-3 run to close out the second set, and UCLA went into the locker room on a low point.

“We were just confident that it was our game the whole time and we knew if we had the momentum and we were in control of the game, then it was going to go our way,” Kidder said.

The Bruins came out slow in the third set that was again back and forth with multiple lead changes. Down 21-19, Illinois, led by senior outside hitters Colleen Ward and Michelle Bartsch, scored four straight to make it 23-21.

UCLA had to survive two set points from Illinois but rallied to win the third set 26-24 and shift the all-important momentum to their side heading into the fourth set.

Freshman Zoe Nightingale had a very timely best game of the season with a personal-high 11 blocks, and junior outside hitter Tabi Love stepped up again in the third set, showcasing the team’s depth on both offense and defense. Love noted that the second set was a turning point in the game and the team made a conscious effort to finish strong.

“After we went into the locker room after set two, I think that was a really big turning point for us,” Love said.

“I think it would have been easy to get fragile because we were up by so much … But I think once we made that decision as a team, that unity and our drive really drove us to come back.”

UCLA’s tallest player, the 6-foot-5 Love often found herself going up against 6-foot-6 Illinois freshman Liz McMahon and was repeatedly able to find the empty spaces in the Illinois defense.

Kidder may have been the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament, but senior Sara Sage was the star of the final set. Sage came off the bench in the closing minutes and provided the jumpstart the team needed to close out the match, adding the exclamation mark with an emphatic kill on match point.

Sage hit six kills on seven swings for a .857 hitting percentage. The senior took advantage of the defense’s concern for Kidder and Love and repeatedly caught them off guard.

“We figured Sara could jump in and get touches. Lauren and Sara work really well together, Lauren is really aggressive, Sara can flick it in from off the net. I thought that was the spark that probably opened up some of the pin hitters as well,” coach Mike Sealy said.

Sealy becomes the first collegiate women’s volleyball coach to win a championship as both a player and a coach. Sealy was a four-year letterwinner for UCLA and was a setter on the men’s volleyball championship team in 1993.

“I think we did everything we needed to do to qualify as champions. I told them we were champions before we arrived in the building tonight and we’re going to be champions when we leave the building tonight, whether you handle that block of wood or not,” Sealy said.

A 102-match winning streak and three consecutive national championships were irrelevant for the Nittany Lions’ women’s volleyball team in its hope to repeat in 2010.

This season, Penn State features a considerably different roster. New faces, new roles, new expectations — and new burdens.

“We’re a different team this year,” coach Russ Rose told reporters at media day in August. “Each year is different.”

Now, it’s seven weeks into the season and the Lions (13-4, 3-3 Big Ten) have lost four matches over the past four weeks. The seven-time defending conference champions are currently in sixth place in the Big Ten standings. And they’re not the No. 1 ranked in the country for the first time since Oct. 22, 2007.

The cracks are growing deeper, and some are beginning to question: Is this the end of the Penn State juggernaut and its reign over collegiate women’s volleyball?

“I would say you could predict the end of a dynasty, yeah,” said Buster Olney, ESPN baseball analyst and author of The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty. “When you see the players that were so important leave, it’s like a colony of ants. They all had their specific roles in the clubhouse, and when they leave, the culture is different. And the hardest thing to deal with is the pressure to try to repeat.”

Penn State entered the 2010 season without its core.

Alisha Glass and Megan Hodge — veteran locker room presences who graduated last spring as a part of the winningest class in school history — moved on, and nine freshmen were added to the Lions’ roster.

Olney said he came up with the thesis for his book, which chronicles the decline of the New York Yankees’ dominance over Major League Baseball from 1996-2001, in the summer of 2002. When Olney saw players such as Paul O’Neill, Chuck Knoblauch, Scott Brosius and Tino Martinez — who he described as “the core for that incredible leadership culture” — leave, he knew things would change.

Olney said the Yankees kept making the playoffs after that, but the feeling wasn’t the same.

It was a different team, he said.

“I think the change in personnel became a defining characteristic of their decline,” Olney said. “When you get that label of ‘dynasty’ the players go from excited about winning a game to the expectations that, if they lose, you’re losers. The Yankees had to deal with that and I’m sure the Penn State volleyball players do, too.”

The Lions have stumbled of late, tumbling to a No. 9 national ranking — their lowest since 2003.

However, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Dave Anderson, who has been a sports columnist at the New York Times since 1971, said a few regular season blunders might not mean it would be the end of a dynasty.

Anderson said dynasties are measured in championships. He said when a reign of dominance occurs, there’s always a common thread.

“The end of a dynasty comes if all the good players or coaches who were a part of that get old, retire or are not there anymore,” Anderson said. “Especially the coach. Usually when a team is in the midst of a dynasty range, they have the same coach. Players only last so long.”

Anderson pointed to the Yankees’ dynasty of 1947-62, when New York won 10 World Series championships in 16 seasons as a prime example. He said when General Manager George Weiss retired in 1960, the team’s philosophy changed.

And not soon after, the Yankees’ run ended.

Rose has coached the Penn State women’s volleyball team for the last 32 seasons, and last year amassed 1,000 wins.

“These things can be revitalized as long as the people who are still doing the recruiting and established the program are still there,” said Filip Bondy, a longtime sports columnist for The New York Daily News.

“They will still be a magnet school for talent and interest. Once the coach leaves, the program can completely fall apart.”

Bondy said the perfect illustration of that is the Tennessee and Connecticut women’s basketball programs, which have combined to win 12 of the last 16 NCAA titles.

The success has been a result of sound coaching, Bondy said. Pat Summitt and Geno Auriemma are two of the winningest coaches in the history of the sport, and together have put in 60 years at their respective institutions.

“Summitt and Auriemma might have an off year or two, but as long as those coaches are there, their programs will keep winning,” Bondy said. “Rock solid teams fall apart when coaches leave.”

That’s why Karch Kiraly isn’t worried about the Penn State women’s volleyball team. In fact, Kiraly — an ESPN volleyball analyst and current assistant coach for the U.S. women’s national team — feels strongly the Lions will “claw back up.”

“Some claim Penn State lost a few games, and it’s the end of dominance,” Kiraly said. “I think the more important thing to focus on is what an amazing accomplishment it was for coach Russ Rose to put together the best team in the history of college volleyball. That should be appreciated for what it is.”

However, tonight’s opponent is the toughest the team may face all year: No. 3 Nebraska.

The Cornhuskers are consistently one of the top teams in the country, and they are also one of the Sooners’ biggest rivals. The OU team is well aware of Nebraska’s reputation and would love to take the perennial powerhouse down in front of a home crowd. On top of that, OU has never beaten Nebraska under current coach Santiago Restrepo, something that gives the Sooners added motivation.

“We really want to beat a team like Nebraska,” Restrepo said. “That’s a team that we have never beaten since I have been here, and we really want to send them out with a loss in their last year in the conference.”

Nebraska is off to its usual fast start this year with only one loss, none in conference play. OU, on the other hand, is 2-1 and trying to avoid falling to .500 in the Big 12. This game has serious implications both locally and nationally. The Sooners want to seize one of their last opportunities to beat the Huskers, and a Sooner victory would also surprise the nation.

The teams face each other twice during the regular season, but this will be the only time that OU gets the Huskers in Norman. Though it’s still early, this game has season-shaping potential for OU: Win and the Sooners are looking at a 3-1 conference record, national respect and one of the biggest wins in program history; lose and they are simply fighting to stay above .500 in the Big 12.

The Sooners host Nebraska at 7 tonight at McCasland Field House.

Saint Mary’s (3-11) has lost five straight matches with its last win Sept. 18 at the Manchester Invitational tournament, and recently suffered a 3-0 loss to Alma on Friday and a 3-1 loss to Adrian on Saturday.

The Thunder (6-11) have extra motivation to come out victorious as they lost their last conference match to Adrian on Sept. 21. Nevertheless, Belles coach Toni Kuschel remains focused on what her squad needs to do to win.

“We are focused on what we need to do as a team on our side of the net to be successful,” Kuschel said.

Kuschel said she hopes for her team to play a well-rounded match, especially on defense and serving, two areas in which the Belles have fallen short often this season. Saint Mary’s had a critical seven service errors and five blocking errors in their loss to Adrian and three to Alma’s zero in Friday night’s loss. The Belles were also outmatched in the service ace category by both opponents this weekend.

“We will need to serve tough so they will have a harder time running a fast offense. We will also need to be successful putting runs together on defense,” Kuschel said. “We have struggled with that the last three matches.”

