THE KBRX SPORTSCENTER

2012 NSAA Football Schedules

Here are the football schedules for the area schools for the 2012 season. Schedules are made every 2 years with a home/away series, so the 2013 schedules will be the same opponents. All Class/All School schedules are at nsaahome.org.

Dates for the 2012 season are as follows:

Week 0

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

8/24/2012

8/31/2012

9/7/2012

9/14/2012

9/21/2012

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

9/28/2012

10/5/2012

10/12/2012

10/19/2012

All dates shown are Fridays

CLASS C1:

Ainsworth 2012 Schedule:

Week 0 @ Gordon-Rushville

Week 1 West Holt

Week 2 Chadron

Week 3 @ Gibbon

Week 4 Ord

Week 5 @ O'Neill

Week 6 BYE

Week 7 Valentine

Week 8 @ Broken Bow

Boone Central/Newman Grove 2012 Schedule:

Week 0 West Point-Beemer

Week 1 @ Pierce

Week 2 Norfolk Catholic

Week 3 BYE

Week 4 Columbus Scotus

Week 5 @ David City

Week 6 Madison

Week 7 @ Columbus Lakeview

Week 8 @ Grand Island Central Catholic

Norfolk Catholic 2012 Schedule:

Week 0 @ Columbus Lakeview

Week 1 Bishop Neumann

Week 2 @ Boone Central/Newman Grove

Week 3 Madison

Week 4 @ Wahoo

Week 5 BYE

Week 6 West Point-Beemer

Week 7 Pierce

Week 8 @ Wayne

O'Neill 2012 Schedule:

Week 0 St. Paul

Week 1 @ Wayne

Week 2 BYE

Week 3 Central City

Week 4 @ Madison

Week 5 Ainsworth

Week 6 @ Valentine

Week 7 Broken Bow

Week 8 @ Ord

Pierce 2012 Schedule:

Week 0 @ David City

Week 1 Boone Central/Newman Grove

Week 2 @ Boys Town

Week 3 Logan View

Week 4 BYE

Week 5 Columbus Scotus

Week 6 @ Wayne

Week 7 @ Norfolk Catholic

Week 8 West Point-Beemer

Wayne 2012 Schedule:

Week 1 O'Neill

Week 2 @ Madison

Week 3 @ Columbus Lakeview

Week 4 Fort Calhoun

Week 5 @ West Point-Beemer

Week 6 Pierce

Week 7 @ David City

Week 8 Norfolk Catholic

CLASS C2:

Battle Creek 2012 Schedule:

Week 0 @ Ponca

Week 1 Laurel-Concord

Week 2 BYE

Week 3 @ Oakland-Craig

Week 4 Wakefield

Week 5 West Holt

Week 6 @ Hartington Cedar Catholic

Week 7 Crofton

Week 8 @ Lutheran High Northeast

Crofton 2012 Schedule:

Week 1 @ Wisner-Pilger

Week 2 Ponca

Week 3 Stanton

Week 4 @ Hartington Cedar Catholic

Week 5 @ Homer

Week 6 Lutheran High Northeast

Week 7 @ Battle Creek

Week 8 West Holt

Hartington CC 2012 Schedule:

Week 1 Oakland-Craig

Week 2 @ Laurel-Concord

Week 3 Ponca

Week 4 Crofton

Week 5 @ Lutheran High Northeast

Week 6 Battle Creek

Week 7 @ West Holt

Week 8 Wisner-Pilger

Lutheran High Northeast 2012 Schedule:

Week 1 Archbishop Bergan

Week 2 Wisner-Pilger

Week 3 @ Laurel-Concord

Week 4 @ West Holt

Week 5 Hartington Cedar Catholic

Week 6 @ Crofton

Week 7 @ Ponca

Week 8 Battle Creek

West Holt 2012 Schedule:

Week 1 @ Ainsworth

Week 2 Twin River

Week 3 @ Wakefield

Week 4 Lutheran High Northeast

Week 5 @ Battle Creek

Week 6 Laurel-Concord

Week 7 Hartington Cedar Catholic

Week 8 @ Crofton

CLASS D1:

Bloomfield 2012 Schedule:

Week 1 @ Hartington

Week 2 Pender

Week 3 @ St. Mary's

Week 4 Neligh-Oakdale

Week 5 @ Creighton

Week 6 Elgin Public/Pope John

Week 7 @ Niobrara/Verdigre

Week 8 Plainview

Boyd County 2012 Schedule:

Week 1 Niobrara/Verdigre

Week 2 Stuart

Week 3 @ Wausa

Week 4 St. Mary's

Week 5 @ Clearwater/Orchard

Week 6 Burwell

Week 7 @ CWC

Week 8 @ North Central

Burwell 2012 Schedule:

Week 0 @ Ansley-Litchfield

Week 1 South Loup

Week 2 Loup City

Week 3 BYE

Week 4 @ North Central

Week 5 CWC

Week 6 @ Boyd County

Week 7 St. Mary's

Week 8 @ Clearwater/Orchard

Clearwater/Orchard 2012 Schedule:

Week 1 @ Creighton

Week 2 @ Plainview

Week 3 Neligh-Oakdale

Week 4 @ CWC

Week 5 Boyd County

Week 6 @ St. Mary's

Week 7 North Central

Week 8 Burwell

Creighton 2012 Schedule:

Week 1 Clearwater/Orchard

Week 2 @ Emerson-Hubbard

Week 3 Pender

Week 4 @ Elgin Public/Pope John

Week 5 Bloomfield

Week 6 @ Plainview

Week 7 Neligh-Oakdale

Week 8 @ Niobrara/Verdigre

CWC 2012 Schedule:

Week 0 @ Twin Loup

Week 1 Stuart

Week 2 @ Elgin Public/Pope John

Week 3 BYE

Week 4 Clearwater/Orchard

Week 5 @ Burwell

Week 6 North Central

Week 7 Boyd County

Week 8 @ St. Mary's

Elgin Public/Pope John 2012 Schedule:

Week 0 @ Randolph

Week 1 BYE

Week 2 CWC

Week 3 @ Nebraska Christian

Week 4 Creighton

Week 5 @ Niobrara/Verdigre

Week 6 @ Bloomfield

Week 7 Plainview

Week 8 Neligh-Oakdale

Hartington 2012 Schedule:

Week 0 @ Humphrey

Week 1 Bloomfield

Week 2 Wynot

Week 3 BYE

Week 4 @ Allen

Week 5 @ Winnebago

Week 6 Pender

Week 7 Randolph

Week 8 @ Emerson-Hubbard

Neligh-Oakdale 2012 Schedule:

Week 1 St. Mary's

Week 2 Guardian Angels Central Catholic

Week 3 @ Clearwater/Orchard

Week 4 @ Bloomfield

Week 5 Plainview

Week 6 Niobrara/Verdigre

Week 7 @ Creighton

Week 8 @ Elgin Public/Pope John

Niobrara/Verdigre 2012 Schedule:

Week 1 @ Boyd County

Week 2 @ St. Mary's

Week 3 Allen

Week 4 @ Plainview

Week 5 Elgin Public/Pope John

Week 6 @ Neligh-Oakdale

Week 7 Bloomfield

Week 8 Creighton

North Central 2012 Schedule:

Week 1 @ Sandhills/Thedford

Week 2 Twin Loup

Week 3 @ Ansley-Litchfield

Week 4 Burwell

Week 5 St. Mary's

Week 6 @ CWC

Week 7 @ Clearwater/Orchard

Week 8 Boyd County

Plainview 2012 Schedule:

Week 1 Randolph

Week 2 Clearwater/Orchard

Week 3 @ Clarkson/Leigh

Week 4 Niobrara/Verdigre

Week 5 @ Neligh-Oakdale

Week 6 Creighton

Week 7 @ Elgin Public/Pope John

Week 8 @ Bloomfield

St. Mary's 2012 Schedule:

Week 1 @ Neligh-Oakdale

Week 2 Niobrara/Verdigre

Week 3 Bloomfield

Week 4 @ Boyd County

Week 5 @ North Central

Week 6 Clearwater/Orchard

Week 7 @ Burwell

Week 8 CWC

CLASS D2:

Osmond 2012 Schedule:

Week 1 @ Humphrey St. Francis

Week 2 Humphrey

Week 3 Lyons-Decatur Northeast

Week 4 @ Wynot

Week 5 Winside

Week 6 @ Newcastle

Week 7 Wausa

Week 8 @ Stuart

Stuart 2012 Schedule:

Week 0 Sandhills/Thedford

Week 1 @ CWC

Week 2 @ Boyd County

Week 3 BYE

Week 4 Newcastle

Week 5 Wynot

Week 6 @ Wausa

Week 7 @ Winside

Week 8 Osmond

Wausa 2012 Schedule:

Week 1 Emerson-Hubbard

Week 2 @ Bancroft-Rosalie

Week 3 Boyd County

Week 4 @ Winside

Week 5 @ Newcastle

Week 6 Stuart

Week 7 @ Osmond

Week 8 Wynot

Zaire Anderson LB 6-1 220 Philadelphia, Pa. Frankford HS/Riverside Community College

Mohammed Seisay* DB 6-2 200 Springfield, Va. West Springfield HS/Eastern Arizona Junior College

By State: California (2): Brown (Gardena); Whitaker (Murrieta); Illinois (2): Valentine (Edwardsville); Westerkamp (Lombard); Ohio (2): Alexander (Toledo); McMullen (Akron): Texas (2): Armstrong (Cibolo), Curry (Keller); Nebraska (1): Cotton (Lincoln); Arizona (1): Moss (Tempe); Colorado (1): Thurston (Arvada); Georgia (1): Cross (Gainesville); Louisiana (1): Moore (Winnfield); Missouri (1): Rose (Kansas City); Pennsylvania (1): Anderson (Philadelphia); Utah (1): Afalava (South Jordan); Virginia (1): Seisay (Springfield).

Offense (6): QB-Armstrong; RB-Cross; WR-Westerkamp; TE-Cotton; OL-Thurston, Whitaker

Defense (9): DL-Curry, McMullen, Moss, Valentine LB-Afalava, Anderson, Brown, Rose; DB-Seisay

Nebraska has secured commitments from 19 prospects who plan to join the program as walk-ons for the 2012 season. Per NCAA rules, Nebraska is able to announce 18 of those individuals as of Feb. 1.

Neligh's Tyler Legate joined us via phone from Lincoln and did a great job talking about his experiences in going from a Neligh-Oakdale standout to Husker fullback, and now soon-to-be college graduate. We apologize, as some of the interview was cut out by equipment problems, but most of it survived. To listen, click here.

Marcus McNichols gets his hand raised after a victory over Deley LaVene of Norris (photo by Kathy Marvin)

The Eagle Wrestlers had a very difficult weekend this Saturday in Aurora. O’Neill went 0-4 in dual action. Losing 29-39 to York, 54-24 to Central City, 46-30 to Aurora, and 33-45 to Norris. York upset Central City to earn the team title. Joe Gillham turned in the most notable performance for the Eagles going 4-0 on the day with three pins. “The 0-4 record really stings, no doubt about it. I think to a certain extent we got caught looking ahead at our upcoming duals instead of taking them one at a time. That starts at the top and I need to do a better job keeping our guys focused. That said, the reality is we faced 4 pretty deep Class B teams today. Our margin for error wasn’t very large in any of those duals and the mistakes we made were more then enough to sink us,” commented coach Corkle. The Eagles will be in action on Thursday night at home when they take on Creighton in dual action starting at 6:30. On Saturday the Eagles will travel to Albion for the always tough Boone Central Invitational. “We’re hopeful this kind of outcome can serve to refocus us as a team. Hopefully, everyone that is a part of this group, from coaches to wrestlers is looking in the mirror and asking themselves, ‘what can I do to improve this team?’ Our motto for the season is, ‘If it’s to be, it’s up to me.’ I’d say those words resonate a little louder after this weekend.” Individual records from the weekend are as follows:

106 - Jon Marvin 3-1
113 - Joe Gillham 4-0
120 - Blake Walters 3-1
126 - Dion Nemec 1-3
132 - Cory Rowse 3-1
138 - Marcus McNichols 2-2
145 - Angel Rodriguez 1-3
152 - David Fox 3-1
160 - Jesse Albarran 0-4
170 - Tim Lechtenberg 0-4
182 - Open
195 - Morgan Sterns 1-3
220 - Thomas Schipporeit 1-3
HWT - Jordan Christensen 1- 3

Former Eagle Ian Sitz joined us via phone line from Florida on the Dawg Pound Sports Show. Ian plays for the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish, a DII school. To hear the conversation, click here.

Left to right back; O"Neill Eagles coaches Chuck Price & Monte Grossnicklaus, Central Community College softball coach Jack Gutierrez

Desi Pinkerman, daughter of Bob & Tina Pinkerman, recently signed to play softball for Central Community College in Columbus, Nebraska. KBRX wishes her the best of luck!

Corey Rowse of O'Neill upsets Sam Lee (Sargent/Burwell) with a 4-3 OT win to claim 3rd place honors.

The Eagle grapplers made the short trip to Atkinson this past Saturday for the West Holt Invitational Wrestling Tournament. The team ventured the 18 miles west as healthy as they've been all season. This event featured top ranked in Class C Burwell/Sargent as well as rated teams in Howells and Plainview. O'Neill ended the day with runner-up honors behind only Burwell/Sargent.

The Eagles crowned one champion at the 120 lbs. weight class in Blake Walters. Walters defeated defending Class D state champion Corby Forbes of Plainview in the finals 9-2. Walters found himself in the midst of high drama during the late stages of his semifinals match down three points to Riley Northrup of St. Paul. Northrup carried this lead until the final 10 seconds of regulation time when the O'Neill wrestler used a two-on-one tilt to score 3 nearfall points and tie-up the match. In overtime Walters ended things with an exclamation point taking Northrup down to his back and scoring a fall. "He never panicked. He made some mistakes early on to put himself in that bad spot, but he didn't rattle. He knew his best chance to come out on top in that third period was to work for a turn and that is exactly what he did." commented coach Tyler Cole.

The spotlight wasn't just on one O'Neill wrestler this day. The Eagles upset 3 state ranked wrestlers in Class C over the course of the tournament. Joe Gillham was a winner over Keaton Gracey of Ainsworth in the semifinals while David Fox had an overtime victory over his teammate Tanner Clark at 152 lbs. Cory Rowse turned in an outstanding performance coming through the bracket as the 7th seed defeating Sam Lee of Burwell/Sargent twice; once in the quarterfinals and then again in the consolation finals in route to a 3rd place finish. Both Gillham and Fox found themselves on the losing end of there championship finals matches, bringing home runner-up medals. They were joined in that spot on the podium by Jon Marvin who also finished in 2nd place. Morgan Sterns and Thomas Schipporeit finished the tournament both with 3rd place honors. "It was good to get Morgan back. There was some rust, but you could see that come off even as the tournament progressed. Thomas had a tough loss early, but it said something for him to fight his way back through the consolation side of the bracket to get third." commented head coach Bryan Corkle. "Overall, I thought we wrestled really well. I loved our hustle, we had guys sprinting back to the center of the mat when there was a stoppage of the action, we dictated the flow of matches, controlling ties, moving guys around. It was good stuff. There are a couple of positions and situations where our mistakes continue to plague us, so we'll get back to the room and work on fixing those things."

