05-Nov-2019 / Mary Crawford, NCTA News
Two-year degree programs such as those offered by the University of Nebraska’s campus in Curtis, at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, have strong appeal for students seeking academics in smaller class sizes and learning environments.
That was one of several messages shared Sunday at a public forum in Curtis by University of Nebraska priority presidential candidate Walter “Ted” Carter.
“Our focus is on the future of Nebraska colleges, coupled with the importance of agriculture,” the retired Navy vice admiral said before an audience of about 50 attendees.
“This is one of the primary campuses that is part of the makeup of the University of Nebraska,” Carter added. “I am excited to see it. To see where the roughly 300 students that are here, almost all get jobs after they learn their skill sets. I think that this is an incredibly relevant place.”
The national pool of students “ready” to enter a four-year university experience is shrinking, Carter said.
“A community college or two-year degree program is viable route for many students,” Carter said in answering questions about student preparedness.
If selected to lead the University system of campuses in Curtis, Kearney, Lincoln and two in Omaha, Carter said properly equipping campuses with resources and technology is one of his priorities.
The current generation values education and technology, financial aid and the ease of entering college, he said.
Carter was a unanimous choice in paper balloting submitted by the 23-member search committee, and also by the University Board of Regents. Now, he is in a 30-day public vetting period.
“He is very impressive and I am glad I could attend this opportunity to learn more about our potential university president,” said Stephen Herman, Curtis resident and local attorney.
Ann Rasmussen, who moved to Curtis in August, applauded University leaders for holding a public forum at the NCTA campus. She represented her employer, BSB Construction, Inc., where she is office administrator.
University Regent Bob Phares of North Platte hosted the Sunday visit, joined by Regent Jim Pillen of Columbus who chaired the 23-member search committee.
Carter says the University is “One Nebraska- stitching together all five campuses, a benefit of being a part of this college system, all are different (skillset, mission, personality) but work well together as the larger mission is to develop young people to go onto other, higher levels of education, and to encourage them to stay in the state of Nebraska. College campuses can be "bigger and better as a sum of their parts."
A retired vice admiral in the U.S. Navy, Carter is immediate past superintendent of his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy; a former president of the U.S. Naval War College; and a Distinguished Flying Cross and Bronze Star recipient.
The Rhode Island native and resident of Suffolk, Virginia, was joined by his wife, Lynda, for the NCTA visit, which first included a brief tour of the NCTA Veterinary Technology complex and Walter Long Teaching Clinic.
“The people that I have met, so genuine, so real. That was a big part of what attracted Lynda and I to be here in your home state,” he told attendees.
“I just want everybody to know how excited I am to potentially be the next president. It’s an honor to be here. I’ve been thrilled and so warmly welcome by Nebraskans everywhere I’ve gone.”
University Vice President Mike Boehm and NCTA Interim Dean Kelly Bruns also hosted attendees and a Monday forum at the West Central Research & Extension Center in North Platte.
Following the 30-day comment period, if deemed appropriate, Carter’s appointment will be considered by a vote of the Board of Regents.
05-Nov-2019 / AP
Daniel Harden was convicted Monday on the robbery charge, but a jury found him not guilty of murder and weapons charges. He was accused of shooting to
death Jose Hansen on Sept. 11, 2017.
Prosecutors had said that Harden and another man, 21-year-old Deante Mullen, of Lincoln, tried to rob Hansen, and Hansen was shot in the back during the
robbery.
Mullen is awaiting trial on murder and firearms charges.
Harden is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 21.
08-Dec-2019 / Hometown Family Radio Sports Network
08-Dec-2019 / www.nsaahome.org
Adams Central 54, Holdrege 34
Alma 50, Kenesaw 41
Archbishop Bergan 78, Omaha Christian Academy 22
BDS 61, Hampton 17
Battle Creek 64, Wayne 59
Bayard 43, Crawford 40
Beatrice 55, Columbus 32
Bennington 55, Nebraska City 14
Bertrand 30, Axtell 27
Bloomfield 63, Emerson-Hubbard 21
Boone Central/Newman Grove 51, Hartington Cedar Catholic 40
Brady 47, Garden County 31
Bridgeport 63, Leyton 24
Broken Bow 53, North Platte St. Patrick's 37
CWC 63, Summerland 46
Central City 69, Gibbon 37
Chadron 61, Scottsbluff 44
Chase County 59, Wauneta-Palisade 40
Cody-Kilgore 67, Hay Springs 36
Creek Valley 41, Hyannis 37
Crete 65, Hastings 30
Crofton 63, Laurel-Concord-Coleridge 42
Cross County 59, Shelby-Rising City 27
Diller-Odell 60, Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer 56 (OT)
Doniphan-Trumbull 33, Blue Hill 26
Dundy County-Stratton 54, Kimball 25