The Belles will also strive to edge Trine on Wednesday in the non-statistical and more intangible aspects of the match.

“We need to find our offensive rhythm and we need to start to make more good decisions with the ball,” Kuschel said. “We know that we did not communicate well this past week and we know that we did not play to our full potential. If we find our focus and have fun playing together there is no doubt that the rest of our season can be a successful one.”

Saint Mary’s will travel to Angola, Ind., to take on Trine tonight at 7 p.m.

Call it confidence, swagger or simply attitude, but whatever it is, the sophomore from Springfield, Ill., has it.

From painting her nails “fun colors” to embracing her new on-court eyewear, Werth is comfortable with her place on the Nebraska volleyball team.

It’s that comfort that fuels her to be a force for the No. 3 Huskers.

The reigning Big 12 Freshman Of The Year learned about pressure last year.

In NU’s run to the Elite Eight, Werth put up big numbers hitting the ball to power the Huskers, but what was more impressive was her defensive play in the postseason.

After putting up back-to-back double-doubles in the first two NCAA Tournament matches, Werth fell one kill shy of a third double-double in the upset of Iowa State.

This year, Werth has shown the same inspired play on defense, and has become a key component to Nebraska’s ability to put pressure on opponents.

So far this season, Werth has seven solo blocks in just 43 sets. Compare that to her eleven solo blocks in 103 sets last year, and it’s easy to see the difference a year makes.

For Werth, stepping it up on defense was just her way to find comfort in the NU system.

“It’s something that Nebraska prides itself on is blocking and defense,” Werth said.

“We train so hard for that. I’m just trying to help us do our best as a whole and so far it shows on the court.”

The impressive part about Werth’s play is that with her increase in defensive achievement has also come an increase in her hitting numbers.

After battling illness early in the year, Werth has come up big since conference play kicked off two weeks ago. In their four Big 12 matches, Werth has been second on the team with 3.31 kills per set, a dramatic increase from her early season numbers.

And it’s not just about what she’s doing, but when she’s doing it.

In last week’s match against Kansas, the Huskers stormed out to a 2-1 lead after dropping the first set, but the Jayhawksanswered in the fourth set to make things interesting.

After drawing to within one point in set number four, Werth answered with a solo block and a number of clutch kills down the stretch to power Nebraska to the win.

Yet even with her personal success, Werth still said the credit is due to the team, rather than her as an individual.

“I wouldn’t be able to do anything without my teammates, I’m just trying to do my job,” Werth said.

In addition to the play of her teammates, Werth has also been helped by the addition of what she calls “sports goggles.” Due to an inability to wear contacts, Werth had to turn to the goggles to correct for errors with her vision.

Whether it’s coincidence, or a sign they are actually working, Werth’s first match with the goggles was the conference opener, and since then she’s been on a tear.

In fact, the biggest issue she’s faced with the goggles is trying to keep them from fogging up during matches.

To solve that problem. NU coach John Cook said they turned to baby shampoo, and since then he said the goggles have added a spark to Werth’s game.

“Her numbers are definitely up,” Cook said.

“And even though her numbers are up, the most important thing with any athlete is what they believe. Hannah believes they really help her.”

Whether it’s the goggles, or having another year to mature, one thing is certain: Werth is ready to make another run at a conference and national title, with or without the impressive personal stats.

This year, she said, it’s not about her.

“No not at all, that’s why it’s a team.”

The Belles (3-8) beat Franklin College, 3-1 (26-24, 25-10, 22-25, 25-19), to open the tournament. victory for Saint Mary’s (3-8). Sophomore Autumn Nelson led the team with 15 kills, while contributing five digs and two service aces.  Sophomore Stephanie Bodien added eight kills, five digs and four aces. Freshman Hailee Leitz served a team-high eight aces.

“We really served aggressively against them, which allowed us to get them out of their system and help us run our offense really well,” Belles coach Toni Kuschel said.

The next match for the Belles was on Saturday against Milikin University White squad. Prior to the tournament, Milikin split into white and blue squads to accommodate the absence of a previously committed team. Saint Mary’s earned a 3-2 (25-19, 22-25, 24-26, 25-23, 16-14) victory over the Big Blue.

“In our match versus Milikin, again our outside hitters really did a wonderful job for us — Autumn Nelson having 15 kills and Stephanie Bodien having 16,” Kuschel said.

Continuing the tournament on Sunday, the Belles fell in a close match against Purdue North Central (15-4) by a score of 3-1 (25-13, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22. Contributers included Leitz with 33 assists and seven digs, senior Meghann Rose with a team-high 20 digs and senior Ellen Huelsmann with 10 digs.

“We were pretty close with Purdue North Central and went point-for-point,” Kuschel said. “We just made some critical errors.”

Saint Mary’s faced the Milikin Blue team for the second and final match on Sunday and lost by a score of 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-15). Freshman Christi Wyble had five blocks and Rose made 11 digs.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to learn from our errors and come back strong this week in conference play,” Kuschel said. “We have some big matches coming up this week. This weekend has definitely helped us see what we need to work on tomorrow at practice before Tuesday’s match against Kalamazoo.”

Werth, who recently started wearing custom-fitted maroon glasses for an eye problem, hit lights out as the Huskers’ defense helped Nebraska U. stomp Colorado, 25-13, 25-7, 25-17, in the Huskers’ conference home opener.

The sophomore from Springfield, Ill., played just two sets in the win over Colorado U. but notched eight kills on 11 attacks without any errors  and the Huskers followed suit in the sweep.

“Emotionally, we spent a lot energy Saturday and Wednesday,” NU coach John Cook said.

“Tonight, we just started off a little off, but we did a really good job of working into the match.”

Despite the lopsided final score, the Buffaloes hung with the Huskers early after a run of six Nebraska errors in the first half of the first set.

“We kind of sputter, sputter, and then we go on these great runs where we just roll the other team off the court,” Cook said.

And then the Huskers just took command with some dominating hitting by a Coloradan in senior Lindsey Licht, who hit .421 and tied for the team lead with 11 kills. She had three kills as NU strung together nine consecutive points to take a 23-12 lead.

“Colorado was just putting it into play,” Cook said. “It was a much different tempo than we were used to. Higher sets, everything was slower, and I think we were just dug in.”

After Nebraska grabbed 11 of the final 13 points in the first set, the Huskers kept pouring it on in the second.

Werth recorded five kills as NU stormed to a 25-7 win in the second set. Nebraska finished the set hitting .457 with 17 kills and only one error.

“It shows us that we can terminate any ball out of system, in-system, make shots, tool the block,” Werth said. “I think we did a really good job of staying consistent and doing our jobs.”

The Huskers hadn’t even conceded enough points to equal one set by the end of the second game  and had claimed 36 of 45 points.

“We pretty much played almost flawless that second game,” Cook said. “I’d like to see us do that every point of every game, but that’s what I’ll keep asking from them.”

Senior Tara Mueller replaced Werth in the third set in a predetermined lineup switch, but the Huskers kept the pressure on.

While the torrid pace may have slowed from the unbelievable second set, the Huskers still set the school record for the fewest points allowed — 37 — in the three years of 25-point rally of scoring.

“I think everyone got in their rhythm and groove and just kind of found a sync with each other,” Werth said. “I think we did a good job and showed what I think we can do.”

Delano, a junior middle blocker, was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week after a dominating weekend at the Ameritas Players Challenge.

She was named tournament MVP after recording 40 kills on just 68 swings for a .529 hitting percentage.

Delano dropped a career-high 15 kills on the Illini in the Huskers’ five-set victory.

Banwarth, a senior libero, earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.

She notched 65 digs in 12 sets as NU topped Dayton, Western Michigan and Illinois this weekend.

Banwarth also recorded two set assists and an ace.

The Huskers, who jumped from seventh to fourth in the AVCA rankings, return to action Wednesday night when they travel to Ames to face No. 11 Iowa State at 7 p.m.

The No. 1 Penn State women’s volleyball team had it’s 109-match winning streak snapped Saturday night, as the Nittany Lions were dispatched by Stanford 3-0 (28-26, 25-12, 25-18) in the finals of the Nike Big Four Classic in Gainesville, Fla.

It is almost fitting that the streak was broken by the Cardinal, as Stanford was the last team to beat Penn State — all the way back on September 15, 2007.

On Saturday, the Lions posted a mere .091 hitting percentage.

The Utes will compete in Missouri State’s Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational in Springfield, Mo., this weekend.

Utah will open the tournament at 3:30 p.m. Friday against the Oklahoma Sooners.

Oklahoma, 5-3 in 2010, has been solid on defense this season, although its offense has provided some inconsistencies.

