Monday, October 31, 2011

Nebraska setter Lauren Cook arrested after car accident

[INFORMATION IN THIS REPORT HAS BEEN UPDATED]


Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook answered questions at a news conference today about the arrest of his daughter, Lauren Cook, on Sunday. Lauren Cook is the starting setter for John Cook's team.

Lauren Cook
[Lincoln Police Dept./AP]
According to a report in today's Omaha World-Herald, Lauren Cook was driving her parents' car at noon on Sunday when she allegedly hit two motorcyclists on the side of the road and then fled the scene. The newspaper says Cook drove several blocks, then called police. The World-Herald says Cook told police she "just panicked" after the incident.

The newspaper reports that Cook was driving with a suspended license, and that she has been found guilty of four traffic violations since 2007.

According to the World-Herald:
John Cook, her father and head coach of the top-ranked volleyball team, said Monday that his daughter remains on the team, but he would not address her status for this weekend's matches against Michigan and Michigan State. He said he had been in contact with Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne about athletic department procedures on dealing with arrests.
The motorcyclists were reported to have minor injuries.

[THANKS TO TERRY WOOD FOR THE HEADS-UP ON THIS BREAKING NEWS]

UPDATE: According to a report in the Lincoln Journal Star, the injuries to one of the motorcyclists was more than "minor." Lincoln police say one accident victim apparently suffered a broken leg:

According to a Lincoln police report, Cook was driving west on Humphrey Avenue near North 14th Street when she collided with a Honda motorcycle that was parked on the edge of the street around noon Sunday. 
Witness William Umana, 23, was driving east on Humphrey Avenue when he saw the black Toyota 4Runner hit the motorcycle. He said he saw the driver of the SUV as she continued to head west on Humphrey Avenue. Umana said she appeared to be panicking as she drove away. 
"She looked at me, and was freaked out," he said. 
Umana said he helped tend to the driver of the motorcycle, Nathaniel Kollars, 30. Lincoln police said Kollars suffered a broken leg. A passenger on the motorcycle was treated for abrasions. 
Cook drove about half a mile away, and, after calling her mother, called police, according to a probable cause affidavit for her arrest. Officer Katie Flood said Cook called at 11:59 a.m., six minutes after police first received word of the crash. An officer found her alone in the 2007 4Runner, its front right tire shredded, according to the affidavit.

How did Washington beat Arizona?


It was the second set. Arizona led 14-10.
Washington’s Evan Sanders set Lauren Barfield on a quick. With a blocker in her face, Barfield jumped high enough—and made a decision fast enough—to blast the ball in a seam to the left of the blocker and just out of a defender’s reach. Point, Huskies.
Jenni Nogueras then stepped to the service line. After a roller-coaster month, including the high of being included in Washington’s newly-installed 6-2 offense—and the unimaginable low of losing her father to cancer—Nogueras knew this weekend was an important test of her ability to go forward.
Washington's Jenni Nogueras (9) cheers a point against Arizona
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]
Her first serve was tough for the Wildcats to handle; the short rally ended with a Kylin Muñoz kill, off the block and down the line. Nogueras’ next serve led to a kill by Bianca Rowland, who is finding a rhythm with Nogueras that she hadn’t yet mastered with Sanders. The third serve ended with a fourth consecutive kill: a smart Muñoz tip. Time out Arizona, with the score tied at 14.
The Wildcats couldn’t handle Nogueras’ fourth serve; Rowland buried the overpass. Rowland and Summer Ross roofed the next Arizona attack, followed by another Muñoz dig to end a long rally. 17-14 Washington, and another UA time out.
During time outs, coaches order up a set play off the serve receive, and more times than not, the team calling the time out wins the next point. But that doesn’t work against a great serve, and Nogueras’ jump float was again too hot to handle: the point ended with another Ross/Rowland block. Seven straight points, and the set was effectively over.
The Huskies did a lot of things right on Sunday against a team that recently beat #1 UCLA and has given better teams fits.
So … How did Washington beat Arizona?
THE 6-2 STARTED TO CLICK
Krista Vansant (16) congratulates
Bianca Rowland (15)
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]
Jim McLaughlin’s grand experiment to switch his offense in the middle of the season—with his team (at the time) ranked #2 with a 15-1 record—has raised more than a few eyebrows. But the insertion of Nogueras, and pairing her with Rowland, looked like it paid dividends against the Wildcats.
Rowland was unstoppable this weekend. In two matches against ASU and Arizona, she had a combined 15 kills and just one error on 37 attempts (.378). Rowland had a bounce in her step and exerted leadership not seen this season, especially in Friday’s fifth set.
“She was really good,” said Washington Coach Jim McLaughlin after the match.
“Confidence is an interesting thing,” he said, in reference to the team’s adjustment to the 6-2. “Winning helps, but it’s understanding what you need to do, and—through mindful repetition—believing we can do this.”
A FOURTH HITTER STEPPED UP
The most obvious advantage of the 6-2 is the ability to bring in a fourth hitter. Sophomore Gabbi Parker had an erratic night against ASU, but was the star of Sunday’s Arizona match. Parker had 11 kills and just one error on 21 attempts, and worked hard to vary her shots, both speed and location.
Gabbi Parker attacks
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]
“If I see I have wide open line, I’m gonna take it,” Parker said. “If I have a tough shot, I’m just gonna hit high off the hands, and make it so they can’t dig it as easily. We talk about, it’s easy to dig a ball; it’s not easy to dig a ball off the block. So, we’re really trying to hit the ball hard off the hands.”
“Gabbi was big time,” McLaughlin said. “Best game so far as a Husky. I think that’s just the beginning; she can take off from here.”
Parker has been given opportunities before. What allowed her to click this time out?
“I have a big problem with being mentally focused,” Parker said. “And letting myself get down when I make mistakes. So I’ve been working really hard on not letting myself get down on mistakes. And on hitting my shots and hitting harder on the next ball and making ‘em pay for every ball.”
The Huskies are the nation’s best blocking team, averaging an astonishing 3.57 blocks per set. It bears mentioning that Parker stepped seamlessly into that role as well, helping the team to an eye-popping 14.5 team blocks in just three sets.
By contrast, Arizona employed a spread read, allowing the Huskies to run a combination at just one blocker. Both Parker and Krista Vansant (8 kills) were particularly effective when crossing in front or behind their middle blocker.
THE HUSKIES ARE HOT AT HOME
Washington has lost just once at home this season, its conference-opening match against USC. Against the Trojans, the Huskies kept it close in all three sets, but couldn’t finish the deal.
Since then, Washington has shown an uncanny ability to win close sets at home. On several occasions, they’ve trailed by 2 or 3 points when their opponent reaches 21 or more. Time and again, the Huskies coolly persevered, coming from behind, usually on the strength of great serving.
Washington's Krista Vansant (16) hits through the block on a combination play
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]
Sunday was no exception. In the third set, Arizona went ahead 22-20 on an amazing service ace by Courtney Karst, whose rocket serve clipped Washington’s right sideline. The next rally was long, but the Wildcats were in the net.
Evan Sanders stepped to the service line and the Huskies won the next two points, on an Arizona hitting error and a Krista Vansant kill. Leading 23-22, Sanders served an ace. On the final play, Jenna Orlandini made an astonishing dig, and the Wildcats put their subsequent attack out of bounds for the final point.
After the match, Sanders sought out Karst. They were club teammates (for Colorado’s Front Range), and Sanders still considers Karst her BFF.
“She asked me, ‘couldn’t you just let us win one set?’” said Sanders.
The answer, of course, was no.

