Big Ten rivals to compete at NU Friday
By Darran Fowler
Senior Reporter
Those planning to arrive late at the
NU Coliseum for Friday’s first semi
final volleyball match in Mideast
regional play might want to recon
sider.
Ohio Slate, the region’s No. 2
seed, will attempt to defeat No. 3 seed
and Big Ten Conference rival Illinois
for the third time this season at 5:30
p.m.
The two teams went the distance
in their two previous meetings with
the Buckeyes upending Illinois 16
14,11-15,15-12,3-15,15-5 Sept. 30,
and 9-15, 15-7, 16-14, 11-15, 15-13
Oct. 27.
Nebraska, the region’s No. 1 seed
with a 26-3 record and a fourth-place
ranking nationally, and No. 5 seed
Minnesota will square off at 7:30
p.m.
Friday’s winners will meet Satur
day at 7:30 p.m with a Final Four
berth at stake.
Ohio State coach Jim Stone and
his 27-6 Buckeyes arc
looking for any edge they can gel.
“Hopefully a lot of people will
show up early and cheer for Ohio
State,” he said.
And, as the scores indicate, any
edge would be helpful as the two
teams are evenly matched.
“When you win 15-13 in the fifth
game obviously there’s not a heck of
a lot of difference between the two
teams,” Stone said. “As far as any
major difference, I’m not sure there is
one.”
He said another five-game match
is probable, but at this time of the
season that’s hard to predict.
“Both previous matches were so
close, but you just never know in a
match like this,” he said. “It’s tough
to beat a team as good as Illinois for
the third time in a row. I feel we’re
good enough to do it.
“This was the first time we’ve
beaten Illinois in several years. We
had some good matches against them
this year so it’s going to be very
interesting. I’m sure they’ll be up for
us, but they’ll be up for any team this
time of year and not just Ohio State. ’ ’
One ot the Buckeyes’ strengths is
serving, Stone said. Ohio State has
totaled 242 service aces this season,
including a team-high 67 by Erika
Schlitz.
See BUCKEYES on 8
butts not all-time greats... even if mascot dies
As everybody in the world knows
by now, Colorado’s football team
beat Nebraska 27-21 about a month
ago.
But what everybody didn’t know
is that the Buffaloes are now among
the elite in college football history.
According to one Denver columnist,
'V'W T m
this year s Colorado team is -
drum roll, please - ONE OF THE
GREATEST COLLEGE FOOT
BALL TEAMS OF ALL TIME.
Excuse me while I make an edito
rial comment: Ha ha ha ha haaa-a-a
a-a!!
Give me a break! The Buffs? One
of the greatest teams ever to play
football? Hmmmm. There’s some
thing to ponder over an episode of the
Flintstones.
Granted, coaches and players at
Colorado have done a fantastic job
this season, and the 1989 edition
probably is the best team Colorado
has ever had. The Buffs have a
swarming, irresistible defense and a
deadly, unpredictable offense.
They have an incredible emo
tional edge this season, with the in
spiration milked from the death of
former quarterback Sal Aunese, who
died in September after a long bout
with stomach and lung cancer.
They even have a neat buffalo --
actually, a bison - that runs out on the
field with the team and endangers the
lives of opponents, cheerleaders,
coaches, photographers and anyone
else who happens to be on the Folsom
Field AstroTurf at the time.
But one thing Colorado doesn’t
have is one of history’s finest college
football teams. Good, but not great.
Is the average football fan on the
street really supposed to believe the
’89 Buffs could take on and beat - or
even compete with - the 1971 Corn
huskers, Army of 1945 or Daryl
Royal’s ’69 Texas Longhorns? Could
Kanavis McGhee and the boys tangle
with the ’76 Pittsburgh Panthers, led
by Tony Dorsett, or the ’83 Nebraska
team? Nope.
Or how about the Oklahoma
steamrollers of the ’70s? Or any of
Miami’s teams of just about any year
of-the ’80s? Could they beat any of
those high-powered teams? No, no,
no.
One of the best teams in history?
Colorado isn’t even one of the na
tion’s five best teams this season.
The Buffs played a tough schedule
this year, beating Texas, Illinois,
Washington, Nebraska and Okla
homa. They deserve all the credit in
the world for that. But could Colo
rado beat Miami this season? How
about Michigan? Florida Stale?
Would they beat Nebraska if they
played tomorrow? Will they beat
Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl?
Hell, no.
Those are a lot of questions with
no real answer. No one ever will
know how Colorado would do
against some of the great teams of
years gone by. Nor will we find out
See GREEN on 8
women s team
to play tonight
By Paul Domeier
Staff Reporter
After an up-and-down weekend, the Ne
braska women’s basketball team will try to get
its own game plan right tonight when it faces
Oral Roberts University at 7 p.m. at the Bob
Devaney Sports Center.
“We’re not overlooking Oral Roberts,”
Nebraska women’s basketball coach Angela
Beck said. “We’re concentrating on us.”
The 2-3 Huskers lost 66-50 to Central
Michigan Friday at the Dial Classic in Minnea
polis, then came back to defeat Northwestern,
70-56, in the consolation game Saturday.
