SPORTS HEADLINES!!!!
(9/2/10) PARK RIDGE, IL - The Big Ten Conference office announced football division alignments beginning with the 2011 season as recommended by conference directors of athletics and reviewed and supported by the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors. Nebraska will officially begin conference competition in 2011, giving the Big Ten 12 football programs for the first time in conference history.
The winner of each Big Ten division will meet in the inaugural Big Ten Football Championship Game, to be played December 3, 2011, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The championship game will determine the Big Ten Champion and the conference's participant in the Rose Bowl Game or Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game.
The Big Ten football division alignments will include a division featuring Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin, and a division featuring Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern. Each school will play the other five schools within its division and will also face three teams from the other division, including one cross-division matchup guaranteed on an annual basis. The guaranteed cross-division matchups are Illinois-Northwestern, Indiana-Michigan State, Ohio State-Michigan, Penn State-Nebraska, Purdue-Iowa and Wisconsin-Minnesota. Names for each Big Ten football division will be announced at a later date.
"Over the past several months, Big Ten staff and directors of athletics have met on several occasions to discuss and finalize division alignments," said Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany. "We focused on competitive equality, traditional rivalries and geography. We considered multiple models and countless permutations in an effort to achieve the most competitively balanced divisions while at the same time respecting our traditions, preserving existing rivalries, and creating opportunities for the establishment and growth of new rivalries. We have listened to the feedback from our institutions, alumni and fans, and while we understand that no final alignments could possibly satisfy all of our constituents, we believe that we have achieved a very exciting result."
The 115th season of Big Ten football kicks off Thursday, Sept. 2, as Indiana hosts Towson, Minnesota plays at Middle Tennessee State, and Ohio State welcomes Marshall. The conference's other eight teams open action on Saturday, Sept. 4.
(Thanks to the University of Nebraska)
(9/2/10) PARK RIDGE, IL - The Big Ten Conference announced its divisional alignment on Wednesday evening, along with the 2011 and 2012 conference schedules. The announcement gives Nebraska fans a preview of the Cornhuskers' first two seasons of Big Ten play.
The 2011 and 2012 Nebraska schedules includes matchups with Big Ten powers Ohio State and Wisconsin. The Huskers' first-ever Big Ten Conference game will be played at Wisconsin on Saturday, Oct. 1. Nebraska's first Big Ten home game on Oct. 8 will be against Ohio State, the winner of five consecutive Big Ten championships heading into the 2010 season.
Nebraska's 2011 home schedule also features home contests against Michigan State, Northwestern and Iowa. The Huskers and the Hawkeyes are scheduled to meet on Thanksgiving weekend in both 2011 and 2012. In addition to Wisconsin, Nebraska will also travel to Minnesota, Penn State and Michigan in 2011. The home and road opponents are reversed on the 2012 schedule.
The 2011 and 2012 Nebraska schedules do not include Illinois, Indiana or Purdue.
The Big Ten Conference schedule in 2011 is in addition to NU's non-conference home games against Fresno State (Sept. 10) and Washington (Sept. 17), and a Sept. 24 road game at Wyoming. Nebraska is expected to complete its non-conference schedule (Sept. 3) in the near future.
The 2012 non-conference schedule currently includes a Sept. 1 season opener against Southern Miss in Lincoln and a Sept. 8 road game at UCLA.
2011/2012 Schedule Highlights
--Nebraska, who has won 827 games in program history, will face three of the other six programs with 800 or more victories in school history-Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State.
--Nebraska's trip to Michigan will be its first since 1962 when Bob Devaney's first team defeated Michigan 25-13 in Ann Arbor. That was the last regular-season meeting between the two schools.
--Ohio State's trip to Lincoln in 2011 will be the Buckeyes' first-ever trip to Memorial Stadium. Nebraska traveled to Columbus to face the Buckeyes in 1955 and 1956.
--Seven of the eight teams on Nebraska's 2011 and 2012 Big Ten schedules appeared in a bowl game in the 2009 season. The only team who did not appear in a bowl game a year ago is Michigan, the winningest program in college football history. Overall, nine of Nebraska's 11 scheduled games in 2011 are against teams who reached a bowl game in 2009.
--The 2011 and 2012 schedules include each of the last eight Big Ten Conference champions.
(Thanks to the University of Nebraska)
(9/2/10) LINCOLN, NE - With the season opener three days away, the Nebraska football team took the field Wednesday for a two hour workout on the Ed and Joyanne Gass practice fields, just northeast of Memorial Stadium. The Huskers practiced in helmets and shoulder pads in their last major workout before toning things down for their game against Western Kentucky.
After Wednesday's practice, running backs coach Tim Beck addressed the media and talked about his position. One player that has impressed Beck this fall camp is senior Roy Helu Jr. Beck said he has seen a more calm Helu the past four weeks.
"I see him playing more relaxed, not putting as much pressure on himself having to be the guy," Beck said. "I think he knows that he is the veteran of the group and there is a lot expected of him, but I also feel like he has been able to play a lot more relaxed."
With Helu and sophomores Rex Burkhead and Dontrayevous Robinson at the top of the depth chart, Beck pointed to junior Austin Jones and sophomore Lester Ward as possible candidates as the fourth back.
"We'll look at A.J. (Jones) and Lester (Ward), maybe guys who have separated themselves a little bit if we get the opportunity to, but right now we're just focusing on those other guys and doing what we need to do to win the game."
The Huskers will return to the practice field on Thursday for an afternoon workout. NU kicks off the 2010 season against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Saturday at 6 p.m. in a matchup televised on Fox Sports Net Pay-Per View.
(Thanks to the University of Nebraska)
(9/2/10) LINCOLN, NE - The Nebraska Wesleyan football team will open the 2010 season this Saturday (Sept. 4) when they travel to Seward, Neb., to face conference rival Concordia University.
Kickoff between the Prairie Wolves and Bulldogs is set for 1 p.m., at Bulldog stadium. The game can be heard live on KFOR 1240 AM or online at kfor1240.com.
NWU is coming off a 5-5 season in 2009 after winning seven games each of the previous three seasons. Head Coach Brian Keller, who begins his 15th season at the helm of his alma mater, returns eight total starters from the 2009 team.
Concordia got their season started last Saturday with a 13-7 victory over Peru State in a non conference game. The Bulldogs are in their second season under head coach Vance Winter after going 3-7 in his first season in 2009.
(Thanks to NWU)
(9/2/10) MINNEAPOLIS, MN - Danny Valencia carried the tag of the Twins' future third baseman for a few seasons before finally getting his chance in the Majors when he was promoted in May. But it would have been hard for anyone to predict the type of impact he'd have in his rookie year.
As the Twins have seen themselves plagued by injuries over the past two months, the need for a third baseman, as well as another bat to step up key situations, has intensified. And Valencia has certainly delivered -- just as he did on Wednesday night.
With the Twins needing a win to maintain a four-game lead over the White Sox in the American League Central race, Valencia came up with the biggest hit of the night.
After Michael Cuddyer singled and stole second base off reliever Ryan Perry in the 10th inning, Valencia lined a one-out single just over the top of the Tigers' infield to score the winning run and give the Twins a 2-1 victory at Target Field.
"My first walk-off hit in pro baseball," Valencia said with a smile. "It was nice for it to come in a situation like this."
Hits were limited for both clubs in a game that began as a pitchers' duel between red-hot starters Francisco Liriano and Max Scherzer.
Scherzer entered the contest on quite a roll, and certainly as a much different pitcher than the Twins saw back in the first month of the season. He allowed 16 earned runs against the Twins in back-to-back starts on April 28 and May 3, but he showed the club how far he's come since being sent down to Triple-A Toledo in May by his performance in this one.
Scherzer held the Twins to just one run on four hits over a career-high nine innings and didn't allow a hit until the fifth, when Minnesota scored its only run off him.
"It was one of the best games I've thrown in the big leagues, and it doesn't feel right," Scherzer said. "We didn't win. I'm so tied to how this team does and my teammates. When we don't come away with wins, it doesn't feel right. That's what kind of stinks about it. Even though I threw the ball well, we didn't win."
Scherzer has now allowed just three earned runs in his past four starts -- a span of 30 innings -- and he has posted a 1.60 ERA over his past 14 starts.
Liriano has been impressive himself lately, posting a 6-0 record since the start of the second half. And while he had a no-decision against the Tigers on Wednesday, he held Detroit scoreless through seven innings and dropped his ERA to 2.17 in nine starts since the All-Star Break.
But after Liriano threw his 104th pitch to strike out pinch-hitter Alex Avila to end the seventh, the Twins decided to turn to their bullpen.
"I think if we can give him the rest he needs and take care of him to the end, he'll throw the ball very well," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He said the rest, the extra day, helps him, and it does with all these guys this time of year."
Jesse Crain was called on to start the eighth, having allowed just one earned run over his previous 31 2/3 innings of work -- resulting in a 0.28 ERA over a span of 35 appearances. But Austin Jackson singled to lead off the inning. Will Rhymes popped up his bunt attempt off Crain for the first out and then left-hander Randy Flores came in to strike out pinch-hitter Ryan Raburn.
Gardenhire then turned to right-hander Matt Guerrier to face Miguel Cabrera, who walked on six pitches, before Jhonny Peralta hit a single to left field that tied the game and forced the Twins to deliver a memorable finish.
Valencia played a role in the Twins getting their only run off Scherzer in the fifth. Delmon Young led off the inning with a double to right field, and Valencia's single put runners on the corners for Jose Morales, who hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Young and gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead.
In the 10th, he found himself behind in the count to Perry. After a first-pitch ball, Valencia quickly got in a 1-2 count but he managed to lay off some tough pitches to work the count full.
"He gave me good pitches to hit early in the count and I just didn't swing," Valencia said. "I was thinking, 'Geez, I let some of the pitches I wanted to hit go by.' I was able to work the count and he threw me another pitch that was good to hit, and I was able to hit it up the middle."
Valencia hit a 95-mph fastball from Perry just far enough into center field that Cuddyer was able to score standing up from second base to give the Twins the victory.
In 208 at-bats since joining the Twins, Valencia is batting .332 with 16 doubles, two homers and 24 RBIs.
"We need him, that's for sure. Especially now, with all the injuries we've had to endure in the past two months," Cuddyer said. "For him to come up and fill in nicely is huge."
Confidence has never really been an issue for Valencia. It certainly isn't hard to tell his confidence considering the t-shirt Valencia, a proud University of Miami alum, was wearing after the game emblazoned with "The 'U' invented swagger" across the front.
But even Valencia admits that he didn't quite envision this type of success so early in his time with the Twins.
"I'm just lucky that they put me in the position that I'm in," Valencia said. "I'm just happy that the coaching staff has the confidence to put me out there every day. I knew I'd be able to play up here, obviously, but to do this well it's pretty surreal."
(Thanks to mlb.com)
(9/2/10) KANSAS CITY, MO - Strange that the Royals wished they could've been in Texas, considering they were wiped out in four straight games by the Rangers there this year.
Still, two long drives struck by the Royals in the ninth inning on Wednesday night might have meant a different outcome in Texas than the 4-3 Rangers victory at the more spacious Kauffman Stadium.
With Rangers closer Neftali Feliz on the mound, Wilson Betemit sent a long drive to right field that Nelson Cruz caught near the wall. Then Billy Butler hit a liner that sent Cruz back, crashing into the wall and reaching for a catch. Game over.
"If we were in Texas, that game's over, we win it, but we're not," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "They both smoked the ball. I thought both of them had a chance to go out. The outfielders in that situation are playing no-doubles, they're playing deep and that's the only way you're going to catch a ball like Billy hit -- he just scalded it."
It was a night for crucial outfield catches by the Rangers. With two out and two on in the Royals' sixth inning, Gregor Blanco sent one of Tommy Hunter's pitches hurtling toward the left-field corner. For the 10,811 fans, visions of two runners dashing across the plate danced through their heads.
But, no, left fielder David Murphy streaked like a comet, reached out and caught the ball. Inning over.
"Made a great play on Blanco -- that's two runs, that's the game-saver there," Yost said.
That kept the Rangers' lead at 4-2.
"I was actually playing kind of shallow on him and he got pretty good wood on it," Murphy said. "I didn't think it was going to travel the way it did. It started fading toward the line and started carrying over my head a little bit. I knew I had to gain ground on it as much as possible. It was one of those that I got there at the last second, just stretched, and reached it at the last second and got it."
It was one of those nights when the Rangers made all the right moves and the Royals, at times, did not. Take the first inning. Royals starter Bryan Bullington opened the game with a walk and, with one out, Murphy hit a looper to center field that fell in front of Blanco.
"Very uncharacteristic of him," Yost said. "He took a step back. He read a big swing and the ball kind of came off the end of the bat."
