Unfinished Business

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this at some point.





Last weekend the Nebraska Cornhuskers women's volleyball team captured its third ever national championship in front of a record (and astonishing) 17, 203 fans in Omaha, Neb.

I mentioned this in a column in a Brandon Sun column I wrote earlier this week, but the team was led by a Canadian. If you follow volleyball and don't know Sarah Pavan's name ... well, you don't really follow volleyball. A 6-foot-5 junior, Pavan won seemingly every individual accolade possible in leading the Huskers to a one-loss season and undoubtedly has a place in the NU volleyball Hall of Fame sitting and waiting for her.

One thing I found interesting, however, was after the Huskers had beaten the Stanford Cardinal in four sets, Stanford head coach John Dunning was quoted as saying: "“She has been playing volleyball a long time. ... Like some of the players (in Canada), it’s in her blood.”

It was a nice tip of the cap to Canadian volleyball, which has been hindered by the success of some of its players down south. Pavan is not a national-team member because of her commitments to Nebraska and don't doubt for a second that Canada would be much more competitive on the international scene if it could get everyone it desired.

I also drew comparisons in the aforementioned column between Nebraska and Manitoba for volleyball because both are quietly the hotbeds of their respective nations for producing female volleyball players.

But enough of that. The Huskers have another national championship to their credit and for anyone suggesting that UNL is a football school only, consider the fact the volleyball team repeatedly set attendance records this season.

Oh, and another thing: Pavan was the most highly recruited athlete in Nebraska athletics history.