NU may have lost, but volleyball could be big winner
digg it!
Facebook
del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit
By TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star
A year ago, we said that volleyball took a huge step with Nebraska winning the national title on a major stage at the sold-out Qwest Center Omaha.
A year later, Nebraska fans are bumming, but volleyball could come out a winner again with a final four in northern California blessed with the presence of both Stanford and California. Should those teams meet Saturday for the national championship, a sold-out ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Calif., would be another significant step for a sport that has thrived only in pockets of the nation.
Another year where the arena is full and fans are excited can’t help but get the attention of TV executives who for years have mostly ignored the sport. The fact that regional semifinal matches can’t make it on TV should be an embarrassment for those trying to build the sport.
Next year, the final four returns to Omaha, and while the Huskers won’t necessarily be favored to get there, the arena should be full and fans will be excited to cheer great volleyball. In 2009, it heads to Tampa, where officials better work hard to sell tickets or the sport risks taking a step back at a time when momentum seems to be building.
Headline news
* Officials estimate that 10 percent of the 12,000 all-session passes already sold for this week’s final four are held by NU backers.
* I don’t know why the final four hasn’t been back in Madison, Wis., since 1998. Even without the Badgers, the regional drew crowds comparable with the other sites.
* Although both of Cal’s outside hitters, Hana Cutura and Angie Pressey, have famous basketball-playing fathers, both said they are terrible hoops players. Cutura, whose father, Zoran, played in the Olympics for Yugoslavia, laughed when she said, “You don’t want to see me play.”
News around the Big 12: It would be a mistake for the Big 12 to change from its Wednesday-Saturday format, but until the NCAA changes its regional schedule to avoid playing back-to-back days, conference teams will be at a postseason disadvantage.
The Big 12 is the only league that schedules its regular-season matches without regard to travel, allowing teams to settle into a Wednesday-Saturday routine that benefits class attendance, match preparation and fan interest.
But there has to be something to what California coach Rich Feller stressed was an advantage for his team against Nebraska in last weekend’s regional final. Preparing to face a top team one night, then turning around to face another the next, is an every-week occurrence for Pac-10 teams, and something that the Huskers have to adjust to.
Was that the difference in Saturday’s loss? No. And do the Huskers or their fans want to go back to playing at home on Friday and Saturday one week and on the road the next? Please, no.
But it is something that Nebraska will have to work to overcome when there is little else to separate the top teams.
Chart toppers: The Journal Star’s Todd Henrichs votes in the weekly Molton media poll. His top 10:
1. Stanford. Probably wanted a rematch with NU.
2. Penn State. Easiest path to the final four in years.
3. USC. Mick Haley got the best of his old team.
4. California. How did the Bears lose to Colorado?
5. Nebraska. Seniors accounted for 57 percent of points.
6. Texas. 2008 setter will determine Horns’ future.
7. Florida. Gators figured on a better finish.
8. Washington. Hasn’t missed final four since 2003.
9. UCLA. Nice run given late-season struggles.
10. Oregon. Split matches with UCLA during season.
Most Commented news