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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 1988)
Sports NU, OU volleyball rivalry to continue this weekend By Jeff Apel Senior Reporter They haven’t been carrying on a feud since 1912 like the football teams have, but the Nebraska and Oklahoma volleyball teams plan to add another chapter to their intense rivalry when thev meet Saturday night in Norman, Okla. Nebraska coach Terry Pettit said the rivalry between the Cornhuskers and Sooners draws intensity from the football field. Nebraska and Okla homa first met 76 years ago in foot ball, with the Buskers pulling cut a 13-9 victory. Pettit said the football rivalry car ries over to volleyball because both schools have excellent teams. The Buskers, 11 -2, are ranked No. 7 in the latest NCAA poll, while the Sooners, 10-4, are ranked No. 15. “Nebraska and Oklahoma has always been a good rivalry,” Pettit said. “Oklahoma is a lop team and we have good rivalries with a lot of the lop teams in the countiy.” Oklahoma coach Miles Pabst said his squad is taking advantage of the rivalry by having Sooner football coach Barry Switzer do radio broad casts that advertise the match against Nebraska. He said Switzer isn’t pre dicting an Oklahoma victory. “I don’t think he’s going that far,” Pabst said. Pabst said Switzer’s radio promo tions, the natural rivalry and Oklahoma’s football game against Iowa State on Saturday could mean that as many as 2,500 farts will pack into the OU Field House for the 7:30 p.m. match. He said he plans on luring fans by publicizing the match during the Sooner football game. “1 think we’ve had outstanding crowds this season,” Pabst said, “and we plan on letting as many people in for the Nebraska match as the fire marshal allows.” 7 think we've had outstanding crowds this sea son, and we plan on letting as many people in for the Nebraska match as the fire marshall allows.' — Pabst Pabst said the Sooners will need strong crowd support because he isn ’ t sure if they can compete with Ne braska. He said inexperience and inconsistency have plagued Okla homa this season. “At times we haven’t been as consistent as I would like,” Pabst said. “We have excellent hitting, but our serving hasn’t been up to par.” Pabst and Pettit said Oklahoma’s victory against Nebraska in last season’s Big Eight post-season tour nament won’t play a factor in this year’s match. The Sooners ended Nebraska’s streak of U-consecutive conference post-season champion ships with a 15-3, 13-15,415, 6-15 win at the tournament last year in Salina, Kan. Pettit said he can’t draw a revenge motive from the loss because this year’s teams and last season’s are ‘entirely different.” He also said teams that rely on revenge motives are asking to be upset. “Our program isn’t the type of program to rely on revenge,” Pettit said. “If we did, we would be setting ourselves up for an upset because we would only be emotionally up for certain matches.” Pabstsaid Oklahoma’s victory last season is “totally irrelevant.” He said Saturday’s game is not a revenge situ ation. “The loss really has no bearing,” Pabst said. Petlit said he is looking forward to the match because it marks the start of Nebraska’s second part of the season. He said the Huskers consider their non-conference schedule to be their first season, while their regular-sea son Big Eight matches comprise their second. The third season includes the conference’s post-season tournament and any NCAA appearances, he sard. Petlit said he hasn’t scouted Okla homa and doesn’t know what to ex pect entering the match. He said Nebraska is more concerned with what happens on its side of the net. Pettit said he rarely spends much time watching films of opponents. "Volleyball is a unique sport in that it’s divided by a net,” Pettit said. “You can’t set a screen or box some one out.” Tennis team opens season Saturday By Tim Hartmann Staff Reporter Nebraska men’s tennis coach Kerry McDermott hopes that his team’s intensity will return when it returns to the court this weekend. The Cornhuakers will be among eight teams competing at Husker Invitational Saturday and Sunday at the East Campus and Cather-Pound courts, flay will begin at 9 a,m. each day. The Husker Invitational will be the first competition for Nebraska this fall. McDermott said that a lack of competition has led to some lack luster practices. "1 don't think practice has gone real well," he said. "Some guys nave been out with the flu so it doesn't seem like we ever have the whole team together, and our attitude has not been that good." McDermott said he hopes the in tensity of the team will improve now that the season has started. He also said the players will be motivated because they aren’t in the pre-season top-25 rankings. The Huskers beat three of the ranked teams last season. Besides