The Sooners have three players with at least 94 attacks and a hitting percentage of .309 or better. However, Utah has a higher team overall hitting percentage—a .229 compared to Oklahoma’s .206.

Although Oklahoma has good defense and an attack that can be lethal, it has shown one weakness that bodes well for Utah: The Sooners have gone 0-2 this year in matches at neutral locations.

The toughest challenge for Utah might come from tournament host Missouri State.

Although Missouri State might not be a well-known name to the casual sports fan, the Bears have a well-respected volleyball program. Missouri State has been to eight NCAA tournaments and has 11 consecutive 20-win seasons.

So far, 2010 does not appear to be a down year for the Bears. Missouri State is off to a 6-1 start this season and has dropped only four sets in its seven matches.

Missouri State has the highest hitting percentage (.263) and the lowest opposing hitting percentage (.152) of all the teams in this weekend’s tournament.

After playing Missouri State at 11 a.m. Saturday, the Utes’ final match will come against the St. Louis Billikens at 4:30 p.m. the same day. St. Louis has gone 2-4 this season.

Head coach Beth Launiere said that the hard-fought game against Northwestern last weekend helped the players prepare for the stiff competition they will face in Springfield.

The Utes put in a new blocking system that will help slow down opponents’ key hitters this week. The scheme, which essentially shadows a star player, might come in handy against hitters such as Oklahoma’s Suzy Boulavsky. The Sooner has totaled 108 kills this season, the most of any player in the tournament and 44 more than her next closest teammate.

In contrast to the beginning of the season, Utah’s defense is becoming its strong point. If the Utes hold their opponents below a .200 hitting percentage—as they have done in three of their last four matches—a successful tournament is within reach.

With the increased defensive consistency, Utah’s success might be on the shoulders of its attack. Karolina Bartkowiak, Morgan Odale, Sarah Collette and Brooke McAlister have all shown the potential to be 10-plus kill threats. This hitting diversity made an appearance in last weekend’s Northwestern Challenge, and it will be a large factor in Utah’s success at Missouri.

Another key element to Utah’s success will be team unity. The Utah players had a meeting after last weekend’s Morehead State loss and decided to come together as one force.

“We don’t have any freshmen, sophomores, juniors or seniors,” libero Keisha Fisher said. “We’re all just one team going together.”

Utah has traditionally been a strong team at home, but Launiere isn’t worried about being away from Crimson Court for such a long stretch.

“It’s good to go on the road to spend some time together,” she said.

After two weekends away from Athens, the Bobcats will rest in their own beds for the Baymont Inn and Suites Invitational, where the team will play three matches at The Convocation Center Friday and Saturday.

“We’re looking forward to a home weekend,” coach Ryan Theis said. “We’re certainly excited that (yesterday was) Thursday and we don’t have to get back on the road.

“It was actually a weekend where we got to get some practice done.”

With three big-time programs coming to town, that extra bit of rest will help.

The tournament includes Pittsburgh (1-6), Tennessee (6-0) and Northwestern (4-1), which will bolster the Bobcats’ already difficult strength of schedule. Ohio’s match with Tennessee will mark the third time in this short season that the Bobcats have faced a 2009 NCAA tournament team.

The attraction of top squads to Athens shows the respect Ohio volleyball garners from around the nation, senior Meryl Bender said.

“It’s really exciting,” Bender said. “It’s good competition. It’s outside of the (Mid-American Conference), and it means a lot to us that other schools are willing to come here to play us and compete. We’ve worked hard in the past to get here.”

Ohio’s match with No. 14 Tennessee is the Bobcats’ marquee matchup of the weekend. The Volunteers have won all six matches in straight sets and won both their home tournament and tournament at Houston University last weekend.

They are led by outside hitter Nikki Fowler, who’s coming off two tournament MVP performances and earned the Southeastern Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week award. She averages 4.72 points per set with a .329 hitting percentage.

The Bobcats, however, take a “one match at a time” philosophy into the weekend and will worry about the tougher opponents as they come.

“We’re going to focus on each team this weekend because we don’t want to look past anyone,” setter Michelle Jantsch said. “We definitely have a game plan, and we’ll base it a little bit more off of scouting of when (the teams) come down this weekend.”

No matter the strength of the opponents, the Bobcats know playing at home gives them an advantage, especially after two straight weekends away.

“It’s a lot of fun to play in front of a home crowd,” Bender said. “It’s just a different atmosphere. You’re just super excited. You’re comfortable, you practice here and you have the support of the community.”

Now in her twentieth season, Brown is 449-172 as leader of the Irish.

This weekend the Irish will travel to Denver, Colo. for three games at the Pioneer Classic after playing a similarly hectic schedule last weekend in Reno, Nev.

In Reno at the Nevada Invitational last weekend, the Irish won two of three matches, with victories over Belmont and Weber State, and a defeat at the hands of Nevada.

Notre Dame will wrap up their road swing this weekend in Denver, with matches against Denver, Jacksonville State and Gonzaga at the Pioneer Classic.

Irish coach Debbie Brown said she has been pleased with her team’s response to the challenges that come with travel.

“The team responds well to traveling and playing in different environments,” Brown said. “We are able to adapt well to the surroundings.”

This responsiveness and acute attention to detail, Brown said, can be paramount to success on the road.

“This week in Denver, we have to pay attention to little things, like the altitude change,” she said. “The thin air is a bit of a challenge; the ball has a tendency to float quite a bit more.”

Although Jacksonville State, Denver and Gonzaga will be challenging opponents, the Irish are focusing instead on their own side of the net this weekend.

“Our main goal is to implement all the things in practice that we have been working on and to focus on our game,” Brown said. “The hours of practice should translate into success against any opponent.”

This weekend also provides an opportunity to learn more about the team before conference play commences.

“We are learning what freshmen can do in matches and seeing which players are striving and which others are struggling,” Brown said. “It is great to just get everyone playing time and gain cohesion as a group,”

The team is also eager to avenge last week’s lone loss in Reno to the University of Nevada. The Irish fell in five sets (3-2) to narrowly miss their goal of an undefeated weekend.

“When your last match is a loss, you have an eagerness to get out on the court and prove yourself,” Brown said. “We won’t feel good with anything less than winning all three games this weekend. We want to win every tournament and we felt like could have and should have won last weekend.”

Though the Irish will be focusing on the games at hand, the looming milestone has given Brown cause for reflection.

“As with any milestone, I don’t think about it in terms of wins and losses but the people I interacted with: all the athletes and students I was fortunate enough to coach,” she said. “I feel blessed for the 20 years I spent at Notre Dame.”

After the game, Yanz was showered with compliments.

“Jess is just a great player in general,” sophomore setter Lauren Cook said. “Her hands are butter. I’m jealous of her hands.”

But the festive mirth of the pregame gesture quickly disappeared when Nebraska U. dropped the first game to a scrappy Dayton squad.

But the rowdy applause quickly returned. It rocked the ancient bricks of the Coliseum for the final three sets as the No. 7 Huskers celebrated their 2010 home opener with a four-set win against 20th-ranked Dayton to kick off the Ameritas Players Challenge.

The Huskers rattled off six consecutive points early in the first set and stretched their lead to 19-12, but then the Flyers struck.

“I thought we started great,” NU coach John Cook said. “We were up by five or six points and just stopped playing. And it was all pretty much serving and passing.”

Dayton rallied to tie the game at 22-22 before notching four of the final five points to complete the stunning rally and claim the first game 26-24, prolonging the Huskers’ first-set blues. NU has lost three first sets in just seven matches this fall.

“It’s like wildfire spreads — errors spread,” John Cook said. “We’ve got to have some players that can understand and stop that.”

Dayton also stormed out an early lead in the second set, but the Huskers clawed back to claim their first lead of the set until grabbing a 14-13 edge.

The Huskers then ignited a rally worthy of the seventh-ranked squad in the nation.

Nebraska captured eight of the next nine points to stretch that lead to 22-14. Dayton saved three set points and whittled the NU lead down to 24-20, but a UD service error doomed the Flyers and handed the Huskers the second set, 25-20.

“Every team has to deal with those ups and downs,” NU senior Tara Mueller said. “It’s just how you deal with it, and we’re still working on it, so it might seem a little crazy right now.”

The Huskers cruised through the third game by nabbing nine of the first 12 points. When UD cut the lead to 13-10, the Huskers ran their lead to 21-12. NU put the third set to bed without much fuss, 25-16.

The fourth game followed suit, as NU blasted its way from a 5-5 tie to a 12-6 lead and didn’t look back.