That went for a single and, one out later, Nelson Cruz got a single through the shortstop hole for two runs.
"The first inning I walked the leadoff guy and I still had a chance to get out of the inning and Cruz hit a six-hopper that was just in right spot to get through and scored the two that ended up being the difference," Bullington said.
Ex-Royal Andres Blanco, who was 6-for-12 in the series, doubled home the Rangers' third run in the fourth and Mitch Moreland belted a solo homer off Bullington in the sixth.
Yuniesky Betancourt was the Royals' primary weapon, knocking in two of their three runs with a home run off Hunter in the fourth and a double off reliever Darren Oliver in the seventh.
But that was it.
The Royals' bullpen, in Bullington's wake, held nicely. Philip Humber worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings, getting the last eight batters he faced out in order. And Gil Meche, making his first relief appearance, worked a shutout ninth with one single.
"Humber's continuing a nice streak he's had since he's been here. He's made good on every opportunity," Yost said.
Humber threw three shutout innings in his previous appearance at Detroit and earned his first victory.
Meche last pitched in relief for Seattle on Oct. 1, 2005, against Oakland. He pitched two-thirds of an inning and gave up two hits.
This time Meche began by striking out Julio Borbon on three pitches and got Andrus on a groundout before Michael Young singled to center. Then Murphy lined out to second.
"Gil threw the ball very, very well. The curveball that he gave up the hit was an excellent curveball and he commanded his fastball. Gil could be a big plus for our pen," Yost said.
In the bottom of the ninth, Feliz got Mike Aviles on a fly ball to center. Then came the Betemit and Butler drives that might well have been out at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
"The guy's throwing 100 miles an hour and I put the barrel on it. I can't do any more than that," Butler said.
"In Texas, we may have had two home runs there back-to-back, but we're not playing in Texas."
Nor are the Royals playing the Rangers anywhere again this season. Probably just as well, Texas won seven of the nine games.
(Thanks to mlb.com)
(9/01/10) Omaha, NE - After dropping a heartbreaking five-set match on Sunday to Florida during the finale of the Runza/AVCA Showcase at the Qwest Center, the No. 7 Nebraska volleyball returned to Omaha on Tuesday night to post hard-fought sweep of the Creighton Bluejays (26-24, 25-18, 25-15) in front of a sold-out crowd at the D.J. Sokol Arena.
Jordan Wilberger came off the Husker bench to give Nebraska a boost in her first action of the year, as put away eight kills on just 13 swings (.615) and added five blocks, including one solo stuff. Sydney Anderson contributed her first double-double of the year with 20 assists and 10 digs, while Brooke Delano led all Husker attackers with 10 kills.
Playing at the Sokol Arena for the first time in program history, the Huskers got out to a slow start in set one as Creighton took the first two points and continued to build its lead throughout the set, including six-point leads at 18-12 and 20-14. With the Jays knocking on the first-set door at 23-18, the Huskers dug deep with a 6-1 run to tie the score at 24 apiece. Following a Creighton timeout, Tara Mueller continued to control the Jays' defense with her serve to force Creighton into committing two errors and give the Huskers set one, 26-24.
Hannah Werth and Delano carried the Huskers' attack in set one with four kills each. Neither squad attacked well, as the Huskers hit .176 and Creighton hit .093.
Creighton again started hot in set two with a 3-0 run, before the Huskers answered with a 5-0 run of their won, including two kills from Mueller. Creighton took back the lead at 9-8, but Werth put up a solo stuff of Karisa Almgren to square the score at 9-9.
The teams traded points until 17-17, when Nebraska went on 4-0 run to take the lead 21-17. After the teams traded service errors, Delano served NU to the win behind a two blocks from Wilberger and a kill from Gina Mancuso.
The Huskers' found their rhythm both offensively and defensively in set two as they hit at a .342 clip, while holding Creighton to just .049 hitting. After recording only one block in set one, NU stepped up the pressure with four blocks in the second stanza.
Nebraska started set three with a 2-0 lead behind kills from Werth and Wilberger, marking the first time all night at that the Huskers scored the first point of a set. Following Creighton's first point of the set, Nebraska went on an 8-2 run to take the lead 10-6, with Delano adding three more kills during the run.
The Jays did not go away quietly, as they answered back with three straight points, before a well-placed back-corner kill by Wilberger ended the run. The Jays added two more points, but the Huskers responded fast with a 6-0 run to take the lead 17-8. The duo of Mancuso and Wilberger continued to give support off the bench as the two each produced a kill and added two blocks over the run. The Huskers ended up being too much over the long haul, as they took set three 25-15 to produce their fourth straight sweep in the series.
The Huskers will now take tomorrow off before heading to Provo, Utah, on Thursday for the BYU Tournament at Smith Fieldhouse. Nebraska and host-school BYU will play on Friday at 8 p.m. (Central), before the Huskers face Cal Poly (1 p.m.) and Idaho State (6 p.m.) on Saturday.
(Thanks to the University of Nebraska and Huskers.com)
(9/01/10) Lincoln, NE - The Nebraska football team continued preparations for their 2010 season opener with a full-padded practice Tuesday afternoon on the Ed and Joyanne Gass practice fields. After practice, offensive coordinator Shawn Watson addressed the quarterback situation and said they are "still competing."
"We haven't talked about it," Watson said when asked about whether or not there was going to be a set rotation. "We discuss it every day. Don't think we don't talk about it. We do. Bo and I have a plan."
Watson said that there would not be any wrinkles in this week's offense and the Huskers are going to turn their plan loose and play.
"It's time to put it out there for us and see where we're at," said Watson.
When asked why the Huskers were not announcing a No. 1 quarterback, Watson said the coaching staff decided before fall camp that when they felt like there was a clear cut starter they would address it then
.
"The good thing is, the reason that it isn't (announced), is because they've all three played so well," Watson said. "They've played at a high level and complimented in a lot of respects. They've had to, to stay in the hunt. It's been a great competition and it's really, really close."
The Huskers will continue to prepare for their season opener Wednesday afternoon. Nebraska squares off against the Hilltoppers this Saturday at Memorial Stadium at 6 p.m.
(Thanks to the University of Nebraska and Huskers.com)
(9/01/10) Lincoln, NE - Former Husker All-American Kelsey Griffin earned a spot on the five-player WNBA All-Rookie Team announced on Tuesday.
Griffin, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2010 WNBA Draft, played a major role off the bench and as a part-time starter for the Connecticut Sun in her first season in the league. The 6-2 forward from Eagle River, Alaska, averaged 4.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. She ranked second among all WNBA rookies in rebounds per game, trailing only rookie teammate Tina Charles.
Charles, who was named the WNBA Rookie of the Year, averaged 15.5 points and 11.7 rebounds per game for the Sun. Charles' former Connecticut teammate Kalana Greene (New York Liberty) also earned a spot on the rookie team, along with Monica Wright (Minnesota Lynx) and Epiphany Prince (Chicago Sky).
Griffin's rookie season followed on the heels of an outstanding senior season at Nebraska in 2010.
The Big 12 Player of the Year was a finalist for every major national player-of-the-year award, while earning first-team All-Big 12 honors for the third season. Griffin led the Huskers to the Big 12 title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. In addition to powering Nebraska to the NCAA Sweet 16, Griffin became just the second Husker in history to close her career with more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
Griffin plans to continue her professional career by playing in Hungary during the WNBA offseason.
(Thanks to the University of Nebraska and Huskers.com)
(9/01/10) Minneapolis, MN - Over the course of the Twins' recent seven-game road trip against the American League West, the team saw a few disturbing trends starting to occur.
There were some missed plays in the field and other miscues that resulted in the type of play not typically seen from Twins ballclubs. But even after returning home to the comfort of Target Field on Tuesday night, things started off shaky for the Twins in their contest against the Tigers.
There were some defensive errors that led to unearned runs for starter Brian Duensing, and the offense continued to struggle to produce big innings due to its inability to string together hits.
With the White Sox having already defeated the Indians earlier in the evening, the Twins found themselves on the verge of seeing their lead in the AL Central drop to three games for the first time since Aug. 16.
Instead, the Twins found a way to put the bad baseball from the early innings behind them to rally late against the Tigers. Delmon Young came up with the big hit in the seventh inning, as Minnesota took advantage of some miscues by the Detroit relief staff in a 4-3 victory that kept its division lead at four games.
"An ugly ballgame," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We didn't play very well for about six or seven innings. Nothing good was happening for us. We didn't play good defense and we didn't hit much. We stayed after the game, and it got exciting there as it went along."
Trailing the Tigers, 3-0, in the bottom of the sixth, the Twins managed to score two runs off Tigers starter Armando Galarraga and pull themselves within a run of Detroit. But it was the next inning when the Twins were able to take advantage of the Tigers' bullpen when it faltered.
Left-hander Phil Coke replaced Galarraga for the start of the seventh and issued a leadoff walk to J.J. Hardy, who was replaced by pinch-runner Alexi Casilla. After a Denard Span sacrifice bunt moved Casilla into scoring position, Joe Mauer came to the plate with two outs. But things got ugly for Detroit after Coke hit Mauer and Jason Kubel to load the bases. Coke was replaced by right-hander Ryan Perry, who threw four straight balls to Michael Cuddyer to walk in the tying run. Young followed with a sharp single into right field to score the go-ahead run, although Kubel was thrown out at home plate by nearly 30 feet on the play while trying to score a second run.
"We decided to go with a changeup in right there," Coke said of his pitch to Mauer. "It actually just squirted out of my hand. As soon as it started coming out of my hand before I wanted it to, I knew that it wasn't going where it should. I think that, especially since he's never seen one off of me, I had him frozen if I put it where I wanted it to go. But it didn't work out that way. Then I wanted to throw a fastball in to Kubel, and that one got away from me, too."
Kubel had to leave the game right after his missed scoring opportunity due to his left wrist swelling up after he was hit by the pitch. X-rays were negative on Kubel's wrist, but he could miss a few days due to the injury. Even though Kubel's run didn't score, the Twins found themselves with a one-run lead after having trailed, 3-0, for most of the contest. Duensing pitched 6 2/3 innings for Minnesota, allowing three runs on nine hits while striking out two. But all three runs given up by Duensing were unearned.
A throwing error by Hardy let leadoff hitter Austin Jackson reach base to start the game. Back-to-back two-out singles by Jhonny Peralta and Brandon Inge in the inning gave Detroit a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers would add to that lead in the second thanks to another defensive error by Minnesota. Will Rhymes grounded into a fielder's choice for the second out of the inning, but a short-hopped throw by second baseman Orlando Hudson on the play allowed a run to score on his throwing error, putting the Tigers up, 3-0.
"The first play of the game, you miss it and throw it away and go from there," Gardenhire said. "A bad, bad omen right away. That's not the way you start a ballgame and we started it that way. We played like that on the road a little bit, too, missing too many plays and giving up too many runs. We've got to shake ourselves of that because you don't win games like that, you lose them. We were fortunate tonight."
It helped that Duensing was able to shrug off the early struggles of his defense, and in his words being inefficient with his pitches early on, to last into the seventh inning.
"That's going to happen, no one is perfect and errors are going to happen," Duensing said of the early defensive woes. "You've got to just kind of bear down and make some good pitches and keep having confidence in the defense that they are going to make the plays. You start trying to miss bats and that's when you are going to have trouble. I have all the confidence in the world in the defense, so just let them keep trying to make the plays."
From the third inning on, Duensing scattered just five hits and held the Tigers scoreless over his final 4 2/3 innings. The only real threat came in the seventh on back-to-back singles with two outs, but Matt Guerrier then came in for the final out, and picked up the win in the process.
"I was getting pitches to hit and everybody else was," said Inge. "Obviously, [Duensing] did a good job picking up the pace and just going after us. He also did a good job of making us hit it right at the fielders. You have to give him credit. He turned it around."
After Duensing left the contest, the Twins were able to turn the contest over to their recently bolstered bullpen to shut down the contest.
Randy Flores and Jesse Crain combined to pitch a scoreless eighth inning, and Matt Capps closed out the contest in the ninth for his 33rd save of the season, holding on to the slim one-run lead the Twins had built.
(Thanks to Twinsbaseball.com)
(9/01/10) KANSAS CITY, MO - Bold and beautiful -- that's the way it ended for the Royals. Daring baserunning by Willie Bloomquist gave the Royals a 10-9 victory over the Texas Rangers in the ninth inning on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium. Bloomquist, a pinch-runner, stole third base and then scored the game-ending run on a wild pitch.
"You try to find ways to win a ballgame and sometimes, you've got to be a little bold to do it," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "You can't be afraid to try to win a ballgame."
