Sports
Pettit says volleyball team
is prepared for Iowa match
By Darran Fowler
Senior Reporter
II a volleyball team wants national
recognition, Nebraska is one of the
teams it needs to beat.
Nebraska volleyball coach Terry
Pettit said his team has to be prepared
for its match against Iowa on Satur
day because the Hawkeyes will be
looking for national recognition. He
said Iowa would find that recognition
if it defeats Nebraska.
The match begins at 4 p.m. at the
NU Coliseum. All University of
Ncbraska-Lincoln students who pres
ent their student IDs will be admitted
free.
Pettit said Iowa commands re
spect because it was ranked among
the nation’s top 25 teams most of last
season. The Hawkeyes return five
starters from a team that finished in a
three-way lie for second place in the
Big 10 conference last season with an
11 -7 record. It finished 24-10 overall.
“Iowa is a very good team,” Pettit
said. “They’re a team that’s looking
at this match as the opportunity to
build some credibility for themselves
for a NCAA bid. They have talent,
experience, and I think it will be a
very interesting match.”
Pettit said he is confident that
Nebraska will meet the challenge.
“If we prepare well, execute fun
damentally and we’re healthy, the
Huskers arc pretty tough to beat,” he
said.
Iowa volleyball coach Ruth Nel
son said her players will approach the
match with more vigor than herself,
“but that would be something out of
my control.”
“But I will try to fire that part up a
bit,” she said.
Nelson said her players want to
reach the NCAA tournament.
“They have been chomping at the
bit for many years,” Nelson said.
“The ultimate goal is to be in the
Final Four, but that’s just going to
take some time.”
Nelson, who is also the volleyball
director for Special Olympics Inter
national, said her personal approach
to the match will be like any other.
She said the match is just another step
in preparation for the conference
race.
“We want a solid finish in the Big
Ten,” she said.
Nebraska is good, Nelson said.
“They have a winning tradition,”
she said. “They can pretty much se
lect the players they want. They arc
always physically strong and Terry
does an ex treme ly good job of prepar
ing his teams for competition.”
Nelson said Nebraska’s weakness
will be at setter, where junior Val
Novak is filling the vacancy left by
All-America selection Lori Endicott.
Endicott, who completed her eligibil
ity last season, is now the starting
setter for the U.S. National Team.
Novak is good, Nelson said, but it
will be tough to replace Endicott.
“I expect they’ll be in a state of
transition from a very experienced
setter to a less experienced setter,”
she said.
Nelson, a former coach at Louisi
ana State University who is in her
first year at Iowa, said the Hawkcycs
are also in a transition period. She
said it will take time for the players to
adjust to her coaching style.
“It’s just a matter of finding the
right combinations,” Nelson said.
“Hopefully we’ll find them by the
middle of the season.”
The starters who arc reluming for
Iowa arc outside hitter Kari Hamel,
the Hawkcycs’ only senior, junior
middle blocker Barb Willis, junior
setter Janet Moylan and junior out
side hitter Jenny Rees.
In addition, junior outside hitters
Jennifer Thompson and Ruth Spcth
man, a Lincoln East graduate, rotated
as starters last year.
Nelson said Hamel, who set a
school record with 565 kills last year,
is the team’s most experienced
player.
“She is just a super hitter,” Nel
son said. “She is just now grasping on
to her potential. She is a super athlete
and she is just an extremely good
player.”
Willis was a member of the North
team at the U.S. Olympic Festival,
which was coached by Nebraska as
sistant coach John Cook earlier this
summer. Willis broke her right hand
during practice and did not compete
in the games.
Pettit said Willis’ injury was un
fortunate because, ‘‘she was one of
the best middle players at the festi
val.”
Nelson said Willis missed much of
the preseason, but that she will play
against Nebraska.
‘‘She feels really good,” Nelson
said. “She healed very quickly. It
will take her a little time to gel back in
shape just like it would anybody
else.”
She said Thompson, a former
teammate of Nebraska junior outside
hitter Linda Barsness at Marshall
High School in Rochester, Minn.,
will not play until late September
because of a knee injury.
