Meister der Farbe » owed that shortstop Jean Segura didnt have

LINCOLN, Neb. -- A day after Nebraskas volleyball season nearly came to an end at the hands of Big Ten rival Penn State, the Huskers looked like they were putting on a clinic against Washington.All the drama, huge points, and subsequent relief that marked the Huskers five-set escape on Friday was processed into confidence. It helped them to a 3-0 domination of the Huskies on Saturday.Its a muscle, or toughness, that you develop when you go through something like that, Nebraska coach John Cook said of his Huskers rallying from down two sets and two match points to the Nittany Lions in the regional semifinals. You just get stronger.I told them that before [Saturdays] match, You guys have another level, you just dont know it. And its going to come out tonight. Did it ever. Nebraska won 25-16, 25-10, 25-21 over the Pac-12 regular-season champions, beating Washington in the regional final for the second year in a row. The Huskers hit .437, and they held the Huskies to .088 -- and its hard to pick which one of those stats is more impressive. Washington is a very good team, but you couldnt tell by watching how much Nebraska controlled everything.So this was the match with which the Huskers seniors said goodbye to the sold-out (as always) Devaney Center and hello to another final four.Nebraska, the No. 1 overall seed, is going to the national semifinals for the second year in a row and 13th time total. The defending national champions will be seeking the programs fifth NCAA title, and theyre trying to do one of the few things the Huskers havent done in this sport: win back-to-back championships.Washington was a program the Huskers knew well, but their national semifinal opponent is even more familiar: former conference mate and No. 4 seed Texas, which made its 12th final four with a sweep of Creighton in the Austin regional final.Texas and Nebraska battled in the Big 12 until the Huskers moved to the Big Ten in 2011. They met in the NCAA final last year, won in a sweep by Nebraska. Nebraska also swept Texas at the start of this season, in the VERT Challenge in Eugene, Oregon, in August. Nebraska leads the series with Texas 32-21.While regional host schools Nebraska and Texas advanced after surviving five-set matches in Fridays semifinals, Wisconsin did not. The No. 3 Badgers lost a 2-0 lead to sixth-seeded Stanford in Saturdays final in Madison, Wisconsin, and fell 15-9 in the fifth set. The loss ended the great college career of Wisconsin setter Lauren Carlini, who led the Badgers to the final four as a freshman.Stanford is the only school that has more national semifinal appearances than Nebraska -- the Cardinal now have 20, with six NCAA titles.Stanford will face No. 2 seed Minnesota, which had the least drama of any of the top seeds in advancing to the final four. The Gophers swept No. 10 seed UCLA in Saturdays final after beating No. 15 Missouri 3-1 in the semifinals. Minnesota is in the final four for the fifth time in program history and for the second season in a row. The Gophers lost to Texas in the national semifinals last year.Nebraskas Kadie Rolfzen had 10 kills and seven digs Saturday to go along with her 14 kills and 18 digs on Friday, and she was named the Lincoln regionals most outstanding player. A first-team All-American last year, she is one of four Huskers seniors, along with her twin sister, Amber.In Fridays victory, Amber had a kill and then teamed with junior setter Kelly Hunter for a block on the two match points that Nebraska saved against Penn State. Saturday, Amber had five kills and four block assists.We knew we had that fight in us from [Friday], Kadie Rolfzen said. It was something I felt throughout the whole day. The result didnt surprise me. ... We were really excited, and we were just playing loose.The Rolfzen sisters are natives of Nebraska and have been committed to the program since they were 14. But two transfers from the Lone Star State did a lot in this regional, too, for the Huskers.Briana Holman, who is from DeSoto, Texas, played two seasons at LSU, then transferred to Nebraska last year and had to sit out while the Huskers won the NCAA title. She had 17 kills and four block-assists against Penn State.Andie Malloy, whos from Allen, Texas, played one season at Iowa State, then two at Baylor before spending her senior season at Nebraska.Even though I was only here for a year, I got to experience the best fans in college volleyball, said Malloy, who had a team-high 15 kills Saturday. The atmosphere that has been built here with this program is surreal, and its been fun to be a part of. J.T. Brown Jersey . But when it comes to determining if Raymond will find a place on the Leafs roster when training camp concludes in a week, well, that decision will ultimately fall to the head coach. Jonas Brodin Wild Jersey . The recently retired Stern was elected Friday to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and will be enshrined with the class of 2014 on Aug. http://www.authenticwildpro.com/Mikko-koivu-wild-jersey/ . The 28-year-old from Calgary matched his career best after missing just one shot in his two rounds of shooting in the mens 10-kilometre sprint competition. Smith finished in 23 minutes 15. Joel Eriksson Ek Jersey .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Greg Pateryn Jersey . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration.PHILADELPHIA -- Phillies starter Cliff Lee experienced cramps and closer Jonathan Papelbon was too sick to pitch. Fortunately, theres nothing wrong with Domonic Brown. Brown continued his recent surge with a homer, triple and four RBIs to back up the effective pitching of Lee and the Philadelphia Phillies held on for a 7-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. Brown also singled and had a chance for the cycle when he came up in the seventh, but walked. He had three homers and eight RBIs against the Brewers in the weekend series. "Im just trying to keep it going, continue to improve, keep my stroke small and not try to do too much," Brown said. Brown said fans in the outfield were talking to him about the cycle, but "if I had a chance to go three, Im going three for sure." "The skills and talent are there," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said of Brown. "The more consistent he gets, the better hes going to get." Freddy Galvis went 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI and Jimmy Rollins doubled and had two hits for the Phillies, who snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 19-6 when scoring more than three runs. Cliff Lee (7-2) was practically unhittable through seven innings, allowing three hits with 11 strikeouts and no walks before running into trouble in the eighth when the Brewers scored four runs. Lee got two outs in the eighth before he was pulled. He gave up three runs and seven hits total. Lee said he started feeling cramps throughout his body in the frame. At one point during the inning, catcher Erik Kratz came to the mound before a longer-than-usual meeting with pitching coach Rich Dubee. "I was a little dehydrated or something," Lee said. "I wanted to stay in the game and keep pitching but at the same time, I want to be smart." Jonathan Lucroy hit a three-run triple and Jeff Bianchi went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Brewers. Antonio Bastardo earned his first save in three chances with a shaky ninth. Bianchis RBI single pulled Milwaukee within two runs, and the Brewers had the bases loaded with two outs. But Bastardo got pinch-hitter Martin Maldonado to fly out to centre to end the game. Philadelphias regular closer Jonathan Papelbon, who has converted all 11 of his save opportunities, wasnt used because he was ill. "He was very sick today," Manuel said. Mike Fiers (1-4) had the shortest outing as a starter of his career, giving up seven runs and seven hits in 1 2-3 innings. It was the third start of the season for Fiers, who has been shuffled between the bullpen and starting rotation. "It was just bad pitching on my part," Fiers said. "Its tough on a team to get going when the pitcher doesnt do well in the first inning." The right-hander got the first two outs of the game before the Phillies scored five runs, highlighted by Browns three-run homer to right. It was the sixth homer in the last six games for Brown, who upped his NL-leading total to 16. "The way the scouting report is, it looks like I didnt read it," Fiers said of Browns homer. "Browns been crushing that pitch for a month and I didnt gget it in enough.ddddddddddddIts embarrassing to me. I made it tough on the team. They battled back and that makes it even worse. We could have won this game." The Phillies got a break in the second inning when Bianchi, the Brewers shortstop, committed a throwing error that allowed Ben Revere to reach first to open the inning. After getting to third on a steal and Rollins single, Revere scored on Ryan Howards sacrifice fly. When Brown tripled home Rollins, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke lifted Fiers, who has a 12.66 ERA in his starts this season. "Just the life of his fastball and his confidence," Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke said of what is ailing Fiers. "Its tough to dig a big hole with (Lee) on the mound." Lee retired nine straight batters between the first and fourth innings but had problems in the eighth. The Brewers scored four runs -- all with two outs -- in the eighth, chasing Lee in the process. Norichika Aoki slapped a single to left to score Rickie Weeks for Milwaukees first run. Gomez followed with the fourth single of the inning that ended Lees day and put runners on first and second for right-handed reliever Justin De Fratus. De Fratus walked pinch-hitter Aramis Ramirez to load the bases for Lucroy. Lucroy hit a liner off the top of the metal fence above the wall just to the right of the foul pole in left. Third-base umpire Tom Hallion originally ruled it a home run, but the call was changed to a triple after the umpires checked the replay. Hallion, speaking to a pool reporter afterward, said he thought the ball hit the green wall behind the fence. Once the umpires realized the ball hit the railing, they used their judgment to rule Lucroy would have reached third. The reversal came a day after Hallion, the crew chief, admitted an error was made when second-base umpire Mike Estabrook called Kyle Kendrick out on a pickoff attempt for the second out of the ninth inning in the Brewers 4-3 win although replays showed that shortstop Jean Segura didnt have the ball when he applied the tag. The three-run hit brought Milwaukee within 7-4, but De Fratus got Yuniesky Betancourt to line out to centre to end the inning. Lucroy went 1-for-4, finishing the three-game series 8-for-13 with three homers and eight RBIs. The Brewers, who won the first two games of the three-game set, never have swept the Phillies in Philadelphia. Notes: Manuel said third baseman Michael Young, who has missed the last five games while on the bereavement list, could join the team on Monday. ... Ryan Braun entered 8-for-16 with three homers off Lee, but finished 1-for-3 against the Phillies left-hander. ... Segura, who leads the league in average (.352) and hits (75), didnt start but grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth. . Phillies right-hander Kyle Kendrick (5-3, 3.27) is scheduled to oppose Miami right-hander Tom Koehler (0-3, 3.22) when the teams open a three-game series in Philadelphia at 7:05 Monday night. . The Brewers send right-hander Marco Estrada (4-3, 4.96) to the mound on Monday against left-hander Tommy Milone (5-5, 4.04) when they host Oakland in the first of a three-game series at 8:10 p.m. ' ' '