LINCOLN — It was throwback day at the Coliseum, too, only nobody wearing red was celebrating.

Flash back to 2004 to find the last time the Nebraska volleyball team lost a match at their famous on-campus gym.

More than half the players on Texas' roster weren't born in 1988, the year the Longhorns last celebrated a win in Lincoln.

And you'd have to set the time machine dial all the way back to 1978 to visit the last time Nebraska had four losses just 13 matches into a season.

No. 2 Texas overcame some early home-team momentum Saturday and eventually had little trouble in overpowering sixth-ranked Nebraska in a 25-22, 18-25, 25-17, 25-17 victory. The Longhorns snapped the Huskers' 82-match winning streak at the Coliseum, and Nebraska now has dropped two straight matches for the first time since 2003.

But even though a good amount of history was rewritten in this match, coach John Cook and his players said they have no choice but to keep working toward a brighter future. It might not be an easy thought to digest this weekend, but the goal for Cook's young and inexperienced team still is to take strides each day and gel going into the NCAA tournament.

“We take two steps forward, two steps back, and that's not going to get us anywhere,” said Nebraska libero Kayla Banwarth, who fought back tears during the post-match press conference. “We have to continue making progress. One of these days — I promise you — it will click for us. Watch out.”

Texas, a veteran club picked to win the Big 12 and make it back to the final four, clearly was the better team. But without question, this match might've had a different outcome had the Huskers (9-4, 2-2 Big 12) avoided a late-set collapse in the opener.

With the score knotted 22-all, and the sellout crowd of 4,166 rattling the rafters, Texas won the set following Banwarth's errant serve and back-to-back attack errors by Tara Mueller and Brooke Delano.

Considering how well the Huskers played while winning set two, it's no stretch to think that Texas could've been in serious trouble had Nebraska avoided that fist-set meltdown.

“If we're up 2-0, they've got a hell of a lot more pressure on them than they do if it's 1-1,” said Cook, whose team had won 56 straight home Big 12 matches since 2003. “You've just got to put teams away.”

After intermission, the Longhorns (9-0, 4-0) began to dominate the match, and the energy that had the Coliseum buzzing slowly but surely fizzled away.

“It's definitely a tough place to play,” Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said. “We struggled to find our rhythm, but we found ways to be successful and stay patient.

“It wasn't easy, and Nebraska does it the best way in the country in regard to fans and support. This was a big win for our program.”

Cook said Saturday's match looked like a carbon-copy of Nebraska's four-set loss at Texas A&M on Wednesday. In both cases, the Huskers played dazzling volleyball for stretches. But in the end, they made far too many mistakes to have any hope of winning.

Against the Longhorns, the Huskers gave away 15 points on off-target serves and finished with 34 attack errors. Cook chalks up all of the miscues to inexperience and the burden of expectations his young players feel in trying to uphold the program's tradition of success.

“I told them that (winning) is a muscle that they have to develop,” Cook said. “It could be Monday, it could be six months from now (when they put the pieces together). I don't know, but that's why we coach, and that's part of developing a team.”

Texas standout Destinee Hooker had 15 kills on .308 attacking, while Ashley Engle had 29 assists and five kills to help the Longhorns outhit the Huskers .239 to .132. It was a win to savor for the two UT seniors, who said one of their top goals this year was to snap Texas' 21-year run of futility on Nebraska's home court.

“It's been a really long time, and it's because they have a great program, amazing fans, and they always have a team that just battles and battles,” Engle said. “Normally, we don't just get beat here — we get killed here.”

Two encouraging signs for the Huskers have been the recent strong play of middle blocker Kori Cooper, the team's only senior, and rookie outside hitter Hannah Werth. Cooper, who has been easing her way back from last year's knee injury, had nine kills and hit .318 Saturday. Werth buried 11 kills while swinging at a .207 clip.

Juniors Lindsey Licht and Tara Mueller combined for 25 kills, and they played well in spurts. But neither had an attack percentage better than .029 at match's end. The Huskers had more kills and more digs than Texas, but it still didn't add up to a victory.

“I'm proud of our kids and how hard they competed, but the bottom line is 34 attack errors and 15 service errors,” said Cook, whose team faces another tough road test Wednesday at Oklahoma. “You can't double the errors on a top-five team and expect to win. We have to find a way to work through that.”

Texas (9-0, 4-0) 25 18 25 25

Nebraska (9-4, 2-2) 22 25 17 17

Texas (kills-aces-blocks): Faucette 8-0-5, Adams 7-0-4, Engle 5-0-4, McNeal 3-1-3, Yogi 0-0-0, Hooker 15-0-1, Doris 3-0-2, Arenas 0-0-0, Roberson 0-0-0, Kisner 0-1-0, Webster 1-0-0.

Nebraska (kills-aces-blocks): Anderson 2-0-0, Licht 12-0-4, Delano 7-0-5, Cooper 9-0-1, Mueller 13-2-4, Werth 11-1-0, Banwarth 0-0-0, Wilberger 0-0-0, Mancuso 0-0-0, Pendergast 0-0-0, Yanz 0-0-0.

Set assists: Texas 39 (Engle 29); Nebraska 51 (Anderson 42). A: 4,166.

Contact the writer:

444-1207, chad.purcell@owh.com