Nelson said Spelhman is a fighter
and “everyone needs a fighter on the
team.”
“She’s a great athlete,” she said.
“She’s experienced a complete turn
around this year and I think she feels
stronger.”
Comhuskers beat
Drake Bulldogs
in season opener
Paul Robinson
Staff Reporter
Nebraska volleyball coach Terry
Pettit boasted that the Comhuskers
are deep in talent this year and they
proved it in the third set to the Drake
Bulldogs Thursday night.
Nebraska defeated Drake in
straight sets 15-4, 15-3, 15-8 in the
Huskers season opener before a
crowd of 1,039 at the NU Coliseum.
The Huskers played the third set
without starters Virginia Stahr, Val
Novak, Carla Baker and Linda
Barsness and hardly missed a beat.
“There’s not too many years we
could put a whole new unit out there
and stay organized,” Pettit said.
“They know how to play and that
certainly helps.”
Nebraska finished with 52 kills
and a .381 hitting percentage com
pared to 22 kills and a .096 hitting
percentage by Drake.
Freshmen Valeric Vcrmculcn and
Debbie Lee Brand were effective in
their first collegiate competition.
Vermeulcn had 17 assists and Brand
eight kills for the Huskcrs.
“I thought it was a good opening
match for us,” Pettit said. “We did
some things real well. I thought we
could have been a little sharper de
fensively, but everyone played and
everyone did some nice things.”
Freshman outside hitter Eileen
Shannon and sophomore outside hit
ter Janet Kruse were the only Huskcr
starters to play the third set.
Kruse led Nebraska with 16 kills
and posted a .538 hitting percentage.
Shannon had 11 kills in her Huskcr
debut
‘‘I thought Janet played really
well all night,” Pettit said. “Nobody
stopped her.”
Pettit also credited Novak, the
Huskcrs’ junior setter, with a strong
performance. Novak finished with 26
assists. “Val did a nice job to
night,” he said. “I saw only one set
See NEBRASKA on 11
Coach plans to change KSU losing streak
By Jeff A pel
Senior Kditor
A 27-gamc losing steak looms on
the mind of new Kansas Slate football
coach Bill Snyder.
Snyder, who spent 10 years as the
offensive coordinator at Iowa prior to
arriving at Kansas State this season,
said the biggest weakness his Wild
cats face is their 27-game losing
streak. Kansas State has not won
since it posted a 29-12 victory against
Kansas on Oct. 5,1986.
Snyder said the losing streak pres
ents special challenges.
“When you haven’t won a ball
game in 27, what wouldn’t be a chal
lenge?,” Snyder asked. “The most
overriding weakness is the lack of
success these players have experi
enced. They need to acquire an
understanding of what it takes to be
successful.”
Snyder said he spent the majority
of spring practice working with the
team’s altitude. He said he attempted
to teach the Wildcats how to avoid
losing, attempted to show them that
they can work and play as hard as
anyone, and that their success or fail
ure is predicated on never giving up.
“It was an attempt to teach the
kids that they can expect more of
themselves, have a higher expecta
tion level,” Snyder said. “We
wanted them to be able to make a
conscious effort to improve every
single day as an athlete, a student and
a person. If we did that, we knew the
other things would begin to fall into
place.”
Snyder said the Wildcats arc be
ginning to grasp some of the personal
expectations he has set. Along with
the unity that is developing among
the team, so arc the team’s strengths,
he said.
Snyder said he cannot single out
any positions of major concern be
cause Kansas State has not cured
many of its problems yet. He said the
Wildcats, who arc the losingcst team
in NCAA history with a 301-503-30
record, still have a long way to go
before they turn their program
around.
In its 93-year existence, the Kan
sas Slate program has had only 25
winning seasons. The last time the
Wildcats had back-to-back winning
seasons was in 1954, when they fol
lowed up on a 6-3-1 mark by posting
a 7-3 record.