The Eagles will be in action this next Saturday as they travel to Aurora for the Aurora dual tournament.

Lincoln—Fullback Tyler Legate and Middle-Blocker Jordan Wilberger, a pair of Husker athletes who know the value of proper nutrition and physical activity, will join Governor Dave Heineman for a 30-minute wellness walk through the Capitol Wednesday, Jan. 11 at noon.

Nebraskans are invited to join in the walk, which begins in the second-floor rotunda, or replicate it in their own worksite or hometown. Brief remarks by the Governor, the athletes and other wellness advocates, including State of Nebraska Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joann Schaefer, will precede the walk.

The annual Governor & Workers Walk serves to promote the Live Healthy 100-Day Challenge, while demonstrating the simplicity of daily physical activity and the importance of good nutrition. Lt. Governor Rick Sheehy and several State Senators are expected to be on hand as well as more than 100 wellness leaders and workers from the Capitol, State Office Building and surrounding businesses.

Legate, a native of Neligh, Neb., was a three-year starter at fullback for the Husker football team noted for his work ethic in the classroom and weightroom and for his vicious blocking on the field.

Wilberger, a Scottsbluff native and two-year starter for the Husker volleyball team, was the only Husker named to the 2010 All-Regional Tournament team and often lauded by teammates and coaches for her leadership and commitment to the team.

Registration is open for the 100-Day Challenge which, over the past 10 years, has helped more than 58,000 Nebraskans lose over 144,000 pounds and accumulate 31 million activity hours. 70% of surveyed participants also report maintaining their weight loss and activity levels six months after the program ends. Those interested can register, or find details, at LiveHealthyNebraska.org or by calling 402-471-2544.

The Nebraska Sports Council, which facilitates Live Healthy Nebraska and the Cornhusker State Games, is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, which promotes healthy and active lifestyle choices. More than 30,000 Nebraskans participate in NSC programs and events annually. Learn more at NebraskaSportsCouncil.com.

St. Mary's head boy's basketball coach Gary Chvala was recently honored for picking up his 500th win, a 63-33 triumph at Cody-Kilgore, a plateau that few active coaches in Nebraska have reached. A ceremony was held in the St. Mary's commons area on Sunday, January 8 for Chvala, with many former players on hand to speak about their former coach. Some of these speakers included Tom Schommer, Jim Carlson, Cody Eiler, Zach Sibbel, and his son and current player Tom, among others. Chvala becomes just the 13th Nebraska boys coach to reach 500 wins, and is currently one of 2 active coaches in that club, joining Duane Mendlik of Wisner Pilger. KBRX congratulates Coach Chvala on reaching an incredible coaching milestone.

Jon Marvin works a cross-face cradle on Nathan Dressen of Rapid City Central in wrestling action in Presho, SD this past weekend

Four days of competition over a six day stretch. So marks the start of the second half of the season for the O’Neill Eagle wrestling team. On thursday night the Eagles started on the road at Class C 4th ranked Battle Creek. A short handed but scrappy bunch of Eagles battled the Braves in a losing effort dropping the dual by score of 41-33. Winners for the Eagles were Jon Marvin, Joe Gillham, Blake Walters, David Fox, Spencer Knopp, and Thomas Schipporeit. “Our kids wrestled hard. We lost some matches where they were more experienced then us, but our kids didn’t lay down for them. There certainly aren’t any rewards for moral victories and we don’t want to hang our hat on those kinds of things; but it was encouraging to see some of the things we have been working so hard on in the practice room start to come out in competition,” commented assistant coach Tyler Cole.

The team was back in action on Friday at a new venue, traveling to Presho, SD for a tournament coined the Mid-Dakota Monster. This was a two day event featuring 25 teams from across the state of South Dakota. Many of the weight classes were wrestled in 32 man brackets and 8 medalists were crowned on Saturday. The Eagles started the competition with 10 wrestlers in the field, eight of which ended Saturday with a medal around their neck. One of the best performances was turned in by sophomore Joe Gillham. Joe began the event as the 6th seed in the bracket. He turned in an outstanding tournament knocking off 2 wrestlers seeded ahead of him in come from behind fashion to make the finals. In his finals match he found himself behind again battling back from an early 7-0 deficit. Joe closed the gap to one point in the second period after a quick escape followed by a lateral drop. He looked like he might end the match in dramatic fashion, but his opponent Gene Trimbell of Spearfish/Lead/Deadwood was able to work his way off his back. After giving up a pair of subsequent takedowns one with nearfall points, Gillham found himself on the losing end of 13-8 decision and runner-up honors.

Jon Marvin also turned in another notable performance notching third place honors. Jon used his dangerous cross-face cradle throughout the tournament to take home another coveted award. He was able to score the highest number of pins in the least amount of time for the tournament with 5. Other medalists for the Eagles were as follows: Blake Walters 4th, Dion Nemec 6th, Corey Rowse 7th, David Fox 4th, Jesse Albarran 7th, and Thomas Shipporeit 5th. “This was a great event for our kids. We didn’t know much about the kids we were wrestling coming in and there is definitely a difference in styles of wrestling between our two states,” commented coach Cole. “this level of competition and this kind of experience will really pay dividends as we make our stretch run into districts and state late in the year.”

The team finished in 7th place overall, scoring 143.5 points. Winner was the team champion. Head coach Bryan Corkle reported that hospitality was second to none. The team was featured at the end of the “Parade of Teams” which occurs at the start of Saturday’s action, with the announcer noting O’Neill as the home of the “World’s Largest Shamrock.” “They seemed genuinely excited to have us there and it showed in every way.” commented the head coach.

The O'Neill JV wrestlers also were in action, placing several wrestlers at the Elgin invite this past Saturday. Individual finishes are as follows:
Jordan Christianson 3rd

The Crofton Booster Club youth basketball tourneament will be held January 21 and 22, 2012. The tournament is open to boys’ and girls’ teams in grades 5-8. Cost is $75 per team. Entry deadline is Friday, January 13, 2012. For more information, in Crofton, NE contact Bob Hegge at 402-388-4293.

The Dawg Pound Sports Show spotlighted another former area standout who has gone on to playing sports in college. Ewing's Brett Kaczor took the time to call into the show and spoke about his college football career at Nebraska Wesleyan. Click on the link below to hear what Brett had to say.

Wayne, Neb. --- The Wayne State College baseball program will be conducting two baseball camps in the month of January. A Total Skills Camp will be held on Sunday, January 15th with a Hitting/Pitching Intensity Camp scheduled for Sunday, January 22nd. Both camps will take place in the Wayne State College Recreation Center and are open to baseball players ages 8 to 18. Players will be grouped according to age with the average group size of four players to ensure quality fundamentals and instruction.

The Total Skills Camp on Sunday, January 15th will emphasize all aspects of baseball – which include fielding, pitching, catching, hitting and base running. This camp is great for young baseball players. The Hitting/Pitching Intensity Camp on Sunday, January 22nd is designed to give each camper advanced instruction in each area.

The Wayne State coaching staff and the Wildcat baseball team will instruct the camps. The WSC baseball camps have been well attended in the past due in part to the one-on-one training and the competent instruction given by the Wildcat players and coaching staff.

Both camps will run from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. in the Wayne State College Recreation Center with registration starting at 8:30 a.m. Players are asked to bring their glove, bat and gym shoes. The fee for one camp is $50 or $90 for both and includes a camp T-shirt.

For more information on the camps or for registration information, e-mail WSC head baseball coach Brian Disch at brdisch1@wsc.edu or phone the WSC baseball office at (402) 375-7012 or 1-800-228-9972 ext. 7012. Additional information and registration forms can be found on the WSC baseball website by logging onto www.wscbaseballcamps.com.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - With three top players injured and a brutal early schedule, coach Doc Sadler is just hoping he can shepherd Nebraska through this rough patch.

"As I said back in Nebraska, the thing that's the hardest thing to do right now is probably convince your fans and your players that something down the road is going to be better," Sadler said after his Cornhuskers came out on the wrong side of a 71-40 loss at No. 6 Ohio State on Tuesday night.

Toney McCray had 13 points, Brandon Richardson 11 and Bo Spencer 10 for Nebraska (8-6, 0-3 Big Ten), which was playing its first Big Ten road game.

"We knew we were coming in here to play an awfully good basketball team; that wasn't a surprise," Sadler said. "They're so long and physical. I don't know if it was just us, but I thought it was their best defensive game they've played in terms of intensity - and they sustained it."

The Cornhuskers were outrebounded 44-21 and had more turnovers(17) than field goals (16).

Spencer came in leading the Cornhuskers in scoring at 15.1 points a game (24.3 in three road games). But he, like the rest of his teammates, never came close to competing with the Buckeyes. Nebraska was without two of its top scorers for the fifth consecutive game: 6-foot-11 Jorge Brian Diaz is out with chronic foot soreness, and junior-college transfer Dylan Talley has been sidelined by a thigh injury. The Cornhuskers are also missing 6-11 Andre Almeida. Sadler said he didn't know if any of the three would return from their injuries this season.

The Cornhuskers have had the most difficult early-season schedule in the Big Ten, with home games against No. 11 Wisconsin(a 64-40 loss) and No. 16 Michigan State (a 68-55 defeat) before coming to Ohio State. Those are also the top three teams in the preseason Big Ten poll.

Ohio State coach Thad Matta recognizes what Nebraska is up against. "It is challenging, coming into a league where we all have a feel for what teams are trying to do, and players. This being their first year, it's obviously a tremendous challenge for them," Matta said. "We've played some of these teams twice or three times in a season. (Nebraska's coaches) are probably looking at scouting saying, 'Now, who's this guys? Who's this guy?' But that's part of the change in the league."

They played good defense - forcing 19 Ohio State turnovers - but had 17 turnovers of their own and shot just 31 percent from the field.

Offense is the biggest concern, obviously. "We've got to find a way to get better offensively," Sadler

said. "Because if we can't get into the mid-60s (in points), we're not going to win many games in this league. I don't care how good we play defensively."

For Ohio State (14-2, 2-1), Jared Sullinger had 19 points and 12 rebounds, Deshaun Thomas added 15 points and William Buford 13. The Buckeyes shook off a painful loss at No. 12 Indiana on Saturday.

The Cornhuskers got out to a miserable start. From a 4-all tie, Ohio State ran off the next 13 points while Nebraska was continually turning the ball over. During one span, the Huskers had turnovers on four consecutive possessions. Five players scored in the 13-0 run for the Buckeyes, with Buford hitting two baskets and Lenzelle Smith Jr. adding a 3-pointer. Ohio State never trailed again.

"I don't know that we were much of a test," Sadler said. "The bottom line is it just wasn't much of a contest for them tonight."

Lincoln - Nebraska's Jordan Hooper claimed her third Big Ten Player-of-the-Week award in the past four weeks when the conference announced its weekly honors on Monday.

Hooper, a 6-2 sophomore forward from Alliance, Neb., took over as the Big Ten's top scorer with her third 30-point performance in the past four games in Nebraska's 71-63 win at No. 16 Penn State on Dec. 30.

Hooper scored 19 of her 31 points in the second half while adding her sixth double-double of the season with 12 rebounds to lead the Huskers back from a nine-point second-half deficit against the Lady Lions.

Hooper hit 11-of-21 shots from the field, including 4-of-11 three-pointers, while connecting on 5-of-6 free throw attempts. Her three-pointer from the left wing with 16.5 seconds left gave the Huskers an insurmountable 69-63 lead, before she grabbed the final rebound of the game at the defensive end on PSU's final possession. She was fouled and sank both free throws to seal Nebraska's first-ever Big Ten Conference victory, while leading the Huskers to just their third true road win over an AP top 20 team in the past 12 years.

Hooper became just the second Husker in history to score 30 or more points three times in a four-game stretch, joining fellow Alliance native Amy Stephens, who accomplished the feat four times in a five-game stretch in February of 1989.

Over the past four games, Hooper is averaging 28.5 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 54.3 percent from the field, including 43.8 percent from three-point range, and 80 percent from the free throw line.

Hooper, who also won Big Ten weekly honors on Dec. 12 and Dec. 26, leads the Big Ten by averaging 21.2 points per game, while ranking second in the conference in rebounding with 9.2 boards per contest. Michigan State's Lykendra Johnson leads the Big Ten at 9.3 rebounds per game.

Hooper and the Huskers play their first first-ever Big Ten home game on Thursday, Jan. 5, when they take on the Indiana Hoosiers at the Devaney Center. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m., with tickets available now at Huskers.com.

Lincoln - Nebraska sophomore Jordan Hooper captured her second Big Ten Player-of-the-Week award in the past three weeks when she was named a co-winner of the conference's weekly honor on Monday, Dec. 26.

Hooper, a 6-2 forward from Alliance, Neb., produced her second 30-point scoring performance in the past three games in Nebraska’s 80-71 win over South Dakota State on Dec. 21. She added her second straight double-double with 11 boards to increase her season total to five double-doubles.

Hooper hit 10-of-19 shots from the field, including 4-of-9 three-pointers against the Jackrabbits. She also went 6-of-7 at the free throw line, while adding an assist, a block and a steal in a season-high 33 minutes.

For the season, Hooper leads the Huskers and ranks second in the Big Ten in both scoring and rebounding with 20.4 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. She has also connected on a team-high 26 three-pointers. She has hit 61 free throws through 12 games this season, and needs just two more made free throws to match her freshman season total.

Hooper already owns seven 20-point scoring efforts after producing five in 31 games a year ago. Her five double-doubles are two more than she produced as a freshman, when she earned a spot on the five-player Big 12 All-Freshman Team.

Hooper shared the Big Ten weekly award with Ohio State's Tayler Hill, who averaged 23.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals in three Buckeye victories last week. Hill is the only player in the Big Ten with a higher scoring average (21.2 ppg) than Hooper.

Hooper and the 11-1 Huskers, who moved up one spot to No. 23 in the Associated Press Top 25 on Monday, open Big Ten Conference play at No. 16 Penn State (10-2) on Friday, Dec. 30. Tip-off with the Lady Lions is set for 6 p.m. (central) with free live audio from the Husker Sports Network on Huskers.com.

The statement from Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini regarding senior center Mike Caputo:

“Mike Caputo will participate with our football team in the Capital One Bowl. He has been disciplined internally over the past couple weeks following his incident, and he will have additional disciplinary measures during our bowl trip in Orlando.

