Bowl Games 2010: Nebraska vs. Washington match turns hostile
People were surprised by the outcome of the match between Nebraska and Washington in which the un-seeded Huskies overthrew the number two overall seed Cornhuskers on Friday in the NCAA tournament. The Seattle Regional match ended
with the scoreboard showing 25-16, 20-25, 25-21, 29-27 in favour of Washington.
However, no one knew there were more surprises to come. As both the coaches met to shake hands, a verbal exchange turned hostile with the Washington Coach Jim McLaughlin lunging towards Nebraska’s John Cook.
Later, at a press conference that night, McLaughlin had the following comment to make,
“I really can’t tell you. No comment.”
Cook’s comments over the incident were as follows,
“Apparently, he was upset about something I said. I said: ‘Great match. That ball was in.’ And about 500 people from Washington confirmed it as I walked out; they said it was in.”
Cook was referring to a crucial point in the fourth set. Nebraska were leading the set at 27-26, and a win would mean the regional semi-final going on to a fifth set. University of Washington Senior, Kindra Carlson hit a ball,
which fell near the baseline. The Cornhuskers thought it had gone out and started celebrating. However, the ball was called in by the officials, giving victory to the Huskers as they went on to score two more points. The scoreboard showed 25-16, 20-25, 25-21,
29-27 at the end of the match.
Nebraska made six digs while Washington hit a .571. All the digs for Nebraska came from Kayla Banwarth. On the Husker’s attacking side, Kindra Carlson was the most active, who made 6-for-7 on attacks.
In the second set, the Huskies dominated the scene for most of the time with an 18-13 lead. However, Tara Mueller of Nebraska capitalized on the service error made by Washington, by making an eight point run.
Jordan Wilberger and Morgan Broekhuis of Nebraska also played a significant role by making the very first Nebraska block of the match.
Nebraska made a critical error when it let Washington take off from an 18-18 lead. Nebraska trailed until 21-20, but were unable to take over and seal the deal.
Despite the unpleasant end of the regional semi-finals, Herbert is looking ahead with optimism.
“We have an opportunity to play (Saturday night) to go to the Final Four,” he said.
“The gratification is in that. The ultimate return is going and winning the thing. We’re still in this thing; we’re playing well. You just can’t bounce off the ceiling after a win like this.”
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