“We’re still very conscious of
every aspcctof the program,” Snyder
said. “In general, we’re not at that
stage yet where we’ve cured even 70
percent of our problems.”
Snyder said Kansas State look a
positive step toward turning its pro
gram around by signing 21 recruits.
He said the recruiting class is solid
considering he had only five weeks to
recruit.
“We accomplished what we
wanted to accomplish, considering
the parameters,’’ Snyder said. “We
needed a lineman and we got a line
man. I feel comfortable that we have
players who want lo be here.
Snyder said Kansas Stale will
employ a balanced offensive attack.
He said he wants the Wildcals lo pass
and run with equal effectiveness.
“I can’t promise you it will be 50
50, but that will be our attempt,”
Snyder said. “If we’re not a balanced
team, that means someone is prevent
ing us from being one or the other.”
Snyder said he wants Kansas
State’s defense to be patterned after
its offense. He said the Wildcats
cannot afford to give up the big play,
a move which he described as being
Kansas Stale’s demise in the past.
“We want to play aggressively
enough to be an attacking defense -
to have the ability to make the big
play,” Snyder said. “We want to be
See WILDCATS on 11
*
Coach says junior varsity team as good as last years
By Chuck Green
Senior Reporter
Shane Thorcll doesn’t mind comparing this
year’s Comhusker junior varsity team to last
season’s.
Especially since he said he thinks it’s just as
good as 1988’s undefeated edition.
Thorcll, Nebraska’s junior varsity coach,
said he won’t know for sure how good this
year’s team is until it takes the field against
Snow’s Junior College 1 p.m. Saturday.
Admission is free.
“I won’t really know how much talent we
have until Saturday,” he said. "But as far as
working hard and being mentally prepared, I’d
say we’re at about the same place as we were
•his time last year.”
East season's team finished with a 5-0 rec
A
ord.
One problem Thorcll said the junior varsity
team will face -- as it does every season -- is
losing players to the varsity. He said nine
players from the junior varsity roster arc prac
ticing with the varsity.
The junior varsity team is comprised pri
marily of freshmen and redshirted treshmen or
sophomores.
“I can’t see any really major problems
coming of that,” Thorell said. “ But it docs hurt
us a little depth-wise.”
Snow Junior College, of Ephriam, Utah,
relies on a passing offense, Thorell said. It
often will employ a one-back offense, and, on
occasion, will use no running backs, he said.
Thorell said that formation will place pres
sure on Nebraska’s defensive linemen, as well
as the Husker defensive backs.
“We’ve got to establish a good pass rush,’’
he said. “If you give any quarterback a lot of
time, he can hurt you.’’
Nebraska’s secondary is full of players who
are “smart and know what they’re doing,”
which will be needed to cover Snow’s receiv
ers, he said.
Snow captured the junior college national
championship in 1985, and has been rated
among the best junior college teams through
out the 1980s.
Joe Cornwell will start as quarterback for
the Huskers. Cornwell, a redshirted freshman
from Carollon, Mo., spent much of last year
recovering from a shoulder injury, Thorell
said.
Marvin Callies, who was Cornwell’s
backup at the start of tail drills, has been moved
to I-back.
“He’s a player with great speed and a lot of
talent,’ ’ Thorcll said. ‘ ‘I hated to sec that kind
of speed sitting on the bench.’’
Thorcll said several walk-ons have earned
starting positions and could be moved to var
sity as the season progresses. Inside linebacker
Matt Pcnland from Jacksonville, Fla., and
wingback David Seizys are two such players,
he said, as is free safety Zcke Cisco of Monroe,
Mich.
Nebraska’s game Saturday will answer a lot
of questions, liiorell said.
“We haven’t had a lot of time to prepare,
but we’ve used our time well,’’ he said. “They
(the players) have got a good idea of what
we’re doing and what needs to be done.
“We’re as ready as we can be.”
\
At Schaben/Daily Nebraska*
Nebraska’s Stephanie Thater blocks the spike of Drakes’s
Michelle Engler in the third set, defeating the Bulldog’s 15-8
at the Coliseum Thursday night.