Pavan, playing in front of family and friends who made the short commute from Kitchener, Ontario, led all players with her 17 kills, hitting .441 on 34 swings in the sweep of the Broncos.

"Sarah was in a much better rhythm with Dani (Busboom) today," NU Coach John Cook said. "She had a great warm-up and got rid of some butterflies early. I thought she was as good out of the front row as she was coming out of the back row, which is something we are trying to develop with her.

"She is learning how to play with our team and getting comfortable with our setter and getting into a consistent rhythm," Cook said. "She was a lot more comfortable and ready to play today."

Melissa Elmer added 13 kills and hit .455 as the Huskers hit a season-high .433, their best percentage since hitting .463 against Dayton in the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament. Tracy Stalls and Jennifer Saleaumua each contributed 10 kills, as NU showed balance with five players recording at least eight kills in the win.

"One of our goals for the weekend was to be a low-error attack, and we made progress today," Cook said. "We played pretty well at times today."

With the victory, the Huskers improve to 3-0 on the season heading into this weekend’s First National Bank/Arby’s Classic at the NU Coliseum. Western Michigan dipped to 3-2 on the season.

The Huskers opened with a 30-22 win in game one, hitting a blistering .436 as a team while Pavan notched nine kills on 14 attacks. The match was deadlocked at 15 before a Saleaumua kill sparked a 5-0 run for Nebraska to seize momentum.

In game two, the Huskers continued to operate with efficiency, hitting .484 in winning 30-20. Trailing 10-7, the Huskers used a 6-1 spurt to gain the lead for good, highlighted by a block, kill and ace from Elmer during the run. WMU got to within 16-14, but NU scored six of the next seven points to extend the lead to 22-15. The Huskers were never threatened again in the game.

The Huskers led 12-10 in game three before Western Michigan scored four straight points and forced a Husker timeout. Nebraska then responded with kills by Elmer and Pavan and an ace by Stalls to take a 15-14 lead. Nebraska eventually built the lead to 22-18, but the Broncos came back, regaining the lead at 26-25. The Huskers fought back with kills by Pavan and Ally Rebholz to take a 27-26 lead. After WMU tied the score at 27, Elmer and Stalls scored back-to-back points to put NU up 29-27, before Rebholz’s kill two points later gave NU the sweep.

Shaylen Jackson had 10 kills to lead Western Michigan, which hit .196 in the loss.

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.