SiDorts
Baseball team wants rebound, revenge
By Steve Sipple
Senior Reporter_
After being swept by Oklahoma during the
weekend, Nebraska’s baseball team will try to
rebound today against a team that upset the
Comhuskers last year.
Nebraska’s losing streak in Oklahoma
City’s All Sports Stadium reached 12 games as
the Sooners swept the Big Eight series. Okla
homa won 7-3 Friday, 2-1 and 6-5 Saturday and
10-5 Monday.
The Huskers will play Wayne State, an
NAIA school, today in a doubleheader begin
ning at 1:30 p.m. at Buck Beltzer Field. The
teams will play a nine-inning game, followed
by a seven-inning contest.
Last season, Wayne State surprised the
Huskers with a 5-4 win in the first game of a
doubleheader in Lincoln. Nebraska beat the
Wildcats 14-0 in the second game.
Wayne State’s upset last year, along with its
21-11 record this year, have captured
Nebraska’s attention, said Husker coach John
Sanders. Add to that nine starters and seven
pitchers returning from last season’s team and
the Huskers will have their hands full, Sanders
said.
We need to be ready, there’ s no doubt about
that,” Sanders said. “We’ve got to get off the
floor and get back at it. Last year ’ s win was a big
one for them. We’re probably on the front of
their press guide this year.”
Wayne State coach Lenny Klaver said he is
afraid the Huskers will use the upset to their
advantage.
“They’re going to remember last year’s
game and be looking for a little revenge, I’m
sure,” said Klaver.
But, Klaver said, the odds are against an
other Wayne State victory. The Wildcats have
defeated Nebraska only twice in 27 tries.
“We know it’s possible, but it’s not prob
able,” he said.
Klaver said Wayne State will be hindered
because they played eight games last week
alone. The Wildcats won seven of them, but
‘We need to be ready,
there’s no doubt about
that. We’ve got to get off
the floor and get back at
it. Last year’s win was a
big one for them. We’re
probably in the front of
their press guide this
year. ’
—Sanders
mmmmimm m, m 1 ' m
wore out their pitching staff in the process, he
said.
Because of that, Klaver said, he will have to
go with a variety of pitchers, instead of his best.
He would not name his starter.
Sanders said the Huskers will start a pair of
freshmen right-handers on the mound. Mike
Zajeski, who has a 2-1 record with a 4.30 earned
run average, will start the first game, he said
Doug Tegtmeier, who is 3-1 with a 3.72 ERA
this season, will start the second game.
Nebraska will try to erase the memory of the
Oklahoma losses with victories against Wayne
State, Sanders said. The Huskers fell to 30-12
overall and 7-5 in the Big Eight, and disap
peared from the Collegiate Baseball/ESPN
national Top 30 this week. Nebraska was
ranked No. 17 in the previous poll.
W'hile Nebraska was losing four games, top
ranked Oklahoma State won four games
against Missouri to raise its Big Eight record to
8-0. Oklahoma, ranked No. 17, is now second
in the conference with a 7-1 record. Nebraska
is next, followed by 6-6 Missouri, 5-7 Kansas
State, 2-6 Iowa State and Kansas, which is 1-11.
m. ^ -A
Huskers net six recruits and national rank
By Chuck Green
Senior Reporter
Nationally ranked recruiting
classes at Nebraska are usually asso
ciated with the Comhusker football
team, but women’s basketball coach
Angela Beck is trying to change that.
Beck netted six recruits this season
— five freshmen who signed April 13
and a junior-college transfer who
signed Monday — that make up the
No. 11 women’s basketball class in
the nation, according to the Blue Star
Scouting Service.
“We’re very satisfied,” Beck said.
“We’ve got a lot of sleepers, but
they’re all good players.”
Nebraska’s recruits include Kristi
Anderson, a 6-foot-3 center from
Council Bluffs, Iowa; Sarah Muller, a
6-1 forward from Scribner; Carol
Russell, a 5-11 guard from Manhat
tan, Kan.; Rissa Taylor, a 6-1 center
from Peoria, 111.; Shawn Taylor, a 6
0 forward transfer from Barton City
(Kan.) Community College; and Kim
Yancey, a 5-6 guard from Holdon,
Mo.
Beck said the Huskers’ NCAA
Tournament berth this season made
Nebraska a “program players want to
be a part of.”
“I think our system is rolling now'
and a lot of kids want to come here,”
Beck said. “We don’t have any of the
nation’s No. 1 players in thisclass, but
we have players that can make an
impact in our program.”
