* DN til© photo
Nebraska middle blocker Stephanie Thater attempts a block in a match last season.
Thater tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee in a workout Jan. 2.
i hater's postseason injury
puts career plans on hold
By Tim Pearson
Staff Reporter
With her collegiate volleyball ca
reer over, Stephanie Thater wanted to
continue playing volleyball competi
tively.
She will have to put these plans on
hold for now.
Thater tore the anterior cruciate
ligament in her knee Jan. 2 while
practicing.
Thater, the Big Eight Conference
Player of the Year for the past two
seasons, was practicing for a tryout
for the national B team, a step under
the national team, on Jan. 21.
The B team will compete at the
World University Games, Thater said.
“I came back after Christmas to
practice. I made a really basic move,
and (the knee) just gave out,” she said.
“It just popped. I’ve never heard or
felt anything like that before,” Thater
said. “I was in a lot of pain.”
Rightbefore Nebraska’s first-round
-1(—
I’ve never Heard or felt
anything like that before.
I was in a lot of pain.
—Thater
former NU middle blocker
. A ’
-ff -
Big Eight tournament match against
Oklahoma, Thater sprained her ankle,
which kepi her out of theComhuskers’
next three matches, including the loss
to Colorado in the tournament’s cham
pionship match.
Thater said that her knee was par
tially injured from when she sprained
her ankle.
“The trainer said that I tore a cap
sule in my ankle, which is practically
every ligament,’’ she said. “There was
some pain in my knee at first, but I
didn’t feel loo much pain after that.
“I had been working on my ankle
and my knee, and then this happened,”
Thater said. ‘‘It just gave out on me.”
Thater is hoping for a full recov
ery, and said that she would have to go
through six months of rehabilitation
or “however long it takes to heal.”
She said that she is looking for
ward to trying out next year for the
same team.
“I can’t go this year,” she said. “So
I’ll have to wait and go for it next
year.”
Thater left her mark in Husker
volleyball ’listory, setting records in
both bloclv assists and total blocks, for
both season and career.
Thaler was a two-time All-Ameri
can with the Huskcrs and a second
team All-American as a sophomore.
This season Thater led the Huskcrs
to the Mideast Regional semifinals
and a 22-6 overall record. In Thatcr’s
four years as a Husker, Nebraska
posted a 110-18 record.
Oklahoma looking to work out KU
frustrations against Comhuskers
By Jeff Griesch
Staff Reporter
Oklahoma coach Billy Tubbs said
that his team is ready to take out its
frustration on Nebraska after the Soon
crs’ 96-85 loss at home against Kan
sas on Monday night.
Oklahoma will host the Huskers
Thursday night in Nebraska’s Big
Eight conference opener.
“We’re ready to play. We would
like to play today,” Tubbs said. “We
want revenge.”
Oklahoma led Kansas by nine
points at the half but the Sooncrs
could not stop the red-hot Jay hawks,
who shot 66 percent from the floor for
the game.
Tubbs said poor defense by the
Sooncrs and aggressive play by the
Jayhawks enabled Kansas to come
back.
“I thought Kansas just outplayed
us,” Tubbs said. “Defensively, we
were the worst we’ve been all year.
We thought we were a better team
than that, but they just flat-out beat
us."
The Sooncrs are trying to forget
about the loss and instead are turning
their attention to preparations for the
game against Nebraska.
Tubbs said that the two teams match
upcvenly on paper,but says the Husk
ers may have an advantage in the
paint.
Nebraska Is 3-6 against Oklahoma In
the teams' last meetings. A look at the
two teams' scoras the last three years.
1992— OU 107, NU 85 *
OU 106, NU 97
OU 79, NU 76
1991— NU 117, OU 113 *
NU 105, OU 93
NU 111, OU 99
1990— OU 78, NU 65 *
OU 88, NU 66
OU 105, NU 64
“They will outsize us somewhat
along the front line,” Tubbs said.
“Something that Nebraska docs ex
tremely well is rebound, and we will
have to keep them off the boards.”
Tubbs also said that the Huskcrs
may be a more athletic team than
Oklahoma, but he hopes that will lead
lo the up-lcmpo game the Sooncrs
like to play.
Nebraska coach Danny Nee dis
agreed with Tubbs about the Huskers’
ability to match up with the Sooncrs.
“We have never matched up well
with Oklahoma,” Nee said. “We will
have a lough time containing Bryan
Sallier and Jeff Webster down low,
and on the perimeter, it seems like
Terry Evans has been around forever,
so I think his experience could be an
advantage.”
Oklahoma brings a balanced of
fense into Thursday’s game with the
Huskers, as all five starters average
double figures.
“We arc pretty much a balanced
scoring attack,” Tubbs said. “There’s
nobody who has really stood out for
us.”
