Volleyball team tries to complete mission
By Darran Fowler
Senior Reporter
Written on the wall in the Ne
braska volleyball coaches’ office is a
message which has been there since
the season began.
It reads: “We arc on a mission!”
Under that it says, “Final Four.”
Fourteen weeks and 28 matches
later, the Comhuskers are three steps
away in their attempt to complete
their mission.
“Way at the beginning of the sea
son we put ourselves open and said,
‘This is it. This is the season we’re
going to the Final Four,”’ Husker
senior Virginia Stahr said. “Now it’s
party time, but not that it’s going to be
easy.
“We’ve worked all year for this.
This is a fun lime of season. It’s
crunch time and it’s time to go out
and just enjoy it.”
At 2 p.m. Saturday, Nebraska, the
Mideast region’s top seed with a 25
3 record, takes a first step toward the
Final Four when it plays No. 8-seeded
Illinois State in a first-round regional
match at the NU Coliseum.
Saturday’s winner advances to the
four-team regional round where it
will play for a berth in the Final Four
in Honolulu.
If Nebraska wins Saturday, the
Coliseum will be the Mideast re
gional site Dec. 8-9.
Nebraska outside hitter Janet
Kruse said she expects the Huskers’
region to be competitive.
1 All the teams in our bracket have
been in the top-20 at least once and
that’s more than what’s been in the
past,” Kruse said.
And it begins with the Rcdbirds,
Nebraska coach Terry Pettit said.
“Illinois State’s a very good
team,” Pettit said. “Our record
against them is 2-5. There aren’t loo
many teams in the country that we’ve
only won two of seven matches
we’ve played against.
“They’ve been a good team
probably for 15 years. It’s a school
with a rich volleyball tradition.”
In addition to Nebraska and Illi
nois State, the other teams competing
in the region include Colorado at
Minnesota, Penn State at Illinois and
Iowa at Ohio State.
Pettit said the Mideast is loaded
with good teams. “I think any team
in our region can win the tourna
ment,’ ’ he said.1 ‘That wasn’t so true
three or four years ago.
“It’ll be real interesting to sec
who ends up in the regional. Wc just
need to do our part and make sure the
regionals arc here a week from this
Saturday.”
From a coaching standpoint, Pettit
said he likes Nebraska’s pairing. The
winner of the Nebraska-Illinois State
matchup will play the Colorado
Minnesota winner in the semifinals.
“I think it’s a good draw in that if
we’re fortunate to beat Illinois State
we’ll play the winner of two teams
we’ve already played,” Pettit said.
“That may not maike any difference
to our players but to the coaching
staff it’s easier to prepare for. We
know exactly what needs to be
done.”
Stahr also knows what needs to be
done because she’s been there before.
Stahr was a freshman in 1986, the
year Nebraska finished as the na
tional runner-up to Pacific. She also
led her Utica-Centennial High
School team to an undefeated Class C
State Championship her senior year.
“I kind of parallel that to this,”
Stahr said about winning a state title.
“I mean that was a perfect ending to
a perfect season. Not that if we
wouldn’t make it it would be an un
successful season, but that’s what
you set your goals on.
“If you don’t reach your goal it’s
still satisfying knowing that you
worked your hardest to get there. But
if you get there that’s the best you
could ever ask for.”
Notes:
•About 1,000 tickets remain for
the match atacostof $5 for adults and
$3 for students. University of Ne
braska-Lincoln students who present
their student ID cards will not be
admitted free.
• If Nebraska wins, tickets for
regionals would be sold following the
match. Only a two-day pass could be
purchased for $10.
Nee hopes home-court advantage helps team
By Cory Golden
Staff Reporter
Nebraska basketball coach Danny
Nee hopes a tournament on his team’s
home floor will help the Corn
huskers’ blues.
The Huskers, who dropped a 91
71 decision Monday to Miami of
Oh io at Oxford, Ohio, and suffered an
80-69 setback to Michigan State
Wednesday in Lansing, Mich., are
counting on the home-court advan
tage tonight for the Ameritas Classic.
Nebraska will open the tourna
ment by facing Harvard at 6:30 p.m.
Pepperdine will square off against
Air Force at 8:30 p.m. The third
place game will be at 6 p.m. Satur
day, followed by the championship
game at 8 p.m.
After the rigors of Nebraska’s first
road trip, Nee said being back in
Lincoln will help his team.
“I think it’ll definitely help us to
be at home,” he said. “The road’s a
difficult place to play with all the
travel and fatigue.”
Nebraska will be welcoming three
teams who can sympathize with their
road troubles.
Harvard is 1-1 with a win over
New Hampshire and a road loss to
Duke. Pcpperdine lost to Califomia
Santa Barbara on the road, while Air
Force lost to California in the first
round of the pre-season National
Invitation Tournament before return
ing home to beat Valparaiso.
Nee said Nebraska’s road losses
have not dampened the Huskers’
outlook. Nebraska’s lone win this
season occurred in the first game of
the year, when the Huskers whipped
Missouri-Kansas City.