Elgin Public/Pope John 47, Niobrara/Verdigre 30
Elkhorn Valley 53, Neligh-Oakdale 39
Elm Creek 58, Southern Valley 55
Exeter-Milligan 63, Osceola 19
Falls City Sacred Heart 65, Sterling 29
Fillmore Central 40, Milford 37
Frankfort, KS 55, Pawnee City 32
Franklin 35, Sandhills Valley 18
Gering 77, Alliance 42
Gordon-Rushville 39, Hemingford 34
Gothenburg 37, Hershey 25
Guardian Angels Central Catholic 61, Wisner-Pilger 11
Heartland 41, Wilber-Clatonia 24
Hi-Line 58, Ansley-Litchfield 43
High Plains Community 40, Giltner 36
Howells-Dodge 39, Stanton 26
Humphrey St. Francis 76, Palmer 15
Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family 48, Clarkson/Leigh 41
Johnson County Central 46, Mead 41
Kearney Catholic 64, Sutton 36
Lawrence-Nelson 52, Red Cloud 13
Lincoln Christian 30, Fairbury 28
Lincoln North Star 57, Kearney 38
Maxwell 60, Sandhills/Thedford 19
Maywood-Hayes Center 58, Wallace 16
Medicine Valley 42, Paxton 15
Meridian 45, Dorchester 25
Millard South 87, Omaha Bryan 8
Mitchell 41, Sterling, CO 39
Morrill 45, Potter-Dix 8
Mullen 56, Anselmo-Merna 42
Nebraska Christian 41, St. Edward 32
Norris 56, Plattsmouth 51
North Central 60, Burwell 16
North Platte 43, Sidney 39
Northwest 57, Waverly 40
Ogallala 39, Lexington 34
Omaha Brownell Talbot 59, Cornerstone Christian 10
Omaha Roncalli Catholic 50, Omaha Concordia 43
Ord 57, Ainsworth 56
Osmond 46, Randolph 43
Overton 51, Loomis 37
Papillion-LaVista 58, Bellevue East 28
Pleasanton 65, Arcadia/Loup City 49
Silver Lake 44, Deshler 37
South Loup (Callaway/Arnold) 41, Twin Loup 11
South Platte 41, Minatare 10
Southern 42, Palmyra 24
St. Mary's 54, Riverside 24
Sumner-Eddyville-Miller 56, Wilcox-Hildreth 38
Syracuse 55, Falls City 28
Wahoo 40, Aurora 37
Wausa 33, Plainview 30
Weeping Water 57, Malcolm 41
West Holt 41, Creighton 33
Winnebago 92, Walthill 19
Wray, CO 60, Perkins County 20
Wynot 71, Winside 16
Missing Scores:
@ Omaha Nation: Santee VS Omaha Nation
@ Pender: Tekamah-Herman VS Pender
@ Raymond Central: Aquinas Catholic VS Raymond Central
Saturday (12/07/2019)
Ainsworth 45, Gordon-Rushville 39
Aquinas Catholic 47, Shelby-Rising City 17
Archbishop Bergan 61, Douglas County West 26
Arlington 52, Ashland-Greenwood 43
Arthur County 52, Hay Springs 23
Atwood-Rawlins County, KS 65, Hitchcock County 61
BDS 70, East Butler 32
BRLD 61, Homer 40
Blair 51, Ralston 34
Boone Central/Newman Grove 38, Columbus Lakeview 29
Boyd County 53, Wausa 29
Bridgeport 49, Bayard 28
Centennial 58, Nebraska Christian 28
Chadron 62, North Platte 54 (OT)
Clarkson/Leigh 69, Madison 31
David City 37, Sandy Creek 24
Dundy County-Stratton 49, Morrill 39
Elkhorn 56, Waverly 39
Elkhorn South 71, Lincoln Southeast 38
Fillmore Central 39, Fairbury 31
Fremont 50, Omaha Westside 43
Fullerton 70, High Plains Community 33
Grand Island Central Catholic 58, Omaha Gross Catholic 49
Guardian Angels Central Catholic 55, Lutheran High Northeast 38
Hampton 32, McCool Junction 25
Hartington-Newcastle 60, Osmond 41
Hastings St. Cecilia 50, Bishop Neumann 26
Hemingford 54, Hyannis 28
Humphrey St. Francis 66, Heartland Lutheran 10
Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family 67, Battle Creek 49
Kearney Catholic 64, Holdrege 51
Kimball 60, Potter-Dix 5
Lawrence-Nelson 65, Tri County 18
Lincoln Christian 65, Freeman 37
Lincoln East 60, Norfolk 33
Lincoln High 57, Papillion-LaVista South 39
Lincoln Northeast 54, Bellevue West 51
Logan View-Scribner-Snyder 50, Twin River 18
Lourdes Central Catholic 34, Yutan 29
Malcolm 51, Auburn 38
Maxwell 51, Creek Valley 17
Maywood-Hayes Center 61, Southwest 30
McCook 47, Valentine 34
Meridian 57, Nebraska Lutheran 29
Milford 67, Raymond Central 28
Millard North 62, Grand Island 24
Millard South 101, Omaha Burke 71
Mitchell 49, Gering 43
Norfolk Catholic 38, Lincoln Lutheran 19
North Bend Central 78, Seward 37
North Platte St. Patrick's 57, Sutherland 17
Northwest 51, Norris 46 (OT)
Oakland-Craig 64, Boys Town 14
Ogallala 46, Minden 33
Omaha Duchesne Academy 32, Elmwood-Murdock 31
Omaha Mercy 51, Plattsmouth 46
Omaha North 71, Omaha South 27
Omaha Northwest 68, Omaha Benson 54
Ord 75, Central City 39
Platteview 59, Louisville 43
Ponca 55, Wayne 32
Shelton 33, Franklin 29
South Loup (Callaway/Arnold) 53, Amherst 28
South Sioux City 58, Columbus 45
St. Paul 43, Doniphan-Trumbull 15
Sterling 40, Thayer Central 24
Sterling, CO 49, Alliance 31
Stuart 50, Central Valley 36
Sumner-Eddyville-Miller 56, Loomis 54
Superior 64, Belleville - Republic Co., KS 25
Tekamah-Herman 30, Stanton 24
Twin Loup 38, Sandhills/Thedford 17
Weeping Water 60, Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer 29
West Point-Beemer 48, Omaha Roncalli Catholic 46
Wood River 43, Centura 38
Missing Scores:
@ Cody-Kilgore: Sioux County VS Cody-Kilgore
@ Fort Calhoun: Syracuse VS Fort Calhoun
@ Milford: Raymond Central VS Milford
@ Sedgwick County, CO: Garden County VS Sedgwick County, CO
08-Dec-2019 / Hometown Family Radio Sports Network
Bison teams will be back in action at the Topside Tip Off Tournament in Goodland, KS on Thursday, December 12th taking on Yuma, Colorado. Girls game will be at 3pm CT boys game will follow at approximately 5pm CT.
