No. 24 Volleyball Hosts No. 7 Nebraska Wednesday

Sept. 28, 2004

Lawrence, Kan. –

Complete Release in PDF Format
dot.gifspacer.gifDownload Free Acrobat Reader

The 24th-ranked Jayhawks will face their toughest opponent of the season Wednesday night when No. 7 Nebraska visits the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. Kansas (10-2, 1-2 Big 12) is coming off a disappointing home loss to Texas Saturday night while the Huskers (9-1, 4-0 Big 12) are riding a six-match winning streak. Match time is set for 7 p.m.

Gametracker and post-match results will be available on kuathletics.com.

Quick Notes

Kansas Remains in National Rankings
Despite a loss to then-ranked No. 22 Texas, Kansas remained in the USA TODAY/CSTV Coaches’ Poll on Sept. 27, coming in at No. 24. The Jayhawks fell three spots from 21st last week, their highest-ever national ranking.

Five other teams from the Big 12 Conference are ranked in the Top 25: No. 7 Nebraska, No. 14 Texas A&M, No. 15 Kansas State, No. 18 Texas and No. 25 Colorado.

Big 12 Remains One of the Toughest
For the second consecutive week, the Big 12 was well-represented in Division I volleyball’s national poll. The Big 12 remained tied with the Pac-10 Conference in leading all other leagues with six teams making appearances in this week’s USA TODAY/CSTV Coaches’ Poll.

Kansas, ranked as high as 21st in the nation, was picked by the league’s coaches to finish seventh in the Big 12 this season.

Nebraska Preview
The No. 7 Huskers improved their win streak to six straight matches with wins over No. 25 Colorado (3-0) and No. 11 Texas A&M (3-0) last week. Now 9-1 overall and 4-0 in Big 12 Conference play, Nebraska leads the league in blocking, digs and opponent hitting percentage.

The Huskers average 3.73 blocks and 18.21 digs per game while holding opponents to just a .102 attack average. Nebraska’s only upset of the season was Florida A&M’s 3-1 win over the Huskers in Lincoln on Sept. 10.

Nebraska is led by Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Melissa Elmer and co-Freshman of the Year Sarah Pavan.

The NU-KU Series — Depends on who you ask!
There are two sides to the Kansas/Nebraska all-time series. If you were to ask the Huskers, their records indicate a 72-0 advantage over KU dating back to 1975. However, the Jayhawks’ records indicate a 2-1 victory over Nebraska in the teams’ first meeting on Oct. 17, 1975 at Graceland College and a 1-1 tie on Nov. 5, 1977.

If KU’s records are correct, the all-time series is actually 71-1-1 in the Huskers’ favor.

Michaels Among the Top Blockers in the Nation
Senior middle blocker Ashley Michaels, a 6-1 senior middle blocker, currently ranks first in the Big 12 and second in the nation with 1.85 blocks per game.

The Jayhawks rank second only to Nebraska in the Big 12 with 3.26 stuffs per game. Last season, KU finished last in the Big 12 with just 1.88 per game.

A Balanced Attack
This year’s Kansas squad has many offensive go-to players in its lineup. Five Jayhawks — Josi Lima, Ashley Michaels, Jana Correa, Emily Brown and Paula Caten –average 2.22 or more kills per game.

On the defensive side, libero Jill Dorsey (4.60 dpg) is backed by Lima and Brown, who add 2.20 and 2.45 digs, respectively, while two other Jayhawks add at least 1.35 per game (Jamie Mathewson and Andi Rozum).

Jump to Schedule/Gametracker page.