“As I have stated before, we run a disciplined football program based on accountability, and our track record off the field and in the classroom stacks up well against anyone in the country. Our players trust that I handle discipline in our program in a fair manner, and that I will make an informed decision after looking at the facts of each situation independently.

“I know that Mike regrets this incident occurred and any negative publicity it has caused for his family, this program and the University of Nebraska. He is ready to finish his Nebraska career in a positive manner in the bowl game.”

St. Mary's graduate and current Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolf Cody Eiler on the Dawg Pound.

Christmas break: A time for students to take a break from the grind of school and enjoy coming home for a couple weeks. We were able to catch up with a couple of former area standouts who were back for break on the Dawg Pound Sports Show. Cody Eiler of O'Neill and Hayley Thramer of Ewing both did a great job on the show, and it was great to hear about the experiences both have gained during their college sports careers. Thanks to Cody and Hayley for taking the time to join us. If you missed the show and want to listen in on our conversations, click the following links below.

The Knights of Columbus Free Throw competition will be held at St. Mary’s on Saturday January 7. Doors will open at 8:30 and competition begins at 9:00 am. You can register at the door or forms will be available at O’Neill Elementary and O’Neill High School offices.

Lincoln – Four Nebraska volleyball players were honored Wednesday morning, as the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced its 2011 All-America team. Junior outside hitter Gina Mancuso led the charge as a first-team selection, while junior outside hitter Hannah Werth, sophomore right side hitter Morgan Broekhuis and junior setter Lauren Cook were chosen as honorable-mention selections.

Nebraska continues to lead the nation with 71 AVCA All-America certificates (first, second and third team) by 35 athletes with at least one Husker earning All-America honors in 30 consecutive seasons. In 12 seasons at Nebraska, Head Coach John Cook has coached his players to 36 All-America honors.

A key asset to the Huskers this season, Mancuso did not disappoint in her junior year as she was named an unanimous All-Big Ten First-Team pick and led the Huskers in kills, totaling 407 for an average of 3.60 kills per set. She also notched 2.66 digs per set. Her efforts kept her ranked in the top ten in the Big Ten Conference for total kills during the entire season. She notched at least 10 kills in 27 matches during 2011 and posted a career-high 25 kills against Kansas State. She was also named the Big Ten Player-of-the-Week two times in 2011. Mancuso is the latest in the long line of successful attackers at Nebraska, as a total of 24 All-America certificates have been earned by Husker outside hitters since 1996.

Werth earned honorable mention All-America honors after a stellar junior season. The Springfield, Ill., native averaged 2.80 kills per set and 3.11 digs per set, while ranking second on the team in total digs with 348 on the year. Werth tabbed at least 10 kills in 18 matches, while notching at least 10 digs in 19 matches. She produced 11 double-doubles as a junior and was a two-time Big Ten Player-of-the-Week as well as the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week on Nov. 22.

Broekhuis earned honorable-mention All-America honors for the first time, as she had a breakout year for the Huskers during her sophomore campaign, averaging 3.04 kills per set and a total of 344 kills while notching 1.58 digs per set. In just her second year as a starter, she tabbed at least 10 kills in 19 matches and a hitting percentage of .247. She recorded a total of 97 blocks in 2011, while hitting at least .300 in eight matches this season, including a season-best .692 against Jackson State. She tabbed a career-high 22 kills at Michigan on Oct. 1.

Cook put together a strong season in her first full year as a starter to earn honorable-mention All-America accolades. She averaged 11.03 assists per set, .49 kills and 2.79 digs per set. She ranked fourth in the league in assists, while notching a team-best 18 double-doubles (assists-digs). Cook helped Nebraska hit .300 or better in 10 matches, including a season-high .438 against Jackson State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. She totaled 50 or more assists in seven matches, including a career-high 62 assists against Kansas State.

Two days, ten matches; this short phrase sums up week 2 for the O’Neill Eagle wrestlers. A tired group of athletes returned home Saturday from Columbus with an even 5-5 dual record and two members of the tournament All-Dual team. Blake Walters finished the tournament a perfect 10-0 while David Fox went 8-2 with one of his losses coming up a weight class at 170 lbs.

“I thought as a team we got off to a bit of a slow start. We spent all of last week working on movement off the bottom position and we didn’t show much improvement in that area as a team early on. The good news is our kids seemed to make adjustments as the tournament wore on and we seemed to get stronger,” commented Coach Corkle. The Eagles had 4 wrestlers who finished their 5 duals on Saturday with a perfect 5-0 record. Jon Marvin, Joey Gillhammer, Blake Walters and David Fox.

“The great thing about a tournament like this one is it really seems to do a good job of showing you where your weaknesses are on the mat. Our practice agenda is set for the next week for sure.”

The Eagles will be in action this Saturday at the Valentine Invitational. Wrestling will begin at 10 am.

The Neligh-Oakdale Warriors also competed at the Nebraska Duals. They finished 3-7 with results as follows:

The Crofton Booster Club youth basketball tournament will be held January 21 and 22, 2012. The tournament is open to boys’ and girls’ teams in grades 5-8. Cost is $75 per team. Entry deadline is Friday, January 13, 2012. For more information, contact Bob Hegge at 402-388-4293.

Pierce: Bronson Stonacek, Aaron Hamlin, Nate Meier, Austin Koehlmoos, Nate Emerson, Tyler Lindsay.

Creighton: Jacob Morrill, Cody Fitch, Seth Wilmes, Cale Dohmen, Cole Thomas, Levi Nielsen.

O'Neill St. Mary's: Connor Connot, Ty Eiler, Kyle Loecker, Chism Sholes, Tom Chvala, Ryan Podany, David Shields.

Lincoln, Neb. - The Nebraska volleyball team saw its season end shorter than it has in 18 seasons, while Kansas State advanced as far as it ever has in the NCAA Tournament, as the unseeded Wildcats upset the second-seeded Huskers, 3-2, on Friday night in second-round action in front of 4,161 fans at the NU Coliseum.

Kansas State (22-10) handed Nebraska its first postseason home loss since 2002 and only its third ever with a 25-22, 22-25, 31-29, 22-25, 15-11 victory. With the win, the Wildcats punched their ticket to the Honolulu Regional, advancing to an NCAA Regional for the third time in school history and for the first time since 2003. For the Big Ten champion Huskers, their season ended short of a regional berth for the first time since 1993. Nebraska, which ended its season with a 25-5 record, had advanced to an NCAA Regional in each of the last 17 seasons, the longest active streak in the nation, nine longer than any other school.

Kansas State hit .241 for the match, and the Wildcats saved their best for last, attacking at match-high .357 clip in the final set. Four players tallied double figures in kills, led by Kaitlynn Pelger's 22 kills on .314 hitting. Lilla Porubek added 17 kills, Courtney Traxson had 14 and Alex Muff added 10. Four K-State players also posted at least 12 digs, including Pelger, who recorded a double-doubled. The Wildcats also out-blocked the Huskers, 13-10.

Nebraska finished with two more kills and a better attacking percentage than K-State, hitting .262 for the match. The Huskers also out-dug the Wildcats, 89-81, but committed 11 service errors. Four Huskers finished with double-figure kills, led by Gina Mancuso, who finished with a career-high 25 kills. Morgan Broekhuis added 14 kills, Hannah Werth chipped in 13 and Jordan Wilberger had 11, one shy of her career high in her final match. Mancuso and Werth added 17 and 18 digs, respectively, to post double-doubles.

Serving led to a 25-22 Kansas State victory in the opening set. Nebraska had four more kills and hit nearly 100 points better than K-State in the set, but the Huskers committed five service errors while the Wildcats recorded a pair of aces. K-State led early, before three straight points gave Nebraska its first lead at 7-6. The Wildcats stormed back to take an 11-8 lead and force a Husker timeout, as Nebraska had committed four service errors and three attack errors to that point. NU won five of the six rallies following the break to regain a one-point advantage, but it would prove to be the Huskers' last lead. K-State quickly regained an advantage and built a 20-17 lead on back-to-back service aces from Tristan McCarty. Nebraska used three straight points to pull within 23-22, before Kansas State won the next two rallies to take the set.

Set two was a back-and-forth affair late featuring several long rallies. Kansas State was in control for much of the set and led 17-14, before Nebraska made its move. Mancuso finally pulled the Huskers even at 18 with a kill that ended a lengthy rally. After earning its first lead, a Werth ace capped Nebraska's 5-0 run that put the Huskers in front for good at 20-18. The teams then traded sideouts, before back-to-back points gave Nebraska set point at 24-21. Broekhuis closed out the set with a kill two points later.

Kansas State won the first three rallies of set three before Nebraska responded with a big run. Trailing 6-3, the Huskers withstood two Wildcat timeouts to win 10 of the next 12 rallies and take a 13-8 lead. NU had five kills during the run, while K-State committed four hitting errors, including a pair of Husker blocks. Nebraska maintained the five-point advantage before Kansas State closed to 20-18. K-State then won four of the next five rallies to take a one-point lead, before a Broekhuis kill tied the set at 22. Following a service error, Nebraska won one of the longest rallies of the night to tie the match. Down the stretch, each team squandered three set-point opportunities, before Kansas State converted its fourth set point on a Pelger kill to earn a 31-29 win.

Needing a win, Nebraska jumped out to a 7-2 lead in set four, winning five straight points to force an early timeout by Kansas State. KSU closed to within two at 9-7 after the break, but Nebraska won four of the next five rallies to push the lead back to five. Just as they did in the previous set, the Wildcats chipped away at the five-point lead, cutting it to two for the second time at 17-15 and forcing a Husker timeout. Kansas State continued to comeback after the timeout, winning three straight points to cap a 5-0 run that put the Wildcats on top 18-17. Back-to-back kills by Mancuso ended the run and put Nebraska back in front and the lead changed hands twice more before a Husker block gave Nebraska a two-point lead at 22-20. The Wildcats fought back to within one at 23-22 before Werth delivered back-to-back kills to close out the set.

In the shortened fifth set, Kansas State scored the first two points and never trailed. Nebraska pulled even at 2 and again at 5, before the Wildcats ran three straight points to lead 8-5 at the switch. The teams then traded sideouts to 11-8 before Nebraska used a timeout. The lead grew to 12-8 before Nebraska trimmed the lead to 12-10. But Kansas State won three of the final four rallies, and a Husker attack error sealed the upset.

Lincoln, Neb. - The second-seeded Nebraska volleyball opened the NCAA Tournament with a dominating sweep against overmatched Jackson State on Thursday night in front of 4,192 fans at the NU Coliseum. In winning their NCAA opener for the 28th consecutive season, the Huskers had a run of at least seven straight points in every set and trailed for a total of seven rallies in the 25-10, 25-16, 25-13 win.

With the victory, Nebraska (25-4) advances to Friday's second-round match at 7 p.m. (Central) against former conference rival Kansas State, who swept Wichita State in Thursday's first match. Jackson State ended its season with a 29-10 record.

Gina Mancuso and Brooke Delano paced a balanced Nebraska attack with 10 kills each, combining for 20 kills on only 36 swings. Morgan Broekhuis added nine kills on 13 error-free swings, while Hannah Werth recorded seven kills and 11 digs. Nebraska hit .438 in the match, hitting .500 or better in sets one and three.

Defensively, the Huskers limited Jackson State to an .022 attack percentage. Nebraska totaled six blocks, as Jackson State committed 21 errors on the night. The Huskers also tallied 38 digs, with Lauren Cook tying Werth for match-high honors with 11. Cook also added 35 assists. Nebraska was also strong at the service line, recording five aces, including two from Broekhuis.

Christine Edwards led Jackson State with a match-high 15 kills. She was one of only four Tigers to record a kill in the match, and she took 49 of Jackson State's 90 total swings.

Nebraska cruised to a first-set victory over an error-prone Jackson State team. After trailing by one early, the Huskers scored eight straight points to take a 10-3 lead. The final six points of Nebraska's run came courtesy of Tiger hitting errors, including a pair of Husker blocks. After trading points, Nebraska used another 8-0 run to take a 21-7 lead. Mancuso had three kills for NU during the run, while Werth showed off her new jump serve by serving seven straight points. Jackson State recorded its 10th point in the 32nd rally of the set before the Huskers scored the final three points, taking the set on a Broekhuis kill. Nebraska hit .500 in the set with 12 kills on just 20 swings, while Jackson State had six kills, nine errors and hit -.107. Mancuso paced Nebraska with five kills in the set.

Jackson State held three early leads in set two, including its only multi-point advantage of the match. Trailing 6-3, a Werth kill snapped a streak of three straight Tiger points and ignited a 7-0 run that gave Nebraska a 10-6 advantage. A Husker blocker in the net and a Nebraska service error were Jackson State's only points in a 13-point stretch that turned their three-point lead into a six-point deficit. A Paige Williams' kill then sparked a quick 3-1 Jackson State run that trimmed the lead to 15-11, and the Tigers pulled as close as three before Nebraska answered. The Huskers won eight of the final 10 rallies - including five straight at one point - to close out a 25-16 victory on a Mancuso kill. Werth had five kills in the set, while Delano added four. Nebraska's hitting percentage dropped to .343 in the set, while Jackson State's climbed to .133, but the Huskers recorded seven more kills and one fewer error than the Tigers.

After earning a lead in each of the first two sets, Jackson State trailed for all of set three. Cook served seven straight points to open the set, and Nebraska never looked back. Three Huskers had a kill during the run, including three from Mancuso. Nebraska continued to cruise, as three straight Husker blocks capped a 5-0 run that put Nebraska on top 15-3 and forced a Jackson State timeout. NU led by at least 10 the rest of the way, and Delano closed out the match with her 10th kill. The Huskers hit a match-high .520 in the final set, putting down 15 kills on 25 swings, with only two errors. Jackson State had eight kills and seven errors in the finale.

The O’Neill Wrestling Invite will be held on Saturday December 3 and start at 10 am. Eight schools will compete with Varsity and JV teams. Results will be posted at the conclusion of each round of wrestling at trackwrestling.com.

The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team (24-4, 17-3 Big Ten) will open the NCAA Tournament at home for the eighth straight season on Thursday night when it hosts the Jackson State Tigers (26-9, 8-0 SWAC) at the NU Coliseum. The match is set to start at 7 p.m., or 30 minutes after the first match of the day ends between Kansas State and Wichita State.

Nebraska, who recently won its first Big Ten title, will be making its 30th appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Jackson State will be making its first appearance in the national tournament after winning its first Southwestern Conference title in program history. The Tigers went undefeated in conference play and are coming off a 3-1 win over Alabama A&M in the SWAC Championship match.

Thursday night’s match will be the first-ever meeting between Nebraska and Jackson State. It will be the second time the Huskers have ever played a team from the Southwestern Conference as Nebraska played Alabama A&M in 2005.