Coach Amy Schiel for the McCook girls & Bison boys assistant Josh Kershaw joined Hometown Family Radio after the games. Listen below.
Amy Schiel after Valentine
Josh Kershaw after Valentine
08-Dec-2019 / www.nsaahome.org
Ainsworth 55, Ord 37
Alliance 53, North Platte 32
Alma 57, Kenesaw 34
Ansley-Litchfield 90, Hi-Line 57
Aquinas Catholic 60, Raymond Central 31
Arcadia/Loup City 55, Pleasanton 42
Archbishop Bergan 84, Omaha Christian Academy 48
Axtell 61, Bertrand 36
BDS 56, Hampton 6
Battle Creek 57, Wayne 49
Beatrice 78, Columbus 68
Bennington 79, Nebraska City 44
Bloomfield 52, Emerson-Hubbard 25
Brady 59, Garden County 53
Bridgeport 58, Leyton 12
Burwell 70, North Central 23
Chase County 67, Wauneta-Palisade 17
Crawford 47, Bayard 37
Deshler 42, Silver Lake 37
Diller-Odell 56, Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer 45
Doniphan-Trumbull 50, Blue Hill 38
Dundy County-Stratton 58, Kimball 46
Elkhorn Valley 54, Neligh-Oakdale 37
Exeter-Milligan 56, Osceola 52 (OT)
Falls City 47, Syracuse 36
Falls City Sacred Heart 69, Sterling 29
Frankfort, KS 57, Pawnee City 44
Franklin 48, Sandhills Valley 36
Gering 67, Sidney 56
Gibbon 40, Central City 36
Giltner 49, High Plains Community 14
Gordon-Rushville 47, Hemingford 34
Hartington Cedar Catholic 78, Boone Central/Newman Grove 43
Hastings 56, Crete 39
Hay Springs 45, Cody-Kilgore 44
Hershey 53, Gothenburg 48
Howells-Dodge 49, Stanton 35
Humphrey St. Francis 71, Palmer 26
Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family 77, Clarkson/Leigh 34
Hyannis 67, Creek Valley 40
Johnson County Central 49, Mead 38
Kearney Catholic 51, Sutton 42
Laurel-Concord-Coleridge 64, Crofton 37
Lawrence-Nelson 60, Red Cloud 18
Lincoln Christian 67, Fairbury 38
Loomis 72, Overton 23
Malcolm 56, Weeping Water 34
Maxwell 48, Sandhills/Thedford 45
Milford 71, Fillmore Central 27
Mitchell 64, Chadron 49
Morrill 54, Potter-Dix 23
Mullen 68, Anselmo-Merna 56
Nebraska Christian 42, St. Edward 19
Niobrara/Verdigre 53, Elgin Public/Pope John 49
Norris 55, Plattsmouth 29
North Platte St. Patrick's 60, Broken Bow 39
Northwest 52, Waverly 33
Ogallala 67, Lexington 65 (OT)
Omaha Brownell Talbot 55, Cornerstone Christian 37
Omaha Nation 87, Santee 47
Omaha South 71, Omaha Benson 58
Osmond 55, Randolph 33
Palmyra 68, Southern 41
Paxton 65, Medicine Valley 49
Pender 57, Tekamah-Herman 45
Plainview 42, Wausa 27
Riverside 64, St. Mary's 47
Scottsbluff 68, Sterling, CO 59
Shelby-Rising City 49, Cross County 41
South Loup (Callaway/Arnold) 60, Twin Loup 25
South Platte 31, Minatare 28
Southern Valley 56, Elm Creek 50
Summerland 40, CWC 35
Sumner-Eddyville-Miller 55, Wilcox-Hildreth 25
Wahoo 48, Aurora 29
Wakefield 57, Allen 40
Wallace 65, Maywood-Hayes Center 27
Walthill 60, Winnebago 51
West Holt 63, Creighton 59
Wilber-Clatonia 62, Heartland 55
Wisner-Pilger 69, Guardian Angels Central Catholic 47
Wray, CO 86, Perkins County 45
Wynot 47, Winside 14
Missing Scores:
@ Meridian: Dorchester VS Meridian
Saturday (12/07/2019)
Ainsworth 60, Gordon-Rushville 56
Amherst 64, South Loup (Callaway/Arnold) 39
Aquinas Catholic 52, Shelby-Rising City 32
Ashland-Greenwood 58, Arlington 44
Auburn 83, Malcolm 42
BDS 48, East Butler 36 (OT)
BRLD 65, Homer 28
Bayard 56, Leyton 32
Belleville-Republic Co., KS 58, Superior 41
Bellevue West 69, Omaha Westside 62
Bishop Neumann 50, Hastings St. Cecilia 17
Boyd County 50, Wausa 26
Boys Town 76, Oakland-Craig 70
Bridgeport 72, Crawford 18
Centennial 70, Nebraska Christian 32
Central City 42, Ord 34
Central Valley 64, Stuart 38
Centura 47, Wood River 28
Clarkson/Leigh 64, Madison 44
Columbus 92, South Sioux City 67
Columbus Lakeview 60, Boone Central/Newman Grove 27
Creighton Preparatory School 66, Lincoln Southwest 54
Douglas County West 50, Archbishop Bergan 42
Dundy County-Stratton 42, Morrill 25
Fairbury 60, Fillmore Central 42
Fort Calhoun 67, Syracuse 19
Fullerton 79, High Plains Community 17
Grand Island Central Catholic 78, Norfolk Catholic 39
Gretna 67, Millard South 54
Hay Springs 48, Arthur County 40
Humphrey St. Francis 75, Heartland Lutheran 25
Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family 63, Battle Creek 60