When Dayton made a late charge to cut Nebraska’s lead to four, the Huskers didn’t panic. They buried the last four points to emerge with the 25-17 victory.

“Good teams put the hammer down and keep it on, make teams earn side outs,” John Cook said. “You look at those scores and go, ‘Pretty nice match those last three games.’ I know where we have to be, and we’re not there.”

Mueller, Brooke Delano and Lindsey Licht each produced 13 kills on the night, and Delano was dominant with a hitting percentage of .706. Yanz made 35 assists, but her Flyer teammates hit at a .109 clip.

After having Yanz on the other side of the net, things don’t get any friendlier from here for Nebraska.

The Huskers face brutal matches against Western Michigan and No. 3 Illinois, a talented team that stunningly swept then-No. 2 Texas last weekend.

“It is hard, not going to lie, to go back-to-back,” Mueller said. “That’s going to be another test for us, if we can come out tomorrow and start off definitely stronger than we did tonight.”

That’s just what junior outside hitter Katie Kabbes wants to happen when opponents step onto the court with the No. 1 Penn State U. women’s volleyball team.

However, that feat may be tough to accomplish Friday, when the Nittany Lions (6-0) face their first true test of the season at No. 4 Florida (5-0) in the Nike Volleyball Big Four Classic in Gainesville, Fla.

Additionally, the Lions will face either No. 2 Stanford or No. 5 Texas on Saturday, depending on Friday’s results.

Kabbes said it’s important to set the tone of the match early.

“We don’t want to give any team a glimpse of hope that they can seize the victory against us,” Kabbes said. “Every point matters, whether it’s the first or the last. But in the beginning, we have to make a point that this is our match.”

Though they have won the first set of each match they’ve played, the Lions haven’t played their sharpest volleyball at the beginning of matches.

In Penn State’s season opener against North Carolina, the Tar Heels took a 14-12 lead in the first set before the Lions pulled away to take the set, 25-19, and eventually sweep the match.

Coach Russ Rose expects the atmosphere Friday to be similar to what his team faced in Chapel Hill, N.C., where more than 4,000 fans packed the arena to cheer for UNC.

Rose said Florida has terrific talent and will be aided by the home crowd, which could “get a little bit crazy” because it’s a home football weekend as well.

Senior defensive specialist Cathy Quilico said it’s important to get off to a good start against any opponent, but it may be even more so on Friday.

“It’s very important to start off good to establish how the game is going to be, especially with the crowd that Florida is going to have,” Quilico said. “We have to start off playing well, as in right off the bat.”

Rose doesn’t believe the Lions have played great at the start of matches and said a good start against Florida would be helpful for his players’ psyche. The coach said by playing poorly, it allows good teams like the Gators to gain momentum and confidence.

This season Florida is accustomed to grabbing that momentum. The Gators have won the opening set in each of their matches while outscoring opponents, 125-86. Their quick starts have keyed the Gators’ perfect start — including an upset win on the road against then-No. 2 Nebraska.

Rose said this year’s Penn State team has to operate differently than last season’s — a squad that fought back from two sets down to defeat Texas in the national championship match.

With a youthful lineup, he said it will benefit the Lions to avoid a poor start.

“In the past, our concern might not have been to start well, but to finish well,” Rose said. “But this team would be in a better position if they started well.”

The Belles (1-4) will be looking to bounce-back from a 1-4 loss against Elmhurst on Sept. 4, while the Britons (1-4) also look to rebound, coming off a 3-0 loss to their first conference opponent, Hope.

“We have been playing very well together this season so far, which is great to see since we have so many new faces on our squad,” Belles coach Toni Kuschel said. “Albion will be tough just like last season. They run a fast offense and they get stronger every year. I think that if we come out strong and play like we have been, we will do well against them on Friday.”

There are indeed some new faces on the Belles team this year, as four of the 13 players are new to the 2010 squad.

Kuschel said defense will be the key to his team’s success.

“Our strength definitely comes from our defense this year,” he said. “They have kept us in every match we have played so far; however, our whole team has contributed to our success this season. If we continue to play as a team we will go far.”

In the Belles’ Sept. 4 victory, senior Meghann Rose had 12 digs. Other valuable contributions in that win came from junior Danie Brink, who had 10 kills, a .692 hitting percentage and 26 digs. Senior Ellen Huelsmann and junior Lindsey Stuss each added six digs.

After the Belles square-off with Albion Friday, they will face another conference opponent, Olivet (4-2) the following day.

Growth will prove to be key to the Belles’ success this season.

“Our team continues to improve every time they step out on the court,” Kuschel said. “That will be vital to our success in conference play this season.”

It now appears Nebraska U. coach John Cook has found an answer to those questions.

Cook told the Lincoln Journal Star his Cornhuskers plan to move from their current home in the NU Coliseum to the Devaney Sports Center starting in 2013.

According to the report, Nebraska officials are pursuing a $27 million renovation project for the building, a plan that would smooth the transition for the volleyball program.

“It really comes down to this: We could stay (at the Coliseum) and regret, five years from now, not doing something big for the program,” Cook told the paper.

When the new downtown arena was passed in May, NU Athletic Director Tom Osborne announced a $20 million project to renovate Devaney, a 33-year-old building that seats more than 13,000 for basketball games.

Later that day, Cook said he had no interest in moving his program into Devaney. In August, he changed his tone.

“If I was in charge for a day, we would be building a brand new arena,” Cook said. “But I am not in charge today. We have to try and look at what we have. Devaney now is providing a possible opportunity for the expansion of Nebraska volleyball.”

What changed his mind? For one, the results of a survey Nebraska’s Athletic Department circulated in August that gauged volleyball fans’ interest in seating capacity upgrade.

Cook has said he believes his teams could continually draw between 7,000 and 8,000 fans in a larger arena — the Coliseum holds 4,030 — and Husker fans agreed that 7,000-seat sellouts are possible. They also showed a strong interest in more courtside seating.

The Coliseum currently offers 50 courtside seats. A renovated Devaney would reportedly offer both more courtside seating, as well as skyboxes.

“I feel like we’ve got to take a shot to see if we can get more fans in and build our fan base,” Cook said.

In the end, Cook has insisted his program must not lose its electric atmosphere and home-court advantage the intimate, fan-friendly Coliseum provides.

“We want it to look like a volleyball arena,” Cook said. “When you walk in (the Coliseum), it feels like a volleyball arena. It has to have that feel.”

The UNC (7-2) was 0-5 in its last five meetings against the Pioneers (4-4), including matches that went all five games in the last two seasons in Denver.

“The three years I’ve been here we’ve lost heartbreakers every time, so it was really great to come out and beat them,” senior outside hitter Ashley Lichtenberg said.

Lichtenberg led all UNC players with 14 kills on the night.

The Bears came out sluggish in the first game, as they trailed most of the way before rallying to tie the score at 24. The two teams exchanged points before the Bears prevailed with a 27-25 decision. DU contained Bears sophomore outside hitter Kelly Arnold, as she only managed three kills in game one and just six kills the entire night.

UNC sophomore setter Marissa Hughes, usually a starter, was out of the starting lineup with an illness, giving an opportunity to junior setter Natalie Laband, who responded with 34 assists, three digs and a kill on the night.

“We’re not quite sure how long Marissa will be out, but Natalie did a great job stepping in there for us,” Bears head coach Lyndsey Benson said. “She has been a part of our system for two years, so she is very comfortable in it and with our hitters.”

Games two and three were dominated by UNC as the Bears jumped out early in each game and continued to wear down the Pioneers. The Bears took game two, 25-16, and game three, 25-12.

The Bears have now won six matches in a row and are 2-0 against in-state schools.

“We are a pretty confident team,” Laband said. “We back it up with our hard practices, and the win over Georgia last weekend was great for us.”

UNC will travel to Laramie, Wyo. this weekend for the Wyoming Tournament before starting Big Sky Conference play next week.

The UNC (6-2) defeated the Bulldogs (6-1) in the final match of the 2010 Hampton Inn & Suites Northern Colorado Classic, which proved to be for the tournament championship.

Sophomore outside hitter Kelley Arnold was named the tournament MVP, while sophomore setter Marissa Hughes and senior outside hitter Ashley Lichtenberg were named to the all-tournament team.

“Playing a team of that caliber was awesome,” Arnold said. “Being able to overcome our struggles and push through tough times to get the win was great tonight.”

The Bears got off to a quick start for the first time this season, taking an early 5-0 lead in the first set, and closing the set on a 10-3 run to take it 25-20.