Fans who are unable to make it to Lincoln on Thursday night to watch the Huskers open the 2011 NCAA Tournament will be able to watch the match live on NET-1/HD. NET Television and the Nebraska Athletic Department announced Wednesday that the Huskers' Thursday night match will air statewide on NET-1 and NET-HD. If the Huskers advance to Friday night's 7 p.m. second-round match against Wichita State or Kansas State, that match will also be broadcast live on NET-1 and NET-HD.

Larry Punteney and Kathi Weiskamp will call the action from the NU Coliseum, as Nebraska will open NCAA Tournament play against the Jackson State Tigers at 7 p.m.

Lincoln – Five Nebraska volleyball players were honored Tuesday, as the 2011 All-Big Ten team was announced. Nebraska and Penn State had a league-best three first-team honorees apiece, as Lauren Cook, Gina Mancuso and Hannah Werth claimed first-team selections, while Morgan Broekhuis and Brooke Delano received honorable-mention accolades. In addition, Brigette Root was selected as a Sportsmanship Award honoree.

It was Werth and Delano’s second straight All-Conference honor, while the other three Huskers were recognized for the first time in their careers.

Mancuso earned a unanimous All-Big Ten award by averaging 3.54 kills and 2.67 digs per set, while ranking ninth in the Big Ten in kills. Mancuso has notched at least 10 kills in 23 matches this season, while posting a career-high of 24 kills against Colorado State. She hit .300 or better in eight of her 20 Big Ten contests. She was also named the Big Ten Player-of-the-Week two times in 2011.

Lauren Cook put together a strong season in her first full year as a starter. She averaged 10.94 assists, .48 kills and 2.76 digs per set. She ranked fourth in the league in assists while notching a team-best 16 double-doubles (assists-digs). Cook helped Nebraska hit .300 or better in nine matches, including a season-high .413 against Albany on Sept. 3. She totaled 50 or more assists in six matches, including a season-high 54 in a 3-1 win over then-No. 1 Illinois on Oct. 22.

Werth has had an outstanding junior season, with 2.83 kills per set and 3.07 digs per set. She ranks second on the team in total digs with 319 on the season. She tabbed at least 10 kills in 17 matches, while notching at least 10 digs in 17 matches. Werth has produced 10 double-doubles as a junior and was a two-time Big Ten Player-of-the-Week as well as the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week on Nov. 22.

Broekhuis was the only sophomore selected for honorable mention, as she averaged 3.06 kills and 1.64 digs per set in her second year as a starter. She owns six double-doubles on the year and has a hitting percentage of .246. She has recorded a total of 93 blocks in 2011, while hitting at least .300 in seven matches this season, including a season-best .545 at Michigan State. She tabbed a career-high 22 kills at Michigan on Oct. 1.

Delano capped her senior season with the third-straight All-Conference honors of her career, being named an honorable mention selection. With an average of 1.73 kills per set and a hitting percentage of .306, Delano has continued her impressive string of success in her final season. She has ranked in the top 10 for hitting percentage in the conference throughout the entire season, most recently checking in at eighth. She also ranks fifth in hitting percentage in league play with a mark of .306.

The Big Ten also recognized 12 Sportsmanship Award honorees as student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These student-athletes must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. Root received the honor for her contributions this season. She made her first career start against Michigan State on Nov. 5 and notched the first double-double of her career, with 25 assists and 11 digs.

The Huskers open the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, Dec. 1, when they face Jackson State at the NU Coliseum. The match is set to start at 7 p.m., or 30 minutes after the 4:30 p.m. match between Wichita State and Kansas State. The first-round winners will then meet on Friday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m.

The Mid-States conference selected its all-conference volleyball team. The selections are:

Battle Creek: Shelby Daum; Norfolk Catholic: Katrina Olmer, Abbey Clayton, Michaela Barry; West Point Guardian Angels Central Catholic: Hailey Steuter, Abby Ortmeier; O'Neill: Alexandria Hedlund; Pierce: Emily Steffensen, Rachel Wiedenfeld; Hartington Cedar Catholic: Emily Schrempp, Katelyn Dickes, Lexi Steffen; Wayne: Katie Hoskins.

Molly Shane and Kelsey Appleby of the O'Neill Eagles also were chosen for Honorable Mention.

Lincoln - The Nebraska volleyball team will spend the opening weekend of the postseason at home for the eighth straight season as the NU Coliseum was chosen as one of 16 sites for NCAA first and second-round play next weekend. The Huskers will be making their 30th NCAA Tournament appearance and they will go in as the No. 2 overall seed among the 64 teams.

Play will start on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 4:30 p.m. when the Kansas State Wildcats (20-10) of the Big 12 Conference take on the Wichita State Shockers (20-10) of the Missouri Valley Conference. Nebraska (24-4) will then take the court during Thursday's second match and will face the Jackson State Tigers (26-9), who recently won Southwestern Athletic Conference title. The Huskers' match will start at 7 p.m. or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first match. The second round will take place on Friday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m., as Thursday’s winners will compete for the right to move on to the Honolulu Regional the following weekend. The winner out of Lincoln will take on Pepperdine, Missouri State, North Carolina or California, who will be playing in Malibu, Calif.

Tickets for the first and second rounds in Lincoln will go on sale Monday morning at 8 a.m. on Huskers.com, by calling the NU Ticket Office at 800-8-BIGRED or in person at the NU Athletic Ticket Office. All-session ticket prices are set at $34 (reserved) and $30 (general admission) and include the two first-round games, as well as the second-round matchup between the first-round winners.

Nebraska has never faced Jackson State. The Huskers and Kansas State competed 85 times as members of the Big 12 Conference, with Nebraska leading the series 82-3. Nebraska leads the all-time series with Wichita State 11-0.

The 2011 season marks the 27th time that Lincoln has played host to first and second-round competition. Last season, Nebraska hosted the first and second rounds at the NU Coliseum, where they swept Sacred Heart and Auburn to move onto the NCAA Regional in Seattle. The Huskers then lost a four-set decision to Washington.

Nebraska recently won its first Big Ten title in its first year in the league and is 82-26 (.759) in 29 previous NCAA Tournament appearances, ranking second among NCAA schools in both wins and winning percentage. The Huskers were one of eight Big Ten schools to qualify for the tournament, as No. 3 Illinois, No. 5 Purdue, No. 8 Penn State and No. 13 Minnesota will also play at home in the first two rounds while Michigan State, Ohio State and Michigan will be on the road.

Evanston, Ill.- The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team (24-4, 17-3) could not overcome the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday night, dropping the match 3-1 (20-25, 25-9, 21-25, 23-25). Four Huskers totaled double-doubles on the night as Lauren Cook notched 38 assists and 15 digs, Gina Mancuso had 13 kills and 17 digs, Morgan Broekhuis recorded 12 kills and 10 digs and Hannah Werth had 15 kills and 14 digs. Nebraska notched a total of 76 digs on the night, compared to Northwestern’s 78. The Huskers out-blocked the Wildcats 11-8, while posting a hitting percentage of .186. The Wildcats hit .099.

Northwestern came out ready to play in the first set, taking an early 7-4 lead. A kill and block by Werth tied the set at 7-7, but the set was tied four more times before Northwestern went up 15-14 and forced Nebraska to use a timeout. Wilberger tied the set at 15 with a kill, while Werth used another kill to put NU ahead 19-18 and force Northwestern to use a timeout. The Wildcat’s used a six-point run to go up 24-19 on Nebraska and closed out the Huskers with a 25-20 first set win.

The Huskers went up 3-0 in the second set, and used a kill by Wilberger to take a 6-1 lead. Four consecutive points put Nebraska ahead 11-3, as NU then took a 13-4 lead and forced the Wildcats to use another timeout. An error by Northwestern gave the Huskers a 10 point lead at 15-5, while a kill from Broekhuis gave NU a 19-8 advantage. The Huskers used four-straight points to take the second set 25-9 and tie the match at 1-1.

Broekhuis tied the third set early at 4-4 on a kill, while Werth gave Nebraska a 7-6 lead. An error by Northwestern put NU up 13-9 and forced the Wildcats to use a timeout. Northwestern tied the set at 15 and carried that momentum to go up 18-16. A service ace by the Wildcats put them ahead 21-17 and while a block from Nebraska made it 21-19, Northwestern, it would not be enough. The Wildcats went on to take the third set 25-21, leading the match 2-1.

The Wildcats came out fighting in the fourth set, tying it at 5-5 on a service ace. Werth then tied the set at 7-7 on a kill, but the Wildcats did not back down and took a 10-8 lead as they forced Nebraska to use a timeout. A kill from Broekhuis tied the set at 12-12, as the Huskers and Wildcats would tie seven more times before Northwestern took a 21-19 lead. Back-to-back errors by Northwestern put NU within one at 22-21. Nebraska tied it up at 23-23, but Northwestern would not let go and took the fourth set 25-23 and the match 3-1.

Iowa City, Iowa- The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team (24-3, 17-2) clinched the first Big Ten Conference title in school history Tuesday night with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-19) sweep of the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Nebraska has now captured 32 conference titles overall. Before the Huskers made history on Tuesday night, Penn State had previously won the conference crown for eight-straight seasons. Minnesota claimed the title in 2002.

“This is not an easy conference to win,” John Cook said. “We did it while dealing with a lot of things, but through the leadership of our captains, we found a way to come together and hang tough. We had to outlast all these other teams, a new coaching staff and had some big-time players to replace.”

Gina Mancuso led the Huskers on the night with 14 kills, while Hannah Werth had 12 kills and nine digs. Lauren Cook notched her 15th double-double of the season with 32 assists and 10 digs. Jordan Wilberger had four block assists as Morgan Broekhuis had three. The Huskers hit .386 for the match, while the Hawkeyes hit .114. Nebraska out-blocked Iowa 7-0 and out-dug them 45-34.

Nebraska came out in the first set, taking a 5-3 lead on a hitting error by the Hawkeyes. A kill from Jordan Wilberger put NU up 10-6, while the Huskers gained an 18-12 advantage after a block by Delano and Mancuso. Nebraska went up 19-12 after the Hawkeyes committed another hitting error, forcing Iowa to use their second timeout. A block by Wilberger and Broekhuis put NU ahead 23-14, and Nebraska went on to take the first set 25-14.

Wilberger came out on fire in the second set, helping Nebraska to an early 4-0 lead. A service ace by Dykstra put NU ahead 8-4, while a block from Delano gave Nebraska a 12-6 advantage. Wilberger and Broekhuis combined for back-to-back kills as the Huskers took a 17-9 lead and forced Iowa to use a timeout. An ace from Dykstra put Nebraska up 19-10 and another ace by Paige Hubl gave NU a 22-11 lead. A block error by the Hawkeyes gave Nebraska the second set 25-14 as the Huskers headed into break up 2-0.

Broekhuis put NU ahead 4-2 in the third set, while a kill by Werth made it 6-3, Huskers. Wilberger notched a kill of her own as the Huskers took an 8-4 lead. NU used back-to-back three-point streaks to go up 15-8 on the Hawkeyes before Iowa scored three-straight points to make it 15-11, Huskers. Nebraska used an error by the Hawkeyes to take an 18-11 lead, as a kill by Werth put NU up 21-13. Iowa would not go down as the Hawkeyes came within four at 23-18, but the Huskers went on to take the final set 25-19, securing the sweep over Iowa and their first Big Ten Championship.

The Huskers conclude the regular season at Northwestern on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m.

O’Neill High School will host Elkhorn Valley in jamboree basketball games on Monday, November 28. Varsity girls game will begin at 6:15 with varsity boys to follow. This game will not count toward the season's record and is being played as a fund raiser for the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame. Admission is set at $3 for adults and $1 for students and no passes will be accepted. Please plan to attend.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Ross Schindler passed for two touchdowns, ran for another and combined with Nash Schindler for 270 yards rushing in No. 1 Elgin Public/Pope John's 44-14 victory over No. 4 West Point Guardian Angel Central Catholic in the Class D1 final Monday.

Nash Schindler scored on a 33-yard run and 32-yard pass and Blake Anderson had a 5-yard touchdown run as the Wolfpack (13-0) got out to a 22-0 halftime lead against the defending champion Bluejays (12-1).

Nash Schindler finished with 162 yards rushing and Ross Schindler with 108 as the Wolfpack outyarded the Bluejays 409-218. Ross Schindler completed 6 of 8 passes for 97 yards.

The Bluejays' Nathaniel Hass ran for 54 yards and a TD and Eric Wietfeld was 10 of 21 passing for 139 yards and a TD.

Lincoln, Neb. – The No. 4 Nebraska volleyball team (23-3, 16-2) sent the 2011 seniors out in dominant fashion with a 3-1 (12-25, 25-17, 25-13, 25-22) victory over the Wisconsin Badgers Saturday night at the NU Coliseum. In front of 4,188 fans, NU honored seniors Brooke Delano, Brigette Root and Jordan Wilberger in their final home match of the regular season. With the victory, the 2011 seniors earned the 109th win of their careers and captured their third conference title as the Huskers earned at least a share of this season’s crown with the win. Nebraska can win the title outright on Tuesday with a win over Iowa.

Hannah Werth led Nebraska on the night with her ninth double-double of the season, as she totaled 14 kills and 13 digs. Jordan Wilberger produced a stellar senior night performance, with a career-high 12 kills, while also tying her career-high hitting percentage of .750. Morgan Broekhuis recorded 10 kills on the night, along with eight digs. Lauren Cook tabbed 38 assists and six digs for NU. Lara Dykstra led Nebraska defensively with 14 digs. She now has a total of 355 digs on the year and ranks second in the all-time freshman digs record at Nebraska. The Huskers hit .193 for the match, while Wisconsin hit just .116. Nebraska was out-dug 60-54, but out-blocked the Badgers 10-7.

Wisconsin came out on fire in the first set, taking an early 9-6 lead on a service ace and forcing Nebraska to use a timeout. Four-straight points for the Badgers put Nebraska down 18-10. The Huskers could not find an answer as Wisconsin strung together a five-point streak to take the set 25-12.

Nebraska went up 5-3 early in the second set on an ace by Dykstra as Broekhuis then made it 6-4, Huskers with a kill. Wisconsin came back to take a 10-9 lead, but NU tied it up at 10 with a kill by Wilberger. The set was tied three more times until Nebraska notched a 16-15 advantage on a huge kill by Werth. The Huskers posted seven-straight points to take the second set 25-17 on a kill by Gina Mancuso.

Nebraska went up 5-2 on a kill by Wilberger in the early stages of the third set. The Huskers then stretched their lead to 10-4 with the help of a kill by Werth. NU would eventually use a four-point streak to take the lead at 18-10 with an error by the Badgers. The Husker dominance continued, as another kill by Werth put Nebraska ahead 22-13. Three-straight attack errors by Wisconsin helped Nebraska to a 25-13 third-set win.

