Sports
Strong-serving Illini end Huskers’ season
By Jeff Singer
Senior Reporter ___
CHAMPAIGN, 111. — A reality
check was given to the Nebraska vol
leyball team Thursday night.
Even with the return of All-Ameri
can middle blocker Stephanie Thater,
the Cornhuskers’ season came to an
end with a 15-10,15-7, 15-10 loss to
Illinois in the NCAA Midcast Re
gional semifinal.
With the win, the Fighting Illini
advanced to tonight’sXinal in front of
4,123 fans at Huff Gymnasium.
The match started off well for the
Huskers, as they jumped out to a 9-6
lead in game one, but Illinois fought
back to tie the game at nine. At that
point, the return of Thater, who has
been hobbled by an ankle sprain and
hasn’t competed in Nebraska’s three
previous matches, didn’t faze the
Illini.
Illinois went on a 6-1 run to close
the first game and take a 1-0 lead in
the match. The Illini used three aces
in the opening game to pace them.
The Illini again had a winning
hand in the second game, as their
eight-point domination was fueled by
six more aces.
And just when it looked like Ne
braska was going to get back in the
match with a 10-8 lead in the third
game, Illinois registered three more
aces in a 7-0 run that closed the match
and propelled them into the finals of
the regional against Stanford.
Nebraska volleyball coach Terry
Pettit said it was easy to see why the
Illini were able to win.
“We were certainly outplayed in
every game,” Pettit said. “I was disap
pointed in two aspects of our game —
serving and passing. We thought for
us to be competitive in the match, it
was important for us to serve and pass
really tough.
“You can do all you want and
substitute all you want, but if you
don’t pass, that’s the ballgame.’1
Illinoiscoach Mike Hcbcrtagrccd.
“I thought clearly serving was a
factor in the match — a combination
of our serving and passing break
downs by Nebraska,” said Hebert,
whose team improved to 32-3.
Nebraska’s final record dropped to
22-6, as the Huskers lost for the sec
ond time this year to the Illini. Illinois
beat Nebraska in four games in Sep
tember.
Pettit said his team became disor
ganized at the end of the match.
“At the end, we were just scram
bling; I was just trying to get six
people on the court that would com
pete,” Pettit said.
One of the few bright spots for the
Huskcrs was outside hitter Allison
Weston. The freshman hit .375 de
spite the Huskcrs’ overall .158 per
centage as a team.
Thatcr, the B ig Eight Player of the
Year who played in her last match at
Nebraska, hit .364 with five kills.
She said she fought hard despite
her injury to try to help the Huskers
win.
“Personally, I know I did whatever
I could,” Thater said.
Both coaches said they were proud
of Thater’s effort on the gimpy ankle.
“I couldn’t have asked for any
thing more from her,” Pettit said.
“She competed as hard as anybody
could in that situation.”
“You just can ’ t take a piece of your
offense like that out of your lineup
and function the same way,” Hebert
said. “I thought it was admirable she
gave it a go — she’s a real warrior.”
Notes:
•The loss marked Ncbraska’scarliest
exit from the tournament since 1988,
when the Huskers lost to Oklahoma.
That match was also played in
Champaign.
•In the other semifinal, Stanford beat
Penn State 15-13,15-6,15-3. Stanford
will meetlllinois in a 7:30 p.m. match
tonight.
Offense carries
‘sloppy’ Huskers
past pesky Jays
By Nick Hytrek
Senior Reporter _
From the expression on Eric Piatkowski’s
face after the Nebraska basketball team’s 100
83 win over Creighton Thursday night, it was
hard to tell the Comhuskcrs had won.
A crowd of 14,011 fans at the Bob Dcvaney
Sports Center had watched the No. 25 Huskers
open up a 26-point lead in the second half, only
to have 0-3 Creighton cut that lead to as few as
14 with four minutes to play.
“We got up big and maybe then it was just a
mental lapse,” Piatkowski, who led Nebraska
with 21 points, said. “1 think our team’s good
enough; we’ve got good enough players that we
shouldn’t have done that.
“It was just mental mistakes tonight. We
weren’t really playing solid basketball. We
were trying to take a few short cuts here and
there. ”
Forward Bruce Chubick also said the Husk
ers, now 4-0, let their concentration slip a little
down the stretch.
“We played pretty good for a period of the
game but then we got a little bit lackadaisical,”
Chubick said. “The last 10 minutes of the half
we got a little sloppy and they were executing
really well. That’s why they were in the game.”
But the Blucjays couldn’t get quite close
enough. Nebraska answered every Creighton
threat and held on for the win.
