Sports
Huskers looking to extend winning streak
By David Moyer
Staff Reporter
Comhusker volleyball coach Terry
Pettit enjoys win streaks.
The longer, the better.
His Nebraska volleyball team will
go into tonight’s match against the
Kansas Jayhawks trying to extend its
winning streak to four matches.
Pettit said the winning streak has
helped his team get back on track
after three losses.
“The wins certainly help, but I feel
better because we are playing better,”
Pettit said. “Mentally we arc sharper,
our players are taking charge and we
are communicating better.”
Nebraska, 10-3 overall and 3-0 in
the Big Eight, will face a Jayhawk
team that is 16-2. Kansas lost its only
Big Eight match of the season last
weekend to Oklahoma, a loss which
snapped a 15-match winning streak.
The streak had given the Jayhawks
one of their best starts ever.
“Kansas is a very good team,”
Pettit said. “They play very good
defense, have a fast offense, and their
confidence has to be good from their
success.”
The Jayhawks are led by several
seniors, including setter Julie
Woodruff, Kansas’s all-time leading
setter. Last season, she compiled 1,063
set assists. Kansas also returns out
■_--—--— ——--—--—..—
Shaun SartirVDN
Nebraska’s Eileen Shannon goes for a dig during the Cornhuskers’ match against Maryland last weekend. Nebraska will face
Kansas tonight in Lawrence, Kan.
side hitters Adrian Powell and Kris
Kleinschmidt.
These three veterans were on a
team last year which took Nebraska
to four and five games in matches
before the Huskers were able to put
them away.
“Last year, Kansas came at us with
a good game plan,” Pettit said. “1
think we’ll be ready this year to take
charge.”
Kansas coach Frankie Albitz said
this year is no different for the nation
ally ranked Huskers, and docs expect
them to be ready for the Jayhawks.
“Nebraska is always a really solid
team,” Albitz said. “They cover well,
"« -
Mentally, we are
sharper, our players
are taking charge and
we are communicat
ing better.
— Terry Pettit
NU volleyball coach
-*t -
and they arc real aggressive.”
Because of Nebraska’s winning
tradition, which includes 15 straight
Big Eight championships, Albitz said
she wants her players to concentrate
and block out any distractions. But,
she said, a bad week of practice has
not helped matters.
Still, Albitz said she thinks that if
her team plays up to its potential, it
has a chance to beat the Huskers.
“Any time you play Nebraska, there
can be an intimidation factor,” she
said. “I just want to get my team to
play their own game.”
Albitz said that despite the success
the Jay hawks had last year, she won’t
attempt to sell her team on the idea
that they can win.
“I’m not going to tell them they
can compete because of last year’s
scores,” she said. “I hope they al
ready know that.”
The game is scheduled to begin at
7:30 p.m. at Allen Ficldhouse in
Lawrence, Kan.
Athlete excels on, off court
By Jeff Singer
Staff Reporter
Whether she’s on the tennis court
or in the classroom, Nebraska ten
nis player Rachel Collins is always
looking for improvement.
And to win.
Collins is half of Nebraska’s
No. 1 doubles squad with team
mate Zarina
Galvan, and she
is the Com
huskers No. 3
singles player.
Her accom
plishments off
the court sur
pass those on it,
as she has a 4.0
grade-point Collins
average as a psychology major.
Collins said these achievements
seemed to have made her a leader
to her teammates.
“I try to lead by example,” she
said. “I try to help out my team
mates, especially the freshmen, as
much as possible out there."
Collins, a senior from Thou
sand Oaks, Calif., was the most
valuable player of the Marmonte
league her final year in high school.
She said Nebraska coach Scott
Jacobson influenced her to come to
Nebraska after that season.
“Scott was a big factor in get
ting me to Nebraska,” Collins said.
“The funny thing is that this is the
first year I’ve had him as a coach.”
Jacobson was named the
women’s coach this season after
10 years splitting time as an assis
tant with both the Nebraska men’s
and women’s programs.
Collins said Jacobson has con
tinued to be her biggest influence
over the past four years at Ne
braska.
“Scott has always been there to
help me out,” she said.
Collins won the Husker Invita
tional in No. 3 singles and took
third in No. 1 doubles last week
end. She said she plans on equaling
these accomplishments throughout
the season.
“My goal for this year is to win
Big Eight’s in singles and doubles,”
Collins said. “I also want the team
to finish in either first or second
place in the conference.”
Collins said the Huskers will
need to keep up their dedication on
the court if they are to compete for
the Big Eight title.
“Continued hard work is a must
for us,” Collins said. “As long as
we focus on our goals, the results
will follow.”
Big 10 dreaming
Big 8 not up to snuff
I had a dream the other night. It
was a dream about Nebraska football.
No, it wasn’t the same dream Jed
Bamickel from Colon has while he
sleeps in his overalls and hugs his
Herbie Huskcr doll tightly. You know,
the one about the Comhuskers win
ning the national championship, game
by game, knocking off opponents by
63 points. And after the Orange Bowl
victory, in which Nebraska passes for
David
Moyer
450 yards, Tom Osborne exclaims,
“We couldn’t have done it without
Jed telling me to pass more often!’’
No, it wasn’t that dream.
It was a dream about conference
realignment, and the Huskcrs were in
the Big 10.
Think about it. Two divisions with
the winner of each division playing
each other to decide who goes to the
Rose Bowl. Nebraska is in the West
Division with Iowa, Illinois, Minne
sota, Northwestern and Wisconsin. In
the East Division, you have Indiana,
Michigan, Michigan Slate, Ohio State,
Penn State and Purdue.
There would be five conference
games plus the championship game.
The five non-conference games could
consist of two powerhouses and three
other teams who need money. What a
schedule.
Several things would come out of
this situation. First, it would alleviate
a lot of pressure on Osborne.
One reason he takes so much heal
now is because the Big Eight is not a
strong football conference. Every year,
the Huskers have at least eight guar
anteed wins, depending on how the
schedule is set up. This puls a load of
pressure on the remaining games. The
Huskers lose one, the fans start scream
ing. And, of course, Jed Bamickcl
doesn’t sleep well.
If Nebraska had to play at least
three big conference games a year,
along with two lough non-conference
games, the pressure wouldn’t be so
great and Nebraska could go back to
just playing good old-fashioned col
lege football.
Secondly, it may revive the old
blood at the games and bring in some
young blood. By playing in the Big
10, Nebraska’s athletic department
could add seats to Memorial Stadium
to accommodate the renewed excite
ment. It also may wake up those fans
who have had their season tickets
since the team was called the Buge
aters.
They wouldn’t be able to sit back
on their hands and watch Nebraska
roll up the score week after week, and
then spend the Oklahoma game yell
ing more at the people in front of
them to sit down than they do rooting
for the Huskcrs.
Nebraska young people, and even
Osborne himself, have asked Ne
braska’s fans to mimic the fans at
Southern schools. Those fans have
reason to be excited when they are
playing close game almost every week.
If Nebraska had several good teams
on its schedule, the older fans would
gel tired of all those wild and crazy
wipper-snappers bumping them, and
they’d stay home, leaving more tick
ets for younger, more vocal people.
After all, with this new schedule,
many of the games would be on tele
vision anyway.
I’m not saying Osborne sets up
easy schedules by any means. With
the conference the Huskcrs belong to,
he is stuck playing several games he
may not really want to play. Throw in
the fact that non-conference games
arc played in succession at the begin
See MOYER on 8