Wilson Betemit opened the Royals' ninth with a double off left-hander Darren Oliver and Bloomquist ran for him. Kila Ka'aihue wanted to move him over with a ball to the right side but struck out. Now Bloomquist had the green light from Yost to steal second.
"I don't give him a 'must-go,' " Yost said. "I've got enough confidence in Willie to pick a pitch, to know when he has a jump . . . [with the] liberty to steal the bag."
Brayan Pena walked on four pitches before Bloomquist boldly stole third base on a 2-2 pitch to Alex Gordon, just beating catcher Matt Treanor's throw.
"It was a calculated risk but it was one that, in that situation, I felt pretty confident in taking and it worked out," Bloomquist said.
Gordon took that pitch for ball three but then struck out and Alexi Ogando, a rookie right-hander, took over for Oliver. On a 3-0 pitch to Yuniesky Betancourt, Ogando bounced ball four past Treanor. Bloomquist bolted to the plate.
"You've got to read it and make sure it got past him," Bloomquist said. "On the second pitch, he made an unbelievable play to pick that ball out of the dirt. So the main thing is to make sure it gets past him before you take the chance to do it."
The ball bounced off the backstop to Treanor, who got off a throw to Ogando covering the plate but Bloomquist slid in safely.
"That's my game," Treanor said. "That's what I take pride in, my defense. Not that I don't take pride in the rest of my game but I feel I should make that play. I should have caught the ball."
The Royals converged joyously on Bloomquist around the plate. Among them was closer Joakim Soria, who set up the finish by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
"It was nice to see Jack come in and get through the inning and get his first win of the year," Yost said.
It was just the Royals' second victory in eight games against Texas this season and came after six innings of heavy slugging.
"You certainly wouldn't anticipate it was going to be a walk-off wild pitch, the way the bats were being swung tonight," Bloomquist said. "Their guys hit a few bolts that I don't think have landed yet and we swung the bats exceptionally well, too. So for it to end on a walk-off wild pitch was kind of crazy. But this game's a crazy game."
Home runs have been a tad troublesome for Sean O'Sullivan since he joined the Royals from the Los Angeles Angels. In six previous starts, he'd given up six homers. The Rangers added three to that total. Michael Young banged his 20th, a solo shot, in the first inning. David Murphy led off the fourth inning with his ninth. And Vladimir Guerrero launched a two-run monster in the fifth. That drive did a splashdown in the left-field fountains, 432 feet from the plate. Not that the others were chinkers -- Young's went 406 feet and Murphy's 414 feet.
In contrast, Betancourt's second-inning homer off Rangers left-hander Cliff Lee barely made it into the stands just inside the right-field pole, a mere 336 feet. That was the Royals' first run. But they'd get six more against Lee and oust him from the game in the fifth inning. Guerrero's 25th blast gave Lee a 6-4 lead but it vanished almost immediately. In fact, by the time the Royals were finished with Lee and reliever Matt Harrison, they'd put together a five-run inning for a 9-6 lead.
All the runs scored after two outs and featured two-run doubles by Gordon and Jai Miller, an error by Harrison and Mike Aviles' RBI single.
"Everybody knows that Cliff Lee is one of the best pitchers in the big leagues but we showed that we can bounce back and these guys did a great job," Pena said.
With that, O'Sullivan yielded the mound to Jesse Chavez who, staying in theme, gave up a solo homer (401 feet, if you're counting) to Mitch Moreland. And three straight doubles later -- by Elvis Andrus, Young and Josh Hamilton -- darned if the score wasn't tied, 9-9.
That removed Lee from a possible loss so he remains 2-5 in 11 starts since being obtained from Seattle. Three of the seven runs against him were unearned, result of his own throwing error in the third. And, in the end, it was another errant toss by Ogando that decided the outcome.
"Once it got past him, I was taking my chances with two outs there and that guy throwing 100 [mph]," Bloomquist said. "That's what I was waiting on."
So the night's unlikely hero turned out to be, of all things, a pinch-runner.
"All in a night's work, I guess," Bloomquist said, laughing.
(Thanks to Royals.com)
(9/01/10) Minneapolis, MN - Sidney Rice was placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform list Tuesday, meaning the Vikings Pro Bowl wide receiver is officially out for the first six weeks.
Rice is expected to miss at least half the season after having hip surgery in Colorado last week. The move means he will not count against the 53-man roster. According to league rules, the Vikings will have three weeks after Week 6 to decide whether Rice is able to practice. Once he's cleared to practice, the team has another three weeks to activate him or keep him on reserve PUP for the rest of the season.
The latest Rice could return using the full recovery timetable would the Dec. 5 game against Buffalo.
The Vikings announced three other roster moves to get to the 75-man limit Tuesday. They waived offensive tackle Bill Noethlich, wide receiver Marko Mitchell and linebacker J Leman.
Leman, who was sidelined by a turf toe problem, was placed on injured reserve. Wide receiver Jaymar Johnson already is on injured reserve after suffering a broken thumb.
The Vikings must trim their roster to 53 players by 5 p.m. Saturday
(Thanks to Startribune.com) .
(8/31/10) Lincoln, NE -Nebraska senior Lindsey Licht was honored by the Big 12 Conference on Monday afternoon as the league’s Offensive Player of the Week. It was the first time in Licht’s career that she has earned a player of the week honor from the conference.
A native of Aurora, Colo., Licht started 2010 on fire at the Runza/AVCA Showcase in Omaha at the Qwest Center with 32 kills on just 48 swings to hit .542 in two matches against then-ranked No. 14 Kentucky and No. 13 Florida. After putting away 14 kills in a sweep of Kentucky on Saturday, Licht followed with a career-best 18 kills in a five-set loss to Florida on Sunday.
Licht’s .650 (14-1-20) hitting percentage against the Wildcats was tops in the Big 12 over the weekend, while her .464 (18-5-28) hitting against the Gators ranked third best. The 6-5 lefty also put up a solid defensive weekend, as she produced eight blocks, including three solo stuffs.
The Huskers will be back in Omaha on Tuesday night to take on the Creighton Bluejays. The match is set to start at 7 p.m. at the D.J. Sokol Arena and can be heard across the state on the Huskers Sports Network as well as Huskers.com.
(Thanks to the University of Nebraska and Huskers.com)
(8/31/10) Lincoln, NE - After opening the 2010 season at the Runza/AVCA Showcase at the Qwest Center, the No. 7 nationally-ranked Nebraska Huskers (1-1) will return to Omaha on Tuesday night for a match with the Creighton Bluejays (1-2) at the D.J. Sokol Arena.
Tuesday’s match will mark the first time the two schools have met on Creighton’s campus since 1980 when the two programs played at the Kiewit Center. The Huskers will play at the 2,500-seat Sokol Arena for the first time in program history and the match is expected to be sold out.
The Huskers hold a 12-0 series lead over the Bluejays dating back to 1980 and have only lost one set all time to the Jays. Nebraska started the series with eight straight sweeps, before Creighton took the first set of the 2006 match-up, before the Huskers won 3-1. Nebraska has followed with sweeps in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Fans can listen to all of the action with John Baylor and Lindsay Peterson on the 25-station Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and Twister 93.3 FM in Omaha. Fans outside the state will also be able to catch the live audio feed for free on Huskers.com.
Scouting the Bluejays
• Creighton has started 2010 with a 1-2 record with a win over San Francisco (3-1) and losses to Lipscomb (3-1) and Kansas (3-1).
• The Bluejays bring back a strong nucleus from a year ago, as they return 11 letterwinners and four starters.
• Senior Alicia Runge leads the Jays with 4.17 kills per set, which ties her for second best in the MVC.
• Creighton leads the MVC in blocks at 2.75 per set and is second in digs at 18.33 per set.
• Outside hitter Allie Oelke enters Tuesday’s match tied for fourth-best in the Valley with 4.67 digs per set. She also contributes 2.83 kills per set.
• In 2009, Creighton finished with an overall record of 14-17 and finished 10-8 in the Missouri Valley to tie for fourth.
Head Coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth
Kirsten Bernthal Booth (Truman State, 1997) owns a 121-91 record and is in her eighth season with the Bluejays. She became the program’s all-time winningest coach on Aug. 25, 2007 with a 3-0 win over Stephen F. Austin and joined the 100-win club with an Oct. 31, 2008 win at Drake. Booth came to Creighton after going 112-41 in three years at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
A native of Lincoln, Neb., Booth played volleyball at Truman State, where she was named conference MVP, an Academic All-American and Missouri’s 1997 NCAA Woman of the Year. She ranked third in Division II history with 6,077 assists when she graduated.
Scouting the Huskers
• Nebraska opened 2010 with a sweep of No. 14 Kentucky and then fell in five-set heartbreaker to No. 13 Florida at the Runza/AVCA Showcase in Omaha at the Qwest Center.
• Under Head Coach John Cook, the Huskers improved to 280-8 when winning the first set of the match after their sweep of Kentucky on Aug. 28.
• With a first-set loss to Florida on Aug. 29, the Huskers fell to 28-19 under Head Coach John Cook when losing the first set.
• Nebraska enters Tuesday ranked second in the Big 12 in both assists (13.00) and kills (15.00) per set.
• Senior Lindsey Licht posted a career-best 18 kills in Nebraska’s loss to Florida on Aug. 29. With 32 kills on just 48 swings through two matches, Licht leads the Big 12 with a .542 hitting percentage.
• Nebraska has split time at setter between senior Sydney Anderson and sophomore Lauren Cook, with the two combining for 89 assists to help NU hit .259.
• Nebraska’s 71 kills against Florida on Aug. 29 was the most kills for NU since Sept. 30, 2009, when the Huskers won in five sets at Oklahoma.
• The Huskers return three AVCA All-Americans in 2010, including seniors Sydney Anderson and Tara Mueller, as well as junior Brooke Delano.
•Nebraska began the 2010 season as the second-winningest program in Division I history. The Huskers’ 1,086 wins trail only UCLA (1,106).
(Thanks to the University of Nebraska and Huskers.com)
(8/31/10) Lincoln, NE - Nebraska opens its 121st season of play on Saturday, Sept. 4, when the Huskers take on Western Kentucky in the 2010 season opener at Memorial Stadium. Game time for the first meeting between the two schools is set for 6:10 p.m. with Fox Sports Net televising the game on a pay-per-view basis.
The Huskers enter the season with momentum from a strong 2009 finish. NU won six of its final seven games and was just one second away from winning the Big 12 Championship. The Huskers completed their season with a shutout of Arizona in the Holiday Bowl, and finished No. 14 in both polls, their highest finish since checking in at No. 7 in 2001.
On the strength of the strong finish, Nebraska enters 2010 ranked eighth in the Associated Press preseason poll and No. 9 in the USA Today coaches' poll. The Huskers are starting the season in the top 10 for the first time since 2002 and have already achieved their first top-10 ranking at any point during a season since 2003.
Western Kentucky is in its fourth season of play at the Football Bowl Subdivision level, after moving up prior to the 2007 season. WKU was 0-12 in 2009 and enters the year looking to end a 20-game losing streak. The Hilltoppers are under new leadership in 2010, as former WKU star Willie Taggart has returned to lead the program.
(Thanks to the University of Nebraska and Huskers.com)
(8/31/10) Lincoln, NE - Nebraska football fans who enjoy a more comfortable seat are going to be required to rent chairback seats this year and not allowed to bring their own to Memorial Stadium. There are 18,000 new chairback seats available. Rental is $4 if pre-paid for the season and $5 on game day. Associate athletic director for facilities and events Butch Hug said many chairbacks sold in stores are larger than Memorial Stadium's allotted seat space.
Hug said the department's new chairbacks have thicker seats and fiberglass backs that are molded for the comfort of the fan and do not take up the knee space of the
person seated behind them. The Huskers open the season Saturday night against Western Kentucky.
(Thanks to the University of Nebraska and Huskers.com)
(8/31/10) Minneapolis, MN - Aaron Hill hasn't forgotten how strong his desire was to get back on the field. The Blue Jays second baseman vividly remembers wanting to ignore all the advice from people to take things easy as he tried to return from a concussion he suffered during the 2008 season. It's why Hill can empathize with Justin Morneau's current situation.
Hill was not on the field for the Blue Jays on July 7 when the Twins first baseman suffered his own concussion, when Morneau was accidentally kneed in the head by Toronto shortstop John McDonald during a takeout slide into second base trying to break up a double play. But since then, Hill has paid attention to updates regarding Morneau's recovery. Hill has yet to reach out to him to share his own concussion experience, but if he did, he would be have be one piece of advice.
"I'll say the same thing that I heard, that everyone else was telling me," Hill said. "In the end of everything, the best thing was just rest. I mean, you hate to hear that. I know he's going to hate to hear that."