“Our players are still hungry,”
Nee said. “Everybody still wants to
do well, there’s a very positive atti
tude. So we’re OK so far.”
Nee said Nebraska’s young lineup
is experiencing a lot of new things
because opponents have challenged
them with a variety of styles.
‘‘We’re still in the laboratory
stage,” he said. ‘‘We’re learning
through experiences. We won our
opener, then went on the road for the
first time. We played a hot-shooting,
outside team in Miami with lough
pressure defense, then had to play
MSU, who plays great in transition
and runs a zone defense.”
Now the Huskers will face a quick
running team from the Ivy League
tonight
‘‘They’re an exciting team. They
play run and gun, up-tempo basket
ball,” Nee said about Harvard.
‘‘They press on defense and have a
really good player in Ralph James.”
James, a 6-foot-4 junior guard
whoaverages 14.2 points per game, is
the Crimson’s leading returning
scorer from last year’s 11-15 team.
Nee said if Nebraska defeats Har
vard, it will face more opposition
with a different face than us other
opponents.
“Air Force is very disciplined,
very organized,” Nee said. “And
they have a genuine superstar in
Raymond Dudley.”
Dudley, a 6-foot-1 senior guard,
led the Falcons to a 14-14 record last
season by averaging 26.8 points per
game.
The Pepperdine Waves, from
Malibu, Calif., who finished 20-13
while qualifying for the postseason
NIT last year, round out a unique,
diversified field. Nee said.
“Pcppcrdine is a talented, sea
soned team from the West Coast,”
Nee said. “Each team has a distinct
school it comes from and has a di
verse style of coaching and play.
“It should be very interesting.”
Nee said he has been pleased with
Nebraska’s previous performances in
the tournament, which is sponsored
by Amcritas Financial Services.
Nebraska won the tournament last
year, and finished as runner-up in
1987.
“It’s a real quality tournament,”
Nee said. “The teams all get the red
carpet treatment. It’s done first
class.”
The Huskers hope that after the
final game, the red carpet will be
rolled out for them. Nee said.
“We feel we’re getting better,”
he said. “Now we’re going after the
winning side of the ledger.”
Beck: NU needs to improve all areas for tournament
By Jeff Apel
Senior Editor
The Nebraska women’s basket
ball team will try to complement it
self when it competes in the Dial
Classic.
Angela Beck, Nebraska women’s
basketball coach, said the Corn
huskers need to develop a better all
around game in order to be success
ful. Nebraska will open the tourna
ment today in Minneapolis at 6 p.m.
against Central Michigan, and Min
nesota will face Northeastern at 8
p.m.
Saturday’s third-place game be
gins at 6 p.m., with the championship
slated for 8 p.m.
Beck said Nebraska realized dur
ing its 74-55 loss to Iowa Wednesday
that it needs to produce more ball
movement. She said increased ball
movement will lead to a more bal
anced scoring attack.
Beck said Nebraska can improve
its ball movement by complementing
its game. She said the Huskers can
accomplish that by having their pe
rimeter game work more closely with
their inside attack.
“We need to get a lot more move
ment,” Beck said. “That’s what
killed us.”
Beck said movement will be a key
in the Dial Classic, as the Huskers
will face a tough Central Michigan
squad in the first round. The Chip
pewas have a 2-1 record this season,
with wins against Wisconsin-Green
Bay and Illinois-Chicago.
Central Michigan’s lone loss this
season was a 71-60 setback against
Michigan State.
Beck said she does not know much
about Central Michigan. She said
Nebraska hurt itself by spending too
much time focusing on Iowa, so it
will approach its game against the
Chippewas worrying about itself.
“I can’t tell you much about Cen
tral Michigan,” Beck said. “My as
sistants asked me if I wanted to watch
films of them and Minnesota, and I
said ‘no.’”
Nebraska assistant women’s bas
ketball coach Deb McClurg, who did
watch films of Central Michigan,
said she was impressed by the Chip
pewas.
“They’re very respectable,”
McClurg said. “They’ve got a strong
post game, and we expect to see a lot
of full-court, man-to-man pressure
from them.”
Beck said Nebraska is equally
concerned about Minnesota. The
Golden Gophers are the defending
champions of the Dial Classic.
“Minnesota is always a difficult
place to play,” Beck said. “It’s a
tough place to get a ‘W.’”
Beck said Nebraska picked an
ideal time to make its first road trip of
the season. She said she welcomes a
road trip because the Huskers spend
so much time on promotion when
they play at home.
“I’m excited to get back out of
Dodge,” Beck said. “I’m ready to get
on the road because I like to conccn
irate on my team.
‘‘vVhen we’re at home, we end up
doing 50 million things. I end up
asking myself, ‘When will I ever
have any time for coaching?”’
Beck said Nebraska also is look
ing forward to the step down in com
petition it will lake this weekend.
