Sports
Freshman’s
--U*
career starts
with a bang
Outside hitter
joins elite lineup
By Jeff Singer
Senior Reporter
This year’s starting lineup for the
Nebraska volleyball team iscomprised
of a group of experienced players.
And then there’s Allison Weston.
Weston, a freshman, is hoping she
can be the added dimension needed to
push the dcfcnding-Big Eight cham
pion Comhuskcrs to a first-ever na
tional championship.
But the 6-foot Omaha native said
she was amazed with her success so
far on a team that has won the last 16
conference championships.
“It’s surprising that it’s happened
to me this early in the season,” Weston
said. “I can only give credit to the
coaches and the older players.”
The numbers have so far translated
into one of the best starts ever for a
Nebraska freshman. Weston has 52
kills and a .280 hitting percentage so
far this season.
Weston said she was happy to blend
into a starting lineup that features
senior middle blocker Stephanie
Thater, senior outside hitter Eileen
Shannon as well as juniors Laura
Luther and Nikki Strieker.
“I like it this way because it’s more
evened out,” Weston said. “Oppo
nents don’t have just one person to
focus on.”
Weston ’ s contributions on the court
are already evident. She has helped
Nebraska to a 3-2 record against five
ranked teams as well as to the FirsTier
Invitational championship two weeks
ago, in which she was named to the
Invite’s all-tournament team.
As a regular starter as a freshman,
Weston joins a list of selectcompany :
Last year, Kim Tonniges was a starter
at middle blocker; in 1990, Strieker
started and in 1989, Shannon helped
lead Nebraska to a berth in the na
tional championship match in Ha
waii.
Nebraska assistant coach Cathy
Noth said Weston’s early success had
not surprised her.
“We knew right from the start
Allison was going tocomc in here and
contribute,” Noth said. “She has all
the tools to come in here and be one of
our belter right-side players.”
Weston’s
bers
Nebraska freshman Allison Weston
is third on the team in kills through
five matches. A match-by-match
look at her statistics:
Kills Hitting %
New Mexico JMNHKtl
Pittsburgh 17 ^560
Illinois 9 ^2?7 '
Ohio State 3 .100.'
totals52 ,280
Daily Nebraskan
The 18-ycar-old Weston had all
the tools in her senior season at
Papillion-LaVista High School. In
addition to being named the Out
standing Female Athlete of the Year
in Nebraska, she earned varsity letters
in volleyball, basketball, soccer and
track.
She was also named the 1992
Gatorade female basketball Player of
the Year in Nebraska, but she said she
wouldn’t like to be like Cris Hall, a
two-sport star who earned All-Ameri
can honors in 1991 in both volleyball
and track for the Huskcrs.
I vc thought about how much the
seasons (volleyball and basketball)
overlap, and it’s difficult just playing
one sport, since volleyball is pretty
much an all-year sport,” she said.
Weston received recruiting letters
from such national volleyball powers
as Stanford, Pacific and defending
national champion UCLA.
But Weston’s desire to stay in the
Midwest as well as being coached at
Papillion-LaVista by former Husker
volleyball standout Gwen Egbert
helped make coming to Nebraska an
easy choice.
“It is a big name school and close
to home, so it was a perfect opportu
nity,” Weston said. “(Egbert) was very
helpful in my recruiting and she was
very happy with my decision.”
As for winning a national champi
onship, Weston said it was among her
goals she would like to accomplish in
ner Husker career.
“I’d love to win a national champi
onship — or two or three,” Weston
said. “Hopefully, I’ll also be an All
American.”
Middle Tennessee quarterback Kelly Holcomb jumps to pass over Nebraska middle guard David
Noonan in Saturday’s 48-7 Cornhusker win over the Blue Raiders at Memorial Stadium.
Experience may decide outcome
of Washington game, coach says
By Jeff Griesch
Staff Reporter
As his team begins preparation for
this week’s game against second
ranked Washington, Nebraska coach
Tom Osborne thinks that experience
on defense will help decide the out
come.
During the Big Eight coaches’ tele
conference Monday, Osborne ex
plained that defensive mistakes re
sulted in a 36-21 Washington comc
from-behind victory in Lincoln last
season.
“We didn’t hold up very well in the
fourth quarter,” Osborne said. “We
had some confusion on defense, and I
guess we didn’t score enough points
either.”
“This year we’re a little bit more
mature, and confusion won’tbcasbig
of an issue,” Osborne said.
Osborne also said that the Huskers
would not do anything differently to
defend against the two different sty les
of Husky quarterbacks Billy Joe
Hoberl and Mark BruncII.
“I don’t think you do anything
differently against them,” Osborne
said. “BruncII is a little bit more of a
runner, and Hobert is an excellent
thrower, but they’re both good quar
terbacks.”
Nebraska leads the nation in rush
ing offense at 444.5 yards per game,
111 yards ahead of Oregon State.