"They're in the thick of things and making a run for it, so obviously, he wants to get back. That's just the competitive side of him. I know he does. I'm sure he probably could [return], but there's a far greater downside to that than upside."
As the Twins head toward the final month of the season holding a 4 1/2-game lead over the White Sox in the American League Central race, they continue without their All-Star slugger. Morneau has missed 47 games and it's unclear whether he will be able to return at all this season. The Twins have consistently said there is no timetable for Morneau as he continues to try to recover. Updates on his condition have been limited, mostly consisting of tidbits of information that he's continuing to work out on a nearly daily basis at Target Field or that he has taken a day off here and there.
Instead, the Twins' intention is to let Morneau continue to work out at his own pace. There is no pressure or expectations being placed on him to get back on the field.
It's a scenario that Hill knows well, considering that his own recovery played out similarly. In Hill's case, he was hurt on May 29, 2008, when he was struck in the side of the head by David Eckstein's right elbow as he and the former Blue Jays shortstop sprinted to shallow center field to track down a fly ball. That night, after tests showed the concussion wasn't serious, Hill was upbeat, thinking that his recovery would be quick. But that wound up being the final game that Hill played that season as he spent the rest of the year on the disabled list. He didn't return to the field until Spring Training 2009.
Just like Hill, Morneau thought that his own injury wasn't very serious right after it occurred. Morneau hoped that it would only be a few days before he would return to the lineup. But things certainly haven't gone as planned. Morneau has told reporters recently that there are days when he feels great after working out, but usually as the day progresses, he begins to experience some fogginess. As recently as a week ago, the last time the Twins were at home, Morneau had not made it through a day without experiencing any lingering symptoms.
Hill understands Morneau's predicament, knowing the desire Morneau must have to want to help his team in a pennant race and also the concern for his own health. For Hill, it came down to finally listening to those who told him that rest was the best option, although he knows that the recovery from a concussion is different for each person.
"After a while, it was like, 'OK, maybe these guys have something to it,'" Hill said. "At first, you never want to hear it. Maybe Justin's at that point where he's got to make a decision here sooner or later because it has been a little while. You'd just hate to see anything bad happen."
Morneau was a huge offensive catalyst for the Twins during the first half of the season and looked to be an MVP candidate prior to his injury. On July 7, the day that he was injured, Morneau ranked second in the American League with a .345 batting average. His .437 on-base percentage led the league and his .618 slugging percentage was second behind Detroit's Miguel Cabrera.
"In terms of finding a bat, Morneau would be the bat you want back," manager Ron Gardenhire said this past weekend. "I wouldn't think you would find anyone better."
But despite Morneau's absence, the Twins have once again found a way to take the lead in the AL Central race. In 2009, the Twins were 5 1/2 games behind the Tigers when Morneau was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his back. The injury sidelined him for the final three weeks of the regular season, but the Twins won 16 of their final 20 games to finish in a tie with Detroit atop the division before taking Game 163 at the Metrodome.
Much like last season, Michael Cuddyer has stepped up to fill in admirably at first base while Morneau has been sidelined. The Twins also have been fortunate to have another left-handed bat to slot in the lineup in veteran slugger Jim Thome. In addition, Delmon Young's strong July performance and catcher Joe Mauer seeing his bat heat up in the second half have helped the Twins weather the loss of a truly big bat in the middle of the lineup.
Still, it's difficult not to think about the kind of boost Morneau could provide if he's able to return to the Twins at some point in September. But the Twins are focused on letting Morneau recover, not trying to look ahead or predict what might happen.
"We all know the Morneau situation," Gardenhire said. "We're not making plans either way. We're letting Morneau do his thing. He's doing his workouts. And when they tell me we think we're moving forward, then you start looking at what you need to do.
"No one knows what the plans are. The plans are him getting well."
One person who's rooting for Morneau to do just that is Hill. He hopes that the situation won't play out like his did and that Morneau has not played his final game of the season. The Twins will close out the 2010 regular season with four games against the Blue Jays at Target Field, from Sept. 30-Oct. 3, so perhaps Hill will get a chance to share his own experience with Morneau.
"Whether he's back on the field playing and everything's fine or whatever it may be, you just hope the best for him," Hill said. "He's a great guy and an unbelievable player."
(Thanks to twinsbaseball.com)
(8/31/10) Kansas City, MO - Left-hander C.J. Wilson just keeps winning and there was nothing the Royals could do about it. Wilson notched his seventh straight victory since the All-Star break by pitching the Texas Rangers to a 3-0 win over Kansas City on Monday night with 15,881 fans at Kauffman Stadium. He held the Royals to two hits and four walks in his 7 2/3 innings, stifling them for the second time this season.
While the Royals tried to figure out how to derail the streaking Wilson, the Rangers were having their own problems trying to decipher Kyle Davies. But they managed to go ahead, 2-0, by the fifth inning and the way that Wilson was pitching that was plenty. Wilson, in addition to being 7-0 with a 1.99 ERA in nine starts since the break, is 14-5 for the season.
"He's pitched like that basically all year long," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He's got a real hard 92 mile-an-hour two-seamer that bores in on right-handers and he's got a nice changeup that fades away. His slider and his cutter to left-handers are about as good as you're going to see from a left-hander."
Davies worked into the ninth inning in the longest outing of his Royals career, giving up 10 hits but just one walk. One of the three runs was unearned.
"Their pitcher did a good job," the Rangers' Elvis Andrus said. "He was tough all night long. C.J. was just better and we got some timely hits."
Nelson Cruz, just off the disabled list, wreaked his usual havoc against the Royals with a leadoff double in the second inning. This marked the third time in his career that Cruz had returned from the DL or the Minors in Kansas City and he's 6-for-12 with two doubles and three homers in those games. He scored on Bengie Molina's single.
Ex-Royal Andres Blanco belted one of his three hits off Davies, a triple high off the right-field bullpen fence, to start the fifth. He came home on Andrus' single.
Right fielder Willie Bloomquist seemed to get turned around chasing Blanco's drive but the ball hit high off the fence.
"I didn't think it was going to stay in the ballpark to be honest but it hit the top of the fence and it was past me anyway," Bloomquist said.
That's all the Rangers got until the ninth when, after one out, Davies gave up a single to Blanco who advanced to second on an error. Robinson Tejeda, in his first appearance since coming off the disabled list, was touched for a single by Andrus and a sacrifice fly by Michael Young. The run was unearned. Davies got stronger as the game progressed past the second inning.
"Every single ball was pretty where I wanted it," he said. "I was ahead and they weren't just strikes, they were quality strikes down in the zone and close to the mitt and I think that got better as the game went along."
Wilson also had a second-inning lapse but proved impregnable. Until the eighth inning, Bloomquist's infield single was the only hit off Wilson. His chopper to left of Mitch Moreland went off the first baseman's glove with two on with walks and two outs in the second inning and was immediately ruled a hit.
A hit or an error?
"That's really not for me to decide," Bloomquist said. "Once I put the ball in play, I really don't care what happened. Whether it's a hit or not really doesn't matter."
The bases were loaded but Wilson got Jai Miller to watch a called third strike. The Royals didn't get another hit until Miller lined a single to center field with one out in the eighth. After Wilson struck out Gregor Blanco, he was relieved by sidewheeling right-hander Darren O'Day. Pinch-hitter Alex Gordon ripped a smash but it was caught by the lunging Moreland at first base. The Royals had last seen Wilson back on May 7 at Arlington where he went the distance for a five-hit, 4-1 victory.
"We're not the only team he's shut down this year so he's got an idea what he's doing over there," Bloomquist said. "As far as all-around stuff, there are guys that have maybe more electric stuff but as far as hitting spots, mixing speeds and keeping us off-balance I don't think we've been held to one hit through eight innings in a long time."
Billy Butler got the Royals' third hit, a single to start the ninth inning, but Rangers closer Neftali Feliz ended the game by striking out Wilson Betemit and getting Yuniesky Betancourt to rap into a double play. It was Feliz's 33rd save for the Rangers, who now lead the American League West by a healthy 8 1/2 games.
(Thanks to Royals.com)
(8/30/10) CREIGHTON, NE (KBRX SPORTS) - On Friday, August 27th, the Creighton Bulldogs began a new chapter in their program's history. This years drop to eight-man football has unique hurdles along the way, but coach Jeff Jensen has the numbers and talent to do it. The first test to overcome was Friday's matchup against the Clearwater/Orchard Cyclones.
The Cyclones and Coach Jeff Shabram brought back twenty players from last season. However, that number was dwarfed by the forty players Creighton had on their sidelines.
The Bulldogs got things started by jumping out to a 16-0 lead with the help of a Ryan Mitteis 3-yard touchdown run and an 11-yard touchdown pass from Mitteis to senior Brennan Becker.
Clearwater/Orchard fought right back. After a long drive that had three separate third-and-long conversions, the Cyclones punched it in with a 6-yard touchdown run from quarterback Calvin Willats. That ended the first half with Creighton leading 16-8 but Clearwater/Orchard taking the momentum into the locker room.
Creighton swung the momentum back their way on the first play of the second half. Senior running back Derek Tyler broke open a 30 yard run and finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to put the score at 24-8.
That was the beginning of the end for the Cyclones as turnover became a big factor in the second half. Creighton would score two more times off of turnovers to push the lead to 40-8 and that's where it would end.
For the Cyclones, senior linebacker/fullback Aaron Schleusener would stand out on defense with 30+ tackles on the night and 50 yards on the ground. Quarterback Calvin Willats ran for 82 yards himself and went 2 for 8 through the air for 41 yards.
On the Bulldogs side, it was the one-two punch of Mitteis and Tyler leading the way. Mitteis threw for 33 yards and two touchdowns and added 50 yards on the ground and another rushing touchdown. Tyler broke out big in the second half with 87 yards on the ground and a touchdown.
Creighton will go on to play at Elgin/Pope John next week while Clearwater/Orchard will face Osmond at home.
(8/30/10) O'NEILL, NE (KBRX SPORTS) - O'Neill played proud host of High School Rodeo action this weekend with numerous area athletes competing.
Events got underway Saturday evening with Boys and Girls Cutting. Shelby Sanford of O'Neill placed well in her hometown with a second place finish.
Action continued all day Sunday with the rest of the rodeo. In steer wrestling, Lane Day of Bartlett finished third. Kelsey Knust of Verdigre recorded a fourth place finish in goat tying and a third place finish in breakaway roping.
Two gold medals from the area were awarded. Hilary Kasperbauer took home gold in breakaway roping. The second one went to Brady Wakefield from O'Neill. Wakefield, along with his teammate Dillon Tiede, took first place in team roping.
High school rodeo action will continue next week in Madison.
(8/27/10) OMAHA, NE - The second-ranked Nebraska volleyball team fought off four match points in the third set and led 11-7 in the fifth and final set only to see No. 13 Florida win eight of the final nine points and rally for a 25-22, 25-22, 29-31, 13-25, 15-12 victory in front of 5,978 fans in the final match of the Runza/AVCA Showcase Sunday at Qwest Center Omaha.
After falling behind 2-0, the Huskers fought off four match points and pulled out a 31-29 thriller in set three. Nebraska then cruised to a 12-point win in set four and led for much of the fifth set. Four points away from a come-from-behind win, the Huskers saw Florida win eight of the final nine rallies. Nebraska errors accounted for four of Florida's final six points, including three straight attack errors that turned an 11-9 lead into a one-point deficit.
"I think our kids did a great job of fighting back and getting in the match and getting in position to win the match," Head Coach John Cook said. "The thing that hurts the most is that it was pretty much all on our side of the net. The good thing is we can take care of those things; we can get better from that. The bad news is, we let Florida get out of here with a win."
With the loss, Nebraska fell to 1-1 on the season, while Florida improved to 2-0. Four Huskers matched or set career highs in kills during the win, including senior Lindsey Licht (18), junior Brooke Delano (14), sophomore Allison McNeal (7) and freshman Morgan Broekhuis (10). Sophomore Hannah Werth added 12 kills to give Nebraska four players with double-figure kills and two more with at least seven.
Licht was efficient for the second straight night, totaling 18 kills on only 28 swings while hitting .464. As a team, Nebraska hit .253, totaling 71 kills and 30 errors. Werth added a double-double with 17 digs, while senior Kayla Banwarth posted a match-high 23 digs to lead the Huskers to a 70-50 advantage in digs.
Kelly Murphy did it all for the Gators, finishing with a triple-double. Murphy totaled 20 kills on only 35 swings, hitting .514 while adding 23 assists and 10 digs. Callie Rivers and Kristy Jaeckel each added 12 kills, as Florida hit .270, finishing with eight fewer kills than NU and 10 fewer errors. Florida also added eight aces and 14 blocks.
