Volleyball win too easy to be a classic
The victory by the Nebraska volleyball team
over Penn State on Saturday wasn’t a classic.
A classic volleyball match has to go five
games, one or two games ending 16-14 or 17
15, with each team winning at least eight points
every game. Everything was in place for a
legendary match through 3 1/2 games, then
Penn State collapsed.
The match wasn’t a classic because the
home team won a berth in the Final Four too
easily.
Dam.
I can’t imagine the Cornhusker fans were
too disappointed. They at least got to see a
classic performance by the Nebraska volley
ball team.
The Buskers, those big, bad sluggers, won
.vith defense, of all things. Time after time,
Nebraska's players kept a Penn State spike in
play, giving the Busker time bombs more ticks,
more attacks.
Nebraska took the first and second games,
lost the third and routed the Lady Lions in the
fourth, Nikki Strieker serving the last nine
points.
Strieker was serving during 25 points, 45
percent of Nebraska’s total, with Janet Kruse,
Stephanie Thaler and Eileen Shannon the at
tackers.
But Strieker's success throughout the match
would have meant little except for one of coach
Terry Pettit’s backup lineups, a rotation that
shows the depth and versatility of this Ne
braska team and shows why the Huskers have
as good a chance as any to win the NCAA
championship Saturday night.
In this rotation, Linda Barsness, a senior
outside hitter, comes in for Nikki Strieker, a
Domeier
freshman middle blocker. Cris Hall moves
inside to take Strieker’s spot.
Pettit didn’t use that formation at all Friday,
but Barsness did come in for a crucial rally in
the third game against Wisconsin.
Pettit said Friday he had told Barsness that if
she didn’t play the rest of the season, the
Huskers would have won each match 3-0 and
would have been national champions.
“Anytime there’s stress, she comes in,” Pettit
said.
There was stress in the first game against
Penn State. Nebraska fell behind 12-4, and
even after a six-point rally (four with Strieker
serving) Nebraska trailed 12-10.
In came Bareness.
Nebraska was a completely different team
with that lineup. Not all that mucn better, but
different.
Hall in the middle made some blocks that
Strieker and most other players never dream of,
hanging in the air for hours and hours to slow
down attacks.
“Here’s how important defense is,” Pettit
said. “Cris Hall hit. 105 and yet she was a major
factor in the match: blocking, defense, tips,
whatever.” _ _
On the other hand, Penn State setter Mich
elle Jaworski occasionally lost Hall, and Ne
braska was left defenseless on plays Strieker
would have defended.
Without Hall’s long arms up in the air,
Becky Bolli was left naked to the" world in the
back row, staring up at Leanne Elwell’s can
non.
Bolli, though, used all those plays as an
opportunity to show off, diving for digs.
“What did Becky Bolli do tonight? How
many saving plays on defense did she make?”
Pettit asked rhetorically, the players in the
room shaking their heads in unison. “There was
no doubt in my mind Becky Bolli was going to
play great tonight. You don’t work that hard for
four years and not play great in this situation.”
Val Novak, Nebraska’s career leader m service
aces, serves in that rotation, and the Huskers
strung together four points in Barsness first
four serves on the court.
In the second game, Barsness came in for a
3-2 swing. Penn State adjusted to this set as the
match went on, but Nebraska already was in
control.
In all. when Barsness was on the court
Nebraska won 16 points or side-outs and lost
“We played situational volleyball,” Pettit
said. “We couldn ’ t have come in and had Linda
Barsness play left front and Cris Hall move to
middle blocker if we had not prepared for that
all year long.
“You can’t just say, in this situation we re
going to do that. And you can't have Linda
Barsness come in a play great unless she s
played great all year long.”
Pettit said the Huskers cannot just go out
and swing at the ball, but must play defense and
do the other things to win. Saturday night, the
Huskers played their best defense of the year,
just what was needed to get into the Final Four.
Maybe the NCAA final will be Nebraska
over, UCLA 15-12,14-16,11-15,15-9,17 15.
That would be a classic.
Domeier is a senior news-editorial major and a Daily
Nebraskan sports reporter and columnist
NU coach pleased by team showing
By Nick Hytrek
Staff Reporter
Nebraska’s wrestling team put a
scare into the top-ranked, defending
NCAA champion Oklahoma State
Cowboys Saturday, coming up short
in a 20-15 dual loss.
The Cowboys looked to have the
match under control after the first six
weight classes, leading 17-3. But three
straight wins by the No. 5 Comhuskers,
including a pin by All-Amcrican Coney
Olson at 177 pounds, narrowed the
gap to 17-15.
Heavyweight Sonny Manley came
close to giving the Huskers the upset,
but he lost to Kirk Mammcn 3-2 and
Oklahoma State increased its series
hcadlock on Nebraska to 27-1.
Despite the loss, Huskcr coach Tim
Neumann’s mood was upbeat.
“I think we’ve got the team back
where we wanted,” he said. “I feel
great about the season now.”
Nebraska competed without two
time All-Amcrican Jason Kelber at
126 pounds, who missed the dual
because of illness.
Neumann said that at 2 p.m., he
received a phone call from the Uni
versity Health Center that Kelber had
checked in.
He said Kelber was fine Friday
and had made weight easily, the first
time he had done that this season.
