Box Score: Florida 3, Nebraska 1

Photo Showcase: Sunday's AVCA Showcase

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Nothing has changed Florida coach Mary Wise's opinion that one of the roads to the volleyball final four in Kansas City will go through the NU Coliseum.

Interstate 29, though, looks a lot bumpier now for the Huskers than it did on Saturday night.

Second-ranked Nebraska narrowly avoided being swept Sunday by the No. 13 Gators at the AVCA Showcase. Florida and superstar junior Kelly Murphy wouldn't crack under the pressure of playing in front of 5,978 noisy fans at Qwest Center Omaha.

Late in the fifth set, right when it looked like Nebraska was going to polish off a remarkable comeback, the Gators hit the gas for a 25-22, 25-22, 29-31, 13-25, 15-12 win.

“To beat Nebraska in this state,” Wise said, “you have to match the energy — not only of the six players on the other side, but all the Husker fans with them. I think this team really did deliver that way.”

A day after NU steamrolled No. 14 Kentucky in a three-set romp, the Huskers looked like a much different team while losing the first two sets to the Gators.

Coach John Cook's players showed their mettle by winning a nail-biter third set that brought the audience to life. Florida had three shots at match point. Clutch kills by Morgan Broekhuis and Hannah Werth kept Nebraska alive, and the Huskers got consecutive putaways from Lindsey Licht and Tara Mueller to force a fourth set.

Nebraska breezed past the Gators in that set, and the Huskers built an 11-7 lead in the final game. NU then gave away three straight points on attack errors — one by Broekhuis and two by Allison McNeal, both first-year starters. The miscues gave new life to Florida, and the Gators went on to win when Murphy turned in a kill and a stuff block. NU errors accounted for four of Florida's final six points.

“I think our kids did a great job of fighting back and getting in position to win the match,” Cook said. “The thing that hurts the most is that it was pretty much all on our side of the net. The good thing is we can take care of those things; we can get better from that.

“The bad news is, we let Florida get out of here with a win.”

Not only will Nebraska's untimely errors haunt Cook, he was disturbed that the Huskers didn't do a better job of passing the ball. NU returned all of its primary passers from last season, and Cook thought that area was going to be one of his new team's greatest strengths.

“I think a lot of yesterday may have been Kentucky,” he said about the Huskers' night-and-day AVCA showing. “Florida played a lot better today than they did yesterday (in a four-set win over No. 9 Iowa State). They had nothing to lose, and they were going for it.”

Both the Huskers and Gators are breaking in new two-setter attacks. There was one huge difference between the teams' offenses, and she was wearing No. 12 in orange and blue.

Murphy, in one of the most dazzling individual performances ever by a Nebraska opponent, was an unstoppable force. A returning second-team All-American, the 6-foot-2 lefty plays both setter and right-side hitter for the Gators and never leaves the court. Sunday, she finished with 23 assists, 10 digs, three blocks and an ace. She tied her career high with 20 kills and scorched Nebraska on .514 hitting.

What was most impressive, Wise said, is that Murphy did all of that — against one of the best defensive teams in the country — when everybody in the arena knew the ball was going her way on every available opportunity.

“I think we just did a really good job of staying calm and not getting wrapped up in the whole atmosphere,” said Murphy, a prized recruit who picked Florida over Nebraska and almost every other top program in the country.

Joining Murphy on the all-tournament team were Nebraska's Licht and Kayla Banwarth. Licht connected for 18 kills and hit .464, while Banwarth had 23 digs.

Nebraska will look to rebound from its first bout of adversity Tuesday night when it visits Creighton at a sold-out Sokol Arena in Omaha. It marks the second straight year that the Huskers open the season with a 1-1 record.

“Any loss, any mistake, any error, you're going to learn from it,” said Nebraska setter Sydney Anderson, who had 25 assists in helping her team hit .253. “We are going to learn from this. We are going to get better.”

Contact the writer:

444-1207, chad.purcell@owh.com

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