Florida scored the first five points of set one and never trailed. After Nebraska pulled to within two at 8-6, the Gators responded with three straight points to stretch the lead back to five. Florida continued to lead by at least three and used a 4-0 run to build a 21-13 advantage. Nebraska responded by winning six of the next seven rallies to pull within 22-19 and twice cut the deficit to two before Tangerine Wiggs closed out a 25-22 Florida win with a kill.
In set two, the points came in spurts early. Nebraska scored the first three points of the set before Florida ran off three straight points of its own. The Huskers used another 3-0 run to take a 6-3 lead, but the Gators responded with five straight points to take their first lead of the set. Continuing the trend, Nebraska answered back with a 5-0 run of its own to move in front 11-8. The lead switched hands again when Florida used a decisive 6-1 run to erase a two-point deficit and take a 16-13 lead. The Gators would not trail again, stretching the lead to 21-16. Another late-set rally by the Huskers tied the scored at 21-all. The teams then traded side outs before a Husker hitting error and a kill gave Florida a 25-22 victory.
A back-and-forth third set featured four match points for Florida and three set points for Nebraska. Neither team led by more than three and the Huskers had an advantage until a 4-1 Gator run tied the set at 19-all. A 3-0 Florida spurt gave the Gators a match point at 24-23 before Nebraska earned a set point at 25-24 on a Broekhuis kill and a Florida hitting error. The Gators fought off the set point and earned a second match point before a Werth kill tied the set at 26-all. The teams then traded service errors - including one on Florida's third match point - before the Huskers survived a fourth match point on a ball-handling error by Murphy. Licht followed with a kill before the Gators fought off a second set point. Another Licht kill set up a third set point and this time Nebraska capitalized on a kill by Tara Mueller to take the third set, 31-29.
Nebraska jumped out to a 9-4 lead to begin the fourth set before the Gators pulled within two at 8-6. The Huskers responded with a 10-1 run that pushed the lead to 18-7. Mueller served seven straight points during the run, including a pair of aces. NU cruised from there, leading by at least nine the rest of the way until Mueller and McNeal teammed up on a block to give Nebraska the 25-13 win. The Huskers totaled 15 kills and hit .400 in the set, while Florida committed six errors and hit only .129.
Nebraska began the decisive fifth set with back-to-back kills before a Gator hitting error made it 3-0. Florida came right back with three straight points of its own to tie the set and the Huskers answered with two straight points to take a 5-3 lead. Nebraska led 8-7 at the switch and scored the first three points after the switch to stretch the lead to 11-7. Three straight Husker hitting errors then fueled a 6-0 Gator spurt that gave Florida its first lead at 13-11. The Gators closed the set on an 8-1 run, winning on their 14th block of the match.
Following the first weekend of the season, Nebraska returns to Omaha on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. matchup with in-state rival Creighton at the D.J. Sokol Arena.
(Thanks to the University of Nebraska)
(8/30/10) LINCOLN, NE - Strong defense for the second straight match and timely goals from All-Big 12 selections Morgan Marlborough and Molly Thomas gave Nebraska a 2-0 win over Loyola Maryland on Sunday at the Nebraska Soccer Field. The Huskers improve to 2-1-0 on the season and keep their unbeaten home streak alive that dates back to October of 2008 (12-0-2).
Marlborough accounted for the game-winning goal in the 24th minute on a free kick from 20 yards out. The sophomore found a gap on the left side of the Greyhound wall that snuck inside the post and out of the reach of LMU goalkeeper Danielle Ippolito. It was the first goal of the season for Marlborough, who was named the 2009 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year last year with 49 goals (21 goals, 7 assists).
The Husker defense was stellar throughout the day in compiling its second shutout in a row. Loyola Maryland was held to zero shots in the first half and tallied only six in the match to Nebraska's 23. Senior goalkeeper Tara Macdonald (2-0-0) saved all four Greyhound shots on goal in the second half.
Despite dominating every offensive category, Nebraska was clinging to a one-goal lead as the match went into the final 20 minutes. At that time, Thomas came up with her third goal in the past two games, picking up a rebound off a Marlborough shot in the penalty box. Marlborough nearly converted her second goal of the match on a head-to-head opportunity with the goalkeeper that she fired off Ippolito's hands. Thomas was there to pick up the rebound and calmly knocked in the insurance goal to give Nebraska a 2-0 lead.
Marlborough and Thomas combined for 10 of NU's 23 shots, while sophomore Jordan Jackson had five. The Huskers had 11 shots on goal, including five from Marlborough.
Nebraska will hit the road this Saturday for its first of two matches against a Big Ten opponent this season. The Huskers will meet the Indiana Hoosiers at 11 a.m. in a game streamed live by the Big Ten Network (www.bigtennetwork.com). Nebraska's next home match will be Monday, Sept. 6 against IUPUI at Noon.
(Thanks to the University of Nebraska)
(8/30/10) CLEVELAND - Bruce Chen began the 2010 season pitching for Triple-A Omaha. He's since been promoted to the Major Leagues, inserted into the Royals' starting rotation and, most satisfying of all, become the team's wins leader.
Sunday afternoon's effort earned him that title.
Chen scattered six hits over six-plus innings of two-run ball against the Indians, then watched as the Royals's bullpen sewed up a 6-2 triumph at Progressive Field.
Summoned to Kansas City from Omaha on April 23, Chen walked two and struck out four in a 100-pitch outing on Sunday that produced his ninth win of the year.
Chen's start also delivered Ned Yost his 500th career victory as a Major League manager, though the skipper directed his postgame praise toward the players who carried out the milestone win.
In particular, Chen.
"Bruce did great," Yost said of the 33-year-old lefty, a veteran of 12 big league seasons. "He was really on the attack. He got around the 80-90 pitch mark and started losing command a little bit, but up until that point, he was really getting after it.
"He did a nice job changing speeds and keeping the ball down. That's what he's capable of doing. He's capable of doing that every time he steps out there."
After stints with nine other Major League organizations, Chen -- 8-7 in 17 starts since joining the Kansas City rotation on May 30 -- is simply grateful for some semblance of stability.
"It feels good to be able to help this team win and be out there trying to contribute," Chen said.
The Royals secured a 2-0 lead after loading the bases with no outs in the fourth against Indians starter Fausto Carmona, courtesy of sacrifice flies to center field from Brayan Pena and Mitch Maier.
Pena finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs, but the catcher could not prevent a Shelley Duncan back swing from smacking his left arm in the bottom of the fourth.
"It looks worse than it feels," Yost said. "It's one of those deals where you put a compression wrap on it and it's a little sore. It didn't affect him at all."
Chen's shutout bid and the Royals' 2-0 lead disappeared with two down in the sixth, when Jason Donald cranked a 412-foot drive to center for a two-run home run.
The result of the seven-pitch at-bat surprised Chen as much as anyone.
"I don't want to say anything [negative], but you imagine that he would not go to deep center field," Chen said of Donald, who began Sunday with three homers this season. "If you think of a [power hitter] on that team, you think of [Travis] Hafner, [Matt] LaPorta and [Andy] Marte.
"I was just trying to make a good pitch. He got me. I didn't know he had that much pop."
Donald felt fortunate to convert against the deceptive Chen.
"A lot of times, you get fooled by velocity," Donald said. "You look up and the guy is throwing 86-88 [mph] and touching 90, but [Chen's] ball has movement. He lives off balls down in the zone. You can swing at bad pitches and miss his mistakes."
Kansas City regained its advantage in the seventh, courtesy of Kila Ka'aihue's one-out double to the left-center-field gap that scored Mike Aviles.
"It was a big part of the game, the seventh inning, to get a run right there," Ka'aihue said. "It felt real good."
Following Luis Valbuena's infield single to open the bottom of the seventh, Chen exited in favor of Jesse Chavez, who worked around a one-out walk by Asdrubal Cabrera to retire the side.
This, the same Chavez who surrendered a 10th-inning walk-off homer to Cabrera on Saturday night.
"He pitched great," Yost said of Chavez. "I was torn in that situation between using him or [newly activated Robinson Tejeda]. I didn't want to throw Robby out there after sitting on the [disabled list] in a situation where the score was tied or we had a one-run lead. I made up my mind to go with Jesse and he did a great job. All of our pitchers did."
Maier gave the Royals' bullpen some added wiggle room in the eighth, clocking Tony Sipp's 2-1 fastball into the right-field stands for a one-out solo shot.
"When I get those pitches, a lot of times I miss them," Maier said. "If they make a mistake, you have to take advantage of it."
Said Yost of Maier's homer: "That was big."
The Royals added two more insurance runs in the ninth off Hector Ambriz. Aviles started the frame with an infield single to third base, stole second and scored via shortstop Cabrera's one-out throwing error on an infield knock by Billy Butler. With two down, Pena stroked a line drive to center that plated Butler.
Following a 1-2-3 eighth from Blake Wood, who struck out all three batters he faced, Joakim Soria fanned the side in the ninth on 14 pitches.
On a day he claimed a significant victory, Chen chose to praise the relievers who made it possible.
"This bullpen has done a terrific job all year," Chen said. "Soria, if we didn't have him, we would be in a lot of trouble. He's definitely the anchor of the bullpen."
Not long ago, Chen was pitching out of the bullpen. He prefers his current situation much better.
"It feels good," Chen said, "to accomplish what I've accomplished."
(Thanks to mlb.com)
(8/30/10) SEATTLE - In the wake of scoring just one run on Sunday, the Twins return home for a nine-game homestand with a fair measure of regret over one that got away.
The Twins, poised for a three-game sweep over Seattle, lapsed in the seventh inning to allow two runs as the Mariners went on to claim a 2-1 victory.
Had the Twins won -- combined with Chicago's 2-1 loss to the Yankees -- they would have had a season-high 5 1/2-game lead over the White Sox in the AL Central.
"It happens," said a terse Carl Pavano (15-10), who otherwise threw a dominant game. "They string three hits. That's all it was, three hits."
Michael Cuddyer had given the Twins a 1-0 lead in the top of the seventh when he was green lighted on a 3-0 fastball from Luke French (3-4). It was his 12th home run.
With that, Twins were in a good position. They had won by the same score on Saturday, as Nick Blackburn and Brian Fuentes held the Mariners to just two hits. It was the 71st 1-0 victory in Twins history, the first since Aug. 19, 2007, and on Sunday they were poised for successive 1-0 wins.
But things got a little out of whack in the bottom of the inning.
With one out, Jose Lopez singled to center. Casey Kotchman singled to right. Both moved up a base after a Pavano wild pitch to Franklin Gutierrez.
Gutierrez followed with a floater that dropped just in front of left fielder Delmon Young, who initially appeared to catch it. But he trapped it. Lopez scored and Kotchman alertly moved to third.
"It was a line drive with a lot of top spin," said Young, who didn't appear to pick up the flight early enough. "It bounced before I could get to it."
Manager Ron Gardenhire believes "Delmon got fooled on it. He broke back. Didn't catch it."
Young didn't attempt to throw to the plate to get Lopez.
"I just wanted to make sure I hit the cutoff man, to make sure Gutierrez stayed at first and keep the double play in order," Young said.
With runners on first and third and one out in a tie game, Pavano just wanted to keep it there. He was looking for a double play ball against Adam Moore.
Moore hit a grounder toward shortstop J.J. Hardy. Hardy flipped to second baseman Orlando Hudson, but there was no throw to first. Kotchman scored the go-ahead run.
"The fact that we didn't turn the double play cost us another run," Gardenhire said.
Gardenhire said Hudson, who came out of Saturday's game with a right ankle sprain, got his feet tangled at the bag. "But that's supposed to be turned, normally. He just didn't do it."
When asked if the play should have been turned, Hudson said, "No, slow roller."
Pavano had been dominant through six innings. He had a little trouble in the second. Gutierrez singled to center with two outs then stole second. Moore walked, then Pavano struck out Matt Tuiasosopo.
That started a string of 14 straight retired by Pavano, eight on groundouts. By the end of the sixth inning, he had thrown just 78 pitches.
It was the 17th time in 27 starts this season that he had allowed two runs or fewer.
Pavano lost for only the fourth time since June 3 -- two losses came against Seattle.
The Twins were held to one or zero runs for the 12th time this year, the fifth time by Seattle.
A victory would have given the Twins six straight victories this season over the Mariners -- back-to-back three-game sweeps. The last time that happened was in 1979.
"These are Major League teams," Cuddyer said. "I don't care what your record is, you're playing against Major League ballplayers. It's hard."
French retired the first nine batters, but Denard Span scratched out the first hit, an infield single to open the fourth.
Span went to second on a wild pitch. Hudson tried to advance him with a bunt, but could not. He would eventually bounce out to third, with Span holding.
With two outs, Span tried stealing third, but Moore, from his knees, fired a strike to third baseman Lopez, who applied the tag.