Pac-12 power rankings: October 31, 2011


1.
UCLA (3)
Season sweep of Bay Area schools made a real statement. This Friday: Will Bruins avenge an ugly early loss at the hands of UW?
2.
USC (1)
Long win streak finally ends; still think Trojans could beat Stanford most nights.
3.
Stanford (4)
Sweep of USC a surprise. Next real test: two weeks in Seattle
4.
Cal (2)
Ugly weekend at home. Trip to Rockies just what doctor ordered.
5.
Washington (5)
Scary win against ASU followed by dominant win against UA. Next four: UCLA, USC, Stanford, Cal. Now THAT’s scary …
6.
Oregon (6)
Title hopes died with loss at home to Utah
7.
Arizona (7)
At least they own a victory over UCLA
8.
Oregon St (8)
Beavers able to beat Utes after Ducks could not
9.
WSU (9)
Still better than the bottom three, but unable to climb to the middle of the Pac
10.
Utah (10)
Nice win in Eugene followed by not-so-nice stinker in Corvallis
11.
Arizona St (11)
This team is young, talented and in need of one more big hitter
12.
Colorado (12)
Took OSU to 5 sets, which is more than Utah can say



Washington remains #10 in coaches' poll; UCLA is new #1


All of last week’s top 5 lost, so coaches in this week's AVCA poll vaulted #6 UCLA to the top spot. Worth noting that UCLA’s three losses are to unranked Arizona (Washington swept the Wildcats this season), to #14 Pepperdine and to Washington. The Huskies and Bruins square off in LA this weekend.

Seven different teams received first-place votes this week, which could be a record.

Easy to spot the coaches who don’t really treat the poll seriously: Someone voted Illinois #1 after it lost again, this time at home to 13-8 Minnesota. Someone else voted for Penn State, despite its five losses this season. And there are two first-place votes for Hawai’i, which mostly plays teams that would have a hard time cracking the top 50.

Florida did not drop far enough, after losing twice this weekend. At a minimum, they should be below Kentucky, which beat Florida just yesterday and has a better overall record.

Rank
School (First-Place Votes)
Total Points
2011 Record
Last Week
1
UCLA (41)
1457
20-3
6
2
Nebraska (9)
1386
18-2
1
3
Stanford (1)
1323
17-4
5
4
Southern California (5)
1306
18-4
4
5
Illinois (1)
1245
21-2
3
6
Penn State (1)
1218
17-5
8
7
California
1179
21-4
2
8
Hawai'i (2)
1112
24-1
7
9
Texas
1027
15-4
9
10
Washington
941
18-4
10
11
Purdue
893
20-3
11
12
Northern Iowa
843
24-1
12
13
Iowa State
735
17-4
14
14
Pepperdine
655
17-5
18
15
Minnesota
630
13-8
15
16
Tennessee
578
20-3
20
17
Florida
542
17-5
13
18
Florida State
460
19-4
19
19
Kentucky
390
21-4
24
20
Oregon
372
14-7
16
21
San Diego
327
23-3
17
22
Ohio State
170
16-9
23
23
Michigan
146
16-8
22
24
Colorado State
133
17-4
25
25
Oklahoma
105
19-6
21

Have your friends discovered Volleyblog Seattle? Number of unique visits: