What a Team!

I offer my deepest apologies and regrets. I knew going into this Husker football season, with all of it's anticipation, questions, wonder, and excitement that something important might get ignored. Husker volleyball was put on the shelf as I poured myself in the goings on of the football team. Again, I offer my apologies, because I was ignorant. I wrote the Lady Huskers off at the beginning of the season because the team lost four, yes four, All-Americans and head coach John Cook red shirted a whole bunch of talent that could have potentially contributed to this year's campaign. I figured they would be good, but not great. I was wrong. Very wrong.

All the Ladies did was storm through the season undefeated until a shocking upset on October 29th at Colorado. They picked themselves up and kept steamrolling, then were defeated at Texas about three weeks later. Total losses on the season - two. Nothing short of amazing. After defeating Liberty and UAB in the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament, it was on to Seattle for the regional semifinals. In the first match, the Huskers blasted Michigan three sets to none, then faced Washington. The Huskies jumped out to a 2-0 lead, putting the Huskers in a must-win situation over the next three sets to win the match. And that's exactly what they did. Even down 9-3 at one point in the final set, they battled back to defeat Washington and return to Omaha for the final four.

Their first match was against an incredible Penn State team, who was not only undefeated during the regular season, but hadn't even lost a set. 109 straight sets the Nittany Lions had won coming into last night's match. And they made it 111 straight after beating the Huskers convincingly in the first two sets. Once again, the Huskers' backs were against the ropes. It was Washington all over again, only this time they faced a much better team than Penn State. And once again, I made the mistake of writing them off. I've learned my lesson, ladies and gentlemen. The Huskers smoked Penn State in the next two sets to tie the match at two sets apiece, and came out firing for the fifth and final match to move onto the championship match. It was an amazing set, and the Huskers fought valiantly as they had all season. Penn State, thought, was too much this time and flexed their muscle to take the final set and advance.

So the Lady Huskers wrote the final chapter of their incredible 2008 season last night. A season which was much more than anyone, myself included, predicted. I can only imagine what next season will be with all of the talent Coach Cook has in store. Wow. And I make my solemn vow to never ignore this team again. Congratulations, Ladies!

GO BIG RED!!