In the seventh, Gardenhire tried to do something to spark the offense. He gave the sign for Cuddyer to swing at 3-0.
"It's 3-0, tie game, let's take a shot," Cuddyer said. "It was one of the few pitches that French left up today."
The Twins have Monday off, then begin a three-game series with Detroit. Gardenhire said the off-day will help to refresh his players.
"We've played 13 days in a row with a lot of late-night travel," he said. "I think we are worn down a little."
(Thanks to mlb.com)
(8/27/10) AINSWORTH, NE - The O'Neill Eagles and West Holt Huskies girls golf teams traveled to Ainsworth yesterday for the opening golf meet of the year, the Ainsworth Invite.
Individually, Claire Kosisek of Ainsworth took home the gold with an 18-hole score of 88. O'Neill's Allison Depko was one stroke back with an 89.
Area athletes rounding out the top ten were Addi Abner of West Holt taking fourth with a 96, Brooke Devall of O'Neill taking seventh with a 111, Morgan Devall of O'Neill taking ninth with a 114, and Holly Hesse of O'Neill taking tenth with a 115.
Nicole Lind and Morgan Langan of O'Neill finished the day with a 121 and a 125 respectively.
O'Neill took team gold with a 429. Valentine finished one stroke back with a 430 for the silver medal. West Holt finished third with a 468.
(8/27/10) LINCOLN, NE - With 85,000-plus fans ready to pass through the gates of Memorial Stadium seven times this season, Nebraska football tickets are, as always, a valuable commodity.
An NCAA record 304 consecutive sellout crowds make Nebraska football tickets hard to come by, especially when the Huskers are ranked in the Top 10 of almost every major preseason 2010 poll.
So with the season sold out, what do true Nebraska fans do if they want to experience a Husker game?
Answer: Husker Ticket Marketplace, the place to go for the sports you know, including football, volleyball, basketball and baseball.
"We are now entering the secondary market of Nebraska ticket sales," said Angela Christ-Zemunski, a Nebraska Athletics Ticket Office associate who is in her fourth year at NU after spending 21 years as a customer service agent, trainer, supervisor and secretary for a major airline.
A mother of four, Christ-Zemunski knows how hectic a household can get when families are trying to decide who can and who can't go to any particular game.
That's why she has worked diligently to help launch Husker Ticket Marketplace, a site that gives Nebraska Athletic Boosters free membership to register their ticket accounts and charges other ticketholders a $25 annual fee for the same Marketplace opportunity. Tickets will be sent to users' email addresses, so they can be printed at home. Ticket Marketplace users also will receive email reminders before events for which they have purchased tickets.
Fully aware that Nebraska fans have used a variety of well-known secondary markets to buy Husker tickets at increased prices, Holly Adam, Nebraska's Assistant Athletic Director for Ticketing, wanted a better solution for NU donors and season ticketholders - an electronic place they could go to list their unused tickets at face value.
"The difference between us being in the secondary ticket market and all others is we endorse our version, and we stand behind it," Christ-Zemunski said. "If there's a problem or issue with any transaction, we can remedy the situation almost immediately."
Today, Husker Ticket Marketplace has two sets of two tickets for sale to Nebraska's season opener against Western Kentucky. A set of two tickets to the Idaho game posted Tuesday were sold the same day. Twelve tickets were purchased on the site before that. As donors and season ticketholders become more familiar with the site, ticket opportunities are likely to increase.
"We guarantee tickets purchased directly from Husker Ticket Marketplace because we can and we do protect every original transaction, based on our ability to verify the identity of buyers and sellers," Christ-Zemunski said. "For those who buy that same ticket from an unknown seller above face value, it becomes a case of buyer beware - just like it is with all other secondary transactions."
Major college ticket offices are also fully aware that football ticket prices can go through the roof for high-demand games on major ticket broker sites.
That market is not the intent of or the purpose for Husker Ticket Marketplace. "We make it easy for donors and season ticketholders to get their unused tickets into the hands of other loyal Nebraska fans," Christ-Zemunski said. "We can't take sold tickets back and resell them or even distribute them for free, so this Marketplace is a great place for those unused tickets. For us, it's easy to facilitate this service, and for our fans, it's a safe way to search for and buy tickets."
(Thanks to the University of Nebraska)
(8/27/10) LINCOLN, NE - The Nebraska football team took the practice field Thursday afternoon, as the Huskers continue through fall camp. The Huskers practiced in full pads for two and a half hours on the Ed and Joyanne Gass Practice fields northeast of Memorial Stadium. Head coach Bo Pelini spoke briefly about the Huskers beginning preparation for the season opener against Western Kentucky on Sept. 4.
"I've done some work on (Western Kentucky)," Pelini said. "I'm not real familiar with their personnel yet; we're kind of doing some homework. Some of it is guess work about what kind of offense or defense they're going to run and looking at some things that their coordinators have run in the past."
Sophomore running back Dontrayevous Robinson returns as the biggest of Nebraska's options at I-back, and is pushing significant action in 2010. As a freshman, Robinson stepped into a big role, earning significant playing time at midseason while Roy Helu Jr. and Rex Burkhead battled injuries. Robinson was a workhorse for the Huskers in games against Iowa State and Baylor and added depth for the remainder of the season. With a difficult summer behind him, Pelini is excited to see Robinson making progress.
"He's been good," Pelini said. "You wouldn't know that after everything he went through, you wouldn't know anything happened. He's a tough-minded kid. He's practiced well, and I think he's going to be a good football player for us this fall. I'm really happy for him right now."
Pelini noted that he is encouraged by the depth at the tight end position at this point of fall camp. The ability for guys to play different positions has helped Nebraska increase its depth and overall ability to play more effectively.
"We've got some guys who are interchangeable," Pelini said. "They can play tight end, they can play a number of different positions. Ryan Hill can play more than one position, Mike McNeill can play more than one position. We feel real good about the tight end spot right now."
The Huskers return to the practice field on Friday afternoon.
(8/27/10) DES MOINES, IA (AP) - Iowa athletic director Gary Barta says the Hawkeyes have identified Wisconsin, Nebraska and Minnesota as three rivals they'd like to play as much as possible in a realigned Big Ten.
Barta tells The Associated Press that he's told the Big Ten that Iowa wants to play the Badgers, Cornhuskers and Gophers on a regular basis, if not every year.
The Big Ten expanding to 12 teams in 2011 by adding Nebraska and is moving to divisional play and a conference championship game.
Wisconsin and Minnesota have long been border rivals of the Hawkeyes. Though Iowa has only faced the Huskers twice since 1982, Barta says it'll be a terrific rivalry "right out of the gate."
Barta says the Big Ten is down to two or three division models, which will be based on competitive fairness and traditional rivalries.
(8/27/10) OMAHA, NE. (AP) - The commissioner of the UFL says the Omaha
Nighthawks must have a support system in place for Maurice Clarett
before the former Ohio State star is allowed to play football.
Michael Huyghue said Thursday that Clarett won't be"thrown to the wolves."
Clarett served 3 1/2 years in prison for having a hidden gun and
holding up two people outside a bar, then spent 4 1/2 months in a
community-based, lockdown dormitory.
An Ohio judge has given Clarett permission to leave the state to
attend a workout with the Nighthawks. A team spokesman says the
workout hasn't been scheduled yet.
Huyghue says he doesn't want to tarnish the league's reputation,
but added that the UFL is a league of second chances.
(8/27/10) ARLINGTON, TX (AP) - Francisco Liriano allowed two runs and
five hits over seven innings, Delmon Young hit a three-run homer,
and the Minnesota Twins beat the Texas Rangers and struggling Cliff
Lee 6-4 on Thursday night to avoid a four-game sweep.
Liriano (12-7) struck out six and walked one to capture his
sixth straight decision and snap Texas' four-game winning streak.
Lee fell to 2-5 in his 10 starts for Texas since he was acquired
from Seattle in a trade on July 9.
Texas has won only three of those 10 starts.
Lee (10-8) was gone after five innings and 97 pitches, allowing
five runs and seven hits with five strikeouts and one walk.
(8/26/10) O'NEILL, NE (KBRX SPORTS) - Last night, KBRX Sports held it's annual 2010 Fall Sports Preview. Gary Hostert and Marc Zak were join by special guests including Huskerland Prep's Bob Jensen. Together they broke down what to expect from the upcoming fall sports seasons.
In addition to previewing area fall sports, the guys introduced some new things coming to KBRX Sports. Starting this year, not only will we be accepting submissions for outstanding athletic performances for the Stadium Sports Top Dawg Athlete of the Week, but we will also be accepting submissions for outstanding sportsmanship performances from area athletes. Submissions will come through all broadcasts covered here on KBRX but also from you the fans. You can send submissions to sports@kbrx.com. Don't forget to tune in every Wednesday night at 7:00 PM to see if your athlete is named our Stadium Sports Top Dawg Athlete of the Week.
Also new this year will be our football and volleyball fan polls! In past years, our KBRX experts have submitted top ten polls of area football and volleyball teams. Now you get a chance to have your voice heard as well. Send in your submissions every week to sports@kbrx.com for the KBRX fan poll. We will be posting submissions on our website starting Wednesday, September 1st.
So stay tuned to KBRX and kbrx.com for your best source for all the latest news and highlights from the 2010 Area Fall Sports Season!
(8/26/10) O'NEILL, NE (KBRX SPORTS) - There will be an Open House at the O'Neill High School tonight (Thursday, August 26) from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Come see the new gym floor, new restrooms and new flooring.
And while you're there the O'Neill Booster club will be hosting a membership kick-off, cook out on Thursday, August 26. Athletes will be scrimmaging approximately 5:30 pm for any parents and interested parties to come and watch. Bring the family and sign up for your 2010-2011 Booster membership, have a free burger and check out all thats new at the school! Burgers will be served at the football field in the new Booster-gate building. Serving will begin around 7:00 pm. Activity passes, as well as school t-shirts and sweatshirts will be on sale.
Also being held tonight is Atkinson West Holt's Sports Drink Scrimmages. The volleyball scrimmage will begin this afternoon at 4:30 PM. The football scrimmage will follow at 6:00 PM.
(8/26/10) O'NEILL, NE (KBRX SPORTS) - The rodeo is riding through town this weekend. That's right, the Nebraska High School Rodeo will be here in O'Neill this Saturday and Sunday at the Carney Park Arena on the south side of town.
Events kick off on Saturday evening with Cutting events starting at 7:00 PM. The rodeo continues the next day with a worship service at 9:30 AM followed by a full day of rodeo action. There will be no charge for admission to the O'Neill High School Rodeo. A concession stand will be open both days for spectators.
Competitors from O'Neill entered in the rodeo include Cody Colman, Shelby Sanford, Ryan Schneider, David Shields, Brady Wakefield, and Kylee Whitehill.
Other area athletes include Chris Kohle and Trevor Butterfield of Stuart, Lane Day and Goober Snider of Bartlett, Tyler and Blake Butterfield of Atkinson, Jessica Pease of Emmet, Erin Van Horn of Page, Kelsey Knust of Verdigre, Dalton Cunningham of Bloomfield, Dayna Strand of Amelia, and Tanner Stec of Bassett.
(8/26/10) OMAHA, NE - The Nebraska volleyball team begins the 2010 season this weekend at the Qwest Center in Omaha, where the Huskers will play in the Runza/AVCA Showcase. A match up between the Big 12 and Southeastern Conferences, the Huskers will be joined in the four-team field will by No. 9 Iowa State, No. 13 Florida and No. 14 Kentucky.
The weekend's action kicks off on Saturday with Florida and Iowa State at 2 p.m., before the Huskers and Wildcats take the floor at 4:30 p.m. On Sunday, Iowa State will take on Kentucky at 2 p.m., while Nebraska and Florida will meet at 4:30 p.m.
The 2010 season marks the fifth time the event has been held in Omaha (also 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009) and the third year of a three-year run for the conference challenge format.
Tickets to the 2010 Runza/AVCA Showcase are available now. All-session passes are priced at $39 (lower bowl reserved) or $32 (upper bowl reserved) and can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000, by visiting Ticketmaster.com or at the Qwest Center box office.
Fans can listen to all of the action with John Baylor and Diane Mendenhall on the 25-station Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and Twister 93.3 FM in Omaha. In addition, all four matches will be televised on CBS College Sports with Larry Punteney and Kathi Weiskamp calling all of the action. Both of Nebraska's matches will also be carried statewide on NET Television (Ch. 12 and Ch. 112 in HD).
Noting the Nebraska Cornhuskers
- Nebraska begins the 2010 season as the second-winningest program in Division I history. The Huskers' 1,086 wins trail only UCLA (1,106) on the all-time list.