NU came out and used a kill by Delano to go up 4-2 in the fourth set. Wisconsin inched back with a little more fight to knot the score at 10-all. The Huskers and Badgers would tie it again at 11, but with the help of a UW error, NU took a 17-13 lead. The Huskers made it 20-15 and later 21-18 before Wisconsin came back to tie it again at 21-21. At that point Nebraska took the momentum and went up 24-21 on another error by the Badgers. NU clinched the fourth set at 25-22, taking the match 3-1.

Nebraska returns to action on Tuesday to face the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City, Iowa at 6 p.m. The match can be seen live on BTN.com with a subscription.

O'Neill's John Hurley could not quite slip into the top 20 and advance past the second qualifying round in PGA Q-School on Friday. Coming into the last day, Hurley was sitting 3 strokes and 9 positions out of 20th, and could not make up for ground lost earlier in the tournament. Golfing at the Redstone Golf Club in Humble, Texas, Hurley shot rounds of 72, 70, 73, 73 for a total of 288, even par for the tournament. Hurley has been golfing in Q-School over the last few months, trying to earn a PGA Tour card. He advanced through the pre-qualifying stage at Arbor Links in Nebraska City, and through the first qualifying stage at Deerwood Golf Club in Kingwood, Texas before reaching the second qualifying round. Seventy-six contenders were golfing in the second stage, but only the top 20 scores would advance to the final qualifying stage. Hurley finished in the middle of the pack, tied for 36th. Almost fittingly, former Husker golfer Brandon Crick of McCook, who has been in many of the same tournaments as Hurley during their professional careers, also did not make the cut, shooting a 302 over four days of golf.

The KBRX Sports department congratulates John on his run through the PGA Q-School, and wishes him the best of luck as he continues his young professional career.

The No. 4 Nebraska volleyball team will host the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday, Nov. 19 at the NU Coliseum at 7 p.m. The match will air live on NET and BTN.com.

The Huskers (22-3, 15-2) topped No. 19 Minnesota 3-1 (17-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-16) on Wednesday night.

Wisconsin and Nebraska have met 14 times, with NU holding a 12-1-1 record over the Badgers. The last time the two teams met was on Oct. 14 when Nebraska swept Wisconsin 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-21).

Fans will be able to see the match live on NET with Larry Punteney calling the action and Kathi Wieskamp adding analysis. It can also be viewed on BTN.com.

In addition, the Nebraska volleyball program will join the annual U.S. Marines Toys for Tots Drive on Saturday.

Husker fans are encouraged to bring new, unwrapped toys to the game, and cash donations for the cause will also be accepted. The Marines will be stationed near entrances throughout the NU Coliseum to accept donations that will brighten the holiday season for needy children.

Lincoln, Neb.-The No. 4 Nebraska volleyball team used a balanced and gritty effort Wednesday night to overcome the No. 19 Minnesota Gophers 3-1 (17-25, 25-18, 25-15, 25-16) in front of 4,166 fans at the NU Coliseum. The Huskers saw three players tally double-digit kills on the night.

Gina Mancuso, Morgan Broekhuis and Hannah Werth all notched 14 kills against the Gophers, guiding NU to 60 total kills as a team. Mancuso and Werth had 16 and 17 digs, respectively, giving Mancuso her 11th double-double of the season and Werth her eighth. Lauren Cook had 47 assists and 12 digs on the night for her 14th double-double of the year.

Brooke Delano tallied nine kills on 23 attacks for a hitting percentage of .348, while adding eight blocks. Jordan Wilberger came off the bench for six kills on 12 attacks and also had five blocks on the night. Lara Dykstra helped NU defensively with 14 digs. The Huskers notched a .275 hitting percentage for the match, while Minnesota hit .168. Nebraska out-blocked the Gophers 13-6 and out-dug Minnesota 71-62.

The Gophers came out hot in the first set, going up 7-5 on a kill by Hailey Cowles. Nebraska tied it up at 10 and 11, but Minnesota then took a 17-13 lead on a kill by Katherine Harms. The Huskers could not find an answer and ended up dropping the first set, 25-17.

Nebraska came out with new life in the second set, taking an early 7-4 lead on a kill by Broekhuis. Another kill by Mancuso put NU ahead 19-13, as five-straight Nebraska points then gave NU a 22-13 edge. The Huskers went on to take the second set 25-18 on a match-point kill by Broekhuis.

A dominant effort in the third set put Nebraska up 10-2, with the Gophers committed a hitting error. A kill by Wilberger allowed Nebraska a 16-7 lead and forced Minnesota to use a timeout. The Huskers stretched their lead to 10 at 20-10, and did not look back. Nebraska went on to take the third set 25-15.

The momentum was completely with the Huskers in the fourth set as they went up 6-3 on a kill by Delano. Minnesota came back to tie the set at eight and again at 11, but Nebraska used a four-point streak to go up 15-11. The Huskers pieced together four-straight points again for a 20-13 advantage late in the fourth set. A kill by Mancuso clinched the 25-16 fourth-set victory for Nebraska and helped them take the match 3-1.

Nebraska returns to action Saturday, Nov. 19 to take on the Wisconsin Badgers at 7 p.m. The Huskers will honor their three seniors- Brooke Delano, Brigette Root and Jordan Wilberger- in their final home match of the regular season. The match can be seen live on NET and BTN.com.

The O'Neill Booster Club would like to invite all athletes participating in winter sports, their families, booster members and the coaches to the 16th Annual Winter Sports Kick-off Soup and Sandwich Supper on Monday, November 21. Families and athletes are invited to sit in on practice around 5:15p.m. At 5:45 the Booster club will provide a potatoe soup and chili supper in the commons area. Coaches may visit about the athletes and their upcoming seasons. Any booster members who would be available to help set up and/or serve please contact Carol Hedlund (340-1261) or Quana Laursen (340-4984). Please join us for the evening!

(back row, l to r): Asst. Coach Sheryl Alder, Shyenne Dickau, Kayle Bouska, Courtni Kunz, Brittany Hanzlik Tanisha Fahrenholz, Trina Swanson, Head Coach Stacy Dexter. (front row, l to r): Caitlin Kunz, Shelby Paxton, Emily Kaup, Ashli Kunz, Monica Vogel, Kylie Stoltenberg, Samantha Sattler

The Stuart volleyball team brought home a 4th place trophy from their adventures at State Volleyball in Grand Island. The Lady Broncos were the 3rd seed, and defeated the Leyton Warriors in 4 sets (26-24, 24-26, 25-20, 25-21) in first round action. This was the first ever win at the State Tournament for Stuart. Second round play saw Stuart fall in 3 sets (25-21, 25-10, 25-17) to a hard hitting Bertrand team who came in with a 29-2 record. While not making it to the Heartland Events Center, Stuart still had a game to play. In the 3rd place game, the Brady Eagles held on for a closely contested 3 set win (28-26, 25-21, 25-20). Stuart finished the season with a fantastic 29-5 record. To see all results in the State Tournament, click here.

“I am saddened to learn of the recent events at Penn State and we will continue to monitor the developments on their campus. We will hold the alleged victims and all those involved in our thoughts and prayers.

“We have had a number of inquiries from fans regarding the circumstances at Penn State and the conditions they might expect in attending the game. UNL Chief of Police Owen Yardley is in touch with the Penn State police department and we have talked with interim Penn State Athletic Director Mark Sherburne. We have visited with Penn State security and we understand they are enhancing their security efforts for Saturday’s game and are taking extra precautions to ensure that all players, coaches and fans are treated in a respectful way. We also appreciate that there is a student-led effort at Penn State to respectfully welcome Nebraska fans to Beaver Stadium and into the Big Ten Conference. We know that our fans will reciprocate and display good sportsmanship toward Penn State’s fans and players.”

UNL Police point out that Penn State has a fan hotline for non-police issues or concerns: 1-800-648-8269 (1-800-Nittany). The hotline (open 8 a.m.-5 p.m.) is where fans can get directions, get help with car trouble, report behavior issues or get advice.

Hurley In Good Position After 1st Round In All-American Professional Tour Tournament

O'Neill golfer John Hurley is playing in an All-American Professional Tour Tournament this week at Red Mountain Ranch Country Club in Arizona.

The fist round of the three day tournament was held Wednesday. Hurley shot one-over-par 72 and is in a tie for 8th place and just four strokes off the low round which was 68 shot by Scott Harrington.

Lincoln, Neb. - Fans of the Nebraska volleyball team will have another chance to catch the Huskers on NET Television as NU’s match against Wisconsin on Saturday, Nov. 19 will be televised statewide on NET-1 and NET-HD at 7 p.m.

The NET Sports broadcast team of Larry Punteney and Kathi Wieskamp will bring fans all of the action from the NU Coliseum, as the Huskers take on the Badgers in their final home match of the regular season.

The match will also be streamed live on BTN.com and will be shown on BTN on a tape-delayed basis. In addition, audio for every match of the 2011 season will be carried on the Husker Sports Radio Network and on the Internet at Huskers.com.

Lincoln, Neb. – The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team (20-2, 13-1) outmatched Michigan State on Saturday night, sweeping the Spartans 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-23) in front of 4,136 fans at the NU Coliseum.

The Huskers used a fantastic defensive effort to take down one of the top-hitting percentage teams in the conference. Nebraska held MSU to a .026 hitting percentage, while hitting .263 on their own. NU out-dug Michigan State 49-36 and out-blocked the Spartans 11-5, while forcing them to commit 27 errors on the night.

Mancuso led Nebraska in the match with 13 kills on 26 attacks for a .385 hitting percentage. Hannah Werth tallied 11 kills and 10 digs for her seventh double-double on the season. Morgan Broekhuis had eight kills for the Huskers and also notched five blocks. Hayley Thramer also had five blocks of her own, while Brooke Delano tallied four. Brigette Root guided Nebraska on the night with 34 assists in her second career start.

Nebraska took a 6-2 lead early in the first set with a kill by Delano. The Huskers went ahead 14-6 and forced Michigan State to call a timeout. NU stretched its lead to 19-9 with a huge kill from Mancuso, while a double-stuff block by Werth and Delano put Nebraska up 21-10. A monstrous kill by Werth catapulted the Huskers to a 23-11 lead and two kills by Delano led Nebraska to a 25-11 first set win.

Mancuso led NU in the first set with five kills on seven attacks. Werth had four kills, while Delano tallied three. Root notched 11 assists in the first set, while guiding NU to a .429 hitting percentage. Michigan State hit -.107 for the set and tallied zero team blocks compared to Nebraska’s five.

A kill by Broekhuis put NU up 4-2 in the second set. Errors plagued MSU early as the Huskers capitalized and went ahead 10-4. Michigan State scored three-straight points to pull within seven (13-6), but could not gain the momentum with a net serve on the next possession. The Spartans used another five-point run to make it 17-13, Nebraska. NU then took a 22-17 lead and didn’t look back, taking the second set 25-18 to lead the match 2-0.

Both Mancuso and Werth had three kills in the second set, with Root tallying nine assists, and Lara Dykstra tabbed four digs. NU out-blocked Michigan State 3-1 and had a hitting percentage of .214, compared to the Spartans’ .000.

Mancuso started the third set with a giant kill that guided NU to an early 6-4 lead. Michigan State used a long rally to cut the Huskers’ lead to 10-9 and forced Nebraska to call a timeout. The Spartans tied it up at 11 and then posted five-straight points to take a 16-11 lead over NU before a service error stopped their run. The Huskers returned with a five point run of their own, to tie the set at 16-all. Nebraska went down 20-18, but used a kill by Broekhuis to come within 20-19. A double-stuff block by Broekhuis and Thramer tied the set at 21. The Huskers and Spartans were then all knotted up at 22, but NU used a hard-fought effort to take the third set 25-23 on a kill by Broekhuis, completing the sweep of the Spartans.

The Huskers hit the road next weekend to take on the Indiana Hoosiers on Friday, Nov. 11 at 6 p.m. and the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. The Huskers’ match with Indiana can be seen on BTN.com with a subscription, while Nebraska’s match with Purdue will be shown on Purduesports.com with a subscription.

Lincoln, Neb. – The No. 2 Nebraska Volleyball team (19-2, 12-1) fought back from one set down to overcome the No. 23 Michigan Wolverines 3-1 (17-25, 26-24, 25-20, 25-21) Friday night. The Huskers were led by a rock solid performance from Brigette Root in her first career start at setter. Root notched the first double-double of her career in front of a roaring 4,156 at the NU Coliseum with 25 assists and 11 digs. She paced Nebraska on the night in a gutsy comeback win.

Gina Mancuso guided the team with an impressive 16 kills for a hitting percentage of .341. Morgan Broekhuis had nine kills for NU, while Brooke Delano notched eight and Hannah Werth tabbed six, rounding out an impressive even attack for the Huskers. Werth led NU defensively with 17 digs. Hayley Thramer was in on 7 blocks, including 3 solo stuffs.

Despite Michigan tallying 18 more kills and 24 more digs on the night, the Huskers outmatched the Wolverines and out-hit them .189-.142. Nebraska committed only 16 errors, while U-M committed 38.

The Huskers trailed 8-4 early in the first set until a kill by Delano made it 12-8, Michigan. Back-to-back kills by Mancuso and Hayley Thramer put NU within four, before the Wolverines pulled away to make it 20-16. Brooke Delano’s kill helped Nebraska close it to 20-17, but Michigan did not let up and won the first set 25-17.

Mancuso led Nebraska in the first set with five kills, while Delano had three of her own. Root notched eight assists for NU, while Werth had four digs and Thramer had two solo blocks. Nebraska hit .119 for the set, while Michigan hit .316.

The Huskers came out with new life in the second set, tying with the Wolverines nine different times. Nebraska went ahead 10-8 on a kill by Delano and tied the match at 15 by capitalizing on an error from Michigan. Another kill by Delano put the Huskers ahead 20-17, but the Wolverines would not give up, eventually tying the match at 23. The Huskers hit a second gear and closed out Michigan with a 26-24 second-set win on an attack error by U-M.

Mancuso and Delano both had three kills for NU in the second set, with Broekhuis and Werth each tabbing two of their own. Root had another eight assists, while the Huskers outhit Michigan .159-.103. Nebraska out-blocked the Wolverines 5-3 on the set and saw Lara Dykstra notch six digs to lead the team defensively.

The Huskers came out of intermission on fire and bolted out to a 4-0 lead. A stellar dig by Paige Hubl led NU to a 7-2 advantage, and a tip by Root gave Nebraska a 9-2 lead. Mancuso ended a three-point run by Michigan to put Nebraska ahead 12-6. The Wolverines cut it as close as 13-11, but the Huskers pulled away to make it 16-12. NU went up 22-18 late in the third set and went on to win 25-20, leading the match 2-1.

Mancuso led Nebraska in the third set with five kills, as Broekhuis had three of her own. Root tabbed 11 assists, while the Huskers hit .312. Werth had a team-high three digs defensively as the Huskers out-blocked the Wolverines 5-1. Michigan hit only .147 with eight errors in the third set.