“Every match this season so far we’ve been a slow-starting team,” UNC head coach Lyndsey Benson said. “We were the more aggressive team, and I think that showed in the first five points.”

In the second set, Georgia proved why it is one of the top teams in the Southeastern Conference, going on an 8-0 run to take the set 25-16.

The third set proved to be one for the ages.

Neither team led by more than two points throughout the entire set, but UNC eventually outlasted the Bulldogs, winning 38-36.

“That game will be a game I remember for my entire coaching career,” Benson said. “It was incredible some of things that we battled through and were able to pull it out somehow.”

Georgia fought hard to take the fourth set 25-22, and was ahead 10-6 in the fifth set when the Bears took over.

UNC won the final nine points of the match to take the fifth set 15-10, the match, and the championship of the tournament.

“Tonight was huge for this program,” Benson said. “We keep adding on to what we accomplished last year. To beat Georgia on our home court was pretty sweet.”

Beating a team like Georgia did more for the UNC volleyball team than simply notching another win on the schedule according to senior outside hitter Julie Stephenson.

“It gives us a lot of confidence going into the season; it shows how high of a level we can play at,” Stephenson said. “We can compete with the top teams in the nation, and we’re really excited.”

Ohio U. lost its second consecutive match with the opening loss of the JQH Invitational in Springfield, Mo. and was searching for answers.

“You don’t want losing to become a streak obviously,” said outside hitter Sue Jacobi. “After we lost that (North Carolina) match, it was a wake up call for us. It was a really good learning experience for us.

“We knew that after that, we really had to come back from that, play our best and win our next three matches.”

The team responded to the defeat. Ohio (5-2) won its final three games in two days en route to the tournament championship.

After defeating Southeastern Missouri State 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-20), Ohio faced two teams that received American Volleyball Coaches Association Top-25 votes in Texas A&M and host Missouri State, but dispatched both squads in four sets.

The match against the Aggies showed the change in mentality the Bobcats had for the rest of the tournament, junior Katie Post said.

“The Texas A&M game, that’s when we showed that we were the better team overall on the weekend,” said Post, who won tournament MVP award with 46 kills and a .417 hitting percentage. “It was a very emotional match for all of us, and after we won, we felt very good about ourselves and wanted to keep going.”

This JQH Invitational wasn’t the first time this season Ohio faced adversity in a match.

During a 3-2 win over North Dakota State U. Aug. 28, the Bobcats trailed two sets to one before coming back to win.

“As a team, we’ve learned that despite if we’ve lost a match or if we’ve lost a set, we have definitely proved that we can come back from that and learn from that as a team,” Post said.

Following the North Carolina loss, coach Ryan Theis said the team couldn’t complete the little things and that the team was inexperienced. By the end of the weekend, he saw an improvement.

“(The loss) made us realize how important little things were when last ball fell and we had lost,” Theis said. “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to do it from that point on, and we did. That’s the greatest part about the weekend. After that match, any opportunity we got we took advantage of it and we won the points.

“I think we matured a little bit this weekend.”

The Bobcats started the season Aug. 27, winning at home to Virginia Commonwealth before going 1-1 in the Sheraton Riverside Cardinal Classic in Louisville, Ky, where Jacobi and senior setter Michelle Jantsch were named to the All-Tournament team.

Jantsch also earned All-Tournament honors at the JHQ Invitational.

Junior Lauren Budde led the way with 56 kills, 45 digs, and 7.5 blocks over the four games, while sophomore Drew Hargrave also tallied 43 kills and freshman Meghan Byrne picked up 36 more. Sophomores Marilee Fisher and Kelly Pang also led the Bears with 161 assists and 86 digs, respectively. Check out Wednesday’s issue of Student Life for full coverage of the sweep.

The Green team swept the Gold in three sets, winning 25-19, 25-17 and 25-14. Freshman hitter Ana Lopes led the Green team with eight kills, and also earned four serve aces. Sophomore middle Sami Vierk followed closely with seven kills.

Freshmen hitters Kalli Herron and Ellen Lemos led the Gold team with seven kills each, followed by sophomore hitter Andree Ring with six.

Head coach Dominic Yoder said he had positive feelings about the game.

“The team has been very anxious lately to get the season started,” Yoder said.  It’s warm-up games like these that have everyone involved and have everyone experiencing the real deal. The things that we were very glad to see were that they went out there and made it competitive.”

Vierk, one of the team captains, said the ’Cats felt great going into the game because of their preparedness.

“This game gave us a great chance to show off some new moves, get the entire team involved, and just show everyone we are on top of our game,” Vierk said.

The ’Cats played hard and stayed aggressive, senior Katie Twardzik said, and it was a great point of reference for the team.

“We struggled a little bit in the last set, but we all played hard and focused on consistency,” Twardzik said. “In the end, we all had a lot of fun.”

With the Green and Gold match behind them, the Wildcats are looking toward their first match against Wisconsin-Parkside.  The Wildcats are focusing both on the physical and mental aspects of the game, Yoder said.

“The most important thing I want to see happen is first contact,” he said. “We need to get them right where we want them and control the ball on serving and passing serve.”

Yoder said part of the mental game is gaining confidence on the court.

“I also want us to have confident mindsets so we can go out there and get the desired effects that we know we are capable of getting,” he said.

The Wildcats had a very competitive game the last time they took on UW-Parkside, winning in the fourth set with scores of 22-25, 25-14, 26-24 and 25-23. Vierk said the team is anticipating a challenging opponent once again this year.

“We need to just stay focused on individuals’ skills and remember everything we practiced for,” Vierk said. “I don’t think we have anything to be concerned about.”

Twardzik said the team has trained hard and is ready for the season to begin.

“We’ve watched film of the team in the past and we know what we need to focus on and what we need to do in order to win,” Twardzik said. “There is no doubt in my mind we are going to make this a very competitive match and we won’t settle for anything less than victory.”

The ’Cats will begin the Wildcat Open against UW-Parkside on Thursday, Sept. 2, at 7 p.m. in the Vandament Arena.  The Wildcats will then take on Winona State on Friday, Sept. 3, at 7 p.m.

In games three and four of the Wildcat Open, the team will face off against Minnesota-Crookston at 12:30 p.m. and American International at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 4.

Graf said she is confident this team will bring her as much, if not more, success as last season. The women’s volleyball team, which now has 23 players, earned its fourth straight bid to the NCAA Tournament by claiming the conference tournament in 2009.

“I’m excited about the players that we are bringing in,” Graf said. “This is the largest team that we’ve had while I’ve been a coach.”

Graf said that the amount of players has been a blessing, as well as their skills.

“I couldn’t even guesstimate a starting lineup at this point, which is a pretty exciting position to be in,” Graf said.

She said volleyball is one of the most exciting sports to watch at Webster because it’s one of the few teams that actually play on-campus during the fall season.

“The other teams compete but they are not on campus,” Graf said. “It’s a really good way for students to get to know their sport when they can watch it here.”

This year’s team will also include five freshmen who live in dorms on-campus, which Graf said could help increase attendance at games.

“In years where we’ve had more freshmen in dorms, I find that we get more fan support from the dorm,” Graf said.

For nearly every fall sport, including volleyball, freshmen have already missed the window to join a team. Graf, however, recommends students not to give up.

“Just play the game as much as possible,” she said. “Whatever sport you are interested (in), most contact the coaches as soon as possible and don’t give up.”

The Seminoles and intra-conference rival Duke were both predicted by their fellow schools to win the 2010 ACC championship.

Florida State, the reigning regular-season champion, and Duke each tallied a total of 108 points out of a possible 121 to tie for the top spot in the poll, but the ’Noles had the edge in first-place votes with five to the Blue Devils’ four. The two teams’ first showdown this season will come on Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. at Tully Gym in Tallahassee.

“We certainly feel honored that the coaches in the league have picked us to be at the top of the conference along with Duke,” head coach Chris Poole said. “This will be a different experience for this program.”

Three starters and eight letter-winners return this season overall from Florida State’s elite eight team that captured the school’s first ACC championship last season with a 19-1 conference record and a 31-3 overall record. Current American Volleyball Coaches Association Honorable Mention All-American Rachael Morgan, a junior outside hitter, will play along side senior and sophomore outside hitters Stephanie Neville and Fatma Yildirim, respectively, to make up the Seminoles’ starting lineup.

Also chosen by the league’s head coaches are the 18 members of the 2010 Preseason All-ACC Team. Selected to the team from FSU were Morgan, Neville and Yildirim.

Last season, Morgan collected 349 points, as well as 281 kills and 161 digs. Neville finished with 286 kills and a .309 hitting percentage, while Yildirim led the team in digs with 344.