The 2009 Huskers ranked in the top 10 nationally in both kills (9th - 14.65) and assists (10th - 13.63) per set.
- Nebraska has 11 players on its 2010 roster who were Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selections, representing the top-50 players in that year's recruiting class. Five of the Huskers' last six recruiting classes have ranked in the top five nationally, including the 2009 class that was ranked second by Prepvolleyball.com.
- Nebraska will carry a streak of 135 consecutive sellouts at the NU Coliseum into the 2010 season, the longest sellout streak across all NCAA women's athletics. The Huskers averaged 5,197 fans per home contest last season.
- Nebraska continued its string of All-America success in 2009, as Brooke Delano and Sydney Anderson were named AVCA All-Americans. The duo upped Nebraska's NCAA-leading totals to 32 players and 67 certificates. Nebraska has had at least one All-American every season since 1983, a total of 28 straight seasons, including 32 All-America awards in Cook's 10 years at Nebraska. In fact, only seven other programs have had more AVCA All-Americans all-time than Nebraska has had in the last decade.
- Head Coach John Cook returns a loaded team in 2010 that lost only one starter from 2009 and he returns 12 letterwinners. His team finished 26-7 last season, while Cook has won over 92 percent (307-26) of his matches in 10 seasons as the Huskers' leader.
- The Huskers were pick No. 1 in the Big 12 preseason coaches' poll. The Huskers also had a conference-high four players picked to the preseason All-Big list. Seniors Sydney Anderson and Kayla Banwarth were joined by Brooke Delano and sophomore Hannah Werth.
- Hannah Werth is coming off a freshman season that saw her earn Big 12 Freshman of the Year, honorable-mention All-America and honorable-mention All-Big 12 honors. Werth became the first freshman since Sarah Pavan in 2004 to lead the Huskers in kills at 3.18 per set.
(Thanks to the University of Nebraska)
(8/26/10) ARLINGTON, TX - The calendar may still read August, but the Twins knew when they headed to Texas this week that they'd be facing a playoff-caliber test against the American League West-leading Rangers.
And so far, the Rangers have been showing the Twins just how tough they can be, particularly in their own ballpark.
Since the second half of the season got underway, Minnesota had managed to avoid any prolonged losing streaks. But on Wednesday night the Rangers handed the Twins their third consecutive loss, a 4-3 defeat at the Ballpark in Arlington. They've done so thanks to big hits from the middle of their order, another stellar outing from their starting pitcher and a hard-throwing bullpen that's starting to shut down opponents.
"We were swinging good coming into this series, and they've pretty much shut us down," said Jason Kubel of the Twins' offense, which has scored just six runs over the first three games of the series. "It's a good hitting park, too. We haven't gotten anything going against them. It's tough."
It's the first time that the Twins have lost three straight games since July 7-10 when the club lost four in a row.
While offense has been lacking for the Twins, the Rangers have been able to come up with the big hits and on Wednesday it was slugging combination of Josh Hamilton and Vladimir Guerrero who delivered them.
Hamilton got the night started for the Rangers by belting his 30th home run of the season in the first inning. The 413-foot shot to deep center field gave Texas a 2-0 lead.
Danny Valencia's RBI groundout in the second pulled the Twins within one, but Texas extended its lead back to two runs on a Guerrero RBI single in the third.
Trailing 3-1 at the start of the fifth, the Twins scored two runs to make tie it up, and it looked like momentum might be turning Minnesota's way.
Valencia led off with an infield single. J.J. Hardy's one-out single put runners on first and second for Denard Span, who battled through an eight-pitch at-bat before doubling to center field to score a run. Orlando Hudson walked to load the bases and Joe Mauer's RBI groundout tied the game.
But after making Wilson work in the fifth and putting runners on first and third with one out in the sixth, the Twins could not capitalize on the scoring opportunity. Jason Repko hit into a fielder's choice for the second out and J.J. Hardy hit a liner to left, but Hamilton hauled it in to end the inning.
"Unfortunately for us, we couldn't come up with another big hit tonight to get us over the hump," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "That's just the way it's gone here in Texas."
So the game would remain tied until the sixth. Guerrero led off the inning by belting a 1-0 fastball from Duensing to left-center field for his 23rd home run of the season. It was the only remaining hit that the Rangers would need.
"I don't know where to throw to him," Duensing said of Guerrero. "I guess I'm just going to start throwing it where you don't want to or eight feet out and hope he swings. He's a good hitter. You have to tip your cap to him. I thought in my head when I threw that 1-0 fastball that it was a little down and out. But I watched the video, and it was right down the middle."
Duensing managed to hold the Rangers to four runs over six innings, but it was still not enough on a night when Wilson was dealing. He allowed three runs over six innings, and five of Texas' relievers were called upon to shut the door on the Twins.
It marked Duensing's first regular-season loss as a starter since Sept. 29, 2009, in the second game of a doubleheader at Detroit. Prior to Wednesday's contest, Duensing had won nine of his past 10 decisions as a starter.
"Their pitcher was tough," Michael Young said. "All their pitchers are, that's why they are a good team. But we're playing good baseball right now. It has been fun."
The Twins had swept the Rangers in a three-game series at Target Field back on May 28-30, but that was before Texas' bullpen had come together like it has right now. Over these three games, the relievers have combined to throw eight scoreless innings and have left the Twins impressed -- particularly by all the flame-throwers they have on their staff.
"Their bullpen is ridiculous," Kubel said. "Everybody throws 95 [mph], and then Darren Oliver is throwing good cutters and sliders all over the plate. They're just tough."
The three straight losses for the Twins now have them sitting a half-game behind the Rangers in the standings, which could be important when it comes to establishing home-field advantage. Although the two teams are competing in separate divisions, they are battling each other for a better record to see who could possibly face the AL Wild Card winner since it's expected to come out of the AL East.
Perhaps the one piece of positive news was that Minnesota didn't lose any ground in the AL Central race as it kept its 3 1/2-game advantage over the White Sox, who lost to the Orioles on Wednesday night.
The Twins will try to see if they can end their losing streak in Thursday's finale against the Rangers. But they know the task won't be easy with the Rangers ace Cliff Lee on the mound.
"I heard some of the offensive guys saying we're going to really have to battle [against Lee]," Duensing said. "But if we keep playing and stay positive, things will turn around. It's baseball. You lose a lot, win a lot, and go through streaks. Keep your head up and keep playing."
(8/26/10) DETROIT, MI - It seemed hard to believe when Royals manager Ned Yost said it -- really hard to believe.
Before the game, Yost guaranteed that Willie Bloomquist would record two hits batting out of the three-hole for the first time this season.
It took Bloomquist six at-bats to justify the skipper's statement, but it couldn't have come in a sweeter fashion. Bloomquist bombed a solo home run off Tigers reliever Alfredo Figaro in the 12th inning to help the Royals avoid the sweep on Wednesday and leave Motown with a 4-3 victory in 12 innings.
"It's crazy," Bloomquist said. "[Yost] reminded me that I owed him another hit [in the eighth inning]. ... I promised two. I didn't think it was going to be one of that caliber, but I'll take it."
Arriving in the clubhouse Wednesday morning and seeing his name penciled in the three-hole was a shock in itself for Bloomquist. But he told Yost he'd come up with two hits, and the skipper had enough confidence in his utility man to guarantee the feat to the media before the game.
No one could have guessed his second hit would prove to be the game-winner. After all, he'd only hit two homers in 65 games entering Wednesday.
"Just the fact that I got to hit third today ranks pretty high up there [in career highlights]," Bloomquist said. "That was kind of cool. I've never done that before. But to be able to come through and get us a win in a key situation, it will go up there, too."
Kila Ka'aihue will go down as the unsung hero in a game where Bloomquist will likely capture the headlines.
Kansas City was trailing Detroit, 3-0, entering the seventh inning. It looked like another game in the series where one inning would spoil the Royals' chances of capturing a victory.
Not under Ka'aihue's watch. The Hawaiian native bombed a homer to right field to kick off the seventh inning after Tigers starter Armando Galarraga had retired 13 of the last 14 batters he'd faced. It marked Ka'aihue's second home run in as many days and also was only his second homer of the season.
Yost had planned on giving Ka'aihue a day off Wednesday before he hit his homer Tuesday. The skipper's decision to keep him in the lineup proved Yost had the golden touch Wednesday, even if he made everyone sweat it out.
"We hadn't scored up to that point and Galarraga threw the ball really well," Ka'aihue said. "He kept us off-balance and kept the ball down. He just made one mistake to me. I was just fortunate enough to get a good barrel on that ball and it got out of here."
But Ka'aihue wasn't done, and neither were the Royals. The first baseman lined an RBI double to right in the eighth inning off Tigers closer Jose Valverde to get Kansas City within a run before coming around to score to tie the game when Brayan Pena hit a double of his own.
Yost was impressed with what his Nos. 5 and 6 hitters -- both hitting well under .200 -- were able to do against Valverde, who blew his first save in 24 consecutive appearances. His last blown save ironically came against the Royals way back on April 7.
"There's nothing I can do," Valverde said. "As you guys see, this is the second time that Kansas City did something against me -- the [game after] Opening Day and now [when] the season's almost over. These guys do some things. I have to make adjustments."
From there, Yost used three relievers and closer Joakim Soria, who all posted zeros. Philip Humber entered in the ninth inning and threw three shutout innings with only two hits allowed to earn his first big league victory.
"I was able to throw my curveball over early in the count whenever I wanted," Humber (1-0) said. "I got a couple outs on changeups. When you are facing guys for the first time, they don't know what you have. When you can mix three pitches and get them over the plate, it makes it tough on them."
The come-from-behind victory sure was sweet, especially after the way the game started for the Royals. Detroit posted three runs in the second inning off Royals starter Sean O'Sullivan, but he settled down nicely as the game progressed, despite battling a minor case of bronchitis.
"When they scored three in the second inning, I'm thinking to myself, 'Here we go again,'" Yost said.
The three runs in the second inning were all O'Sullivan -- and the rest of the Royals' pitching staff -- would allow on the afternoon against a banging Tigers offense that had produced 40 runs in the past five games.
"That's a good hitting team over there," O'Sullivan said. "You just have to hang with them. I knew after we got out of that second inning that was all I could give up. I just tried to focus one pitch at a time and one batter at a time to figure out how to put up a zero to give our offense a chance to battle and put a couple runs across the board."
Bloomquist took care of the rest in the 12th with a no-doubter to left field after falling behind in the count and battling back to make the count full against Figaro (0-1).
"I don't hit too many, but I assumed that one was gone," Bloomquist said. "I got pretty much all of it. That's probably as far as I could probably hit one."
(8/25/10) O'NEILL, NE (KBRX SPORTS) - Join us tonight on 102.9 FM and on kbrx.com for another edition of the Dawg Pound Sports Show. Marc Zak and Gary Hostert will be back in the studio again for the 2010 Fall Sports Preview.
Check out the guest list tonight:
O'Neill High Football Coach Brock Eichelberger
St Mary's High Football Coach Tony Allen
O'Neill High Volleyball Coach Kaye Appleby
O'Neill High Softball Coach Monte Grossnicklaus
O'Neill High Cross Country Coach Cole Hilker
And our very special guest....
Huskerland Prep's Bob Jensen!!!
That's right! The guru of high school football, Bob Jensen, will help us breakdown the upcoming 2010 high school football season.
Don't miss the Dawg Pound Sports Show 2010 Fall Sports Preview coming to you live tonight starting at 7:00 PM only on 102.9 FM and worldwide on kbrx.com!
(8/25/10) LINCOLN, NE - The Nebraska football team took the practice field on Tuesday, as the Huskers continue through fall camp in preparation for the season opener against Western Kentucky on Sept. 4. The Huskers practiced for two and a half hours in full pads outside on the Ed and Joyanne Gass Practice fields northeast of Memorial Stadium. Head coach Bo Pelini said after Tuesday's workout that no positions have been set yet, and that competition will take place until the first snap against the Hilltoppers.
"Guys that are out there for the first play are the starters," Pelini said. "Until then, it's a competition and whoever steps up."
One player Pelini has been impressed with this fall is senior offensive guard Keith Williams. After sitting out for a couple of practices earlier in fall camp, Williams has come back and not missed a beat with the offense.
"He's doing really well," Pelini said. "He has practiced well. He hasn't missed a rep."
With classes starting on Monday, the Huskers concluded their second practice on Tuesday with all the players on the official roster. The Huskers will return to the practice field on Wednesday for an afternoon practice. NU kicks off its season at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 4, against Western Kentucky at 6 p.m.
(Thanks to the University of Nebraska)
(8/25/10) KEARNEY, NE - The Nebraska-Kearney volleyball team received 420 points to be ranked 13th in the AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) Division II Top 25 preseason poll.
