Daily Nebraskan
Page 7
ft
)Ti"VS
Huskers to play
Jays a natural rival
Friday, December 5, 1986
By Rich Cooper
Staff Reporter
For the fifth consecutive season,
Nebraska's volleyball team will be
playing in the NCAA post-season tour
nament. Nebraska, currently ranked
No. 6 in the nation, will face Pittsburgh
in the first round Saturday at 2 p.m. in
the Nebraska Coliseum.
Nebraska coach Terry Pettit said he
feels his team is playing well and they
are ready for the tournament.
"I think the team is ready for this,"
Pettit said. "The practices have been a
little crisper, and the team knows what
they want to do. This is a different
season and the players know that every
game is for keeps."
If the Huskers win Saturday's game
against the Panthers, they will host the
Mideast regional tournament and
Sports Center Dec. 11 through 14.
Pettit said he thinks his team has a
good chance of going to the Final Four
in Stockton, Calif., Dec. 18 through 20
because of the way the tournament
format is set up. No West Coast teams
will be in the Mideast regionals this
year. Only Midwest and East Coast
teams will qualify.
Last year, the Huskers hosted the
Midwest regional tournament and
reached the finals but lost to Southern
California 15-5, 11-15, 12-15, 7-15.
Pettit said this year's team is better
because the players are more seasoned,
are playing good defense and have been
handling the ball a lot better.
See VOLLEYBALL on 8
NU ready for swim
By Jeff Apel
6taff Reporter
The biggest challenge of the year
will be awaiting the Nebraska women's
swimming team when it competes in
the Husker Invitational Friday through
Sunday.
Nebraska Coach Ray Huppert said
the invitational has the potential to be
one of the top swimming meets of the
year.
Among the teams who are competing
in the women's portion of the meet are
seventh-ranked Clemson, No. 19 Kansas,
New Mexico, Colorado State and North
Dakota.
"The way we look at it, it's going to
give our athletes an opportunity to see
how we do against some of the top
competition in the country," Huppert
said. "We see it as a real chance to
enhance our performances."
Huppert said he wants his swimmers
to shoot for NCAA qualifiying marks
rather than a team title.
With the field in the Husker Invite as
strong as it is, Huppert said, there is a
good possibility that several Huskers
could trim their times enough that they
could automatically qualify for the
NCAA meet in March.
"The title is always important,"
Huppert said, "but our important
priority is to get our cuts. If we swim
fast, the team scoring will fall into
place."
Clemson Coach Bob Boettner said
that his squad will also try for national
qualifying times this weekend.
Boettner said that although his 3-1
squad is the heavy favorite entering the
meet, he doesn't want it to feel
pressure.
He said he has eased the tension by
instructing his swimmers not to be
concerned with the outcome of the
meet.
If the Lady Tigers perform to the
level they are capable of, Boettner said,
Tennis competitors
Nebraska's Steven and Stuart Jung
both were defeated Wednesday at the
ITCA Clay Court Qualifying Tourna
ment at the University of Florida in
Gainesville.
Steven was defeated by Mark Keil of
i
f
Doug CarrollDaily Nebraskan
Cornhusker center Angia Miller takes a shot over Montana
State defenders while teammate Stacy Imming moves in to
assist during last week's Nebraska Invitational Tournament.
meei
they should be able to capture their
first Husker Invite title.
"We feel like we have to swim at our
best level to win," Boettner said. "One
reason we came was we were looking
for a good, fast meet and I'm sure we
have found one."
Boettner said his squad has been
swimming good enough this season
that it should be considered a legitimate
contender for the NCAA title. The Lady
Tigers' only loss this year is to No. 2
Florida,
Clemson is led by Pam Hayden, who
swims the freestyle and butterfly. She
previously competed on the U.S. National
Team.
Huppert said that aside from Clemson
and Division II North Dakota, the
remainder of the field appears to be
pretty evenly balanced.