After facing fourth-ranked Georgia
and lOth-ranked Iowa in succession,
the Huskers will not see any ranked
opponents in the Dial Classic.
Beck said Nebraska’s games
against Iowa and Georgia gave her an
excellent idea of her team ’ s potential.
The Huskers lost the games by a
combined 34 points.
“I don’t think we’re a top-20
team,” Beck said, “bull think we are
a top-30 team.”
Ten Comhusker wrestlers to compete
in Las Vegas Invitational this weekend
By Chuck Green
Senior Reporter_
This weekend’s trip to Las Vegas
won’t be fun and games for Ne
braska’s wrestling team. The Las
Vegas Invitational will be the biggest
meet of the season before the NCAA
meet in March, Comhusker coach
Tim Neumann said.
“This is as competitive of an
event as there is outside of the na
tional tournament,” Neumann said.
“We’re definitely going to find out
where we stack up compared to the
rest of the country.”
Nebraska assistant coach Gil San
chez said 42 teams will attend the
meet, which will take place at the
Showboat Hotel and Casino Sports
Pavilion today and Saturday.
Fourteen of the Amateur Wres
tling News’ top-25 teams will be at
the meet, Sanchez said.
“It’s important that we do well
here,” he said. “If you do well at the
Las Vegas Invitauonal, you’re al
most guaranteed a seed at the
NCAA’s.”
The past three Las Vegas Invita
tional team champions - Oklahoma
Slate (1988), Arizona State (1987)
and Iowa State (1986) -- have gone on
to win the national championship.
Nebraska, ranked No. 5 in the
nation, is taking its 10 weight-class
starters to Las Vegas. Sanchez and
the rest of the Huskers will compete
in the Northern Iowa Open this week
end in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
This will be Nebraska’s third con
secutive Las Vegas Invitational. The
Huskers finished ninth and eighth the
last two years.
Neumann says he hopes for more
this season.
“I’d like to see us place in the top
five and have at least one cham
pion,’’ he said. “There are several
teams that will have geared the first
part of their season for this meet.
We’re still a week or two away from
our peak level.”
Jason Kelber, Nebraska’s 126
pound starter, has won his weight
class at the Wyoming and St. Louis
Opens - the first two meets of this
season. But, Neumann said, getting
another title this weekend won’t be
easy.
“Jason will be the second seed to
Oklahoma State’s Kendall Cross and
should they make it that far, it would
be a repeat of last year’s final (which
Cross won 9-7),” Neumann said.
‘‘But truthfully, it’s going to be tough
with the top seven or eight competing
in that class.”
‘‘Jason’s wrestling great right
now, but he’ll have to beat the fourth
and seventh-ranked wrestlers just to
get into the final.”
Kclber is ranked No. 3 in the coun
try at his weight class.
Nebraska’s remaining starters
who will compete this weekend are
John Buxton at 118 pounds; Dave
Droegemeuller at 134; Layne Bill
ings at 142, ranked eighth; Paul Hei
rera at 150, ranked seventh; Dan
Harrison at 158; Scott Chenowcth at
167, ranked sixth; Corey Olson at
177, ranked 12th; Chris Nelson at
190, ranked seventh; and Joe
Malecek at heavyweight, ranked
eighth.
After the Las Vegas meet, Ne
braska’s next competition is Dec. 8
against Northern Illinois and Lock
Haven at the Bob Devancy Sports
Center.
h-1
I r our gymnasts to go to national meet
Four former and current Ne
braska gymnasts will compete in
the U.S. Winter Nationals today
and Saturday in Colorado Springs,
Colo.
Nebraska men's gymnastics
coach Francis Allen said he is con
fident the Huskers will finish
among the top 10 competitors. The
Nebraska athletes who will travel
to the U.S. Olympic training site
are Bob Stelter, Mark Warburton
and Trent Dimas, and former
Husker Tom Schlesinger.
Allen said Nebraska is looking
forward to the meet, which will in
clude 42 of the top gymnasts in the
country. He said the Huskers have
a definite goal entering the meet.
“The objective is to be in the
top 10,” Allen said, “so you have
a shot at being a member of na
tional teams.”
Allen said senior All-America
selection Patrick Kirksey and for
mer Husker Kevin Davis will not
compete at Winter Nationals be
cause they were members of the
U.S. team that competed at the
World Gymnastics championships
in Stuttgart, West Germany.
“Patrick and Kevin just need to
rest because they are already
among the nation’s top seven,”
Allen said. “Right now, they are
concentrating on working on spe
cialized skills and perfecting their
routines.”
I Pettit named region’s coach of year
I Nebraska volleyball coach
Terry Pettit was named the Mide
ast region coach of the year by the
American Volleyball Coaches
Association.
Pettit, whose Comhuskers will
face Illinois State Saturday at the
NU Coliseum, is now eligible to be
named the Division I national
coach of the year. That announce
ment will be made Dec. 15, and the
winner will be honored at a ban