One player Beck expects will
make an immediate impact is Shawn
Taylor. Beck said Taylor will fill the
void left by the graduation of Maur
tice Ivy, a three-time all-Big Eight
forward who is Nebraska’s all-time
leading scorer.
“You don’t replace Maurtice Ivy,
you just fill her spot,” Beck said.
“We’ 11 have to change our philosophy
a little and do some things differently.
Taylor will definitely help us out in
that area.
“You don’t get a junior-college
transfer to have her sit on the bench.”
One change the Huskers will make
next season is their offensive attack in
some situations, Beck said. Nebraska
will still have a running offense, “but
only on certain opportunities,” she
said.
“We’ll have a much more bal
anced attack next season,” Beck said.
“We relied on Maurtice for a lot of
things last year. That can either make
or break you. It will be different with
out her.”
Ivy led the Huskers with 553 points
— 19.1 points per game—during her
senior season.
Another obvious change for next
season in Nebraska’s program, Beck
said, is the Huskers’ schedule, which
will be much more difficult.
Beck said the Huskers will play
several top-20 teams next year, in
cluding Long Beach (Calif.) State,
which advanced to the Final Four of
last season’s women’s NCAA Tour
See BECK on 13
Ivy shuns ex-teammates
to prepare for Olympics
By Mark Derowitsch
Senior Reporter
For the last three weeks,
Nebraska’s Maurtice Ivy has had a
reason to abandon her former team
mates and play basketball with a few
men.
Ivy began to play basketball with a
few of her male friends to improve her
quickness, she said. Quickness is one
essential quality she’ll need to make
the U.S. Olympic women’s basket
ball team, Ivy said.
Ivy, Nebraska’s all-time leading
career scorer, was one of 58 players
selected to participate in the women’s
team tryouts in Colorado Springs,
Colo. The tryouts are Thursday
through Sunday.
“I’ve been playing with a lot of
guys since I found out that I had been
invited to try out,” Ivy said. ‘‘Guys are
quicker than girls, so I play w ith them
to get my quickness and speed up to
par.”
Ivy, the Big Eight Player of the
Year last season, said she learned she
was invited to the Olympic Training
( enter about three weeks ago. Shortly
thereafter, she began playing basket
ball again.
When it was nice outside, we
used to play a lot,” Ivy said. ‘‘But even
when the weather wasn’t good, I’d go
into a gym and shoot free throws and
work on my one-on-one moves. I’ve
been working hard at it.”
Ivy, who played forward for the
Cornhuskers last season, said she’ll
probably try out at guard for the
Olympic team. Her ball-handling will
be one of her strong points, she said.
Ivy, a three-time all-Big Eight
selection, said she won’t have any
problems reacquainting herself with a
bigger ball. The Olympic Team will
usc a standard-size ball, while
women’s collegiate teams play with a
slightly smaller one.
“I have been playing with a bigger
ball most of my life. Ivy said. “It
really doesn’t make that much differ
ence. It’s just a matter of getting your
timing down with a big ball, and it
didn’t take me too long to get it down.
I can handle a bigger ball much bet
ter.”
'... I’ll leave there
knowing I gave it
my best shot.’
—Ivy
11; mrnm
but Nebraska coach Angela Beck
said Ivy will run into a stumbling
block when she gets to Colorado
Springs.
“Tnc problem Maurtice will have
is that this year had such a guard
oriented class (throughout the na
tion),” Beck said. “Where she’ll run
into problems is that the competition
will be very stiff.”
Beck said Ivy will face another
roadblock while she’s trying out for
the national team.
“One of her drawbacks is that she’s
never faced international competi
tion,” Beck said. “If she makes the
transition, she has a great opportunity
to make the team.”
Ivy said she has thought of a way to
get herself noticed at the tryouts.
“I feel my ability and talent is just
as good or better than the others trying
out,” Ivy said. “They know that 58
girls can score, but I’m going in there
defensive-minded. That might be the
key for me.
“I’ll be one of 58 competing and I
want to bring my name out. If I go out
and establish myself early, hopefully
I’ll make it to the final cuts and maybe
make the team.”
Those participating at the tryouts
include former Southern California
standout and 1984 Olympic Team
member Cheryl Miller and Michelle
Edwards from Iowa.
The team will be coached by Kay
Yow of North Carolina State.
Ivy said other factors will figure
into the selection of the team. 1
“I know it’sa lot of politics—who
you know and who you are,” Ivy said.
Ward Williams/Daily Nebraskan
Nebraska’s Maurtice Ivy battles Colorado’s Crystal Ford.
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