Poole’s squad was predicted to finish second in the ACC in 2009, but his team is now aiming to appear in consecutive NCAA tournaments for the first time since the 1997-98 seasons. Poole, who won ACC Coach of the Year honors last season, is heading into his third season with the Seminoles and already led the program to its first NCAA postseason berth since 2002 last season.

Poole, needless to say, is about the 2010 season and his team.

“We have talent returning and we have added a talented recruiting class,” Poole said. “If we can blend this team together and create a positive chemistry in a short amount of time, I do believe this team can have another successful season.”

In the 2010 ACC poll, the top-four teams were separated by only 16 points. Georgia Tech received the final three first-place votes and was predicted to finish third with 103 points. Miami (92) and North Carolina (75) rounded out the top-five.

The ’Noles will unofficially begin their season with a tune-up against former FSU players in the Alumni Match Saturday, Aug. 21, at 3 p.m. at Tully Gym. The match follows the Garnet and Gold scrimmage at 1:30 p.m.

“Shawn Patchell has been released of his duties at the university effective immediately,” the statement said.

The statement also said BYU is currently investigating and looking for possible infractions against NCAA regulations within the volleyball program.

Quentin Smith, a junior on the volleyball team, said he was following instructions from now interim head coach Rob Neilson in declining to comment.

“It’s a sensitive subject,” Smith said.

One source told The (Provo) Daily Herald the alleged NCAA violations involve the distribution of scholarship money.

Kevin Sagers, a senior who was third on the team in kills last season, said Patchell’s departure will greatly affect him and his teammates.

“It’s obviously a huge blow to morale and chemistry,” Sagers said. “Definitely a new adjustment.”

Sagers said he knew there was an investigation happening but nothing else.

“We heard that some things had gone on,” Sagers said. “I just heard that there was an investigation going on, and they’d let us know when they figured it all out.”

This is not the first time BYU men’s volleyball has experienced problems with breaking NCAA rules. In 2008, head coach Tom Peterson resigned after improper benefits were given to two athletes, including one who never enrolled at BYU. The NCAA punished BYU men’s volleyball with three years probation, limits on recruiting and a reduction in scholarships.

Sagers said he still admires Patchell as a coach and hopes his influence will help the team in the upcoming season.

“He’s one of the most talented coaches still I think in the country,” Sagers said. “So hopefully the talent carries through a little bit.”

Patchell coached the Cougars for four years with a 65-24 overall record as head coach. Under his direction, BYU finished last season ranked No. 2 in the country. He also is a former BYU player and had the highest hitting percentage in the nation his junior year.

Sagers said he hopes to learn more about what led to Patchell’s sudden departure.

“I’d be interested to maybe talk to some athletic directors and find out exactly what went on,” Sagers said.

After last December’s heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Penn State in the national title game, Texas volleyball ended its season with a a sour taste in its mouth, even after an impressive 29-2 (19-1) record. The Longhorns were up two sets to none when the Nittany Lions rallied to win three sets in a row and snatch the title from Texas to win their third national title in a row. The win also added to Penn State’s record for consecutive matches won in a row, which now sits at 102.

As practice begins, and with the season opener on Aug. 27 against TCU looming, players who were on the team last year are reminded of the loss to Penn State but are learning to combat the disappointment with intensity and excitement for the upcoming season.

“We definitely have some unfinished business,” junior setter Michelle Kocher said. The team has worked hard in the offseason to build on the momentum that carried them to the national title last season, and one set away from their first championship since 1988. “That’s why we’ve spent the whole summer working out ­— running stadiums in the heat — for that extra point.”

It will be tough for the Longhorns to get back to the national title game with the loss of two of their most productive players from last season. All-Americans Ashley Engle and Destinee Hooker have since graduated, taking 704 of Texas’ 1517 kills last season with them. Hooker ended her career at Texas as the school’s career postseason leader in kills (295), attack attempts (638) and service aces (28).

“It’s a new era without Ashley and Destinee,” captain and senior outside hitter Juliann Faucette said. “The legacy they left is something for this team to build upon.”

Faucette is expected to lead the Longhorns, more than half of whom are underclassmen, including five freshmen. She returns as Texas’ leader and played in all 104 sets last season. “[Faucette] is one of the best players in the country,” head coach Jerritt Elliott said. “But, she’s not going to have to carry this team all by herself.”

Elliott recognizes there might be an unfair amount of pressure on the team to get back to the Final Four and the national championship, but he doesn’t think that pressure should affect the younger players and the rest of the team too much.

“We do have a young team, but my job is to teach, not pressure them,” Elliott said. “I expect us to be in the mix to compete for the Final Four and a national championship.”

Junior middle blocker Rachael Adams said the Longhorns have learned a lot since coming so close last season, and have grown as a team. A total of eight players who started in matches last year return this season and will help the less-experienced players with the pressures that come with being a top-tier program.

“The freshmen take after us,” Adams said. “There are a lot of new faces, but seeing [Juliann] out there leading in practice, it’s great. She adds stability and focus to this team.”

The Longhorns are set to kick off the season with their annual Orange and White scrimmage on Aug. 21, in preparation for their season opener in the Burnt Orange Classic against TCU on Aug. 27.

“I see championships,” she said. “You’ve got all the tools needed to win them.”

Kramer was announced as WVU’s newest coach Monday afternoon. She accepted the position Saturday. She signed a five-year, $70,000 contract which was finalized Monday.

“We’re happy to have you,” said WVU Athletic Director Oliver Luck. “She came well recommended from a lot of head volleyball coaches from around the country. She has a great network that will serve us well.”

When she signed that contract, she took over what has been a sluggish program over the past few seasons. WVU has a 43-78 record over the past four seasons.

However, Kramer believes there is new life in the program.

“I’ve been really impressed to see how on board everyone is to see volleyball go in a new direction,” Kramer said. “All I see is opportunity here, and I’m ready to go after that.”

She said her main goals are to win a Big East Conference championship and to increase awareness of the sport inside the state. She said her team will be the “best entertainment in Morgantown.”

Kramer was hired four days before the team’s fall camp begins. The team will report for its first practice Tuesday.

Because of that, Kramer has spent the first few days on the job talking to her assistant coaches and team leaders. She said there was a team dinner Monday night, where she would begin to get to know her players for the first time.

“There won’t be any talk of volleyball,” she said. “I need to get to know them first and know that they carry us.”

Kramer said she will retain the team’s two assistant coaches, Bakeer Ganes and Ashley Pappas.

“I need them,” Kramer said while laughing. “They know Morgantown. They know West Virginia. They know the girls and have some stability with them, so that’s important.”

Kramer said emphatically she does not lower her expectations for the 2010 because of the rushed timetable.

“As soon as you start looking for excuses, you’ve got a problem,” she said. “It’s a unique situation, but it’s a great opportunity. We have an advantage, because we’re going to be in the honeymoon stage for a while.”

Kramer heard of the open position the day after it opened up. Because of her previous relationship with WVU Athletic Director Oliver Luck, she became instantly interested. Kramer recruited Luck’s daughter.

Kramer comes to West Virginia from Virginia, where she had been an assistant coach with the Cavaliers for two years. She also has experience coaching Team USA.

Kramer is known as a strong recruiter. While at Virginia, she recruited the team’s first-ever nationally ranked recruiting class. It was ranked No. 15 by PrepVolleyball.com.Last season, the Cavaliers’ recruiting class was ranked No. 9 in the nation.

She said she will use the team’s family atmosphere and the WVU community as selling points for her program. She said she doesn’t mind where the recruit comes from, as long as she has the right character for the program.

“I’ve been dubbed as a player’s coach sometimes, so I’m really looking out for their best interest all the time,” Kramer said. “People who want to come here will want that type of environment.”

Prior to her time at Virginia, she was an assistant for two years at Alabama. She began her coaching career at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she was an assistant for two years.

In addition to her collegiate coaching experience, she has helped the USA Volleyball program as a coach. She has a 27-1 record with USA Volleyball.

Kramer graduated from TCU in 1999. She was a four-year letterwinner and team captain for the Horned Frogs. She was also part of the inaugural team at TCU.

Kramer, 32, is a native of San Antonio. She replaces long-time WVU volleyball coach Veronica Hammersmith, who retired earlier this summer. Hammersmith had a 580-574 record.

Expect to hear her name for a while at WVU, too. She said this is a job she can see herself at for a long time.

“The things I want to accomplish here aren’t overnight things,” she said. “We are making program-changing decisions.”

One team may not seem to make much of a difference when added to a conference, but the Penn State women’s volleyball team thinks otherwise about its newest foe.