Nebraska and Michigan were tied early in the fourth set at four apiece. A solo block by Werth put Nebraska up 6-4 and a long rally and huge block by Thramer made it 11-7, Huskers. Michigan came back to tie the set at 12, but Nebraska went up 16-13. The Wolverines once again tied the set at 17, but the Huskers showed the same fight that kept emerging all night and went ahead 23-19 on an error by Michigan. Nebraska closed out the fourth set with a 25-21 win and took the match 3-1.

Mancuso led Nebraska in the fourth set with three kills, while Root, Broekhuis and Werth all had two kills of their own. Root also tallied eight assists, while Werth had six digs. The Huskers hit .195 for the set, while the Wolverines hit .057.

The Huskers return to action tomorrow night as they host the Michigan State Spartans at 7:30 p.m. at the NU Coliseum. The match can be seen live on BTN.com with a subscription.

University Park, Pa. – The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team (18-2, 11-1) fell 3-1 (17-25, 15-25, 25-17, 17-25) to the No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions at Rec Hall on Saturday night. The Huskers’ loss marks their first conference loss of the season.

Gina Mancuso led Nebraska with 14 kills, while Morgan Broekhuis had 11 kills. Hannah Werth guided NU defensively with 16 digs as Lara Dykstra had 13 of her own. Lauren Cook had 32 assists on the night, but the Huskers only hit .116. Penn State hit .194 and out-dug Nebraska 64-56. PSU boasted 14 team blocks as NU had eight.

The Nittany Lions came out on fire in the first set, posting eight-straight points to go up 8-2. A service ace by Lara Dykstra made it 10-6 in advantage of Penn State, but PSU then went up 13-6. The Huskers came within 17-12, and a double-block by Thramer and Mancuso made it 20-14, Penn State; however that would not be enough to overcome the Nittany Lions in the first set. The Huskers lost the first set 25-17.

The Huskers came out fighting in the second set, tying the set four times before the 10-point mark. The Huskers cut it as close as 15-14, but then PSU went up 18-14 and forced Nebraska to call a timeout. The Huskers still had no answer as PSU posted seven-straight points to make it 22-14. Penn State went on to win the second set 25-15 and lead the match 2-0 heading into intermission.

The Huskers opened the third set with a 5-2 lead as Broekhuis notched two-straight kills. Nebraska then took a 13-5 lead on seven-straight points. NU went up 16-6 on a kill by Mancuso for their largest lead of the night. Another kill by Mancuso distanced the Huskers at 19-10, but Penn State fought back to make it 19-12 and later 22-16. Nebraska eventually took the third set 25-17, down 1-2 in the match.

Nebraska went down 8-4 early in the fourth set and was forced to use a timeout. NU cut it to 12-11, but Penn State then went ahead 15-12. The Huskers could not capitalize and let the Nittany Lions take a 17-13 advantage. PSU went up 20-14, as Nebraska could not make up for lost ground and lost the fourth set 25-17. With the fourth-set loss, Nebraska dropped their first conference match of the season.

The Huskers return home next weekend to welcome Michigan to the NU Coliseum on Friday, Nov. 4 and Michigan State on Saturday, Nov. 5. Both matches are slated for 7 p.m. and can be seen on BTN.com with a subscription.

The Stuart Lady Broncos are your 2011 NVC Champs after a hard fought battle, winning 3-2 over St. Mary's.

The CWC Renegades took 3rd place in the NVC with a 3-1 victory over a good Ewing team.

Columbus, Ohio- The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team (18-1, 11-0) fought off a pesky Ohio State Buckeye squad for a 3-1 (19-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-17) victory Friday night at St. John’s Arena. The Huskers overcame a 0-1 deficit to top the No. 23 Buckeyes.

Morgan Broekhuis led NU on the night with 18 kills on 39 attacks (.359). Gina Mancuso had 14 kills, while Hannah Werth tallied 11. Werth also had a team-high 13 digs for her sixth double-double of the year. Lauren Cook had 47 assists, while leading the Huskers to a .281 hitting percentage. Ohio State hit .262 for the night.

Cook opened the first set with a service ace, but the Buckeyes came back to score five-straight points to make it 4-1 and force the Huskers to call a timeout. An ace by Broekhuis made it 7-5, Ohio State, but the Buckeyes returned with a service ace of their own to lead 9-5. A hitting error by Ohio State tied the match at nine and led NU to an 11-9 advantage. The Buckeyes posted six straight points to come back and take a 17-13 lead while forcing NU to call another timeout. Nebraska came back with the score at 21-19, Buckeyes, but Ohio State notched four straight points to take the first set 25-19.

Ohio State took a 7-4 lead early in the second set, eventually notching a 12-7 advantage, but Nebraska came back to make it 14-11, Ohio State. The Huskers faced a 19-14 deficit; however Nebraska used a long rally to cut that lead to 19-17. That rally led NU to a 20-19 advantage, just their second lead of the set. Nebraska then held on for a 25-22 second-set win.

Mancuso led NU to a 4-1 lead early in the third set on her first service ace of the match. The Buckeyes tied the set at nine, but NU answered to take a 15-11 lead and force Ohio State to call a timeout. The Huskers stretched their lead to 20-16 and eventually 22-18. NU went on to win the third set 25-19.

The Huskers and Buckeyes fought point-for-point in the fourth set, as Broekhuis helped distance the Huskers with a kill to give them a 13-11 lead. An ace serve by Paige Hubl helped NU take a 17-14 lead and forced Ohio State to call a timeout. The Huskers then went up 20-14 on a solo block by Mancuso. NU only allowed the Buckeyes three more points as the Huskers went on to take the fourth set 25-17 and the match 3-1.

The No. 1 Huskers take on the No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions Saturday night at Rec Hall at 7 p.m. CT. The match will air live on BTN.

Lincoln – The Nebraska volleyball team moved up to No. 1 in the latest AVCA Coaches poll released Monday afternoon. The Huskers, who improved to 17-1 on the year following a 4-1 win over previously top-ranked Illinois on Saturday night, had a total of 1,448 points and received 38 of the 60 first-place votes.

The ranking represents the 82nd week that Nebraska has been ranked No. 1 in the poll. Since 2001, the Huskers have been ranked No. 1 for 49 weeks, including holding the top spot nationally for the entire 2006 season and for 15 weeks during the 2005 season. The last time Nebraska was ranked No. 1 was in October of 2007.

California is ranked second this week with a total of 1,384 points and collected eight first-place votes. Illinois dropped to third and collected two first-place votes. USC, which tallied 12 first-place votes, and Stanford round out the top five. Five other Big Ten teams are in the poll this week, including Penn State (No. 8), Purdue (No. 11), Minnesota (No. 15), Michigan (No. 22) and Ohio State (No. 23).

The Huskers will face two of these ranked teams this weekend, as they travel to face the No. 23 Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m., before heading to University Park, Pa., for a showdown with the No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. The Huskers’ match with Penn State will air live on BTN.

Lincoln, Neb.- The No. 4 Nebraska volleyball) team (17-1, 10-0) made history Saturday night, overcoming the No. 1 Illinois Fighting Illini in a 3-1 (24-26, 25-18, 25-19, 25-11) victory. With the win, the Huskers advance as the only undefeated team in Big Ten Conference play.

The last time a Husker team beat the No. 1 team in the country was on Sept. 6, 1990 when the No. 3 Huskers took down No. 1 UCLA in a 3-2 win.

Morgan Broekhuis led Nebraska on the night with 17 kills and a career-high-tying 11 digs for the fourth double-double of her career. She paced three other Huskers for double-digit kills as Gina Mancuso tallied 15, Brooke Delano had 11 and Hannah Werth tabbed 14. Mancuso also notched 14 digs for her ninth double-double in addition to Werth who had a team-high 17 digs for her third double-double of the year.

Hayley Thramer was on fire at the net for the Huskers, racking up a career-high 10 blocks. Lauren Cook had 54 assists in leading the NU to a .361 team hitting percentage for the match. The Huskers out-blocked the Fighting Illini 11-5 for the match and out-dug Illinois by 20 (70-50). NU held Illinois to a .196 hitting percentage for the match. The Fighting Illini also committed 23 errors, compared to NU’s 14.

In the first set NU came out to an early 6-3 lead on a kill by Broekhuis. The Fighting Illini would eventually tie that match at 14 and again at 15 apiece, but Nebraska went up 17-15 on an error by Illinois. NU saw Illinois come back to lead 21-19. Nebraska fought back to eventually tie the set at 24 on another error by Illinois, but the Huskers could not capitalize and lost the set 26-24.

Delano, Werth and Broekhuis had four kills in the first set for NU, and Mancuso and Thramer each had three. The Huskers hit .412 compared to Illinois’ .429 for the set. Nebraska out-dug Illinois 12-10 and had three team blocks.

Nebraska went ahead 7-2 in the second set with an attack error by Illinois. The Huskers then posted five straight-points to go up 16-9. A kill by Werth made it 20-15, Nebraska and helped catapult NU to 23-17 lead. Nebraska did not look back and took the second set 25-18, tying the match at one set apiece.

Nebraska saw Broekhuis tally five kills in the second set, while Mancuso and Werth each had two. Lauren Cook tabbed seven assists and the Huskers notched five team blocks. While Nebraska had a hitting percentage of .098, Illinois had a hitting percentage of only .077.

NU jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the third set with a kill by Mancuso. Illinois came back to go up 7-6 on an error by the Huskers, but Nebraska tied it four different times before taking a 15-13 lead with an ace by Mancuso. Nebraska gained a definitive 20-14 advantage over Illinois and went on to take the third set 25-19, leading the match 2-1.

In the third set Mancuso had five kills as Delano, Broekhuis and Werth all had four. The Huskers hit a solid .400 for the set, while Illinois hit .179.

The Huskers’ momentum carried them into the fourth set and did not let up as NU came out to a 5-1 lead. Nebraska went up 13-6 on a kill by Delano and forced Illinois to call a timeout. Seven-straight points led NU to a 22-9 advantage. Nebraska would only allow the Fighting Illini two more points as the Huskers sealed the 25-11 fourth-set win with a monstrous kill by Werth, giving Nebraska the 3-1 match victory.

In the fourth set Mancuso had five kills as Broekhuis and Werth each and four. Cook tallied 15 assists as Broekhuis and Lara Dykstra both had three digs. NU only committed one error and saw Illinois commit six. Nebraska hit an outstanding .696 for the set, as Illinois hit just .148.

Next weekend the Huskers travel to Columbus, Ohio to face the Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday, Oct. 28 and then head to University Park, Pa., for another showdown with the Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday, Oct. 29.

O'Neill's John Hurley advanced one step closer to his dream of playing in the PGA Tour with an 8th place finish in the first stage of Q-School. Hurley put in a four day total of 287 to tie for the 8th place and make the cut to the next stage. The top 22 golfers from that location, Deerwood Golf Club in Kingwood, Texas, now advance on to the Second Qualifying Stage. Hurley opened up the stage on Tuesday, shooting a one over 73. After 2 rounds of improved golf, Hurley stood at 3rd place, shooting a 70 and 67. On Friday, John battled some windy conditions, shooting a tough 77, but his earlier rounds were more than enough to keep him in contention for the cut.

Another golfer from Nebraska trying to make the PGA Tour is Brandon Crick of McCook, who has kept right up with Hurley since high school. Crick is a former Husker, and is on his way to the second round of Q-School. Golfing at the same location as Hurley (this has been a trend), Crick shot 75, 73, 69, 69 for a four day total of 286, good enough to tie for 6th place. As the scores indicate, Crick has been showing much improvement as he gets more rounds of golf in.

Golfers are able to choose from a set of available courses on where they would like to go for the next round. Both Hurley and Crick placed high enough they will most likely get to golf at the course of their choosing, but it is not known where they will end up at the present time. There are two more stages of qualifying left, the 2nd stage and the Final Stage. The 2nd Stage will be played at six locations in mid-November, and the Final Stage is scheduled for the beginning of December.

The No. 4 Nebraska volleyball team will host the No. 1 Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday, Oct. 22 at the NU Coliseum at 7 p.m. The match will air via tape delay on BTN on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The Huskers (16-1, 9-0) swept Iowa 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-11) on Wednesday night. Illinois swept Northwestern 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-19) on Wednesday.

The last time the Huskers played a No. 1 team in the Coliseum was when No. 1 Stanford played in the State Farm Volleyball Classic in Lincoln in 1995. Stanford beat the Huskers 3-1.

Illinois and Nebraska have met 21 times, with NU holding a 15-5-1 record over the Illini. The last time the two programs met was on Sept. 11, 2010. The Huskers outlasted Illinois in a 3-2 victory (21-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-14, 16-14).

Hurley Throws A 67 On The Scorecard Thursday, In Sole Possession Of 3rd Place

An eagle, four birdies and just one bogey made for a great round Thursday for John Hurley in the First Stage PGA Qualifying School tournament in Kingwood, Texas. Hurley's third round 67 puts him at 6-under-par for the tournament and just five strokes off the lead.

The final round will be played today and a finish in the top 22 will move John on to the Second Stage Tournament.

Lincoln, Neb. - The No. 4 Nebraska volleyball team (16-1, 9-0) made quick work of Iowa on Wednesday night, sweeping the Hawkeyes 3-0 (25-14, 25-14, 25-11). With the victory, Nebraska remained undefeated in conference play.

Iowa hit .000 for the match, marking the lowest hitting percentage the Huskers have held an opponent to this season. Nebraska out-blocked the Hawkeyes 8-0, while notching a .302 hitting percentage for the match. NU also out-dug Iowa 63-45 and out-blocked the Hawkeyes 8-1. Gina Mancuso led NU on the night with 14 kills on 29 swings (.345), while Hannah Werth tabbed eight kills of her own. Lauren Cook tallied 32 assists with a season-high 16 digs. Werth had 15 digs, while Lara Dykstra totaled 14. The Huskers also notched five blocks each from Hayley Thramer and Morgan Broekhuis.

In the first set the Huskers fought off a scrappy Iowa squad to take an 11-8 lead on an error by the Hawkeyes. Iowa tied it back up at 11, but the Huskers posted seven unanswered points for a 17-11 lead on a kill by Werth. NU only allowed the Hawkeyes three more points in the set as the Huskers went on to take the first set 25-14.

NU took a 10-6 lead early in the second set on a service error by Iowa. Nebraska jumped ahead 20-9 on a kill by Cook and held off the Hawkeyes to dominate and take the second set 25-14.

Nebraska overtook the Hawkeyes in the third set, catapulting themselves to a 7-0 lead on a kill by Mancuso. Iowa came back to close the gap at 12-8, but that just pushed Nebraska into a second gear. The Huskers again posted seven unanswered points to go up 19-8 with another kill by Mancuso. NU closed out the set in dominant form on a kill by Brigette Root, winning 25-11 and clinching the sweep over the Hawkeyes.