Beck said she started shifting focus in the
Northwestern game. Her players were beating
themselves, she said, so her coaches put away
the headsets and sat among the players during
the game.
She said scouting reports arc secondary to
the team’s execution.
“It’s morale, unity and telling them what to
do that matters,” she said.
Beck said the Huskers lacked intensity in
Friday’s contest, which was the team’s first
game away from the Sports Center, and that she
was disappointed with the first-round loss.
“Just wearing the letters of Nebraska, there
is a certain point of pride you have to have,”
she said. ‘‘We were frustrated and frustrated
with each other.”
After a team meeting, Nebraska responded
by outscoring Northeastern by 15 points in the
second half.
“A young team needs to have an attack
frame of mind - something we didn’t have in
the Central Michigan game, but got back in the
Northeastern game,” she said.
Beck said she had no idea her team would
bounce back with that extra maturity. She did
say two individuals came around during the
two games.
“LecAnna Hiestand and Kelly Hubert both
became major forces on the team,” she said.
Hiestand scored 16 points and recorded five
steals in the two games, while Hubert scored 22
and grabbed 20 rebounds.
Tonight the Huskers will start Hiestand (5.4
points per game, 3.2 rebounds), Hubert (7.0,
8.0), Kim Yancey (8.0, 1.8), Kristi Dahn (5.2,
2.4) and Karen Jennings (16.2, 5.4). Jennings
scored 37 points over the weekend and was
named to the all-tournament team.
Jennings and Hiestand are freshmen,
Yancey is a sophomore and Hubert and Dahn
arc juniors. That lineup has produced mixed
results this season, as the Huskers followed up
on an exhibition victory against Aukland, New
Zealand, by losing in the finals of the Wim
mer’s Invitational to No. 4 Georgia.
See LEADERSHIP on 8
Northern Illinois
hopes to run, gun
to win against NU
By Cory Golden
Staff Reporter
The Northern Illinois Huskies will try to
make a monkey out of the Nebraska basketball
team when the two squads meet tonight at
DeKalb, 111.
Northern Illinois coach Jim Molinari said he
hopes the combination of a run-and-gun of
fense and the famous gorilla mascot that regu
larly appears at Phoenix Suns’ games will
produce a victory. The Huskies will have a
chance to avenge their 71-56 loss to Nebraska
last season at 7:05 p.m. at Chick Evans Field
House.
Molinari, who spent 11 seasons at DcPaul
prior to arriving in DeKalb this season, said he
has instituted the Blue Demons’ offense at
Northern Illinois. That fast-paced offense was
highly successful during Molinari’s tenure at
DcPaul, as it produced nine 20-win seasons and
10 NCAA tournament appearances.
“My philosophy has been offensively -
because of my background -- to be an up-tempo
team,” Molinari said. “We want to take ad
vantage of our athletic ability.”
Molinari said he has incorporated a motion
type offense that tries to get as many baskets
out of transition as possible. He said Northern
Illinois is using a man-to-man defense.
That strategy has produced a 2-2 record for
the Huskies this season. Northern Illinois,
which finished last season with an 11 -17 mark,
has beaten Illinois Wesleyan and Montana
State and lost to Iona College and Southern
Illinois.
Nebraska coach Danny Nee said he is im
pressed by Northern Illinois.
David Hansen/Dally Nebraskan o wilCtflETC q
Nebraska guard Chris Cresswell presses Brisbane’s Derek Rucker. ^ee on °
Coach Nee oppos ed to shorter season
By Nick Hytrek
Staff Reporter
A proposal by the NCAA Presidents Com
mission that would shorten the basketball sea
son was met with stiff opposition by Nebraska
coach Danny Nee.
Nee said he is “totally against” the pro
posal. The proposal would move the starting
date of basketball practice from Oct. 15 to Nov.
15, and teams could not play their first game
until Dec. 20, instead of mid-November.
The proposal also would cut the number of
games a team could play from 28 to 25. If
passed, the proposal will go into effect during
the 1992-93 season.
Supporters say the proposal would move
emphasis from the athletes’ performance on
the basketball court to their performance in the
classroom.
Nee said he doesn’t believe a shorter season
will increase his players’ grade point averages.
‘‘I can document that our players’ grades
are higher during the season,” Nee said. “We
have mandatory study halls during the season,
and the players budget their time better when
they don’t have as much free time.”
He said that with a shorter season, players
would have more free time and would be more
likely to do other things instead of studying.
People tend to overestimate the amount of
trmc a player spends on basketball, he said. Nee
said Nebraska players practice three hours a
day four days of the week, so they have a day
off during the school week.
Nee said traveling to games doesn’t cause
players to miss more than one day of class if the
game is on a weekday because the team travels
on a private plane.
“We leave on the day of the game and, in
most cases, we’re back in Lincoln two hours
after the game is over,’’ Nee said.
The shortened season would be worse for
players than it is now, he said.
“You can’t physically get 25 games in from
Dec. 20 to March 1 like they’re proposing,’’
Nee said. ‘ ‘That would even out to three games
a week, which is physically impossible for any
player.’’
See OPPOSE on 8