With Nebraska starting Big Ten play in the 2011 season, the Nittany Lions will be challenged by one of the biggest volleyball powers in the country.

The Cornhuskers were the last team to win a National Championship before Penn State started its back-to-back-to-back run from 2007-2009. Since 2000, Nebraska has made a total of four Final Fours, taking the title twice, and finishing as the runner-up once.

“They’re one of the most successful programs of all time in college volleyball,” Penn State coach Russ Rose said. “They are one of the top programs in the country. Nebraska’s been good for 40 years. They have three national championships and they’re always going to be relevant in the national championship picture.”

The Lions are familiar with their soon-to-be conference rivals as well; the two teams faced off in the semi-finals in 2008. Though Penn State won the match on their way to their second-consecutive title and first undefeated season, Nebraska didn’t go down without a fight.

The Cornhuskers were the only team to take the Lions to five sets that season, coming back after being down 2-0 to force the decisive final set.

Senior defensive specialist Cathy Quilico said the competitiveness that the Cornhuskers bring to the table will provide the Big Ten with valuable competition that will better prepare its teams for postseason play and make the conference season more interesting.

“Absolutely they will be a good addition,” she said. “As far as the competition goes, I think it will be a really good thing for the Big Ten. It will make us work harder within our conference, which is always good. I think it will be good, but terrifying at the same time since they are such a great program.”

Talent and competitive drive are the least of the Big Ten’s worries when it comes to Nebraska, however. Nebraska coach John Cook is no stranger to Big Ten volleyball, serving as the head coach at Wisconsin for seven seasons from 1992-1998.

With the Badgers, he led the team to six straight postseason appearances. After making the move to Nebraska, Cook has put up a record of 281-19 through nine seasons, won two national championships and has headed the winningest program in the nation during his tenure.

“He’s more aware of the Big Ten than any of us are aware of the Big 12,” Rose said of Cook. “He knows what the transition will entail. They’re going to hit the ground running. They come in as one of the top teams every year, and no matter what conference they enter you know they’re going to enter near the top of the standings.”

Rose said the Cornhuskers would be a good fit for the Big Ten based on their competitiveness, physicality, strong fan base and knowledge of the conference.

With those aspects in mind, Rose is well aware that the arrival of Nebraska in 2011 isn’t going to be a quiet one.

“Nebraska has had all the factors to make them a successful team,” Rose said. “They’re going to be a factor here, and once they join the conference everyone else is going to know they’re here.”

But when asked Friday about how he felt about leaving the Big 12 and the rivalries NU has within the conference, Pelini, who’s never been afraid to express his displeasure to officials, responded, “I’m not a real emotional guy. You all know that.”

The smile on Pelini’s face was one of many signs that Big 12 coaches gave Friday that expressed excitement about joining the Big Ten. Both men’s basketball coach Doc Sadler and volleyball coach John Cook also seemed pleased with the move.

“I think it’s exciting for everybody,” Sadler said. “Obviously we’ve got to be concerned about this year. This stuff is happening a year from now … We’re going to get ready for this year and when it does come next July, we’ll be ready and we’ll be excited.”

The plan is for NU to play one last year in the Big 12, then join the Big Ten for the start of the 2011-2012 academic year. Scheduling plans, as well as how divisions might be divided up, are undecided at this point.

Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne said he brought all the university’s coaches together to discuss the potential move twice, including a meeting just three days before the move became official. Both times, he took a vote on whether the coaches approved of switching conferences or not.

To his surprise, both times the coaches voted unanimously in favor of joining the Big Ten.

“We feel good about it,” Osborne said. “Our coaches are quite enthusiastic.”

Several NU coaches have previous associations with the Big Ten. Pelini played free safety for the Buckeyes and graduated from Ohio State before becoming a graduate assistant at Iowa in 1991. Cook coached at Wisconsin for seven years before coming to Nebraska in 1999.

“I’m familiar with the Big Ten Conference growing up in Ohio and (having) played there,” Pelini said. “It’s a great conference. It has great reputation.”

The coaches were also excited about the amount of interest the move will generate for their programs, which all expect to see attendance spikes with fans curious to see how the Huskers fare against their new conference opponents.

The move also comes at a time when the state is building a new basketball arena and NU is considering adding seats to Memorial Stadium.

“It’s going to create a lot of interest,” Cook said. “We’re probably going to get a longer list of people waiting for season tickets, because it’s new and exciting and these are great, traditional programs.”

The move is also expected to help the coaches with recruiting. The new territory opens up recruiting pipelines, and the conference’s heralded Big Ten Network is an attractive feature for athletes that want to be on national television often.

Weather will no longer be as large of a recruiting factor either.

As Osborne said Friday, the idea of coming to a school with often frigid winters can be a turnoff for some potential recruits. Now, though, NU will more often compete for recruits against schools with similar climates, instead of the balmy weather of Texas.

“As Coach Osborne said, I think it really helps us in recruiting,” Sadler said. “It gives us an area (to recruit); as he mentioned earlier, weather is something that you fight. I’m excited about that part of it. I think it gives us, for the first time, a legit area that we can really concentrate on.”

Nebraska’s defection appears to be just one of the first in a long line of dominoes about to fall. Colorado has already joined the Pac-10, and most of the Big 12 South appears to be ready to join them, if the Southeastern Conference doesn’t lure them away first. The Pac-10, Big Ten and SEC have all expressed some interest in expanding to a 16-team “super conference.”

“I think as everybody is finding out, I don’t think anything in college athletics is here to stay,” Sadler said. “There’s going to be change. You deal with what’s happening right now and when there’s more change, then you deal with that.”

The wooden national championship trophy sat safely behind the court as the two teams warmed up, and television cameras panned over the large and boisterous crowd in Maples Pavilion.

“We had 6,635 people there today,” said senior opposite Evan Romero after the match. “That’s 6,600 more people than we had our freshman year. As they’ve come to our games, it’s just revived us.”

The stands erupted in cheers as Penn State missed the opening serve of the match. But the Nittany Lions would fight back to win the next point, a back-and-forth pattern that recurred for the majority of the first set.

Every hitting option was delivering. Junior outside hitter Spencer McLachlin had an early kill that deflected off Penn State’s blockers, while Romero killed a ball cross-court. Sophomore outside hitter Brad Lawson came alive at 7-5, killing a ball straight down the line.

Consecutive missed serves from Stanford in addition to Penn State kills kept the Nittany Lions in the game, with the set tied as late as 19-19. But four Lawson kills in the final stretch, combined with two from Romero and an ace after a timeout, helped the Card pull away. Romero slammed a ball hard down the line, tipping off Penn State libero Dennis Del Valle’s hand, to win the set, 30-25.

The second set opened with a McLachlin roll shot that landed untouched at the 10-foot line. But the Nittany Lions gained some momentum after a well-executed dump by setter Edgardo Goas and multiple Stanford hitting errors, taking their biggest lead of the match at 10-5.

However, despite a slow start, Stanford fought back with a run of its own. Sophomore middle blocker Gus Ellis used Penn State’s block for a kill, while a Romero hit was sent flying into the stands by a misplaced Penn State pass. In back-to-back plays, the Nittany Lions over-passed balls, only to have Romero and McLachlin pound them back for kills.

Sophomore libero Erik Shoji had several remarkable saves to keep difficult balls in play. At 13-12, he had a diving dig from middle back that senior setter Kawika Shoji perfectly set up for a Lawson kill out of the back row. Later, Kawika Shoji dug a hard-hit ball that appeared to be going down, leading to a McLachlin kill.

While Stanford heated up, Penn State unraveled. A set by Goas fell untouched past a hitter, and then outside hitter Will Price mishit a ball into the net. Goas was called for a double hit to give the Card set point, and a Lawson serve flew wildly off Penn State outside hitter Joe Sunder for an ace, clinching the second set victory, 30-20.

Stanford led from the first point of the third set – unsurprisingly, off another Lawson kill – and never looked back. Romero began to take advantage of the line, while Lawson continued to dominate. The crowd began to chant, “You can’t stop him!” in reference to Lawson’s stellar play.

“You talk about being in the zone,” said head coach John Kosty. “When a player gets in the zone, you don’t talk to him, you don’t slap his hand, you don’t do anything, just let him be. Brad [was in a zone] tonight.”

The end of the set was all Stanford. Kawika Shoji sneakily set a ball over for the kill, and McLachlin put a ball down off a Romero bump set. Price missed a serve for Penn State, bringing the score to 28-17, and a Lawson-Ellis roof block gave the Card match point. Finishing off a heroic evening, Lawson slammed a ball cross-court to win the set, and national title, 30-18.