Kearney Catholic 60, Holdrege 39
Lincoln Christian 65, Freeman 54
Lincoln East 68, Norfolk 59
Lincoln Lutheran 57, Omaha Gross Catholic 31
Lincoln North Star 65, Kearney 54
Lincoln Northeast 92, Fremont 54
Lincoln Southeast 58, Elkhorn South 45
Logan View-Scribner-Snyder 47, Twin River 30
Loomis 80, Sumner-Eddyville-Miller 45
Lourdes Central Catholic 50, Elmwood-Murdock 46
Lutheran High Northeast 66, Guardian Angels Central Catholic 57 (OT)
Maxwell 52, Creek Valley 24
Maywood-Hayes Center 61, Southwest 44
McCook 75, Valentine 42
McCool Junction 73, Hampton 26
Milford 54, Raymond Central 34
Millard North 79, Papillion-LaVista South 63
Mount Michael Benedictine 76, Plattsmouth 37
Norris 48, Northwest 26
North Bend Central 64, Seward 35
North Platte St. Patrick's 61, Sutherland 35
Ogallala 81, Minden 39
Omaha Central 69, Omaha Burke 57
Omaha North 55, Omaha South 54
Osmond 71, Hartington-Newcastle 59
Papillion-LaVista 64, Bellevue East 46
Ponca 58, Wayne 40
Ralston 59, Blair 50
Sandy Creek 41, David City 34
Scottsbluff 66, Alliance 50
Shelton 48, Franklin 22
Sioux County 45, Cody-Kilgore 31
St. Paul 49, Doniphan-Trumbull 46
Stanton 40, Tekamah-Herman 37
Sterling 51, Thayer Central 49 (OT)
Tri County 60, Lawrence-Nelson 30
Waverly 40, Elkhorn 33
Weeping Water 52, Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer 48
Yutan 70, Parkview Christian 26
Missing Scores:
@ Atwood-Rawlins County, KS: Hitchcock County VS Atwood-Rawlins County, KS
@ Hyannis: Hemingford VS Hyannis
@ Nebraska Lutheran: Meridian VS Nebraska Lutheran
@ Omaha Roncalli Catholic: West Point-Beemer VS Omaha Roncalli Catholic
@ Platteview: Louisville VS Platteview
@ Sandhills/Thedford: Twin Loup VS Sandhills/Thedford
@ Sedgwick County, CO: Garden County VS Sedgwick County, CO
07-Dec-2019 / UNK Athletics
Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney football team scored 15 points in the first six minutes, rushed for 446 yards and recorded four sacks to hold off Winona (Minn.) State, 50-33, in the 54th Annual Mineral Water Bowl Saturday afternoon in Excelsior Springs, Mo.
This marks UNK's fourth all-time postseason win in 113 years of playing football. The Lopers finish up at 7-5 with a large senior class helping turn around a program that was 0-11 in 2015 and 1-10 in 2016.
The Warriors (8-4), from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, came in with a veteran defense that was allowing just 16 points and 129 rushing yards per game. Head coach Josh Lynn's option-based offense gashed Winona early and often and managed those 446 yards on just 48 carries (9.2 avg.). UNK rushed for six touchdowns with quarterback TJ Davis (Colorado Springs) going 4 of 6 in the air for 46 yards and one score.
Davis, having a hand in five TD's in the first half, was named Offensive MVP with senior inside backer Sal Silvio (Kansas City) the Defensive MVP. Davis ran 12 times for 144 yards and four scores (54, 14, two, and 36 yards) with Silvio amassing nine tackles including his ninth sack of the fall. He ends a two-time all-region career with 323 tackles, second most in Loper lore.
The defense started the day with a three and out and then Davis, on the Lopers second offensive play, fooled the entire WSU defense and ran 54 yards down the right sidelines for a 6-0 lead. Lynn then called for a fake PAT and it worked as junior OLB Travis Holcomb (Centura) picked up the two points.
Another three and out followed and featured a 10-yard sack by Silvio who fell just short of the single season sack record (9.5/Nate Reicks/2008). A short punt and a 10-yard return by graduate student Luke Quinn (Scottsdale, Ariz.) put the ball deep into WSU territory. Two runs later and it was quickly 15-0.
The Warriors, minus all-conference back Sam Santiago-Lloyd, couldn't muster much of a run game against a stout Loper front (44 yards on 31 carries) but junior QB Owen Burke (6-3, 225 lbs.) kept his team in the game by going 22 of 32 for 284 yards, three TD's and no INT's. Also getting out of several sacks and keeping plays alive with his feet, he helped WSU trim the deficit to 15-9, 22-16, 36-26 and 43-33.
