i Volleyball team to face improving foes
By John Adkisson
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska volleyball team’s
first-round opponent in today’s Stan
ford Invitational is all too familiar.
The No. 1 Comhuskers, one of
four teams in the two-day tournament
in Palo Alto, Calif., will face No. 12
Brigham Young for the second time
in two weeks.
Nebraska beat the Cougars in a
Sept. 28 match at the NU Coliseum.
But that match went four games, and
-44 -
Most of the time in
practice this week was
I been spent in prepara
tion for this tourna
ment.
Cook
NU assistant volleyball coach
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assistant coach John Cook said that
Brigham Young will be even hun
grier this time.
“They played us extremely tight
the first time, and it was a struggle,”
Cook said. “I’m sure they’ll want
revenge.”
Brigham Young, 14-4, has won
five straight matches since losing to
Nebraska. Cook said the Cougars have
been improving with every match.
“We know that they’re better now
I than when we saw them the first time,”
Cook said. “But we arc too.”
Cook said for Nebraska to control
' the match, the Huskers must stop
outside hitter Tea Nieminen, who
jump-served eight consecutive points
when the two team’s last met.
“We need to take care of her serve
better or we’ll be in trouble,” Cook
said. “We’ve made some defensive
adjustments to prepare for her.”
The bracket-format tournament pits
No. 7 Stanford against St. Mary’s in
the other first-round match. If both
Nebraska and Stanford win their
opening matches, the two would meet
in the finals on Friday night.
The Cardinal is 11-2 on the sea
son, with losses to No. 2 UCLA and
No. 3 Pacific. By comparison, Ne
braska beat UCLA in five games, but
lost to Pacific in four.
Stanford is led by sophomore out
side hitter Bev Oden and junior out
side hitter Kristin Klein, who has
compiled 1,116 kills in three years.
Cook said both are “top-notch play
ers.”
“They have one of the best attacks
in the country,” Cook said. “Those
two girls make them a very physical
team.”
Look added that playing Stanford
on the road will make beating the
Cardinal especially difficult.
“It will make it almost twice as
tough for us, catching them in their
home gym,” Cook said. “They get
tremendous support from their fans.”
Nebraska raised its conference
record to 2-0 Tuesday with a straight
game victory over Iowa State. To
day’s match will be the third in six
days for Nebraska, but Cook said
fatigue will not be a problem.
“We’re ready to go, and we won’t
be tired,” Cook said. “Most of the
time in practice this week was been
spent in preparation for this tourna
ment.”
Cook said the team is still adjust
ing to a lineup change that moved
outside hitter Cris Hall to part-time
middle blocker. The coach added that
the emphasis this weekend will be on
improvement.
“We’re going to go out there, give
it 110 percent, and hope we make
some improvement,” Cook said. “But
this tournament is not going to make
or break our season.”
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Butch IrelnndDally Nebraskan
Nebraska’s Cris Hall goes up for a block in the match against Texas A&M. The Huskers, ranked
No. 1, play in the Stanford Invitational today and Friday. Their first-round match, against No.
12 Brigham Young, is their second of the season against the Cougars.
Poll addicts crave wicked drug
in quest for NU national title
A reader recently sent a letter to
the Omaha World-Herald complain
ing that sportswriters arc poor poll
sters for college football. The Associ
ated Press top 25, the reader said, is
messed up by regional biases and is
Paul
Domeier
dependant on an information-sharing
network of ignorant sportswriters.
Oops. You got us. We’re notquali
tied lo vole intelligently on the enure
sport. The poll is stupid.
And the reader forgot about per
sonal respect or dislike for certain
coaches and loyalty to an alma mater,
which also can taint a writer’s vote.
Go ahead then, ignore the AP poll.
I dare you. Do what the coaches say
they do, which is concentrate on the
conference title. Control-your-own
dcstiny stuff. Focus on this Saturday,
not the season.
Don’t root for Michigan Stale to
upset top-ranked Michigan this week
end. Enjoy a Wolverine win, even
though a Wolverine loss would help
Nebraska.
Got you there. You can’t wean
yourself from Nebraska’s quest for
the national championship so quickly.
Winning the Big Eight is old stuff for
Comhusker fans. We have to have the
nation acknowledge our greatness.
We’re No. 1!
Don’t try to lake refuge in the
United Press International coaches’
poll, which is just as bad.
Ai some school s, the coac hes don ’ t
even bother with the voting. A sports
information director will do the hon
ors. The coaches that do vote usually
arc no better informed than the sports
writers and broadcasters.
“Heresy! Coaches know more than
writers!”
Of course the coach knows more
about his team, his conference and his
opponents. Get away from the sched
ule and the region, though, and coaches
won’t have a clue. They’ve got enough
to worry about as it is.
How many football games do you
think Tom Osborne had time to watch
Saturday?
So the polls lack voter credibility.
But that won’t drive you away. Nor
will you ignore them when they spit
on logic.
AUDum ami leuucsscc uwj iwu
weeks ago. Both dropped in the polls.