“We came 126 pounds away from
winning the dual, but I don’t want to
dwell on that,” Neumann said.
Nebraska jumped to a 3-0 lead
when John Buxton scored a 9-5 deci
sion over Nick Purler at 118 pounds.
It was Purler’s first loss of the season.
Oklahoma Slate then scored 17 straight
points by winning the next five
matches, including a major decision
by defending national champion and
top-ranked Pat Smith over Jamie
Penning at 158.
Though Penning lost to Smith,
Neumann said that match was a turn
ing point in the dual.
“Penning not getting beaten by a
technical fall turned things around,”
he said. “He just kept fighting.”
Nebraska’s Scott Chenoweth,
competing with a sore shoulder, won
a 6-5 decision over Ray Brinzer at
167. Then came Olson, who provided
a huge spark that ignited the Bob
Devaney Sports Center crowd. Olson’s
pinning of Kyle Rackley in 2:56 gave
him 24 pins in his 49 career wins.
“I told Corey that if he pinned him,
we’ve got a chance to win the thing,”
Neumann said. “He looked at me and
said ‘Don’t worry.’”
At 190, Nebraska’s Chris Nelson
and Randy Couture met again. Nel
Jeff Wlllett/Dally Nebraskan
Nebraska’s John Buxton takes down Oklahoma’s State’s Nick Purler on Saturday at the Bob
Devaney Sports Center. Buxton won the match 9-5.
son was 5-1 against Couture last sea
son but had lost both matches to him
this year.
This time it was Nelson. His 5-3
win cut Oklahoma State’s lead to 17
15 and made the heavyweights the
decisive match.
Manley took a 1-0 lead into the
third period, but an escape and take
down by Mam men made it 3-1. Manley
scored on an escape with 24 seconds
left in the match to pull within one,
but couldn’t get the takedown in the
closing seconds.
“1 saw Buxton, Chenoweth, Olson
and Nelson show emotion today,”
Neumann said. “They hadn’t done
that so far this year.”
He said Nebraska did a good job of
capitalizing on Oklahoma State er
rors.
“Whai I saw in the Iasi ftxir matches,
1 saw Oklahoma Slate protecting
something and Nebraska going after
it for the first time all year,” he said,
pointing out Nelson’s win over Cou
ture.
Though the Huskers fell short of
their goal of winning, they did ac
complish another one. Neumann said
a goal set by the team was to narrow
the gap between the two rivals.
“We definitely did (that),” he said.
“When you beat three people that
have beaten you earlier in the month,
that’s progress.”
FINAL RESULTS:
Oklahoma State 20, Nebraska 15
118 - John Buxton, NU, dec. Nick
Purler, 9-5
126 - Tony Purler, OSU, major dec.
Jeremie Eckley, 15-5
134 - Alan Fried, OSU, dec. Dave
Droegemuelle.r, 9-3
142-Jodie Wilson, OSU, dec. Randy
Street. 7-3
150 - Eric Wilson, OSU, dec. Todd
Enger, 9-7
158 • Pat Smith, OSU, major dec.
Jamie Penning, 20-9
167-ScotiChenoweth, NU.dec. Ray
Brinzer, 6-3
177 - Corey Olson, NU, pinned Kyle
Rackley, 2:56
190 - Chris Nelson, NU, dec. Randy
Couture, 5-3
Hwt - Kirk Mammen, OSU, dec. Sonny
Manley, 3-2
Regional match
to be televised
From Staff Reports
In case you missed Satur
day’s Nebraska-Penn State
Midcasl Regional Championship
match that the Cornhuskers won
to advance to the Final Four, it
will be televised on NETV
Tuesday at 8 p.m.
In addition, ESPN also will
tape this Thursday’s Nebraska
Pacific semifinal match for later
broadcast, and the national
championship match will be
televised by CBS in January.
Tickets for the NCAA Vol
leyball Final Four are on sale at
9 a.m. today at die Athletic Ticket
Office at the south stadium. The
tickets will remain on sale until
noon Tuesday. Cost of a two
day pass, if purchased prior to
the tournament, is $20.
The American Volleyball
Coaches Association All-Amer
ica team, player of the year, and
coach of the year, will be an
nounced Wednesday in Mary
land.
NU runs away
with victory
over Toledo
By Todd Cooper
Staff Reporter
Nebraska and Toledo’s game plans
for Saturday’s men’s basketball called
for the same thing — to run.
The only difference was that the
Comhuskers did it better. They did it
much better.
The Huskers ran away with a 1 OS
68 win in front of 10,102 fans at the
Bob Dcvaney Sports Center.
“We out-ran them, out-shot them,
out-passed them. We out-did them,”
Huskcr junior forward Carl Hayes
said.
The Huskers did it early, too.
Nebraska went up 17-6 on a three
point bomb by Clifford Scales with
15:34 left in the first half. After Toledo
center Fernando Righelto countered
with his own trey, Nebraska redshirt
freshman Eric Piatkowski — who
scored a career high 21 points Satur
day — accounted for seven of the
Huskers’ next 11 points to extend the
margin to 26-11. The Huskers led 54
31 at halftime after shooting 58 per
cent from the field.
The game came two days after the
See HUSKERS on 11