The Huskers return to the NU Coliseum on Saturday, Oct. 22 to take on No. 1 Illinois at 7 p.m. The match will be shown via tape delay on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Day two of the First Stage PGA Qualifying School tournament in Kingwood, Texas saw solid play from O'Neill's John Hurley. Hurley shot a two-under-par 70 on Wednesday and has a two round score of 1-under-par. Hurley will tee off on round three this morning (thursday) at 10:10 am. The tournament ends on Friday.

The top 22 from this tournament will move on to the second stage of PGA Qualifying School which is a four stage process.

John Hurley shot a 1 over par 73 in his 1st day at Deerwood Golf Club. Good enough to tie for 11th after the first round at PGA Q-School's 1st qualifying stage. Round 2 of 4 will tee off this morning (Wednesday) at 8:30 am in Kingwood, Texas.

Last week the O’Neill Eagles competed in the C-3 district meet. The Eagles were able to qualify Kyle Pardun to compete at the state meet held in Kearney next week, October 21st. Running against 66 runners Pardun led the Eagles to a fifth place finish in the boy’s race with a 10th place individual finish. Other runners for the boys were freshman Blake Walters 21st, sophomores Nate Gotschall 24th, Shea Lueninghoener 25th, and Joseph Gillham 26th. Freshman Kyle Fowler placed 39th.

The Lady Eagles placed 8th as a team. Alejandra Vergara placed 21st, Tasha Lechtenberg 24th, Brandi Walters 28th, Lizzie Price 32nd, Catrina Spangler 47th, and Miranda Pribil 50th.

“Districts went really well for the boys. I thought the boys competed hard for being so young. Even though districts didn’t go the way we planned for the girls, they had a good year. I am proud of all the OHS runners,” said Coach Hilker.

Kyle Pardun will run at 1 pm, Friday, October 21st, at the Kearney Country Club.

Minneapolis, Minn. - The No. 5 Nebraska volleyball team (15-1, 8-0) posted a 3-2 (28-30, 19-25, 25-10, 25-12, 15-11) victory over No. 14 Minnesota Saturday night at Williams Arena. In front of 9,334 fans, the Huskers overcame a feisty Gopher squad in their fifth five-set win of the season.

Gina Mancuso led NU for the match with 18 kills on 46 attacks. Morgan Broekhuis and Hannah Werth both had 15 kills, with Werth notching her second double-double of the weekend with 17 digs. Mancuso also tallied a double-double as she had 15 digs. Lauren Cook tabbed 45 assits for NU while Lara Dykstra had a team-high 23 digs. Nebraska hit .243 for the match while Minnesota hit .111. The Huskers out-blocked the Gophers 17-8 and had 85 team digs.

The Huskers and Gophers opened the first set on fire and fighting point-for-point as there were 15 tie scores and seven lead changes. Nebraska went ahead 3-2 on a service ace by Mancuso, but Minnesota came back to tie it six different times before taking a 12-9 lead and forcing Nebraska to call a timeout. Broekhuis cut Minnesota’s lead to 15-12 on a kill, but the Gophers answered to take an 18-13 lead. Nebraska then posted a three point run led by back-to-back kills from Werth and Mancuso to make it 18-16, Minnesota. The Huskers took a 23-20 lead, but Minnesota would not back down. The Gophers and Huskers tied four different times before Minnesota took the first set 30-28.

The intensity did not let down in the second set as the Huskers took a 3-2 lead, but saw the Gophers come back to take a 9-8 lead and eventually go up 15-11 before a media timeout. Uncharacteristic errors plagued NU in the second set as the Gophers took a 19-12 lead and forced Nebraska to call a timeout. A service ace and kill by Broekhuis made is 19-15, Minnesota as Nebraska started to fight back to eventually make it 20-17, Gophers. Minnesota went on to take the second set 25-19 and lead the match 2-0 heading into intermission.

The Huskers jumped ahead 5-2 in the third set and took the momentum to a gain a 13-7 lead over the Gophers. Nebraska was catapulted from a 10-0 run to go up 17-8. NU continued dominating to take the third set 25-10, with the match at 2-1.

Nebraska carried the momentum into set four while taking a 10-4 lead and extending it to 14-6 over Minnesota and forcing the Gophers to call a timeout. The Huskers posted five unanswered points, leading them to a 25-12 fourth-set win and tying the match 2-2.

In the fifth set the Huskers jumped to a 4-1 lead over the Gophers. Nebraska then went on to lead Minnesota 9-6, but the Gophers inched back to make it 11-8 before the Nebraska closed out the contest with a 15-11 fifth set win.

The Huskers return home on Wednesday, Oct. 19 to host the Iowa Hawkeyes at the NU Coliseum at 7 p.m. The match will air live on NET and BTN.com.

Madison Wis.- The No. 5 Nebraska volleyball team improved to 7-0 in Big Ten play on Friday night with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-21) sweep of the Wisconsin Badgers at the UW Fieldhouse. With the win, the Huskers remained one of two unbeaten teams in conference play.

Hannah Werth led Nebraska on the night with 17 kills on 28 attacks for a .536 hitting percentage. Gina Mancuso had 13 kills and Morgan Broekhuis had eight of her own. Lauren Cook led NU with 38 assists, while also notching a team-high 11 digs. Werth also totaled 10 digs for her second double-double of the season.

Nebraska came out strong, posting four unanswered points for a 9-5 lead early in the first set. The Huskers forced Wisconsin to call a timeout after NU made it 14-9. Nebraska went up 17-11 on a kill by Werth, but UW cut it to 19-15 after a service ace. The Badgers kept fighting to make it 21-20 and force Nebraska to call a timeout. Wisconsin tied it up at 21, but Nebraska pulled away to secure a 25-21 first set win and lead the match 1-0.

Nebraska went ahead 8-6 in the second set on a kill by Jordan Wilberger and increased the lead to 10-6 on a block. A service error by the Badgers made it 12-9 and Nebraska capitalized to make it 14-9 on a 4-0 run and force Wisconsin to call a timeout. Errors plagued Wisconsin as the Huskers went up 19-12, eventually making it 21-13. Nebraska only allowed the Badgers two more points as the Huskers went on to win the second set 25-15 and lead the match 2-0.

In the third set the Badgers came out fighting as there were four lead changes and nine ties. NU and UW fought point-for-point and Wisconsin tied the match at seven apiece as Nebraska then came back to tie it at 10. NU gained some momentum and went up 16-13 as Wisconsin had to call a timeout. NU then went up 20-16, but the Badgers once again cut it as close as two points, last at 23-21. Nebraska hit a second gear late in the third set to win the set 25-21 and sweep the Badgers 3-0.

Nebraska takes on No. 14 Minnesota tomorrow night at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. Fans can listen to all of the action on the 25-station Husker Sports Network and on Huskers.com. The match can be seen live on BTN2Go and will air on BTN via tape delay on Monday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m.

Allison Depko participated in the Class C state golf tournament at Quail Run in Columbus on Monday, October 10th and Tuesday, October 11th. This was her third opportunity to participate at the state golf meet and her goal was to finish in the top fifteen to receive a medal. On Monday, Allison hit the ball very well off the tee, however she struggled with her approach shots and chipping. Starting out with a 49 on the front nine, she gained her composer and finished with a 44 on the back. This gave her a one day total of 93 and tied for sixteenth after the first day. Despite her struggles on day one, her goal was still within reach. Beginning day two, Allison focused on what she needed to do to correct the mistakes. She spent some extra time on the driving range working on her short iron shots and chipping. Coach Fernau has watched Allison play golf for four years and had never seen her play any better than she did on her first eleven holes. After the front nine, Allison had seven pars and two bogeys for a 38. This tied the 2nd lowest score on the front nine for the tournament and it moved her from a tie for sixteenth place to having a chance to finish in the top ten. Allison parred hole number ten and eleven. On hole twelve, her drive landed in the trees and she ended up with a triple bogie. On the last six holes, Allison was unable to get a par, however her consistency allowed her to finish without anything worse than a double bogey. She finished with a 47 on the back nine and a eighteen hole score of an 85. This was the fifth lowest score of the day and moved her from sixteenth place to ninth. Allison becomes the second girl's golfer from O'Neill to place at the state meet, as Molly Johnson placed 6th in 2001. In her four years of golf at O'Neill High, she has place in 29 out of 32 tournaments with top 5 finishes in 26 of them. The only tournament she did not place in the top ten was at district in 2009 and the state meets in 2008 and 2010. Congratulation to Allison for a great career.

Medalist for the tournament was Danielle Lemek of Doniphan-Trumbull who shot an amazing 5-under par 67 on Tuesday and finished the tournament at even par.

Boone Central was the team champion shooting 732, Wayne was runner-up with a 757, Valentine came in third with 772 and for Plainview they finished 11th in the team standings with an 883.

The No. 6 Nebraska volleyball team will hit the road this week for a pair of road matches at Wisconsin and No. 14 Minnesota.

The Huskers (13-1, 6-0) and Badgers (11-7, 3-3) will meet on Friday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. at the UW Field House. The match will air via Student U on BTN.com with a subscription. It will also air via tape delay on BTN on Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. NU will face Minnesota (10-5, 3-3) on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. at Williams Arena. Nebraska’s match with Minnesota will air via tape delay on BTN on Oct. 17 at 7 p.m.

Wisconsin and Nebraska have met 13 times, with NU holding a 11-1-1 record over the Badgers. The last time the two teams met was in the NCAA Championship match on Dec. 16, 2000, when Nebraska won 3-2 (15-9, 9-15, 7-15, 15-2, 15-9). John Cook will make his return to Wisconsin for the first time since leaving UW 13 years ago. Cook led Wisconsin as head coach from 1992-98, compiling a 161-73 record.

Minnesota and Nebraska have met 30 times, with the Huskers leading the all-time series 26-4. The last time the two teams met was on Aug. 29, 2009, with the Huskers winning 3-2 (25-20, 21-25, 25-19, 15-25, 15-8).

Last week the O’Neill Eagles competed at the Bloomfield Invitational. The meet consisted of a boy’s junior varsity, girls race, and a boys varsity race.

The girls placed 6th as a team. Medaling for the team was Alejandra Vergara 20th and Tasha Lechtenberg 22nd. Other varsity runners were Brandi Walters 36th, Lizzie Price, Miranda Pribil 78th, and Catrina Spangler 87th. The team scored 108 points.

In the boy’s race the O’Neill Eagles placed 5th. The Eagles came away with 3 medalists. Kyle Pardun placed 9th, Humberto Costilla 21st, and Nate Gotschall 24th. Running in the four, five, and six spot for varsity were: Joseph Gillham 31st, Shea Lueninghoener 38th, and Blake Walters 42nd.

Next week the O’Neill Eagles will compete at the C-4 district site. Eleven teams will come to see who will be the top three teams and fifteen individuals to compete at the state meet in Kearney. The girl’s race will be at 4:00 pm and boys at 4:30 pm.

On Tuesday, October 4, St. Mary’s traveled to Elgin for a triangular. In the first match, the Cardinals defeated Humphrey St. Francis in two sets, 25-23, 25-21. Emily Everitt hit .500 and averaged 3.5 kills per set. Krissy Krotter averaged 2.5 kills per set. Krissy also led the defense with 8 digs. The Cardinals had to battle for every point, but they never gave up.

In the Cardinals next match, they were upset by the Elgin Pope John Wolfpack. The first set went to the Cardinals with a 25-17 win. In the next two sets, the Cardinals could not get their offense going and they went to the Wolfpack, 19-25, 18-25. The Cardinals chipped away at the Wolfpack lead, but could not regain control of the match. Justine Blumenstock hit .300 and led the team with kills. Kaylee Krotter had 13 set assists and Bridget Schneider added 11. The Cardinals played a lot of defense and had 68 total digs. St. Mary’s Coach Renshaw stated, “Elgin Pope John was relentless and played to win.”

On Thursday, October 6, St. Mary’s traveled to Niobrara for a double triangular. St. Mary’s came away with a win over the Stuart Broncos, handing them their second loss of the season. “Despite a slow start, the girls maintained focus and turned their play around. I am proud of their mental toughness and perseverance,” said Coach Renshaw. Stuart came out ready to play. St. Mary’s struggled with errors and found themselves down 13-22. Despite a late game run by the Cardinals, there wasn’t enough game left and lost the first set, 18-25. Megan Schneider’s aggressive serving, early in the second set and two ace blocks by Justine Blumenstock and Jessi Pongratz gained the Cardinals a 9-6 lead and the momentum. The Cards went on to win the second set, 25-18. In the third set, a 5 point serving run by Jessi Pongratz and a 4 point run by Kaylee Krotter gave the Cardinals a 15-10 lead. The Cardinals continued to attack and block aggressively and won the third, 25-19. On the night, St. Mary’s stopped Stuart’s offense with 20 total blocks. Megan Schneider led the defense with 14 digs and Brooke Bauer and Mackenzie Wecker each had 10. Bridget Schneider and Kaylee Krotter had 12 and 9 set assists which lead the way for the Cardinals offense of 29 total kills. Brooke Bauer had 10 kills and Jessi Pongratz had 7.

In the last match of the night, St. Mary’s, able to keep the momentum and intensity from the Stuart game, defeated Niobrara-Verdigre, 25-8 and 25-14. In the first set, Mackenzie Wecker had a 9 point serving run with 4 aces. For the night, the Cardinal’s hit .241, with Megan Schneider hitting .500.

On Friday night St. Mary's hosted Wynot. Wynot came away with the match win in a 5 set thriller, 25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 10-25, 15-11. Stats are not available at this time. St. Mary's record now stands at 15-4.

Lincoln, Neb.- The No. 6 Nebraska volleyball team came out in dominant fashion Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-14, 25-13) of the Indiana Hoosiers in front of 4,091 fans at the NU Coliseum.

Hannah Werth paced the Huskers with a match-leading 13 kills on .550 hitting. Werth’s mark tied her season best for the third time this year. Lara Dykstra finished with 17 digs, while Lauren Cook had 33 assists and NU totaled eight team digs. The Huskers hit .330 for the match and held Indiana to a .022 hitting percentage.

Nebraska went up 4-1 early in the first set on an attack error by the Hoosiers. The Huskers stretched their lead to 12-8 and forced Indiana to call a timeout at 18-12, NU. A kill by Delano put Nebraska up 22-15, as Nebraska eventually went on to take the first set 25-19 and lead the match 1-0.

The Huskers came out in dominant form in the second set, jumping ahead 13-4 on an attack error by Indiana. Nebraska went on to a 20-9 lead with a kill by Broekhuis. NU only allowed the Hoosiers five more points in the set as the Huskers went on to win the second set 25-14, leading the match 2-0.