Colorado fell two spots in this
week’s AP poll for a virtual loss to
Missouri. If it wasn’t for possibly the
worst ease of officiating ever, Colo
rado would have lost and dropped
even more. Somehow awful officiat
ing makes Colorado a better team.
You’re addicted, though.
I feel like a drug pusher, spouting
cruel truths and sneering as 1 sell a
desperate junkie another top-25 fix.
This year the Daily Nebraskan began
running the AP lop 25, plus a DN top
10 that 1 help vote on.
I know this drug is bad. Because of
these stupid polls, the Scoring Explo
sion squad of 1983 is tainted by being
No. 2. The 1970 and 1971 Huskers
arc regarded as better teams. Bob
Devancy is a god, Tom Osborne is a
fail are. Give me a break.
Because of these stupid polls,
Nebraska cannot afford to schedule
non-confcrencc games worth watch
ing.
You want the polls, so I shouldn’t
care. The reader is always right.
But I do care, since I’m a reader, a
fan and an addict, too. I’ve ached for
the Huskers every January since I
went to my first game in 1977.
This is the year to throw off the
yoke of the poll. Nebraska is No. 1 in
Nebraska. That should be enough.
Oh, but complaining now, in Oc
tober 1990, is painful! Nebraska, my
school, has as good a chance as any to
win the national championship this
season.
Nebraska’s strong position legiti
mizes my stand, though. Colorado
column complaints about the polls
would be sour grapes. I cover a sev
enth-ranked, undefeated team, so I
don’t have any reason to whine, ex
cept for a sincere dislike for the polls.
i m run going iu
DN football lop 10 from nowon. This
will take some ego swallowing when
1 want to look at the poll on Sunday
and say, “How can you pinheads put
Houston in the top 10? They beat
pjon Kv
However] I forfeit the right to
complain. I’ll turn in may pinhead
poll voter card and just be a pinhead.
I solemnly promise now that from
now on, I will deny the importance of
the polls, let voters .do as they wish
and ignore Nebraska’s final status in
this inexact “national championship”
mess, unless the Huskers end up No.
1.
Hey, take it easy on me.
I’m still a Nebraskan.
Domeier is a senior news-editorial mi^jor
and Daily Nebraskan sports reporter and
columnist.
! Comhusker volleyball player
anxious to play No. 12 BYU
By John Adkisson
Staff Reporter
Nebraska outside hitter Janet
Kruse said the Comhuskcr volley
ball team will have to play “at our
level at all times” if they hope to
win this weekend’s Stanford Invi
tational.
Nebraska will play Brigham
Young today in the first round of
the two-day tournament in Palo
Alto, Calif. A Huskcr win today
would set up a possible Friday night
match with No. 7 Stanford.
Kruse said that Nebraska can
win the tournament, but must play
consistently.
“We work a lot in practice on
keeping our play at a certain level,”
Kruse said. “Our goal is to main
tain it."
Today’s Ncbraska-Brigham
Young match will mark the second
lime this season the two teams have
faced each other. Although Ne
braska won the initial meeting at
the NU Coliseum, Kruse said, the
Huskcrs can’t let up.
“They will be gunning for us,
I’m sure,” Kruse said. “Naturally,
they’ll want to get us back for the
first loss.”
Against Brigham Young, Kruse
had her highest hitting percentage
of the year with a .450 average.
The junior from Fori Calhoun also
recorded 10 kills and two service
aces.
Looking ahead to a possible
showdown with Stanford, Kruse
said the Huskers arc anxious to
face the Cardinal.
Kruse said playing Stanford
would also hold a personal enjoy
ment for her.
“I’ve played with some of their
players at summer camps and other
places,” Kruse said. “So it’s going
to nice to sec some of them again.”
The tournament is Nebraska’s
fifth of the year, and the Huskers
already have won three. Kruse said
playing top-notch teams in tourna
ments will help Nebraska, espe
cially in its goal of reaching the
NCAA Tournament and Final Four.
“In the long run, we’ll defi
nitely benefit from it,” Kruse said.
“When you play two tough teams
in two days, that simulates the Final
Four.”
The Huskers opened the season
with a tournament win in Hawaii,
where they beat No. 2 UCLA, No.
6 Hawaii and No. 11 Ohio Stale.
Kruse said playing far from home
doesn’t seem to aflcct the Huskers.
“Actually, it’s kind of fun,” Kruse
said. “Wc usually don’t get to play
tournaments like this in die middle
of the season.”
NU coach counts on top runners
By Benji Greenberg
Staff Reporter
ThcComhuskcrs’ lop runners will
need to be among the leaders of the
pack Saturday for the Nebraska
women’s cross counry team to com
pete with two lop teams.
No. 13 Nebraska competes in the
5,(XX)-mctcr Wisconsin Classic Sat
urday in Madison, Wis. In addition to
the Huskcrs, the meet includes two
nationally ranked teams from Wis
consin and the University of Califor
nia-Bcrkclcy. The University of
Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Eastern
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