A panel of head coaches from around the nation vote on the makeup of the poll, which came out August 18th.
In 2009, UNK went 33-3 and was ranked 12th in the final poll of the season. RMAC-member Metro State, which beat the Lopers in the finals of the RMAC Tournament and then won two matches in the NCAA Tournament, is ranked 10th (478 points).
Three-time defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) -- riding a 74-mach win streak -- is in the top spot with 788 points and 29 of a possible 32 first place votes. The Golden Bears haven't lost since falling to Cal State San Bernardino in the 2008 season opener.
San Bernardino, which has made the Final Four the past two years, is second with 760 points and two first place votes. Rounding out the top five is Tampa (729; one first place vote), Indianapolis and Central Missouri.
UNK will face Tampa and Central Missouri Labor Day weekend in Florida. Another opponent that weekend, Grand Valley State (Mich.), is others receiving votes for the poll.
Besides Concordia and Metro, other Central teams in the poll include Minnesota-Duluth (9th/495), SW Minnesota State (15th/373), Wayne State (17th/265) and Minnesota State (18th/240).
The complete poll is available at www.avca.org.
(8/25/10) COLUMBUS, OH (AP) - A day after a lawyer for former Ohio State
running back Maurice Clarett said his client wanted to try out for
a professional team in Nebraska, the team's general manager
confirmed it.
Rick Mueller, GM of the Omaha Nighthawks, issued a statement on
Tuesday saying he wanted to help Clarett take "positive steps
toward being the good citizen and solid family man that he aspires
to be."
Clarett pleaded guilty in 2006 to aggravated robbery and
carrying a concealed weapon and served 3 1/2 years in a Toledo prison.
He has been taking classes at Ohio State and working out at the
team's training facility.
He could be cleared to travel to Omaha at a Wednesday hearing.
Mueller said the Nighthawks would try out Clarett as soon as
possible.
(8/25/10) ARLINGTON, TX (AP) - Josh Hamilton hit his 29th home run,
Michael Young made up for two errors with the tiebreaking RBI
single and the Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3 on
Tuesday night in a matchup of division leaders.
Young's two-out single in the seventh inning off Carl Pavano
(15-9) snapped a 3-all tie and put the AL West leaders ahead to
stay and ruined the right-hander's sixth complete game of the
season.
Darren Oliver (1-1) pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings after
relieving hardluck starter Colby Lewis. Hard-throwing rookie
Neftali Feliz worked the ninth for his 32nd save in 35 chances.
Andres Blanco had two doubles for Texas, driving in a run with
the first and scoring the go-ahead run after the second.
(8/25/10) DETROIT (AP) - Rick Porcello allowed two hits over seven shutout
innings and Ryan Raburn homered to lead the Detroit Tigers to their
fifth straight win, 9-1 over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday
night.
Porcello (6-11) retired the first 12 batters in order before
Billy Butler singled leading off the fifth inning. Porcello walked
one and struck out four.
Royals starter Kyle Davies (6-8) gave up seven runs on 12 hits
in 4 2-3 innings, walking three and striking out five.
Kila Ka'aihue homered for Kansas City.
(8/24/10) LINCOLN, NE. (AP) - Bo Pelini is heading into his third year at
Nebraska, and his record shows it must be about time for him to
move again.
The 42-year-old Pelini has never held a job for more than three
years. He often jokes that the best explanation for his work
history is that he's not always the easiest guy to get along with.
Pelini's quick resuscitation of the Huskers has landed him on
the short list of hot coaches, a fact he reluctantly acknowledges.
But he says that if he does his job right at Nebraska, he could
see himself staying in Lincoln for a long time.
Pelini says that being head coach at Nebraska is a great job,
not "a steppingstone job."
(8/24/10) OMAHA, NE. (AP) - Nebraska Orthopaedic Hospital in Omaha will
again be providing free injury evaluations and treatment on Friday
nights - just in time for football season.
The hospital's Friday Night Sports Injury Clinic opens this
Friday and runs through Oct. 29. It's open every Friday from 9 p.m.
to 11 p.m. to accommodate athletes after Friday night high school
football games.
Junior high, high school and collegiate athletes will be able to
visit an orthopedic physician and physical therapist to assess
injuries or pain for no cost for those who have no means to pay.
Casting, x-ray and bracing are also available to athletes at no
cost.
(8/24/10) LINCOLN, NE. (AP) - Nebraska men's basketball coach Doc Sadler
has announced that Drake Beranek has been awarded a scholarship for
this season.
The Ravenna native walked on to the program last season after
spending three years at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
Beranek will have one year of eligibility at Nebraska.
Sadler said Beranek earned the scholarship through his hard work
and leadership.
Beranek called the scholarship a nice surprise and said he's
thankful for it.
(8/24/10) LINCOLN, NE. (AP) - Point guard Bo Spencer is transferring to
Nebraska after having been declared academically ineligible at LSU.
Spencer would have been LSU's top returning scorer this season,
with 14.5 points a game, but coach Trent Johnson announced in May
that Spencer would be ineligible.
Spencer averaged 11.4 points in 2008-09 as LSU won the
Southeastern Conference championship and made the NCAA tournament.
Nebraska coach Doc Sadler announced the arrival of Spencer and
four other walk-ons Monday. Spencer will be a senior when he
becomes eligible at Nebraska in 2011-12.
(8/24/10) DETROIT (AP) - Ryan Raburn drove in three runs and scored twice
to help the Detroit Tigers continue a strong homestand with a 12-3
rout of the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.
Johnny Peralta and Brandon Inge also drove in three runs for
Detroit, which is 4-0 since returning home and have outscored its
opponents 31-6.
Four of Detroit's runs came immediately after the three
intentional walks ordered by Royals manager Ned Yost in the fifth
and sixth innings.
Jeremy Bonderman (7-9) got the win, ending a three-start losing
streak by allowing two runs on eight hits in six innings.
Bruce Chen (8-7) lasted just 4 1-3 innings for Kansas City,
allowing five runs on five hits and five walks.
(8/24/10) ARLINGTON, TX (AP) - Joe Mauer's clean single to center field
with one out in the ninth inning broke up the potential no-hit bid of four
Texas Rangers pitchers.
The Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0 on Monday night in the
fifth no-hitter this season broken up in the ninth inning.
Starter Rich Harden was activated from the disabled list earlier
in the day and he went 6 2-3 innings before being lifted after
throwing 111 pitches. Matt Harrison got the final out of the
seventh. Darren O'Day pitched the eighth and All-Star closer
Neftali Feliz got one in the ninth before Mauer singled.
Texas prevailed in the matchup of division leaders but fell two
outs shy of its first no-hitter since Kenny Rogers' perfect game
against California on July 28, 1994.
(8/23/10) CREIGHTON, NE - Paint may be the largest additional expense for Creighton this year to accommodate the Bulldogs' move from 11-man football to the eight-man game.
Coach Jeff Jensen has been painting sidelines, hash lines, yard lines and anything else he can find to help his team make the adjustment to the smaller field.
"We have every line painted you can have, every line and dot. We wanted to have landmarks for our kids to learn," Jensen said. "When we opened our camp this summer, we had kids who would catch a pass and immediately run out of bounds because the field is narrower.
"I think we have that under control and the kids have enjoyed the change."
The eight-man field is 40 yards wide (13.3 yards narrower than the 11-man field). Eight-man fields are 80 yards long, compared with the 100-yard 11-man field.
Making the switch to eight-man football isn't just about lines.
"We talked to the kids about switching, especially the seniors, when we saw our number was going to be below the magic number (for playoff eligibility) for eight-man," Jensen said. "Everybody is enjoying it. It will take us a little while to get our feet under us, but I think we'll have decent depth with 40 kids out.
"We hope to continue to develop depth with our 18 freshmen. With the kind of numbers we have, we can be patient and put them in situations where they can be successful."
The Bulldogs return players who were starters at seven positions on offense and six on defense. There is plenty of experience in the backfield, with quarterback Ryan Mitteis and running backs Derek Tyler and Collin Neumann returning.
Jensen said defense should be a strength for the team, with a solid line, Tyler and Neumann at linebacker and Mitteis to guide the secondary.
"The eight-man game moves faster, so we just need to continue to increase our tempo as our knowledge of the game gets better," Jensen said. "We're starting to see kids step up to give us depth."
Jensen said the biggest difference between 11-man and eight-man comes in special-teams play.
"When you line up to kick a field goal or an extra point, the window is shorter to get blocked," Jensen said. "The same thing goes for punts. You remove a guy on each side, that's going to make it easier to get through and block.
"That's the reason a lot of eight-man teams go for the two-point conversion."
The switch to eight-man doesn't change one major aspect of the game, according to Jensen.
"It all comes down to blocking and tackling and playing fundamental football," he said. "We didn't change our expectations. It's still football."
(Thanks to the Lincoln Journal Star)
(8/23/10) LINCOLN, NE - Nearly 3,800 fans packed the NU Coliseum on Saturday night to watch the No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team’s annual Red-White Scrimmage, as the Red squad took two-of-three sets (28-26, 21-25, 25-20). After practicing in an empty gym for the past two weeks, the Huskers were able to get out and performer in a regular-season type of atmosphere.
“The first thing we were looking for was how well they would compete,” Head Coach John Cook said. “Even though we ran three different lineups tonight on both sides of the net, I thought they competed really well.”
Individually, Tara Mueller produced a solid night with a match-high 14 kills, Allison McNeal and Jordan Wilberger each totaled five blocks while Lauren Cook and Sydney Anderson combined for 58 assists.
The Huskers matched each other point-for-point in the first set, before the Red squad escaped 28-26 following a block by Mueller and McNeal. Muller led both teams in kills with six on 11 swings (.455) and tied Hannah Werth for the set lead in digs with six. Returning 2009 AVCA All-American Brooke Delano defended the middle of the court for the Whites with a set-high three blocks.
Both teams showed off solid defense as neither group was able to build more than a four-point lead. The Reds hit at a .243 clip while holding the Whites to just .125 hitting.
The White squad turned the tide in set two, 25-21, as they found their rhythm at the net and hit .296. Jordan Wilberger was a key for the Whites, as the Scottsbluff native came off the bench to produce four blocks and a kill.
With the score even at 15, the Whites went on 7-0 run behind the serving of Cook. During the run, Mueller produced two kills and a block, Wilberger strung together four blocks and Lindsey Licht added two blocks. The Whites kept a solid lead to 24-18, but the Reds put the pressure on and got within three, 24-21. Following a timeout by the Whites, Gina Mancuso put the set away with her second kill of the set.
Mueller continued to pace both squads in kills with another five in the second set on just seven swings, while true freshman Morgan Broekhuis led the Reds with four kills.
The Reds swung the momentum back in set three, 25-20, as Delano and Licht chipped in four kills apiece and Mueller added six digs. Wilberger and Mancuso tried to keep the Whites in it with four kills each, but was not enough as the Whites only hit .162 as a team.
With the two teams again tied at 15, Delano, Licht and Mueller put away back-to-back-to-back kills to put separation between the two squads. After Megan Pendergast brought down a kill from the back row to put the Whites within reach at 20-24, Delano followed with the final kill of the night.
The Huskers will now take off Sunday and Monday, before heading back to the court on Tuesday to prepare for the upcoming season.
“We’ve got to solidify the lineup,” Cook said. “I think the next big thing is we have to fine tune. To me, you always make the most improvements after your first match. For us, with this crowd tonight, that certainly gives us the feel of a first match.”
The Huskers will open the 2010 regular season next Saturday at Qwest Center Omaha when they take on No. 14 Kentucky at the Runza/AVCA Showcase, followed by a match with No. 13 Florida on Sunday. Matches are set for 4:30 p.m. both days and will be carried nationally on CBS College Sports, as well as NET in the state of Nebraska.
Tickets to the 2010 Runza/AVCA Showcase are still available. All-session passes are priced at $39 (lower bowl reserved) or $32 (upper bowl reserved) and can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000, by visiting Ticketmaster.com or at the Qwest Center box office.
(Thanks to the University of Nebraska)
(8/23/10) OMAHA, NE. (AP) - Fans of the Omaha Royals can help pick the
new team name, which will be unveiled ahead of the move to a new
stadium southwest of Omaha.
The Royals will take name suggestions through its website,
http://www.oroyals.com, through Sept. 6. Fans can also submit names
at the ballpark.
Team officials will review the submissions and put 24 names up
for an online vote. The top nine vote-getters will be up for
another vote, and the winner will be announced in November.
Team officials have said the city's name will stay in the team
name, but Golden Spikes will not be an option for the nickname.
That was the name of the Triple A team from 1999 to 2002.
The Royals' now play at Rosenblatt Stadium but are preparing to
move to a 6,000-seat ballpark in Sarpy County.
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