Sports
NU overcomes sloppiness, Creighton
By Mike Kluck
and
Kyle Schurman
Staff Reporters
After a sloppy first half, the Ne
braska women’s basketball team
cleaned up its act and rallied to defeat
Creighton 75-62 Tuesday night at the
Bob Dcvancy Center.
The Comhuskers, now 6-0, com
mined 15 turnovers and shot 37.5
percent from the field in the first half.
However, the Lady Jays could not
take advantage of the Huskcr mis
takes. Creighton, 2-4, committed 14
turnovers and shot 39.3 percent in the
first half.
“It was very, very sloppy,” Ne
braska coach Angela Beck said. “I
was kind of embarrassed about it. I
thought it wasn’t a very well-played
basketball game for the fans.”
Creighton coach Bruce Ras
mussen agreed with Beck.
“It wasn’t a super first half,” Ras
mussen said. “The way both teams
played the first half might have set
basketball back a ways ”
The Huskers broke the game open
in the second half with a 16-0 run in a
lour-minutc span. Nebraska turned a
37-36 deficit into a 52-37 lead.
Beck said Huskei forward Heather
Smith was one key to the Nebraska
run. Smith tied for game-high scoring
honors with Creighton forward Pan
Gradoville with 21 points.
Beck said the other keys for Ne
braska were its patience and its tran
sition game in the second half.
“I think what wc finally did was w<
were a little bit more patient,” Bed
said. “Wc couldn’t gel past one pas:
or two passes without trying to shoo
it. We just were overanxious. W<
weren’t fluid. We just didn’t have <
cohesive half-court game.
“In the second half when wt
See HUSKERS on 7
Volleyball regionals to be balanced, not nvalrous
By Mike Kluck
Staff Reporter
%, -—
When the NCAA Midcast Re
gional Volleyball Tournament begins
Thursday in Champaign, 111., it will be
the most balanced tournament in re
cent years, according to participating
coaches.
Nebraska will face Purdue in the
tournament’s first round at 6 p.m.
Thursday, followed by Illinois
against Western Michigan at 8 p.m.
The winners of those matches will
play Friday at 8 p.m., w ith the winner
earning a birth in the NCAA Final
Four in Indianapolis Dec. 17-20.
Illinois coach Mike Hebert said the
regional is the most balanced tourna
ment he has seen in his fivcycars w ith
the Fighting Illini.
“I would say that it is the most even
Regional Championship that I’ve
ever seen,’’ Hebert said. “On paper it
should be Illinois and Nebraska in the
final. But if Purdue plays as well as
they did when they Ircai us, they will
give Nebraska a lot of trouble, and
Western Michigan is a very lough
team.”
Illinois lost to Purdue on Nov. 25 in
„ five sets, but defeated the Boilermak
ers on Sent. 23.
Hebert, Purdue coach Carol
Dewey and Western Michigan coach
Rob Buck said they have to eliminate
the mistakes their teams made during
losses to Nebraska earlier this year.
The Cornhuskers defeated Illinois in
five sets on Sept. 26. Purdue lost to
Nebraska in three sets on Sept. 18, and
the Huskers defeated Western Michi
gan in five sets on Oct. 24.
Dewey said Nebraska will sec a
different Purdue team than the Husk
ers saw in September.
“We are a pretty different team
since early September,” Dewey said.
“I’m happy we get to play Nebraska
again, because we didn’t perform
well the first time. Nebraska did a
better job of executing their game
plan than we did.”
Purdue features two All-Big Ten
performers: Linda Reichl and Debbie
McDonald. Reichl leads the Boiler
makers in kills with 504, and
McDonald is the team leader in hit
ting with a .330 percentage.
Dewey said setter Darcy Orin has
also played a key role in Purdue’s 24
13 season this year.
“Our setter has made a big differ
ence,” Dewey said. “She has become
more mature in her court composure,
and her skill of setting the ball has
been better."
Dewey said the Boilermakers have
to lace Nebraska without middle
blocker Barb Meeker, who injured
her knee earlier this year. Meeker,
who w as leading the Big Ten in blocks
with 103 before her injury, will be
replaced by freshman Amber
Douglas.
Nebraska coach Terry Pettit said
the Huskers w ill need to play well to
defeat Purdue.
“We need to serve tough and play
good defense,” Pettit said.
Buck said Western Michigan w ill
face a difficult task if it has to face
Nebraska in the championship game.
“The only thing I’m concerned
about is Nebraska has to play Pur
due,” Buck said. “Purdue is a gotxl
team. They’re not a great team, but
they’re a good team. Nebraska is
going to have some pressure pul on
them.”
duck saiu ms Drone os win aiso
have a tough lime defeating Illinois.
“I think Illinois is a patient team,
and I think they are an experienced
team,” Buck said. “I think Coach
Hebcri has done an outstanding job of
pulling the players in tactical move
ments. He does a real nice job.”
Buck said Western Michigan’s
team also has changed since it played
the Huskcrs in October.
“When we played at Nebraska we
had no variance in our offensive sys
tem,” Buck said. “It was predictable,
but since that time we’ve changed
some starters and we’ve added some
offensive variations to our selections.
It has given a little more confidence to
our kids.”
Western Michigan is led by Lise
Martin, who was this season’s Mid
America Conference player of the
year. Marlin has broken Bronco rec
ords in kills with 510 and digs with
386.
Setter Andrea Pedrick and middle
blocker Gail Church also earned all
conference honors this season. Ped
rick needs five assists to break the
school career record of 1,245, and
Church is the Broncos’ leading
blocker with 118.