Huskcr coach Danny Nee complimented the
Blucjays on their attempted comeback.
“Creighton played hard,” Nee said. “They
executed their offense. They never gave up.
They kept always being a threat, but I think we
took control of the game early and that’s what
counts.”
From the beginning, it looked as if Nebraska
was counting on putting the game away by
halftime. The Huskers opened up an 8-2 lead
that grew to 18-8 with 11:57 left in the half. By
the 6:20 point, Nebraska had upped its lead to
32-17 on a shot by Chubick, who scored 14
points and pulled down a team-high 11 re
bounds.
But Creighton wouldn’t go away. The
- 44
I think we kind of got out of it
mentally and started thinking
about all the trash that was
talked this summer about
‘We’re going to beat you guys
in your house’.
—Boone
NU guard
-ft -
Blucjays oulscorcd the Huskers 16-10 to cut
Nebraska’s lead to 42-33 at halftime.
Husker guard Jaron Boone said the team’s
emotional level affected Nebraska’s play.
“I thought we got a little too excited,” Boone
said. “Being an in-state rivalry, I think we kind
of got out of it mentally and started thinking
about all the trash that was talked this summer
about ‘We’re going to beat you guys in your
house’and 1 think we just got a little tooexciicd.”
But at the beginning of the second half, the
Huskers showed they had shaken their emo
tions and threatened to blow the game wide
open.
The two teams played evenly for the first
four minutes until an 11-2 Husker run put
Nebraska up 67-44 with 12:28 left. After six
straight Creighton points, the Huskers reeled
off a 9-0 run to take a 76-50 lead at the 8:43
mark.
Creighton was not ready to concede the
victory, however. The Blucjays oulscorcd Ne
braska 16-4 in the next four minutes and had the
lead down to 81-67. That was as close as
Creighton would come before the game’s final
minute.
Creighton’s Mike Amos, who had a game
high 28 points and 17 rebounds, couldn’t pull
the Blucjays any closer before the game was
decided. Nebraska sustained its lead and Jamar
Johnson’s three-point shot with three seconds
left provided the final margin of victory.
r Staci McKee/DN
Nebraska’s Tom Best attempts a layup during Thursday’s game against
Creighton. Nebraska won 100-83.
/
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Beck hoping to establish depth in tournament
By Phil Carter
Staff Reporter
After posting four straight wins,
the Nebraska women’s basketball
team will host the four-team
CableVision Classic at the Bob
Dcvancy Sports Center Friday and
Saturday.
In Friday’s opening game, the
Comhuskcrs will i'acr/O-2 Howard at
6 p.m. The second game will feature
Saint Mary’s College (2-0) against
Eastern Washington (1-1) at 8 p.m.
The losers from Friday will play at
1 p.m. Saturday in the consolation
game with Friday’s winners sched
uled for a 3 p.m. tip-off in the cham
pionship game.
“This is going to be a different
change for us again,” Husker coach
Angela Beck said. “Howard’s com
ing off an 0-2 record.
“1 don’t think it’s going to be our
toughest opponent, but it ’ s going to be
an opportunity for me to see some
other things and try to work some
combinations.”
Nebraska is fresh off an 84-67 vic
tory against Illinois on Wednesday at
the Dcvancy Center. Illinois came
into that game with a 3-0 mark.
“It’s been tough with this schedule
here,” Beck said. “We haven’t had
very many kids be able to play. It’s
been tough for our young kids. As
Danny’s (Ncc) been able to play a lot
of his young kids, I haven’t been
afforded that opportunity yet.”
Beck said she was worried about
the possibility of injuries to her vet
eran players, and how hard it would be
for her younger players to step in and
fill the positions.
“If somebody goes down, we’d be
in trouble,” Beck said. “I’d like to try
and mix it up and get a little deeper in
our bench Friday night and give our
starters a little more rest.”
Howard enters th is weekend’ s tour
nament after losing 70-50 to Massa
chusetts and 76-75 to Rider. Former
Omaha North standout, Annette Lee,
leads Howard in scoring with 55 points
this season.
Saint Mary’s brings an unbeaten
record to the Dcvaney Center after
posting wins in their own tournament
over Northern Arizona and Southern
Utah.
Eastern Washington won its sea
son opener against Seattle Pacific,
77-72, but lost to Wisconsin-Green
Bay, 67-55.
“Saint Mary’s is a very solid team.
They’ve gotten some national points,”
Beck said. “And Eastern
Washington’s not bad cither. We’ll
just have to sec what happens.”