The University of Nebraska at Kearney volleyball team found out Tuesday at practice that it is ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II.
UNK Coach Rick Squiers said the Hawaii Pacific team beaten by his Lopers could easily be the best team in Division II.
The lofty perch is a first for the program, and the 9-0 Lopers more than earned it Saturday night in Honolulu.
They escaped with a 30-26, 25-30, 27-30, 30-25, 15-10 win over ninth-ranked Hawaii Pacific, a team that Coach Rick Squiers said is probably the toughest that UNK has ever played.
"That was a team even while we were playing them, I couldn't imagine anyone else in Division II better than they were," he said. "They were just playing awesome.
"We went out to their place, the second match of the day, a very tough environment, and knocked them off somehow. That says more about where we are at than the poll."
Squiers said the Lopers were almost giddy after the win against a team that had four women listed at 6-foot-2 and had players from throughout the world.
He said the game was played in a packed high school gym, the temperature was over 100 degrees and the crowd and band were so loud that he had to take his team outside between games so he could give them instructions.
He said the Lopers were a little concerned after looking at Hawaii Pacific's roster and then seeing the atmosphere when the band started playing. The game also was telecast locally.
"They got the first point on a huge kill, and then Erin Gudmundson answered right back with an even bigger kill," Squiers said. "It was like, 'It's on.' Our girls didn't back down at all."
The Lopers had just ended a 3-0 run through the BYU tournament, and Saturday night's match was their second of the day. But putting the team in such a tough position was just what Squiers wanted.
"I don't think we could have found a more difficult place for them to play in Division II," he said. "We weren't necessarily expecting we were going to win, but we knew we had to do those things to get better."
Squiers said he told the team there might be a possibility of moving from third to first in Division II after the win.
Then, second-ranked UC San Diego (9-1) knocked off No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) before losing to No. 17 Minnesota-Duluth.
UNK received 845 points and 16 of the possible 35 first-place votes in the first regular-season poll by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
"I think it makes the bull's-eye on our back just a bit bigger than it already was," Squiers said. "But hey, if you are going to be up there, you might as well be No. 1."
Squiers planned to tell his team at practice, and he expected the Lopers to be pretty excited. He said it's also a nice recruiting tool.
"It's obviously going to be tough to stay here for weeks and weeks," he said. "We do have a lot of tough games left.
"Even if we're only No. 1 for a week, I'm sure it's something they will remember."
Nebraska-Kearney #1 in NCAA division II volleyball
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Nebraska-Kearney #1 in NCAA division II volleyball
Just got a kick out of this... UNK beating a highly ranked team from Hawaii (a state traditionally powerful in the sport).