Tubbs also said that he is having
difficulty preparing for Nebraska de
fensively because of all the new faces
in the Huskers lineup.
“They’re playing a lot of new
people, arid I’m having a hard lime
recognizing them,” Tubbs said. “We
will probably play everybody straight
up defensively though, because they
are going to have a good player at
every position.”
TV
Continued from Page 8
peting team gets an additional share
of the money,” he said.
But more television appearances
will bring more money into the Big
Eight, Fouraker said.
Jeff Bollig, Big Eight service bu
reau director, said the conference is
under a four-year contract with
Raycom. Under the current contract,
when a Big Eight team plays on tele
vision, the revenue is split among all
Cooper
Continued from Page 8
thinks victories over Eastern Illinois,
Southern Utah and the University of
Missouri-Kansas City washed that
disappointment away. When he com
pared thcone-point win over the Kan
garoos to a Big Eight-type road win,
Nee really went down under.
The only similarity between that
win and the Big Eight road was the
cold, icy conditions that left the H usk -
ers stranded Saturday night in Kansas
City. The real cold, cruel Big Eight
road may find Nebraska stranded in
Kansas City again soon.
Only this lime, unless Nebraska
puts some defensive chains on oppo
nents and some fluid in its offense, it
will be stuck as a lower seed in the Big
Eight tournament March 12-14.
That will leave the NCAA with the
ultimate decision. Certainly, when
compared with automatic entrants like
the winners of the Big Sky, Sun Belt
and Mid-American conferences, Ne
braska belongs in the dance.
But after watching all but one of
the Big Eight teams eliminated before
the Sweet 16 last year, the tournament
selection committee probably won’t
invite six again.
of the Big Eight teams, he said.
Nebraska will appear on Raycom
five times this season, with its first
appearance being Saturday on the road
against Oklahoma State.
When the league’s contract with
Raycom expires in 1994, a new rev
enue agreement will go into effect,
Bollig said.
“Under the new contract, if a team
plays a non-conference game on tele
vision, it will get 80 percent of the
revenue,” he said. “With all other
televised games, the money will go to
the conference.”
And after Nebraska’s dismal per
formances in ’91 and ’92, the Huskers
have no strong arguments for a berth.
That’s because Nebraska has never
had a strong, consistent defense. Con
necticut ripped it apart last ypar. And
13th-sced Xavier slashed through it in
Nebraska’s only defense to any
arguments for a berth to this year’s
tournament will come when — and if
— its defense comes around.
Francis Allen will get few argu
ments when he says his 1993 Huskers
will win the NCAA Gymnastics
Championships.
No, Allen wasn’tjustgloating again
when he referred to his gymnasts as
the “1993 national champs” at half
time of Nebraska’s matchup with
Southern Utah.
The Huskcr gymnasts will provide
the highlight of 1993 Husker athlet
ics. As Allen has repeatedly said,
they’ll erase 1992’s disappointment,
when their school-best performance
in the NCAAs came up short against
Stanford.
Or Francis isn’t frank after all.
And I’ll go back to the cheap scats.
Cooper is a junior news-editorial major,
the Daily Nebraskan wire page editor and a
sports columnist
Sanders
Continued from Page 8
contender for the Big Eight title,”
Sanders said.
Sanders’ week could even get bet
ter if the votes go his way in the
NCAA convention, which begins to
day in Dallas.
Among the issues Sanders will have
a close eye on is a proposal to start the
baseball season March 1 and move
the College World Series back to ei
ther the end of June or the beginning
of July. /
Another proposal wowdextend the
baseball season from 22 to 24 weeks.
There is no official starting date
for baseball presently and Sanders
said that puts northern teams at a
disadvantage. He saidacommon start
ing date would help teams like Ne
braska compete with southern teams.
“It would bring about more favor
able play ing conditions and that would
cause more of an equalization of re
cruitment,” Sanders said. “Look who
won the World Series — a team from
far north.”
“It also creates more fan interest
because the fans want to watch games
in favorable weather conditions.”
The proposal to extend the season
two more weeks is one Sanders said
should pass without problem.
“After you have practiced that long,
I don’t see what two more weeks of
games will hurt,” he said.
Late block lifts Hoosiers
ANN ARBOR. Mich. (AP) —
Indiana’s Alan Henderson made what
proved to be the winning basket and
then blocked Michigan’s final shotas
the sixth-ranked Hoosicrs snapped the
second-ranked Wolverines 11-game
winning streak with a 76-75 victory
Tuesday night.
Henderson, who made the game’s
final basket on a jumper from the right
side with 1:36 remaining, had 22 points
for Indiana (14-2 overall, 3-0 Big
Ten). Calbcrt Cheancy added 20 for
the Hoosiers.
Jalen Rose, who had 19 points for
Michigan (12-2,2-1), put the Wolver
ines ahead 75-74 with 2:30 to play.
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