Both teams also had TD's wiped off the boards, UNK seeing a 39-yard run by senior back David Goodwin (Lauderhill, Fla.) called back due to holding. That would've made it 42-19 midway through the third quarter. A few minutes later WSU all-league punt returner/receiver Jake Balliu brought back a punt 70 yards for six points but an illegal block nullified that score. However, WSU did get a 33-yard pass from Burke to Tyler Knutson later on that drive to make it 36-26.
UNK responded as Goodwin ran for three tough yards to convert on 3rd & 2 and then senior back Darrius Webb (Allentown, Pa.) had runs of six, 19 and 23 yards, the third resulting in a TD. A 15-yard personal foul on WSU also aided that drive. All toll the teams combined for 11 penalties for 137 yards.
Winona came back once more as Burke completed passes of 30 and 38 yards before finding receiver Ethan Wittenburg from four yards out with 10 minutes to play. The back and forth continued as UNK used nine straight runs, including a 21-yard scamper by junior Dayton Sealey (Hastings), to salt things away. The 89-yard drive, which started with a penalty on the kick return, ended when Quinn – a six-year Loper – ran in from a yard out. That is his 21st and last score in a UNK uniform.
Backup QB John Rumpza tried to get WSU within 10 points again as he threw a 26-yard completion on 4th & 19 from the Loper 37-yard line. However, the defense finished the year in style by shutting down the Warriors on four plays from inside the five-yard line.
For UNK, Webb had a big second half and tallied a team-best 152 rushing yards on 12 carries. Goodwin managed 79 yards on 16 carries and thus went over 1,000 yards (1,041) for the season, as did Davis (1,030). This is the first time in school history two players have reached 1k in rushing yards in the same fall. The four rushing scores by Davis are tied for second most in school history in a game and just one off the record.
Next sophomore slot Montrez Jackson (Trenton, FL) caught two balls for 23 yards and one TD. Besides Silvio, senior OLB Zach Sullivan (Millard West) had nine tackles including a sack, junior corner Terrell Williams (Sacramento) had four stops and three PBU's and senior linemen Hinwa Allieu (Gaithersburg, Md) and Jordan Ingraham (Miami) had four tackles apiece.
For Winona, twelve different players caught a pass including five by Balliu. Backup back Miguel Benjamin had 49 yards on 10 carries with redshirt freshman backer Clay Schueffner having a team-best 10 tackles.
UNK begins spring ball in March 2020 with signing day coming in February.
07-Dec-2019 / Husker Athletics
Omaha – Haanif Cheatham had a team-high 14 points to lead five Huskers in double figures, but Nebraska’s start proved costly in a 95-76 loss at Creighton Saturday afternoon.
Cheatham scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half as Nebraska shot 61 percent in the second half but was unable to overcome a blistering start by Creighton in the first 15 minutes.
Thorir Thorbjarnarson had a career-high 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range, while Cam Mack (12), Matej Kavas (11) and Jervay Green (10) all finished in double figures for Nebraska (4-5).
Marcus Zegarowski led four Creighton players in double figures with 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists, as the Bluejays (7-2) shot 53 percent on the day, including 13 3-pointers. Ty-Shon Alexander added 22 points in the victory.
Damien Jefferson, who entered the game 1-of-15 from 3-point range on the season, drained a pair of 3-pointers in a 18-2 Creighton spurt to open the contest that set the tone for the contest. Nebraska
While the hosts got off to a blistering start, Nebraska struggled from the floor, missing 24 of 27 shots from the floor as Creighton raced out to a big lead and cruised to a 19 -point victory.
The Huskers return to action Friday night when they take Indiana in its Big Ten opener. Tipoff from Assembly Hall is set for 7 p.m. (CT)
07-Dec-2019 / Husker Athletics
LINCOLN, Neb. - The Nebraska volleyball team reached its eighth straight NCAA Regional with a 3-1 win over Missouri in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday night.
The sixth-ranked Huskers rallied after dropping the first set, coming back for a 20-25, 25-20, 32-30, 25-18 win in front of a crowd of 8,091 in the final home match of the season. Nebraska, the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, will head to Madison, Wisconsin next weekend for regionals. The No. 4 Badgers will host No. 13 Texas A&M next Friday, while the Huskers will meet the winner of Saturday's late-night match between No. 12 Hawaii and San Diego.
Jazz Sweet had a big night to power the Huskers into their NCAA-record 35th regional appearance. Sweet led Nebraska with 17 kills, her most ever in an NCAA Tournament match and one shy of her career high overall. Sweet also tied her career high with six blocks and added four digs, two shy of her career high. Lexi Sun (13 kills), Madi Kubik (11) and Lauren Stivrins (11) also had double-figure kills for the Big Red. Nebraska committed nine errors and hit .000 in the first set but had only 10 errors while hitting .350 over the final three sets. The Huskers hit .267 overall in the match. Nicklin Hames dished out 42 assists and had 12 digs, while Kubik also had a double-double with 10 digs to go along with her 11 kills.
Defensively, Nebraska out-blocked Missouri 13-6 and out-dug the Tigers, 59-53. The Huskers were also strong at the service line with seven aces against only three errors, with Hames and Megan Miller each serving up three aces.
Leketor Member-Meneh led Missouri with a match-high 19 kills to pace three Tigers in double-figure kills. The Tigers ended their season with a 22-8 record, while Nebraska improved to 27-4.