Kansas has complemented its runner-up
finish in last year's Big Eight
meet by adding several talented recruits,
Huppert said. New Mexico has some
talented swimmers who could have an
impact on the meet, he said.
What hurts the Lobos, Huppert said,
is lack of depth.
"They in no way have the depth we
have," he said, "but they do have great
first swimmers."
Colorado State another entry for
this weekend defeated the Huskers
149-1 19 in a dual meet earlier this year
and then edged them for the team title
at the Wyoming Relays.
Huppert said despite the two loses
to Colorado State, Nebraska will carry
no grudges against the Golden Rams.
"That's behind us," he said.
Tickets for the Husker Invitational
can be purchased at either the Nebraska
ticket office or the ticket booths located
just outside of the Bob Devaney Sport
Center pool. Friday and Saturday's
portion of the meet will begin at 11
a.m., with the final for both nights
slated for 6. Sunday's final session of
the meet will begin at 8 a.m. with the
final session starting at 2 p.m.
defeated at tourney
Southern Florida University 6-3, 7-6,
while Stuart lost to Grant Fitzsimmons,
also of Southern Florida, 7-5, 6-2.
Nebraska's men's spring tennis sea
son begins Jan. 9, 1987 at the Milwau
kee Tennis Classic in Milwaukee, Wis.
7U
j:
1 1 r
By Jim Ballard
Senior Reporter
Nebraska basketball coach Danny
Nee sees the Nebraska-Creighton game
as a great natural rivalry.
"When you have two quality pro
grams 45 miles apart, it's built for a
rivalry," Nee said. "It's hit some low
points but it's on the increase again.
"The state is big enough to have two
quality Division I programs."
The Cornhuskers take their 1-1 record
to the Omaha Civic Auditorium Satur
day to battle the Bluejays.
Creighton is off to a good start this
season. The team upset Iowa State in
its season opener Tuesday, 80-65.
"We're very impressed with what we
know of Creighton," Nee said. "They're
off to a great start and their win over
Iowa State was impressive."
The Bluejays will have a slight height
advantage when they play Nebraska.
They're led by two freshmen, Mike
Pomeroy, a 6-1 1 center, and 6-6 forward
Todd Wisner.
Another freshman, Matt Roggenburk,
leads the Jays in scoring, rolling up 19
points against Iowa State after coming
off the bench.
Senior guard Gary Swain pumped in
16 points against the Cyclones and was
followed closely by forward Kenny Evans
with 10. The 6-4 Swain also hauled in 1 1
rebounds Tuesday.
Nee said he is also impressed with
Creighton coach Tony Barone.
"They are playing a really great team
game with a lot of enthusiasm and
X..
I
they're playing hard," Nee said. "They
have a lot of patience and take the
right shots. On defense, they play really
hard-nose, man-toman and mix their
defense well."
The Huskers have won the last six
contests between the two schools,
including the last three on the Blu
ejays' home court.
Last season Nebraska led by only
one point at halftime, but pulled away
in the second half for a 19-point victory
in the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Nee said Nebraska's performance
against Creighton in the past is unim
portant to him.
"Danny Nee's won none in a row, so
it doesn't matter," Nee said. "It's a big
game and it's important, but every
game is important. You have to take
one at a time. The next game is always
the most important."
Nee said guard Brian Carr and for
ward Bernard Day are recovering from
their injuries.
"Brian practiced yesterday, but we
kept him out of contact," Nee said.
"Bernard has a very tender hip, but he
practiced yesterday in a limited role. I
think both will be back at about 95
percent today."
Carr landed on his head in the
Oregon game after being fouled on a
drive to the basket. He received a
bruise and temporary loss of vision
caused by a migraine headache. Day
suffered a bruised hip in the California
Irvine game.
The two teams will again square off
in Lincoln on Jan. Tip-off for this
week's contest is set for 7:30 p.m.
