Sports
Record crowd watches Huskers beat OU
Player says team
lacked intensity
By Jeff Singer
Senior Reporter
A new record led to an old result
for the Nebraska volleyball team Sat
urday night.
The Comhuskers, who played be
fore a NU Coliseum record crowd of
4,373, defeated Oklahoma for the
ninth straight time, 15-4,16-14,15-7.
Nebraska improved its record to
11 -2 overall and 5-0 in Big Eight play,
while increasing its winning streak to
nine.
But not many of the Husker volley
ball players were too excited about
their performance against the Soon
ers.
II
Oklahoma is a tradi
tional rival for Ne
braska. If we were
playing shuffleboard,
they’d come out to see
it.
—Pettit
NU volleyball coach
--
“We were a 1 iltlc slow—our pass
ing was pretty bad and our communi
cation was pretty bad,” senior Outside
hitter Eileen Shannon said. “We
could’ve played a lot better than we
did.”
Fellow outside hitter Laura Lulhcr
agreed.
“The intensity just wasn’t there,”
said Luther, who had 11 kills in 26
attacks for a .308 hitting percentage.
Shannon led Nebraska in kills with
16 in 35 attempts for a .314 hitting
average, but she said that statistics
can be deceiving.
“It was a three-game sweep, but
just because we won all three games
doesn ’t mean we played well,” Shan
non said. “The stats don’t say every
thing.”
I:. - ....
Shaun Sartin/DN
Nebraska’s Laura Luther attempts a dig during the Huskers’ three-game win over Oklahoma
on Saturday night. A record NU Coliseum crowd of 4,373 fans watched Nebraska improve to
11-2 overall and 5-0 in the Big Eight.
After dominating the first game,
the Huskg-s went up 10-5 in the sec
ond game until Ok lahoma scored cighi
unanswered points to take a 13-10
lead. The two teams then seesawed
back and forth until the Huskcrs were
able to cam a two-point victory.
Luther said that even though Ne
braska has won 16straighiconfcrcncc
li ties, Saturday’s second game showed
the Huskcrs can sometimes be too
passive.
“I think it definitely makes us wake
up; sometimes we can get lackadaisi
cal,” Luther said.
Oklahoma volleyball coach Miles
Pabs) said Nebraska didn’t play as
well as it had in the past.
“Nebraska had trouble passing the
ball,’’ Pabst said. “My gut feeling is
they' re not as strong a bal l club as they
had last year, especially when you
lose two All-Americans in (Janet)
Kruse and Cris (Hall).”
This was the Huskcrs’ second win
01 the season over Oklahoma, as they
beat the Sooners 15-11,15-4 and 15
2 in Norman, Okla.
The 4,373 fans that came out to
watch the Huskcr victory bested the
4,328 mark set against Oklahoma in
1988.
Nebraska volleyball coach Terry
Pettit said matches against the Soon
ers seem to bring out the Husker fans.
"Oklahoma is a traditional rival
for Nebraska," Pettit said. “If we were
playing shufflcboard they’d come out
to see it.”
Pettit said he was expecting the
I il th-ranked Huskers to play better for
the Nebraska fans in time for their
next home match against No. 15 Colo
rado Saturday.
" We have the best fans in thecoun
try,’ Pettit said. “When they come
back next Saturday, they’ll see a lot
better play.”
Volleyball player
earns 1,000th kill
By Derek Samson
Staff Reporter
Stephanie Thaler hit two mi lestones
Saturday when she collected her
1,000th kill and moved into eighth
placeon Nebraska’sall-time kill chart.
“I didn’t even know it,” Thater
said after the Comhusker volleyball
team downed Oklahoma in straight
games. “1 don’t focus on personal
stats.”
Thaler, a senior middle blocker,
registered 11 kills in 24 attempts and
passed Enid Schoncwisc, pushing her
career kill total to 1,006 in front of a
record crowd.
She now needs 53 kills to pass
current Huskcr assistant Cathy Noth
and move into seventh place.
“(The crowd) was really helpful.
We always like playing Oklahoma
and love playing at home,” Thaler
said.
r\__ _• .. n
me owners,
Thatcr said Nebraska looked rusty in
the 15-4, 16-14, 15-7 win.
“We definitely did not play to our
potential. We need to take charge of
our individual issues,” she said. “You
have to know that your five other
teammates will have the pride to do
Jheir job.”
The fifth-ranked Huskers boosted
their record to 11-2, but Thaler said
the team didn’t improve in the pro
cess.
“We’ve got some things to work
on, Thaler said. “We have been
gradually getting better each game
this season and tonight it came to a
hall.
“For us to be a Final Four team, we
have to play at a top level all the
time,” she said.
Nebraska was forced to the vvire ih
the 16-14 second game win, but Thater
said she would have preferred a blow
out.
“ I love to play intense competi
tion, but if we don’t play well I’m not
happy,’ Thaler said. “Ifthere wasany
frustration or lackadaisical on our side
it was caused by us and not Okla
homa.”
Ten BenseYs win doesn't pull
cross country ahead of Arkansas
oy «JvJiIII HUKISSOn
Senior Editor
Fran ten Bcnscl won another race,
but the Nebraska women’scrosscoun
try team came up short in its bid to win
the Ra/.orback Invitational in
Fayetteville, Ark., this weekend.
Arkansas, the host team, easily
outdistanced the second-place
Comhuskers, winning by 45 points.
But ten Bcnscl, asenior All-Ameri
can, won her third individual title of
the season, running the 5,(XK)-mctcr
course in a lime of 16:57.
‘Fran ran another great race,” Ne
braska coach Jay Dirksen said. “She
was pushed by a very quality runner,
and she did well.”
