Ohio State's team huddle prior to taking the floor on Saturday against top-ranked Nebraska in Lincoln lasted longer than the traditional minute.
"Visualize," coach Geoff Carlston stressed to the Buckeyes, asking each of them to focus on the winning moment of the upcoming match.
It wasn't a stretch for sophomore setter Taylor Hughes, the espnW volleyball player of the week, to picture a victory over the Cornhuskers. Although the defending national champions had won 28 straight, Ohio State beat Nebraska in five a year ago in Columbus. The Buckeye seniors have never lost in Lincoln, where Nebraska has sold out every home game since 2002.
Hughes pictured setting senior Taylor Sandbothe for the kill, almost exactly what happened a few hours later.
"I had us winning in five, though," Hughes admitted, but Ohio State (12-4) only needed four sets to take their third straight at Devaney Sports Center. Since joining the Big 10 in 2011, the Cornhuskers have a winning record over every conference program except Ohio State, which is 4-3 in Lincoln.
Hughes finished with 41 assists and a career-best 11 kills hitting at a match-high .500 rate, using her long arms and big hands to create chaos for the Cornhuskers.
Poor passing in the first set delayed the Buckeyes' upset, but Ohio State regrouped "when Taylor started putting it everywhere," Carlston said. "That made Nebraska uncomfortable and have to worry about her. After that first set, she set a really smart game. She kept our team steady and climbing the mountain."
In the second set alone, Hughes carried the Ohio State offense, impacting 17 of the team's 18 kills with 11 assists and six kills of her own.
Carlston remembers Hughes as a 9-year-old; he coached her older sister, Ashley, also a setter at Ohio State. Another sister, Cassie, played volleyball for Columbus State.
"I wouldn't want any other setter in the country," he said. "She's the youngest in a family of competitors, and usually that youngest kid watches and observes. That last sibling tends to have an edge to her. By the time she was a sophomore in high school, I saw that grittiness."
Along with that, she owns an enviable topspin lefty serve, one the Ohio State band lauds at home games with an encouraging, "Click. Click. Boom," every time Hughes steps to the line.
Hughes planned to play basketball along with volleyball in high school before a knee injury made her reconsider competing in a contact sport. She was a regular in the stands for Ashley's college games, but strongly considered Georgia Tech before deciding on Ohio State.
"I've still got a big smile on my face. I can't picture a bigger win." Taylor Hughes
"The tradition and excellence are unexplainable until you get here," said Hughes, who grew up about 40 minutes away from campus in Carroll, Ohio.
Ohio State went 2-0 last week without starter Audra Appold, Hughes' roomie and second in hitting on the team to Sandbothe. Credit Hughes for mixing up her sets to keep the Nebraska defense at bay.
"I had less weapons, but it made it more of a game to trick their blockers," she said.
Junior Luisa Schirmer had 16 kills. Sandbothe had 12 kills, hitting .346, and freshman Brooke Bailey added five kills.
At 23-13 in the fourth set, Hughes realized her visualization of beating Nebraska was no longer just in her head.
"Their coach started making challenges," she said. "I felt like they were nervous. At 23-13, I finally felt like we had it in the bag, and I got the goose bumps."
The final four will be played at Ohio State in December, but right now, Hughes can't imagine anything better that what happened on Saturday night.
"I've still got a big smile on my face," she said. "I can't picture a bigger win."