Buck said he feels good about his
team because Western Michigan has
Doug Carroll/Daily Nebraskan
Nebraska’s Lori Endicott and Carla Baker attempt a block against Northern Iowa.
reeled off 14 straight wins since suf
fering back-to-back losses to Illinois
and Nebraska.
“We’ve won the last 14 matches
since we lost in a little city called
Lincoln,” Buck said. “We’re playing
very well right now, but playing in
Illinois is a very good environment.”
Buck said Illinois is the team to
beat in the tournament.
But Hebert said the environment
of the Champaign-based campus may
favor the opposing team.
“We have traditionally had a good
following by our fans, and they have
been loud and supported,” Hebert
said. “The environment really fires
our team up, but sometimes it fires
both teams up.”
Buck said although the home
court advantage should help the
Fighting Illini, it may also work to
Western Michigan’s advantage.
“Illinois’s home-court advantage
will play a key role,” Buck said. “I
think it gives them a little different
perspective. On the other side of it, it
might lick Nebraska off.”
Pettit said the home-court advan
tage won’t be much of a factor.
“I think since we play Purdue on
that court Thursday night the home
court won’t be much of a factor,”
Pettit said.
Hebert, who is 0-3 against Ne
braska, said he looks forward to the
opportunity.
Illinois will be led by middle
blockers Mary Eggers and Nancy
Brookhart. Eggers, the leading hitter
in the nation, is hitting .447, and
Brookhart is hitting .390.
“I feel Mary Eggers and Nancy
Brookhart arc the strongest middle
attack combination in the country,”
Hebert said. “Mary won the hitting
percentage across the nation, and
Nancy has to be fifth or sixth in the
nation. She has gained maturity be
yond her years as a college player.”
Hebert said the Fighting Illini will
have to eliminate the errors they
committed against Nebraska carliei
this year succeed against the Huskers
this lime.
“We will have to eliminate the
high number of errors we committed
in our f irst match against Nebraska,”
Hebert said.
Hebert said Illinois will not be
playing with arevengc motive against
Nebraska. He said he doesn’t feel the
Ncbraska-Ulinois matchup is a ri
valry.
“We have a healthy respect for
Terry and his team,” Hebert said. “For
our matches to be a rivalry, I think we
need to win a match. If we won a
match and our series became one
where you didn’t know who would
win the game, then it could be consid
ered a rivalry.”
Women s basketball team chooses new ways to recruit
By Kyle Schurman
Stiff Reporter
New recruiting techniques insti
tuted by second-year coach Angela
Beck helped the Nebraska women’s
basketball team'gain 12 players.
Nebraska’s current team has seven
new players, and
Beck has signed
five recruits dur
~ ing this year’s
early signing pe
riod.
Nebraska jun
ior Amy Stephens
said the main dif
ference between
former Corn- Harris
husker women’s basketball coach
Kelly Hill and Beck is the time,effort
and emphasis Beck puls into recruit
ing.
“The coaching staff now puts in
more time, and the quality of athletes
we get is much better,” Stephens said.
“It’s a top priority now, and she defi
nitely has done a great job.”
Beck said she uses many different
people when signing a recruit. She
said she used a similar system when
she coached at Bradley University in
Peoria, III., from 1983-86.
“Where I’ve been before I’ve used
staff, players and faculty in recruit
ing,” Beck said. “It takes a lot of
people to seal up a recruit.”
Beck said assistant coach Steve
High sets up meetings for top recruits
with major administrators. She said
athletic director Bob Dcvaney and
University of Ncbraska-Lincoln
chancellor Marlin Masscngale have
helped recruit players.
She said Masscngale wrote a letter
to one recruit, which persuaded her to
come to Nebraska.
“I think he has helped us with our
recruiting tremendously,” Beck said.
Beck said she also likes to use a
“bump-and-run-system” with re
cruits. In the bump-and-run, the
coaching staff finds out a recruit’s
itinerary when she visits.
While a recruit meets with an
academic adviser, Huskcr team
members wait outside the building
and “bump” into the recruit after her
meeting.
“With this technique the campus
doesn’t seem like it’s so hie after all.”
Beck said. “The recruits get to meet
players on campus in a situation that’s
not so formal.”
Stephens said Beck does a good
job of motivating each team member
to recruit. Stephens said recruiting is
the responsibility of each player.
“It’s a role that each team member
has to take on when a recruit comes to
campus,” Stephens said.
Beck gave Stephens and junior
Kim Harris awards at the end of last
year for being Nebraska’s top recruit
ers.
Harris said getting the award was
great, but she had a lot of help from
her teammates.
“Recruiting is challenging and it
lakes up a lot of your time,” Harris
said. “It makes you feel good when
the player signs, though.”
Beck said recruiting is time-con
suming and stressful for players, but it
has to be done.
“It’s part of your job of being a
Huskcr basketball player,” Beck said.
“Everybody had a hand in recruiting
someway, somehow, this year.”
Stephens said it is important for the
entire team to recruit together be
cause recruits need to meet every
body to feel at case.
Freshman Kelly Hubert agreed
that meeting everyone is important.
She said recruiting is also a lot of fun.
“You can tell people what you like
about the school,” Hubert said. “You
can help them with questions because
you’ve already been through what
they’re going through.”
Beck said she tries to keep younger
players with the recruits because they
can relate to each other better.
“The freshmen are easier to relate
to lor recruits,” Beck said. “They’re
closer in age, and they’ve also just
made the transition.”
Beck said she wants to change the
altitude Nebraska women’s basket
ball has about recruiting.
“We want to take Nebraska from a
school which hasn’t recruited very
well to one that does,” Beck said.