Dec. 7, 2002
LINCOLN, Neb. (www.TheSunDevils.com) - They played hard, they played scrappy and they never gave up, but in the end the No. 4 Nebraska Cornhuskers were just too much for the Arizona State Sun Devils as the 2002 season came to an end with a 3-0 loss in the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Saturday night in front of a red-clad crowd of 4,229 at historic NU Coliseum. Game scores were 30-22, 30-21, 30-27 in favor of the 2000 NCAA National Champion Huskers.
With the loss the Sun Devils ended the 2002 season with a 15-12 record, marking the 17th time in the program's 30-year history that ASU has gained 15 or more victories. In its 14th trip to the NCAA Tournament, ASU is now 7-14. ASU head coach Patti Snyder-Park concluded her 14 years at the helm of the Sun Devils, finishing with a career record of 216-181.
Nebraska improved to 30-1 on the season and will move into the Sweet 16 next weekend, most likely as the host at NU Coliseum. North Carolina, Hawaii and Miami (Fla.) will join the Huskers in the Central Region. The Huskers have now won 62 straight matches at home, included in that is a string of 60 straight at NU Coliseum. They will be making an appearance in the Sweet 16 for the ninth straight year.
"I'm really proud of our team. They played hard, they were aggressive and competitive. We knew we had our work cut out for us, but I'm proud of our gang. We really pushed Nebraska and we were not a walkover by any means," said Snyder-Park. 'I'm really proud of middle blocker Julia Leddy. She saved her best for last tonight. It has been a fun ride and I can't thank Arizona State enough for 14 great years."
The Devils were led by the 15 kills from junior outside hitter Juliana Escobar (Brasilia, Brazil). Escobar finished her rookie campaign at ASU with 420 kills to rank 13th in the single-season record books. With one service ace, she also moved into a tie for third in the single-season annals with 50. Her 15 kills marked the 21st time in 2002 that she recorded 10 or more kills in a match.
Senior middle blocker Julia Leddy (Mesa, Ariz.) was keyed by the Nebraska defense and was limited to her fourth lowest kill output of the year with seven. After a 22-kill effort vs. Cincinnati in the first round, Leddy solidified her name among the best middle blockers in ASU history and will end her career as the leader in career hitting percentage (.342) and has the first (.367, 2002), third (.352, 2001) and fifth (.328, 2000) single-season hitting percentages in school history.
Junior middle blocker Jodi Smith (St. Johns, Ariz.) also had seven kills in the defeat, while junior Kim Mehlhorn (Tempe, Ariz.) and sophomore Natalie Harris (Tempe, Ariz.) each had six. Harris and junior setter Cheryl Anglin (Queen Creek, Ariz.) anchored the ASU defense with nine digs apiece. Anglin finished with 23 assists and now has 3,560 career assists (second best in ASU history) going into her senior season.
The Huskers were led by a trio of co-Big 13 Players of the Year in setter Greichaly Cepero, outside hitter Laura Pilakowski and middle blocker Amber Holmquist. Cepero had three kills, five digs and 41 assists, while Pilakowski and Holmquist combined for 20 kills.
"This is a good win; a good effort from the Huskers. Arizona State presented a good match; they have good middle blockers. We played good defense, and we had a good block tonight. The crowd was psyched, so it's so fun to be out there," said Nebraska head coach John Cook.
The Huskers took control of the match from the get-go, gaining a 30-22 win in game one. Despite ASU playing solid, they were no match for the Huskers size at the net as NU hit .455 to ASU's .171. Escobar led the Devils with five kills in the opening frame.
In game two the scrappy Sun Devils got as close as two points three different times, but the Huskers were tough with the block late in the game to secure a 2-0 lead with a 30-21 game two win. Escobar led the Devils again with six kills.
Game three was much of the same for the Devils, as they fought hard to tie the score three times at 21-21, 22-22 and 23-23, and came within one point at 28-27, but couldn't push the match to a fourth game as Nebraska finished off the match for the 30-27 win.
1 2 3 ASU (15-12) 22 21 27 NEB (30-1) 30 30 30 ASU Statistical Leaders: KILLS: Escobar (15), Leddy (7), Smith (7) ASSISTS: Anglin (23) TOTAL BLOCKS: Smith (3) SERVICE ACES: Escobar (1), Harris (1) DIGS: Anglin (9), Harris (9) ATTENDANCE: 4,229