2008 Woodie Awards
Senior volleyball players sentimental, competitive to the end
Spencer Schubert
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: Sports
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Today, the Huskers get ready to take on South Dakota State University in first round action of the NCAA Tournament, which will be the last for seniors Sarah Pavan, Christina Houghtelling, Maggie Griffin and Tracy Stalls.
Nebraska Coach John Cook said each has left their own mark and their own story at NU.
"They are the complete package of a student-athlete and, specifically, a Nebraska volleyball player," Cook said.
The most decorated member of the class would have to be Pavan. She is a three-time Big 12 Conference Player of the Year, the 2006 AVCA Player of the Year, a Honda-Broderick Cup winner and much more.
She came to Lincoln in the fall of 2004 heralded by many as the nation's top recruit, and she more than lived up to her billing. She earned the first of her four first team AVCA All-American honors, while setting many Nebraska school records along the way.
She said it's hard to believe everything has gone so fast.
"I was talking to my parents the other day, and I remember the day they left my freshman year," Pavan said. "I remember it so perfectly that it seems like it was four months ago. It's hard to believe that four years have passed."
In those four years, Pavan kept busy. She has more career kills than any Husker in history, and she is on pace to average more kills per game than any Husker as well.
Cook said Pavan may have all the accolades, but the growth he's seen most in her involved something not measured by statistics.
"She wouldn't say a word when she got here," Cook said. "Now she can get up in front of a group and blow them away with the talk."
Pavan isn't the only one to talk in the senior class. That's where senior captain and middle blocker Tracy Stalls comes in.
Stalls has been the captain of the Huskers for the last two years. Whether she's yelling on the court or cheering on the bench, Stalls has been a leader from the start.
The Huskers have gone 123-6 in her four-year career at NU and, until this year, Stalls had never experienced playing on a collegiate team that was ranked No. 8 in the polls. Cook said Stalls figured out who she was early in her career.
"She has just grown more into what her strengths are," Cook said. "Her leadership and her ability has just helped her have a great mind on all of that."
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