Nebraska is also first in total offense,
averaging 558.5 yards per game.
Elsewhere around the Big Eight,
Kansas defeated Ball State 62-10 on
Saturday to improve to 2-0 and now
leads the nation in scoring. Nebraska
ranks second in scoring offense, with
Oklahoma ihird and Colorado fourth.
Kansas is also on the threshold of
cracking the Associated Press Top 25.
The Jayhawks received 68 votes and
were the leading non-ranked vote
getter.
Kansas placckicker Dan Eichloff
was named as the Big Eight offensive
Player of the Week. Eichloff kicked
field goals of 55 and 61 yards against
Ball Slate.
Despite Kansas’ dramatic turn
around and a 2-0 start, Jayhawk coach
Glen Mason said his rebuilding job
was not over.
“We arc not turned around yet,”
Mason said. “As far as we have come
— turning a loser into a winner—we
aren’t done.”
Football players adjusting plays tor the big game
From Staff Reports
Nebraska football coach Tom
Osborne said Monday’s practice was
spent making adjustments for
Saturday’s game against No. 2 Wash
ington.
“We always change a little on
Monday,” Osborne said. “We have to
adjust to a little bit different style of
offense and defense which we’re look
ing at. A lot of learning goes on on
Monday.
“I thought we had a reasonable
practice. It wasa little sluggish to start
with but as time went on they played
pretty well.”
I-back Calvin Jones missed prac
tice, but Osborne said he expected
Jones would return Yuesday.
Safely Ernie Belcr, who has been
bothered all season with a sore ankle,
practiced, but Osborne said he didr. t
know how close to full speed Belcr
was.
Rushing numbers irrelevant to Saturday's showdown
This season, just like every season,
Nebraska football has turned into a
numbers game.
Once again, the Cornhuskcrs have
been able to dominate two lesser op
ponents and have proved nothing other
than anyone can go 2-0 with a little
creative scheduling.
Hey, but how else can the Huskers
get the jump on the rest of the NCAA
in the rushing charts?
In case you didn ’ l notice, or maybe
just chose to ignore it because of its
irrelevance, Nebraska is at the top of
the rushing charts after the first two
weeks of the season with a 444.5 per
game average.
Yippee.
The Huskers have also taken the
top spot in the total offense category
at 558.5 yards per game.
Hi-ho.
And the mighty Big Red is scoring
48.5 points a game, good enough for
second.
Yawn.
Too bad these statistics don’t mean
anything. The only thing those num
bers mean is that misguided Nebraska
fans from the Missouri River to the
Panhandle will send newspapers let
ters spouting off about how Nebraska
is going to go out to Seattle and pay
the Huskies back for last season’s
embarrassment.
What these same people fail to
notice is that Nebraska appears in
none of the categories that involve
defense.
Defense. You know what that is.
Those arc the 11 guys that play while
the offense is on thcsidclincs sucking
oxygen so it can run over the boys
from Utah and Middle Tennessee State
some more when it gels the ball.
But who cares about offense and
defense—the only number that really
counts is the number 12. That’s what
ranking the Huskers received in the
latest Associated Press poll.
And where arc the H uskies? You ’ 11
find them way up at No. 2.
That’s where reality kicks in.
In case you have a short memory,
take a look at a few numbers before
last year’s Husker-Husky meeting.
— Nebraska was averaging 573
yards rushing after playing Utah Stale
and Colorado State.
— The total offense average was
74’ " Is.
Huskers were scoring 65
points a game.
If memory serves me correctly,
these numbers topped the charts in all
three categories. But Washington
again had the numbers advantage in
the polls. The Huskies were No. 4,
Nebraska No. 9.
And by theend of that game, Wash
ington had the most important num
bers advantage of all — 36-21.
But that was no reason for Husker
fans to despair. Nebraska went on to
win another coveted rushing title,
which is something we can all point to
with pride, isn’t it?
Yeah, whatever.
By comparing last season’s num
bers with this season’s, il’seasy to see
some similarities developing.
Nebraska romping past two low
rate football teams and piling up those
big offensive statistics. Letters pour
ing into the papers. Husker fans say
ing “We’re going to kick
Washington’s butt. Huskies arc just
dogs.”
And the biggest similarity of all
will appear after the game is over
because Washington will beat Ne
braska.
The Huskies will do it with passing
and defense — two concepts that arc
foreign to the Nebraska football pro
gram.
Oh, and they also have a pretty
good rushing game.
But maybe everything won’t turn
out so bad.
Maybe it will rain the whole game.
Maybe an official will make a bad
call. Maybe something — anything
— will happen so Husker fans will
have a good excuse when Nebraska
loses by at least three touchdowns.
But despite all that, the season
won’t be all lost.
There’s always that rushing title to
look forward to.
Hytrek is a senior news-editorial major
and a Daily Nebraskan sports senior reporter.