Nebraska, the teams in the invitational include Colorado, Iowa State, Southwest Baptist, Southwest Missouri State, Tulsa, Tyler (Texas) Junior College and Wichita State. Team scoring will not be kept at the tournament ’The teams are not real great, but there are some good individuals," McDermott said, McDermott said Southwest Mis souri State’s Hakan Svensson is ranked No. 33 in the country in No. 1 singles. Nebraska’s Stuart Jung is ranked No. 37, the highest ranking ever by a Nebraska player. Jung will play No. 1 singles for the Huskers, with Robert Sjoholm at No. 2, Steven Jung at No. 3, Ken Fcuer at No. 4, and Mark Naprstek at No. 5. Pat Carson and H.C. Taylor will play a challenge match to determine who will play No. 6. The loser of the challenge match will play No. 7 and Troy Larsen will play No. 8. Sjoholm and Naprstek have been slowed by the flu, McDermott said, but both will play in the tournament. McDermott said it’s important that Sjoholm plays well so that he can be prepared for tine Intercollegiate Ten nis Coaches Association tournament Oct 8 in Wichita, Kan. The top-two singles qualifiers from the 64-team ITCA tournament Ro on to a national tournament, and icDermolt said Sjoholm could finish in the top two if he1 s playing at the top of his game. Naprstek, a sophomore who satout last season under the guidelines set forth by Proposition 48, has been one of the surprises of fall practice, McDermott said. “He didn’t play in any summer tournaments, so I hadn’t really seen him play since he was 14 or 15,” he said, “but I knew he had a ton of talent. He played good in the Nebraska Open and then he beat Pat Carson and H C. Taylor in challenge matches, so he’s proven he can play with these guys.” I October 1, 1988-1:30 pjn. (CDT)—Memorial Stadium-Lincoln, NE j School location Enrollment Nickname Colors Conference Head Coach Bask offense Baric defense 1967 record 1987 conference record I^ettermen returning Letiermen lost Series record vs. Nebraska Las Vegas, Nev. 89154 14,000 Rebels Scarlet A Gray Mg West Wayne Nanndy (UNLV,1975) multiple multiple based on 50 5-0-0 4-3-0, second-place tie 38 (19 offense, 17 defense, 2 specialists) 24 (8 offense, 16 defense) Arst meeting Last week, the Rebels defeated Ohio University 26-18 for their 1 st victory in 3 games. The Rebels rushed for 215 yards- 39 more than they gained in their first two games. Tailback Tommy Jackson rushed for 164 yards in 26 carries. John Bruce/Daily Nebraskan UNLV’s one-game win streak on line Saturday against NU By Mark Derowitsch Senior Reporter University of Nevada-Las Vegas coach Wayne Nunnely wishes he could have Oklahoma’s defense when the Rebels play Nebraska on Saturday. Nunnely said the Rebels will need something extra that only the Sooners could provide to defeat Nebraska. Kickoff for Saturday’s game is 1:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. "We need Oklahoma’s defense,” Nunnely said. “They have as good as offense as anyone and they’re well coached. We need to play hard. That’s all we can do.” 'You don'} ever feel confident going into a game like this one. But wo feel much bolter coming Into the game with a one game winning streak.’ Without the Sooner defense, Nun nely said the Rebels won't enter the game overconfident UNLVhasa 1-2 record after defeating Ohio 26-18 last week. “You don’t ever feel confident going into a game like this one,’’ he said. But we feel much better com ing into the same with a one-game winning streak. It was a really needed win.” . Nebraska coach Torn Osborne said the Cornhuskers will have to take care of some mistakes against the Rebels. “We’d like to see continued prog ress taking care of the ball,” Osborne said. “Last week we played without a penalty offensively. We'd like to cut down the defensive penalties and continue to gel turnovers on defense.” So far this season, the Huskcrs, 3 1, have committed eight turnovers, while their opponents have given up the ball nine times. But Osborne said little mistakes could mm a game around. ‘if you have enough turnovers and enough mistakes, you can have a hard time on any Saturday,” he said. Under Nunnely, the Rebels have posted a 12-13 record in three yean, including this season. But Osborne said UNLV is similar to many teams in Division I football. “I think they’re like a lot of teams in that they have a lot of skilled play ers,” Osborne said. “I hope that there’s maybe some differential in the linemen.” Osborne said he is concerned about his linemen, especially on of fense. Left tackle Bob Sledge is listed as questionable for Saturday because of an injury to a shoulder. John Nel son, a 6-foot-1,260 pound right guard from Minden, also injured his shoul der, but his status is uncertain for the game against the Rebels. But the Rebels have a prime offen sive threat in tailback Tommy See REBELS on 10 I