“It’s the national championship, there’s nothing really like it,” Lawson said. “It was just great to have a good night tonight.”

Lawson had a phenomenal night, tallying 24 kills and only one error – an illegal back row attack that appeared to have gone down for the kill – to hit an impressive .821. His success extended to the back row as well, as he had five digs and a team-leading four aces.

“Early in the first [set], to be honest, I was nervous,” Lawson said. “But as I started to go through, I settled in. Kawika [Shoji] was just delivering the ball to the spot… and it was easy from that point.”

McLachlin and Romero were also powerful offensive forces for the Card, with 12 and 11 kills, respectively, to aid Stanford to .495 hitting for the match. Kawika Shoji had 47 assists, bringing his season total to 1,455, and both he and his brother Erik Shoji led the Cardinal defense with 10 digs apiece.

For the Nittany Lions, Price tallied 15 kills and two aces. Sunder contributed 12 kills, and middle blocker Max Lipsitz added another 10. Goas put up 38 assists, and Del Valle led the match with 12 digs.

Following the match, the Stanford players received national championship shirts and hats, and fans swarmed the court. Individual awards were distributed to the players and coaches, and the seniors stepped forward to accept the championship trophy. The team posed for photos and took turns cutting pieces of the net.

The All-Tournament Team was announced after the match, highlighted by Lawson, Romero, Erik Shoji and Kawika Shoji for Stanford. To cap off their various accolades this season, Lawson and Kawika Shoji were named co-Most Outstanding Players of the tournament.

Led by a class of seniors – Kawika Shoji, Romero, middle blocker Garrett Werner, outside hitter Jason Palacios and outside hitter-turned-team manager Ed Howell – who went 3-25 in their freshman season on the Farm, this win, the grand finale of the “Worst to First” journey, was particularly meaningful.

“It’s been a long road for us,” Kosty said. “It’s an incredible feeling to watch this team and how they’ve grown over the four years. It really shows what hard work and dedication can do for you.”

“I had hope. I dreamed,” Kawika Shoji added. “I don’t know if I would say I expected it, but I knew that a lot of hard work could get this team far.”

So much for the Miracle at the Pavilion.

The Penn State U. Nittany Lions were ranked No. 12; the Stanford U. Cardinal was the top team in the country.

Penn State struggled with consistency for much of the year; Stanford breezed through the regular season.

The Lions traveled 2,725 miles to get to the Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif., where the Cardinal played on its home court before 6,635.

It would have taken a perfect storm for the Penn State men’s volleyball team to win the NCAA national championship Saturday night. Instead, the Lions were simply out-classed. They fell to Stanford in three sets (30-25, 30-20, 30-18), finishing the season 24-8 with the semi-satisfying title of national runner-up.

“I don’t think we could have asked our guys to do anything much differently,” Penn State coach Mark Pavlik said. “Because I’m not sure there was a team in the country that would have stopped them tonight.”

Propelled by an outstanding performance by outside hitter Brad Lawson — who went off for 24 kills on .821 hitting with just one error — Stanford cruised to its first title in 13 years.

And the Lions just couldn’t keep up.

Penn State hit a combined .222, recording 18 attack errors — compared to the Cardinal’s nine.

“I can’t describe how well they played. It was unreal,” said co-captain Will Price, who led the Lions with 15 kills. “We didn’t end up on the right side of things as far as we’re concerned, but it was intense and got the adrenaline going. It was fun playing that match.”

The Cardinal, meanwhile, had the adrenaline too. It just translated better on the court.

On a team .495 hitting percentage, three players posted double-digit kills while two picked up double-digit digs.

It all culminated into a national championship — a miracle, of sorts, for Stanford.

The Cardinal turned around from a 3-25 finish in 2007 to the national title Saturday night.

“Our guys will have to come back next year and keep working,” Pavlik said. “But right now I am very happy for Stanford and their program. They definitely deserved this.”

UK football players Jacob Lewellen and Marcus Davis; volleyball players Ann Armes and Sarah Rumley; and women’s soccer player Laura Novikoff all made the trip to the Central American country. The trip was made possible through Athletes in Action, an international Christian sports ministry program.

While in Nicaragua, the athletes spent the bulk of their time at an orphanage, participating in games and getting to know some of the kids, an experience that moved Lewellen, a freshman defensive end, the most during his stay in Nicaragua.

“To me, what stood out the most was the fact that these kids are so hurt on the inside, but they put on a smile and cling to the people that come out, and they really attach to them. They show you love and they wear a smile even though they’re hurting,” Lewellen said, “It’s really re-enforcing to yourself to say that you can come back to the states and nothing that we’re experiencing here is as bad as what they’re experiencing (in Nicaragua).

“We should always have a smile on our face for the opportunities we have here … I really saw how it impacted me when I got back and now I look at life a lot differently.”

Like Lewellen, Davis, a junior center  and three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll student, was encouraged the most by the relationships he formed with the kids at the orphanage.

“I would have to say (what that stood out most) was how great it was to connect with the kids. The kids were able to trust and befriend us; they really wanted to be with us,” Davis said. “I think it would have been easy for them to say that these are just more visitors. But instead, they genuinely wanted to be around us.”

Along with the experience, Davis said he made a new friend at the orphanage during his stay.

“I made a pretty good friend down there, a kid by the name of Ayuhendo,” he said. “He showed me a lot about his culture and just the things they do to have fun. It was fun and it was great, I loved hanging out with him. If I could go back and hang out with him and see him again that would be great. And if not, I hope he’s blessed with whatever he’s doing.”

When asked if he would go back to Nicaragua or visit another developing country, Lewellen gave a clear-cut answer: Yes.

“I would definitely go back, and if not to Nicaragua then to any other place,” Lewellen said.  “I got the hunger to see other places in developing areas and to see how they can impact my life as much as I can impact their lives.”

The swoosh is practically Penn State U.’s secondary logo.

Nike’s signature emblem is embroidered on every Nittany Lion uniform, screened on banners lining Jeffery Field and stitched on the apparel of thousands of fans who pack Beaver Stadium on football Saturdays.

But there’s at least one sport at Penn State where the swoosh isn’t altogether embraced — men’s volleyball.

“We love everything Nike has done for us with uniforms and warmups, and just everything has been great,” coach Mark Pavlik said. “They make things so much easier. But the shoes is something the guys haven’t all quite figured out yet.”

Seems the Nike shoe doesn’t always fit for the Lions.

Players were reporting problems with this year’s model of volleyball shoes.

Opposite hitter Will Price went through a pair every two to three weeks because the rubber soles were peeling off.

In volleyball, footwear is a player’s most-prized piece of equipment. So earlier this month, a handful of players traded in their Nike volleyball shoes for the new Kobe Hyperdunks — a basketball lowcut.

Freshman Tom Comfort, who made the switch, said he likes the lightness and traction of his new kicks. He said shoes are an important part of the game — but not something he wants to be thinking about when he’s on the court.

When players kept finding complaints with the shoe, they met with the captains and decided to try something different. But, as per Lions’ policy, it had to be Nike.

In 1996 Penn State signed an undisclosed contract with Nike — reported to be four years, $2.6 million — which involves advertising and marketing considerations. It also requires all Penn State athletes to wear only the company’s apparel. The contract has since been renewed.

“Nike’s not really a volleyball company,” Price said. “They make some nice stuff, but we get running shoes and basketball shoes and stuff. Asics and Mizuno are volleyball companies, so naturally they’ll be a little bit more tailored to what we need.”

When Price plays with the U.S. national team during the summer, he wears Mizunos, which he calls the best shoes he’s ever worn.

“But we have to wear Nike here,” he said. “So it’s whatever.”

Even the company recognizes it doesn’t specialize in the sport.

Nike does put some development into volleyball shoes, but not as much its larger categories like running, basketball and soccer, said Dr. Mario Lafortune, director of the Nike Sport and Research Laboratory.

Lafortune said he was surprised some Penn State volleyball players preferred their basketball models.

“But at the end of the day,” he said. “It comes down to the individual athlete and trainer’s preference.”

Some players still prefer the volleyball models. Sophomore Ryan Wolf likes the gum sole, which is specific to the sport.

Ultimately, Price said, shoes make a difference — but only to an extent.

In November, the senior co-captain landed awkwardly off a block, spraining his right ankle. But he doesn’t blame it on Nike.

“I would have just blown my ankle out no matter what,” he said. “It was just a bad sprain. Nike, Asics, Mizuno, whatever.”