Set 1: Sweet began the set with a block and two kills, and Kubik had a block and an ace as the Huskers claimed a 7-5 lead. But Missouri rallied with a 4-0 run to take a 9-7 lead and force a Husker timeout. Schwarzenbach and Sun struck kills and then teamed up for a block before Hames served an ace to restore a 12-10 lead. But the Tigers answered again with two blocks and a kill and two Husker errors, and Nebraska needed another timeout as it trailed 15-12. Missouri's run continued with two more unforced Husker hitting errors, and the 7-0 run had Mizzou up 17-12 before a service error ended it. Tyanna Omazic had back-to-back kills to make it 20-13 Missouri, but Sweet posted a kill and a solo block, and Miller served back-to-back aces to pull the Big Red within 21-18 and force a Mizzou timeout. NU ended up cutting it to two at 22-20, but the Tigers scored the final three points, including back-to-back aces by Omazic to end the set, 25-20. Nebraska hit .000 in set one with nine attacking errors, while Missouri hit .212.
Set 2: NU came out of the gates with a 5-1 run, keyed by another Miller ace and two kills by Kubik. The Huskers led 9-4 after a kill by Sun, but Missouri ripped off four straight points to get within 9-8, but Sweet recorded two kills in a row to make it 12-9 Huskers. Stivrins had a pair of kills, and Sun had another as NU went up 18-14. Missouri responded with a pair of kills and an ace to get within 18-17, but Sweet sandwiched a pair of kills around one by Stivrins to put NU up 22-18. Stivrins terminated on the slide to earn set point at 24-20, and Nebraska evened the match with a 25-20 win. Nebraska out-hit Missouri .400 to .345 in the set.
Set 3: Missouri ripped off a 7-1 run to take a 10-4 advantage. Back-to-back solo blocks by Hames and Sun started a 10-1 Husker run in which the Huskers posted five blocks. Schwarzenbach combined for three of them, and Sun gave NU a 12-11 lead with two straight kills. Hames served an ace, and a block by Sun and Schwarzenbach made it 14-11. Sweet, Schwarzenbach and Kubik tacked on kills for a 19-15 advantage, and the lead went to five, 22-17, after an ace by Hames. The Huskers earned set point at 24-20, but Missouri scored five points in a row to take a 25-24 lead. Sweet answered with a clutch kill to tie it at 25-25, and Kubik tipped one for another Husker set point, 26-25. The teams traded points to a 27-27 tie, when Member-Meneh terminated a kill for set point for Missouri at 28-27. A service error tied the score again at 28-28, and Member-Meneh and Kubik traded kills to make it 29-29. Sun put NU on top, 30-29, and the Huskers stayed ahead 31-30 after a Missouri service error. Sweet and Schwarzenbach produced a block to end the thriller at 32-20. It was the Huskers' sixth block of the set. Nebraska had seven set points, while Missouri had three chances to win it.
Set 4: Nebraska took an 8-4 lead after back-to-back blocks by Stivrins, one with Sweet and one with Kubik, part of a 5-0 run. Missouri sliced the deficit to one at 13-12, but Sun terminated back-to-back rallies, and Sweet continued her phenomenal match with two more kills to take Nebraska to an 18-13 lead. Two straight kills by Kubik and one each by Stivrins and Sweet made it 23-15 Nebraska after a 5-0 spurt, and the Huskers advanced to regionals with a 25-18 win.
Nebraska Post-Match Notes
Nebraska advances to an NCAA Regional for the eighth straight season, for the 25th time in the past 26 seasons and for the 35th time in school history.
The Huskers' 35 NCAA Regional appearances are the most in NCAA history.
With the win, Nebraska improved to 115-32 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskers rank second in NCAA history in wins and winning percentage (.782) in the NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska improved to 25-2 all-time in second-round NCAA Tournament matches.
The Huskers moved to 77-7 (.917) all-time at home in the NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska improved to 22-2 in NCAA Tournament matches at the Devaney Center, including a 17-1 record since the program's permanent move to the arena in 2013.
NU won its 14th consecutive NCAA Tournament match at home.
John Cook improved to 82-20 in his NCAA Tournament career. He ranks third in NCAA history in NCAA Tournament coaching victories.
John Cook improved to 74-15 in the NCAA Tournament as Nebraska's head coach, moving into third place for the most postseason coaching victories at one school in NCAA history.
John Cook has led the Huskers to an NCAA Regional in 19 of his 20 seasons.
Nebraska has won 54 straight matches against unranked opponents dating back to 2017.
Nebraska hit .000 with nine errors in set one, but hit .350 with only 10 errors over sets two, three and four.
Nebraska defeated Missouri 32-30 in the third set. That marked the longest set in the NCAA Tournament for the Huskers in the 25-point rally-scoring era.
Nebraska had seven services aces which tied the school record for most aces in a four-set NCAA Tournament match in the rally-scoring era. The Huskers also had seven aces against American in the 2006 NCAA Tournament and seven against Washington in 2015.
Jazz Sweet tied her career high with six blocks and had 17 kills, her most ever in an NCAA Tournament match and one shy of her career high overall.
Nicklin Hames and Madi Kubik each posted double-doubles for the Huskers. Hames posted her 16th double-double of the season, while Kubik notched her sixth double-double of the year.
Callie Schwarzenbach had eight blocks, one shy of her season high.
07-Dec-2019 / UNK Athletics
Kearney, Neb. – In one of the greatest comebacks in Nebraska-Kearney Athletics history, the second-ranked Loper volleyball team rallied from a 20-11 deficit in the fourth set and a 9-4 hole in the fifth to beat third-ranked Concordia-St. Paul (19-25, -19, 24-26, -23, -13) and win the NCAA Central Regional title Saturday night in the Health & Sports Center.
UNK (36-0) reaches the Elite Eight for the sixth time in program history and for the first time since being national runner in 2005. This year's event will be at a familiar place, the Auraria Event Center on the campus of RMAC-member Metro State in Denver. Matches will be held December 12-14 with a committee reseeding the field after completion of all eight regional finals.
