LINCOLN (AP) - Nebraska coach John Cook is counting on football karma to rub off on his volleyball team in the NCAA Championships at the Alamodome.
“Hopefully, we'll go down there with the mentality that football has had, where we own San Antonio,” Cook said Monday, referring to the football team's 4-0 record at the Alamodome.
The top-seeded Cornhuskers (32-1) are in the national semifinals for the first time since 2001 and ninth time overall.
They play unseeded Santa Clara (27-4) at 8 p.m. Thursday. Third-seeded Washington (30-1) meets No. 15 Tennessee (24-8) in the first semifinal.
Winners meet for the national championship at 5 p.m. Saturday. Nebraska won titles in 1995 and 2000.
“We're on a mission, and we're not letting anything get in our way,” senior middle blocker Melissa Elmer said. “We've got two more steps to achieve to get to our final goal. We've been playing some great volleyball, and that's great to see this time of year.”
The Huskers cleared what Cook considered a major obstacle in winning the Omaha Regional over the weekend. They swept UCLA and Florida before NCAA-record crowds of 15,000, with all but a few of the fans wearing Nebraska colors.
Winning the regional alleviated some pressure, Cook said.
“Everybody talks about home-court advantage. But in the back of your mind, you're thinking, ‘What if we don't get it done?”' Cook said. “I thought Saturday night was a pressure match, not only because we were at home and we had a lot to lose, but we were playing a great team in Florida.
“The way our team responded to that shows how much confidence they have and how much they believe they have a chance to win a national championship. It was one big barrier we knocked down to get to this week.”
Santa Clara, which plays in the West Coast Conference, presents a dangerous challenge, Cook said.
The Broncos, who had never advanced past the NCAA tournament's second round in 10 previous appearances, are enjoying their best season in program history. They beat No. 5 Arizona for the second time this season to win the Palo Alto Regional and equal their school record for wins.
Santa Clara, a 5,000-student Jesuit school in the San Francisco Bay Area, is ranked 11th nationally but came into the tournament unseeded after a three-game losing streak in November.
“Santa Clara is the Cinderella team,” Cook said. “They pulled off a lot of big wins to get there, so they're on a roll right now. We have to expect it's going to be our toughest match of the year.”
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