Junior Theresa Sidling, who ran
1 nth with a timcol 17:32, was the only
other top-10 finisher for Nebraska.
Dirksen said the women’s team
still needed to develop its depth in
time lor the Big Eight Champion
ships.
“We’ve still got to get better after
our first couple of runners,” he said.
On the men’s side, Dirksen said he
was thrilled w ith the performance of
junior David llcffa.
Ilcffa finished fifth with a time ol
29:47 on the 10,000-metcr course,
and finished just one second behind a
runner from Arkansas who placed
second at last year’s NCAA champi
onship.
“He ran by far the best race he’s
cvcrruTt,” Drrkscn said. “David went
head-to-hedtiwith Arkansas’ best run
ner, and he took him to the wire.”
The Nebraska men’s team finished
sixth out of a nine-team field with 149
points. Arkansas also won the men’s
division, scoring 43 points.
Rcncir Henning, the Huskcrs’ sec
ond-highest finisher on themen’sside,
finished 29th with a time of 31:56.
“We’re capable of running a little
better than we did,” Dirksen said.
“We’re a better team than what we’re
running now, but lime’s runningout.”
The Huskcrs will take a partial
team to compete next weekend in the
University of Nebraska-Kearney In
vitational. The full teams will return
to compete in the Big Eight Cross
Coontry Championships on Oct. 3t in
Boulder, Colo.
Huskers rank No. 8 in AP poll
From Staff and Wire Reports
Without playing a game, the Ne
braska football team made a three
notch jump, in The Associated Press
Top 25 football poll Sunday.
The Comhuskcrs gathered a total
of 1,030 points and leaped from No.
11 to No. 8, passing Colorado, Penn
Stale and Stanford.
Colorado fell from No. 7 to No. 9
after tying unranked Oklahoma at
home. Kansas, the only other ranked
team in the Big Eight, moved from
No. 25 to No. 22 after rallying to beat
Iowa State 50-47.
Washington and Miami, both 6-0,
were tied at the top of the poll, each
receiving 1,517 poinis. The tic was
the first in the AP poll since Oct. 27,
1941, when Minnesota and Texas
shared a spot at the top.
The No. 8 ranking is Nebraska’s
highest this year.
Before taking the weekend off, the
Huskcrs drew ire from Comhusker
coach Tom Osborne for sloppy play
after a two-hour scrimmage at Memo
rial Stadium on Friday.
Nebraska’s top twooffensive units
had five turnovers, including three
fumbles. \
“It looked like some of the guys
weren’t very focused,” Osborne said.
“Any time you come out here to play,
you have to play. So it was a disap
pointing performance from thatstand
point.”
The highlight of the scrimmage
was the return of sophomore quarter
back Tony Veland, who had been
injured since late August.
Veland had 10 plays in the scrim
mage, and Osborne said his missed
practice lime was evident.
“He’s still a little rusty,” Osborne
said. “He’s not throwing the ball like
he did earlier. I believe he’s still feel
ing his way.”
Osborne said he expected Veland
to be at full strength (or Nebraska’s
game this weekend at Missouri.
Gymnasts bring show
to Lincoln’s Pershing
By Nick Hytrek
Senior Reporter
Gymnastics fans who couldn’t
get enough of Shannon Miller,
Tatiana Gutsu, Vitali Shcrbo and
Trent Dimas during the 1992 Sum
mer Olympics will get a second
chance to sec them perform.
Only this time it will be in per
son.
Miller,Gutsu, Shcrbo and Dimas
are pan of a group of international
champions touring the United
States. The tour will stop in Lin
coln Monday and Tuesday, with a
performance at Pershing Audito
rium Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Also scheduled to perform arc
former U.S. Olympian Kurt Tho
mas, 1989 women’s world cham
pion Svetlana Boguinskaia, mem
bers of the Nebraska men’s and
women’s gymnastics teams, and
younger gymnasts from Lincoln’s
four gymnastics schools.
“I personally think it will be a
once-in-a-lifctime opportunity to
see the best in the world,” said
Francis Allen, Cornhusker men’s
gymnastics coach. “It’s probably
one of the best groups ever as
sembled.”
Nebraska women’s coach Rick
Walton agreed.
“It’s not every day you get some
of the better people in your sport
coming through town,” Walton
said.
The list of honors for the mem
bers of the lour goes on and on.
Miller won five medals at the
1992 Summer Olympics, includ
ing a silver in the women’s all
around. Beating Miller in the all
around was Gutsu, who was also a
mem her of the Unified Team, which
won the team gold.
Sherbo, also of the Unified
Team, won six gold medals at
Barcelona — more than any other
athlete. Dimas, who competed for
Nebraska for one year, won a gold
in the high bar.
As well as perf orming, the gym
nasts will work out at the Nebraska
facilities Monday. That’s when
Huskcr gymnasts will benefit,
Walton said.
“We’re certainly going to set up
the video camera and hope to get
something out of it,” he said. “I
would be willing to bet (my gym
nasts) won’t be in a hurry to get out
that day.”
Allen agreed it would be a learn
ing experience.
“It will be a professional clinic
for me and my staff,” he said. ‘‘The
Russians work on s^> much trivial
stuff. We’re going to have them
critique some of the stuff our guys
arc doing.”
It should also be an inspirational
experience, both coaches said.
“If you want to motivate some
one to work hard, let them watch
those who have made it to the topof
the world,” Walton said.
it’ll just be total inspiration for
the kids, for every bodyAllen said.
Plus, it’s hard to tell how one of
them might inspire kids from Lin
coln to be in the Olympics.”