Not only was the comeback unlikely and improbable but the Lopers had to do it minus starting middle Michaela Bartels (Bennington) who suffered an injury in the first set and didn't return. Seniors Josie Cox (North Platte) and Mackenzie Puckett (Grand Island) stepped in and both made key plays in the win.
"It's one of those deals where I really don't know what to say. That just doesn't happen. We were not in a good situation. We fought a lot of adversity tonight, didn't play well early, let a set get away from us that was tough blow to deal with at the time and then dug a huge hole," UNK head coach Rick Squiers said. "It's the most improbable victory I've ever been a part of. This group of players deserves an unbelieve amount of respect for what they just did, as does Concordia for playing a great match."
Concordia-St. Paul (27-8), nine-time national champions, scored the final four points to improbably win the third set, 26-24. The Golden Bears, now 71-8 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, shot out to leads of 11-4 and 20-11 in the fourth thanks to strong serving, good defense and a balanced offensive attack.
However, the Lopers didn't go quietly into the good night as senior outside Emma Benton (G.I. Central Catholic) served up four points to start comeback number one. This stretch cut the hole to 20-16 and featured a kill by senior outside Julianne Jackson (Bonner Springs, Kan.), an ace and two unforced Golden Bear errors.
"I was thinking one point at a time. As a senior, if this is going to be my last match, might as well go out tough and make it hard on them," Jackson said. "I think everyone bought into the one point at time. We just started to make plays happen."
CU was still up 22-18 when Jackson recorded a solo block and the Bears called its second timeout. Junior right side Mary Katherine Wolfe (Omaha Marian) then stepped to the line and served up four straight points – a block and three Jackson kills – to give UNK its first lead. While CU tied things on a kill, another Jackson kill and unforced CU attack error suddenly had the match tied at two.
Region finalists for the 11th time in 12 years, CU hushed the crowed of 2,677 briefly as they grabbed leads of 3-0, 4-1, 6-3 and 9-4 in the fifth. Back-to-back kills by redshirt freshman outside Sami Mauch (North Platte) started comeback number two and forced CU to spend its first timeout at 9-6.
Concordia kept the lead a three, 11-8, on a kill by senior middle Sara Macek but Kearney closed on a 7-2 run. The points came via three kills, two blocks, and two unforced CU attack errors. They ended with 32 on the night, 16 of the unforced variety.
Fittingly, Jackson had a solo block to end the night and send the H&S Center into a frenzy. The Co-MIAA player of the Year had a career-high 22 kills, 12 coming over the final two sets, while also having 19 digs, five blocks (four solo) and two assists.
"We didn't do all that things differently. Sami coming in and scoring a bunch of points was a big factor," Squiers said. "We kinds of steadied things (serve receive in the fourth and fifth sets) just enough and then the Health & Sports Center kind of took over."
UNK out hit CU by a .211 to .179 margin and also managed five more team blocks, 16-11. Next the Lopers had 112 digs to 108 for the Bears with Concordia plus one in the serve game.
"That was a rough one. For them congrats. I think they did a job of continuing to play and then their seventh man, so to speak, kind of took over and really helped with their momentum a lot," CU head coach Brady Starkey said. "We just got stuck in a couple of rotations and got stuck there. Pretty frustrating … we had a big lead and should've put it away and we didn't."
Besides Jackson's heroics, Wolfe had 22 digs and 11 kills, Mauch had 14 kills and hit .297 with junior setter Madison Squiers (Kearney Catholic) at 50 assists, 26 digs, four blocks and three kills. Finally junior middle Anna Squiers came in with eight kills and five blocks.
Four CU players had a double digit kill total including 20 by junior outside Erin Fallert and 19 from freshman right side Jasmine Mulvihill. Finally junior libero Tori Hanson dug up 35 balls.
All-Tournament Team
#10 Erin Fallert, Jr., OH, Concordia
#7 Tori Hanson, Jr., L, Concordia
#8 Jasmine Mulvhill, Fr., RS, Concordia
#12 Sara Macek, Sr., MH, Concordia
#10 Julianne Jackson, Sr., OH, UNK
#7 Anna Squiers, Jr., MH, UNK
#6 Madison Squiers, Jr., S, UNK
#18 Mary Katherine Wolfe, Jr., RS, UNK
#7 Morgan Baufield, Jr., MH, Northern State
#14 Jaiden Langlie, Sr., L, Northern State
#4 Emily Balts, Sr., S, Minnesota Duluth
#12 Abby Thor, Sr., MB, Minnesota Duluth
07-Dec-2019 / Husker Athletics
Led by All-Big Ten setter Nicklin Hames and its three All-Big Ten attackers, Nebraska hit .425 in the match, its second highest mark of the season. The Huskers committed a season-low eight attack errors and were not blocked for the first time in a match in more than five years. Hames dished out 34 assists while running a balanced offense as Nebraska (45 kills) had nearly twice as many kills as Ball State (23).
Madi Kubik, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, had an impressive postseason debut, as she had 11 kills on 16 error-free swings to hit a career-high .688 in the first NCAA Tournament match of her career. Lauren Stivrins had 11 kills on .667 hitting out of the middle, while Lexi Sun put down nine kills on 21 swings and hit .333. Combined, the Huskers' three all-conference attackers - Kubik, Stivrins and Sun - totaled 31 kills while committing only three errors.
