Nebmskan SPORTS
TiwMteVi NovenAsr 2,1993 JL -A- k/
KanS^tate 2 11 ^25 * ? ? .81?
Oklahoma 750
Missouri 2 2 0 .500 3 4 1 .438
Oklahoma State 0 4 0 .000 3 5 0 .375
Saturday's Results
Missouri 37, Iowa Stale 349^RHHnH^MIHHni|^ \
Kansas State 21, Oklahoma 7 %
Kansas State gets last laugh
By Jeff Griesch
Senior Reporter
With a win over Oklahoma on
Saturday, Kansas State not only broke
a 22-game losing streak to the Soon
ers, the Wildcats also took the next
step to becoming a legitimate Big
Eight contender.
The Wildcats were ripped and rid
iculed in the Oklahoma media before
their game with the Sooners, but Kan
sas State got the last laugh with a 21 -
7 win against Oklahoma at Manhat
tan, Kan.
The Oklahoma press showed no
respect for the Wildcats and referred
to Kansas State as Kmart instead of K
c State.
“Everyone was making fun of us,”
Kansas State free safety Jaime Mendez
said after Saturday’s game. “They’d
call us Kmart. Well, if we’re Kmart,
then we just ran a blue light special.”
By the time the game was over, the
Wildcats had earned the respectofthe
Oklahoma media, players and coach
es.
“Kansas State is a good football
team,” Oklahoma coach Gary Gibbs
said Monday during the Big Eight
coaches’ weekly teleconference.
“They got the job done and we didn ’ t.”
With Nebraska on top in the con
ference at 4-0, the Wildcats’ hopes of
winning a league title are slim, but
Kansas State has moved into position
to finish second.
Kansas State coach Bill Snyder
said the win over Oklahoma was a big
step for the Wildcats’ budding pro
gram.
“It obviously means a great deal to
our program,” Snyder said. “Any time
you beat a University of Oklahoma
football team, it is a great accom
plishment.”
Snyder said he was happy for his
players because they finally experi
enced a win against one of the top Big
Eight teams.
“They have worked extremely hard
and now our fifth-year seniors have
won one of those games against one of
the teams that have been judged one
of the top three teams in the confer
ence,” Snyder said.
Delensive play
quiets critics,
Darlington says
By Mitch Sherman
Staff Reporter
In the past few years, Nebraska defensive
backs coach George Darlington has taken a
great deal of verbal abuse regarding the play of
his secondary.
Darlington and his defensive backs have
been criticized several times, including after
this year’s 45-28 victory over Kansas State, in
which Wildcat quarterback Chad May threw
for a Big Eight-record 489 yards.
However, Darlington said, this year’s team
has had the ability to silence some of the critics.
“The thingabout (the Colorado) game, which
has been a characteristic of this team, is that
they just kept scrapping and playing,” he said.
“This group of kids expects to be criticized, and
they’re going to play hard. I think, ultimately,
that’s going to help us.”
On Saturday, the defense, which was led by
the secondary’s three intcrcpptions, proved to
be the heroes in the Husker’s 21-17 victory over
the Buffaloes, Darlington said.
Free safety John Reece sealed the victory by
picking off Colorado quarterback Kordell
Stewart’s pass at the Nebraska 30-yard line to
squelch the Buffs’ last-minute drive.
The Huskers, who improved to 8-0 overall
and 4-0 in the Big Eight, have been able to win
unaer adverse circumstances uniuce some pre
vious Huskcr teams, Darlington said.
“We are really proud of our players, because
they give you a 100-perccnt effort,” he said.
“That is all you can ask of them. If they don’t
get it done, it isn’t because of lack of effort.”
The coaches will now try to ensure that a
letdown does not occur after a big victory this
season, Darlington said.
The Huskers have not forgotten last year’s
game at Iowa State, he said. After blowing out
Colorado and Kansas in consecutive weeks,
Nebraska was upset 19-10 in Ames, Iowa.
“The memory of Iowa State is constantly
spoken about ” Darlington said. “1 think our
players will give a heck of an effort this week.”
Darlington praised Kansas, 4-5, and said the
Jayhawks were not the same team that lost 42
0 in the Kickoff Classic to Florida State on Aug.
28.
“Kansas is a better football team than Kan
sas State,” he said. “In the last few games, 1
would say Kansas runs the ball better than any
team in the Big Eight. That includes (Nebras
ka), and that includes Colorado.
“They just line up and come at you. We are
anticipating a tremendous battle.”
^—
Shaun Sartin/DN
Nebraska’s Nikki Strieker, who broke the all-time career set assist record Saturday against Colorado, is
leading the Cornhuskers through one of their toughest conference seasons.
Setter supreme
Senior Strieker sets NU assist record, leads team in race for Big Eight title
by Jen singer
Senior Editor
Nobody has had more assists in the career
of a Nebraska volleyball setter than Nikki
Strieker.
But then again, no Comhuskcr setter has
had to lead her team through a season like
Nebraska’s this year.
Strieker, who broke former All-Ameri
can Val Novak’s school career assist record
with her 3304th assist in the Huskers’ three
game sweep of Colorado last Saturday, is
leading a young Nebraska team that is in
jeopardy of not winning the Big Eight title
for the first time ever.
However, the Husker captain said she
needed to be optimistic and not worry about
the Huskers’ string of 17-straight league
titles ending.
“I can’t think about that,” Strieker said.
“If it’s out of my hands, I can’t do anything
about it anyway. We just need to finish out
the season strong and play our best volley
ball at the end.”
Strieker, a 5-foot-10 senior from Lincoln
East, has led No. 12 Nebraska to a 17-3
overall record and a 6-2 league mark—one
game behind the Buffaloes. Colorado must
lose one of its last five matches for Nebraska
to contend for at least a share of the confer
ence crown.
Nebraska’s run for another Big Eight title
will come without the help of experienced
leaders. Strieker is the only senior on the
Husker roster after outside hitter Laura
Luther’s career ended with an offseason
shoulder injury.
While it can be difficult being the only
Husker with much experience — three Ne
braska starters had never started before this
season while the other two are sophomores
—the team is grow ing up fast, Strieker said.
“It’s kind of lonely sometimes,” she said.
“But the players around me are improving so
much and are playing like juniors and se
niors. It hasn’t made me feel like it’s all
dependent on me.”
After breaking the all-time Nebraska
record for assists, Strieker said being placed
in the same class as former All-American
setters Novak, Lori Endacott and Tisha
Delaney was pretty overwhelming.
“I guess that’s why 1 try to avoid it and not
think about it," she said.
Husker-bashing, Cornhead-calling columnist mistaken
Nebraska: The Good Life.
As I was riding back from Boulder
after Nebraska’s 21-17 win, it was
heartwarming to see the sign welcom
ing me into the Comhusker state.
Or as Denver Post columnist
Woody Paige calls it: the Comhead
state.
Woody, I heard almost no com
plaints about the treatment of Huskcr
fans in Boulder last Saturday.
Paige refers to Nebraskans as
Comheads—making out all Nebras
kans to be a bunch of bumpkins still
living off the land.
Woody, the truth is that Nebras
kans have a lot more class than you.
' In his annual Husker-bashing col
umn, Paige slammed all Nebraskans
in a plea for good treatment of Ne
braska fans.
Then after bashing Nebraska fans,
Paige turned around and slammed
Bill McCartney and the Buffs.
Some examples:
“Take the Cornheads to lunch at
Cliff Young’s. They’ve never been in
a restaurant without a trough.”
When Paige comes to Lincoln, he
most likely travels on 1-80, past truck
stops and cafes. But, Woody, if you
looked deeper into Nebraska, you’d
Tim
Pearson
find that Nebraska’s restaurants, es
pecially those in Omaha and Lincoln,
rank right up there with, oh my, Den
ver’s famous eateries.
“Take the Comheads to the Den
ver Art Museum so they’ll see there
are ways to draw without crayons and
ways to paint without numbers,” Paige
writes.
I can’t believe he found out about
my dot-to-dot book and my water
paint book. I’ll always remember No.
2 as the color mahogany.
Paige then almost guaranteed a
Colorado win against the Huskers.
Wrong again.
“Console the Comheads after their
team fails to beat Colorado... and tell
them how much fun they’ll have in El
Paso,'Texas, at the John Hancock
Bowl.”
Too bad the Huskers spoiled that
plan. With a 4-3-1 record, the Buffs
could struggle to even get a bowl
berth. Have a nice time at the Aloha
Bowl, Woody.
And next year, all you Cornheads,
bring out the combines, put on the
overalls and bring out the cows and
chickens for Woody. Show him what
a real Comhcad looks and acts like.
Let’s put on a class act for the
Coloradans. But next time, 1 sure
hope Woody thinks twice before he
puts his pen to the paper.
Pearson is a sophomore news-editorial
major and a Daily Nebraskan senior report
er.