In the third set Nebraska took an 8-3 lead over Indiana with a kill by Broekhuis, forcing the Hoosiers to call a timeout. Three errors by Indiana put Nebraska up 11-3. The Huskers stretched their lead to 23-10 on an error by Indiana, as NU went on to win the third set 25-13 and sweep the Hoosiers 3-0.

Nebraska returns to action next weekend as the Huskers face Wisconsin on Friday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. in Madison, Wis. NU then heads to Minneapolis, Minn., on Saturday, Oct. 15 to take on Minnesota at 7 p.m. The Huskers’ match with Minnesota will air via tape delay on BTN on Oct. 24 at 8 p.m.

Lincoln, Neb.- The No. 6 Nebraska volleyball team (12-1, 5-0) propelled itself over the No. 11 Purdue Boilermakers in a 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-14, 25-22) win Friday night at the NU Coliseum. The Huskers, who remained undefeated in Big Ten Conference play, produced one of their most balanced efforts of the season, with five plays notching over 20 attacks for the match. NU also saw five different players tally 10 or more digs through all four sets.

Gina Mancuso led NU on the night with 16 kills on 39 attacks. Morgan Broekhuis had 13 kills and three service aces, while Hayley Thramer had a career-high 12 kills for a .409 hitting percentage. Both Mancuso and Broekhuis tabbed double-doubles on the night, marking the seventh double-double for Mancuso and the third for Broekhuis. Lauren Cook accumulated 51 assists, as the Huskers also had six team blocks. Defensively, Nebraska out-dug Purdue 84-73, marking the most team digs for NU this season.

The Huskers and Boilermakers fought back and forth early on in the first set before Nebraska pushed to a 10-6 lead on a kill by Mancuso. The Huskers used their momentum to propel them to a 16-13 lead on an error by Purdue. The Boilermakers cut the score to 20-19 on an ace, but Nebraska would not let Purdue capitalize. The Huskers went on to a 25-22 first set win to lead the match 1-0.

Roles reversed in the second set as the Huskers and Boilermakers battled early on in set two until Purdue pulled away to lead 10-5. Purdue notched a 20-13 lead before Nebraska started to make a run. The Huskers came as close as 22-18 and eventually 20-23, but could not secure the momentum to push ahead of Purdue. The Boilermakers won the second set, 25-20 and tied the match at one set apiece.

Nebraska came out hot in the third set stretching the lead to 10-5 on back-to-back service aces by Broekhuis. A kill by Hannah Werth made it 17-9 Nebraska and forced Purdue to call a timeout. Another kill by Werth put the Huskers in front 21-12. NU only allowed Purdue two more points in the set, eventually winning the third set, 25-14 and leading the match 2-1.

Nebraska pushed ahead in the fourth set, taking an early 7-3 lead on a kill by Brooke Delano. Purdue tied the set at 13, but NU went ahead 20-17 on a kill by Mancuso. The Boilermakers came within one point of the Huskers two times, last at 22-21. At that point NU closed out Purdue, taking the fourth set 25-22 on a kill by Werth and sealing the match win at 3-1.

Nebraska returns to action Saturday afternoon at the NU Coliseum as the Huskers host Indiana at 3 p.m. The match can be seen live on ESPN3.com and will air via tape delay on ESPN2 on Sunday, Oct. 9 at noon.

The O'Neill Girl's Golf team just came up short of qualifying for state. Needing to finish in the top three teams, O'Neill finished fourth by only 4 strokes. Wayne was the District C-3 Champions with a score of 389, Norfolk Catholic was second with a 393, and Plainview was third with a 451followed by O'Neill at 455. The girls seem to struggle most of the day with the fast greens as putts just would not fall. The girls did put forth a great effort by not giving up till the end. Coach Fernau was very proud of the effort put in by Holly Hesse, Morgan Langan, Niclole Lind and Davita Dick and on how they handled the disappointment of not qualifying. O'Neill did come away with one individual qualifier. Allison Depko continues her strong play this year with a runner-up finish as an individual to qualify for state. Allison also got off to a tough start and did not play the front nine very well. Allison shot a 47 and was 5 strokes behind the leader. By the time hole number 12 rolled around, Allison was still five strokes behind with six hole to play. Allison finished her day with four pars and two bogies to get within one stroke of the lead. Her score of 89 earned Allison the district runner-up medal and trip to the state meet at Quail Run in Columbus. This will be Allison's third trip to the state meet.

Meanwhile the C-3 district contained several other area teams, including West holt and Plainview, who qualified as a team. To see the complete results from the C-3 Girls Golf District at Wayne, see the Pinnacle Bank Scoreboard.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – When Kyle Whitaker first started in ProRodeo, he wasn’t sure if he’d “ever be good enough” to win a Linderman Award. He grew up watching his dad, Chip, do it four times. So, he knew well the level of skill and dedication required to be proficient in three events at both ends of the arena. He knew about the travel, the three entry fees per rodeo and the time away from family.

Not even winning a record six of his own has altered his sense of wonder about the Linderman. Whoever wins it can be considered the greatest all-round hand in ProRodeo, the cowboy who emphasizes versatility in a highly-specialized age of the sport, who has a deeper connection to its roots and origins.

“It means more to me than a lot of guys,” Whitaker said. “When I was a kid, everywhere my dad competed, they introduced him as the Linderman Award winner. From a young age, I’ve known the history of it. The award was always something I had in mind that I wanted to win.

“It seems like there aren’t a lot of people who have a real awareness of what it means. It is my goal every year to qualify for it and win it. I’ve done it (qualified) every year since 1997, so that’s 15 rodeo seasons. I take real pride in that.”

In winning his sixth Linderman Award in 2011 – his first in five years – Whitaker had total earnings of $34,571 in steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding and tie-down roping.

The award guidelines require that a cowboy earn at least $1,000 in each of three events and those events must include at least one roughstock and one timed event. Whitaker, of Chambers, Neb., had more than $4,500 in all three of his events, with steer wrestling ($22,912) providing the biggest boost to his standing.

“Ten years ago, saddle bronc riding was more my main event,” Whitaker said, “but now I kind of limit the bronc riding to my (Great Lakes) circuit rodeos. I took a little different approach this season. I had kind of a bad winter season, so I decided to go mostly to circuit rodeos and stay closer to home to get ready for the baby (he and wife, Halie, had their third daughter, Whitney, on Sept. 29).

“July and August were pretty good to me. I had a good rodeo at Dodge City (Kan., where he finished second in the steer wrestling average), which made me wonder if I should have gone to a few more big rodeos. But when you are working three events, you can still make pretty good money at circuit rodeos without all the expense of traveling (great distances). Now that I’ve got three daughters … that’s a big responsibility.”

The hallmark of Whitaker’s career has been consistency. From 2002-11, his earnings have ranged from $47,527 to $34,571. He has career earnings of $546,681, with more than $100,000 in all three of his events.

Last Friday, the O’Neill Eagles compete at the West Holt Invitational. Sixty-two girls and sixty-four competed in the invite.

The O’Neill Lady Eagles grabbed the team title with 38 points. Earning top ten honors were Tasha Lechtenberg 4th, Alejandra Vergara 6th, and Brandi Walters 10th. Lizzie Price was the final varsity runner to place 19th that helped score the 38 points. Running in the 5th spot for the varsity team was Catrina Spangler 35th, and in the 6th spot was Sarah Pribil 42nd. In the junior varsity Miranda Pribil placed 48th, Nicole Babutzke 57th, and Amber De Groot 60th.

The O’Neill Boy’s team placed 4th with 62 points. Leading the Eagles was Kyle Pardun 11th and Humberto Costilla 15th, which earned them a medal. Other varsity runners were: Nate Gotschall 18th, Shea Lueninghoener 20th, Joseph Gillham 22nd, and Blake Walters 28th. The reserve runners were Kyle Fowler 33rd, Devan Davidson 39th, Cody Belzer 42nd, Jessie Albarran 49th, Thomas Higgins 53rd, Logan Spencer 54th, Dylan Belik 55th, and Miguel Ochoa 62nd.

“It was a smaller meet that what we have ran all year but the top 25 in each group was really competitive. We are only one week away from conference and two weeks from districts. I see us performing our best then,” said Coach Hilker.

In the junior high race the following girl athletes medaled: Riley Sibbel 5th, Ashley Eviritt 7th, and Paula Zak 9th. Jayde Rosenkranz placed 11th, Kaylee Harvey 12th, Abby Gillham 13th, Veronica Ross 14th, and Tejlor Strope 21st. In the junior high boy’s division Casey Vandersnick placed 8th and Cody Watson 10th which gave them individual medals. Other O’Neill Eagles were: Jordan Ross 12th, Deven Jurgenmeier 14th, Zeb O’Brien 16th, Miles Stagmeyer 18th, and James Walton 19th.

“We have some really good young talent. It was a lot of fun to coach the junior high students. They show the kind of strength and toughness the O’Neill Cross Country Team needs to be successful,” said Coach Hilker.

This Friday the O’Neill Eagles will be competing at the Bloomfield Invitational/Mid-States Conference Meet, which is held at the Bloomfield golf course. The meet starts at 3:30 with the boy’s reserve race first, then girl’s varsity, and with boy’s varsity finishing up.

Ann Arbor, Mich. – The No. 7 Nebraska Volleyball team (11-1, 4-0) closed out its first weekend of conference play on the road with a 3-0 sweep of the No. 17 Michigan Wolverines at Keen Arena on Saturday night. The Huskers stayed undefeated in the conference after beating both Michigan State and Michigan over the weekend.

Morgan Broekhuis led all Huskers in the match with 13 kills. Brooke Delano tallied nine kills as Gina Mancuso had seven of her own. Lauren Cook tabbed 37 assists and Lara Dykstra had 12 digs defensively for NU. Hayley Thramer had 5 kills on 11 attacks and a team high 6 blocks for the match.

In the first set the Huskers went up 4-1 early and kept that lead until Michigan tied it up at nine. NU then took at 13-10 lead over Michigan before taking their biggest lead of the match at 16-10. Nebraska then stretched its lead to 21-15 before eventually taking the first set 25-17 and leading the match 1-0.

The Huskers fought with the Wolverines in the second set, tying five different times before hitting the 10-point mark. NU took the lead at 12-9 and continued that margin at 15-12 before a timeout on the court. Nebraska took a 20-16 lead late in the second set, but Michigan came fighting back to make it 20-19 on a service ace. The Wolverines then tied the set at 23 and again at 24. At that point Nebraska pulled ahead to take the set 26-24 and lead the match 2-0.

Nebraska jumped out early in the third set, taking an early 9-3 lead over the Wolverines. The Huskers went 15-7 before Michigan called a timeout. The Huskers totally controlled the tempo in the third set, stretching their lead to 19-9. NU finished off the Wolverines with a 25-16 third set win, completing the sweep and improving to 2-0 on the weekend.

The Huskers return to the NU Coliseum next weekend to host Purdue on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. and Indiana on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 3 p.m. Friday night’s match can be seen on BTN.com via subscription. Saturday afternoon’s match will air live on ESPN3.com and will also be seen via tape delay on ESPN2 on Sunday, Oct. 9 at noon.

East Lansing, Mich. - The No. 7 Nebraska volleyball team (10-1) outlasted the Michigan State Spartans 3-2 (27-25, 16-25, 21-25, 25-17, 16-14) on Saturday night in front of 2,024 fans at Jenison Fieldhouse. With the victory, the Huskers improved to 3-0 in conference play.

Morgan Broekhuis led NU on the night with a career-high 22 kills on 33 attacks for a .545 hitting percentage. Hannah Werth tabbed 13 kills on 27 attacks, while Gina Mancuso had 12 kills of her own. Mancuso tabbed the sixth double-double of her career with an additional 10 digs. The Huskers hit .279 on the match, while Michigan State hit .296. Lauren Cook notched 50 assists for Nebraska, while Lara Dykstra had 16 digs on the night. Ewing's Hayley Thramer pounded down 7 kills to go with 3 blocks as well.

The Huskers fought point-for-point in the first set, nothing a total of 14 ties with the Spartans. The Spartans jumped out to a 3-2 lead on an error by the Huskers. Nebraska came back to tie the match at 6-6 on an error by MSU, but Michigan State responded to eventually go up 14-12. Nebraska went up 17-15 on a kill by Broekhuis, but Michigan State would not give up. MSU eventually went up 23-21 on an error by NU as the Huskers came fighting back to tie it at 23. Nebraska closed out the Spartans and took the first set 27-25, leading the match 1-0.

Michigan State came out firing in the second set, taking a 4-1 lead on an ace. The Huskers cut it to 7-6 on a kill by Mancuso, but at that point the Spartans went on an eight point run. MSU went up 21-12 and Nebraska could not make up for lost ground. The Huskers eventually dropped the second set 25-16, with Michigan State tying the match at 1-1.

Michigan State outlasted Nebraska in the third set, taking the momentum to win the set 25-21 and lead the match at 2-1. In a set that was tied 11 different times, the Huskers and Spartans fought for each point, as NU went up 9-7 on a kill by Cook. NU and MSU were tied at 18 before Michigan State went up 21-18. Nebraska could not make up for lost ground, losing the set 25-21.

In the fourth set, the Huskers and Spartans once again fought for each point as the set was tied early at seven. MSU and Nebraska were all tied up at 13 when the Huskers went on a 3-0 run. That run catapulted NU to another 6-0 run to make it 22-14. The Huskers did not look back and took the fourth set 25-17, tying the match at two sets apiece.

The Huskers had to fight in the fifth set, going up early 3-1. Then the Spartans tied the match at seven-all. After a huge rally by both teams, NU went up 10-8, but Michigan State would not back down. MSU rallied to tie the set at 14 apiece. The Huskers finished Michigan State, winning the final set 16-14 and taking the match 3-2.

Nebraska travels to face No. 17 Michigan in Ann Arbor tonight at 6 p.m. The match can be seen live on ESPN3.com and will air via tape delay on ESPN2 on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 1:30 p.m. CT.

Thanks to John Hurley for joining us in studio for the Dawg Pound Sports Show.

O’Neill native John Hurley cleared the first hurdle in his quest for a PGA tour card last week by placing in the top 34 of the pre-qualifying round at the Arbor Links course in Nebraska City last week. Hurley shot 74, 71, and 75 for a three day score of 220, 4 over par, and tied for 24th place in a field full of aspiring professional golfers from all over the country. There are 2 more stages of qualifying building up to the final qualifying stage in early December. Qualifying rounds are played at a set of predetermined locations, but golfers are given the choice of which one of those courses they would like to play. Hurley said his first choice would be Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Georgia, but it appears his destination will be his second choice, Deerwood Golf Club in Kingwood, Texas. That tournament will run Oct. 18-21. Golfers are allowed to play competitively in between qualifying stages, and while Hurley currently doesn’t have anything set up, he looks to play in a few tournaments during the off weeks to stay sharp.