Defensively, Nebraska limited Ball State (20-12) to a season-low .010 attack percentage, the only time in 32 matches this season the Cardinals hit below .120. Kenzie Knuckles had a match-high 13 digs in her NCAA Tournament debut, while Stivrins had five blocks and Hames had four stuffs, one shy of her career high. Sydnee VanBeek led Ball State with eight kills.
Nebraska and Missouri, which will be meeting in the second round in Lincoln for the second year in a row, will have a 7 p.m. start on Saturday on NET, BTN+ and the Husker Sports Network.
Set 1: Nebraska trailed 3-2 before going on a 5-0 run to take a 7-3 lead. Kubik, Hames and Sun combined on four straight kills in that stretch, and NU went up 12-6 after Sun had a kill and a block with Schwarzenbach. The lead increased to 10 at 20-10 after two kills and a block by Kubik and an ace by Miller. The Huskers pulled away to win 25-13, hitting .548 to just .071 for Ball State. NU had 3.5 blocks and killed 19 of its 25 points.
Set 2: NU rallied from down 7-5 to take a 9-7 lead after a 4-0 run sparked by a Stivrins kill and block. Hayley Densberger served an ace before a Kubik kill made it 12-8, and a pair of attacking errors by the Cardinals preceded a kill by Stivrins as the Huskers went up 18-12. Ball State got within four at 19-15, but the Huskers closed out the 25-18 win with Stivrins, Kubik and Sun posting kills down the stretch.
Set 3: Ball State had to burn a timeout after Nebraska started the set on a 6-1 run. Sweet and Kubik each had a pair of kills to get the Huskers going. Hames sparked a six-point spurt with a kill, and Kubik and Stivrins tacked on three more as Nebraska went up 17-5 on a block by Sun and Schwarzenbach. Kubik's 10th kill of the match put NU up 21-10, and Stivrins and Hames posted a block before another Kubik kill increased the lead to 23-10. Stivrins and Kubik teamed up for another block, and Miller ended the match with an ace.
07-Dec-2019 / UNK Athletics
Kearney, Neb. – Senior outside hitter Julianne Jackson and junior right side Mary Katherine Wolfe had double doubles and second-ranked Nebraska-Kearney put the shackles on eighth-ranked Northern State (-12-,-20, 18) Friday night in an NCAA Tournament second round match at the Health & Sports Center.
The match is part of the ridiculous Central Region which features seven of the nation's top nine teams. Top-seeded UNK (35-0) advances to the "Sweet 16" where it'll face third-seeded and third-ranked Concordia-St. Paul (27-7). The Golden Bears, nine-time NCAA Division II Champions, swept sixth-ranked Minnesota-Duluth in tonight's early match.
This is Kearney's first regional final trip since 2012 when it lost to CU in four sets in a match played in St. Pau. The Lopers are aiming for its first Elite Eight appearance in 14 years with this year's event set for December 12-14 in Denver.
"We're thrilled to be moving on to the regional finals. Proud of our girls … we played a very complete match, competed really had and got off to a great start," UNK head coach Rick Squiers said. "We got some early block touches and MK (Wolfe) heated up early and in some ways I think that caught them by surprise because she wasn't a big part of the offense yesterday."
To improve to 9-0 all-time vs. NSU (25-6), the Lopers used its patent defense and strong serving to stop one of the nation's top offenses. The Wolves came in among the D2 leaders in both kills per set (14.7) and hitting efficiency (.290) with UNK the leader in digs per set at 21.3. For the night NSU ended up hitting .140 with 37 kills while the Lopers dug up 56 balls.
"Congrats to Northern State … tremendous team, tremendous season. Seems like in the Central Region every match seems like a national championship match," Squiers said.
The tone was set right out of the gates as UNK used strong serving from senior outside Emma Benton (G.I. Central Catholic) to grab a 5-0 lead and force NSU to call timeout. Three of the points via kill with the others being an ace and block.
The lead ballooned to 9-1 and then 17-7 with the Lopers out hitting NSU by a .382 to .091 margin in the set. Wolfe (Omaha Marian) had six kills in 11 swings with no errors to power the offense while also digging up seven balls.
"Getting them out of system made them a little more predictable and I think we got block touches on them when we knew where they were going," Wolfe said.
Northern tried to regroup, grabbing leads of 4-1, 7-4 and 9-6 in the second set. However, they committed eight unforced attack errors with UNK again siding out a 66% clip. A 9-4 run broke a 10-10 tie and featured five kills and four Wolves miscues
"We knew we had to put pressure on them (from the service line). They have too many weapons for you to allow them to set the ball where ever they want," Squiers said. "And we capitalized on it. We got them down to one option, made a block, got a dig and transition points.
UNK then slammed the door by hitting .366 (17-2-41) in the third set. Jackson had five of her 11 kills here with Bennington freshman middle Michaela Bartels supplying four more.
"We were just really high error and didn't give ourselves a chance. Props to Kearney ... they pressured us with their serve. But we had way too many hitting errors. Twenty errors in three sets ... you're not giving yourself a chance," NSU head coach Brent Aldridge said.
Wolfe tallied a team-best 15 digs and finished with 10 kills, making this her eighth double double of the fall. Jackson had 11 kills and 11 digs, pushing her career kill total to 1,006. She is just the 13th Loper to reach 1k in both kills and digs and the first since outside Ariel Krolikowski ('12).
Next, Bartels and fellow freshman Kamryn Schuler (Grenta) played well again, combining for 16 kills and three blocks with Lincoln sophomore libero Lindsay Nottlemann at 12 digs.
NSU got 10 kills from senior Jenna Reiff with senior libero Jaiden Langlie at 16 digs.
