Nebraskan QpOiPTQ -
Thursday, December 2,1993 X X 1
NU volleyball team proves power in 1 hour
Cornell defeated
in NCAA match
By Tim Pearson
Senior Reporter
The Nebraska volleyball team put in about
one hour’s worth of work Wednesday night in
preparation for their second-round NCAA match
Sunday against No. 16 Notre Dame.
And the Cornhuskcrs’ work made Cornell’s
stay in Lincoln short. Nebraska defeated the
Big Red 15-7, 15-4, 15-1 before an NU Colise
um crowd of 1,181.
The first-round match of the NCAA Volley
ball Championships lasted only 52 minutes as
the Huskers raced out to big leads in all three
games.
Nebraska coach Terry Pettit said the match
went the way the Huskers thought it would.
“It gave us the opportunity to work on
various things that we may need to use later,”
he said.
Husker setter Nikki Strieker said Nebraska’s
height was a big advantage in the match. Cornell,
which fell to 17-10,didn’t have asinglc starter
over six feet tall.
“They were a lot smaller than I thought
they’d be,” she said. “To us, that’s an advan
tage. That gave us more confidence against a
team we knew nothing about.”
The 26-5 Huskers jumped out to a 9-1 lead
in the first game. The Big Red charged back
with five consecutive points of their own.
But Nebraska didn’t let Cornell get any
closer. Junior outside hitter Kelly Aspegrcn
scaled the game withone ofhereight first-game
kills.
The Huskers amassed a h itt ing pcrccn tage of
.529 in the first game and a percentage of .469
for the entire match.
The Huskers started the second game with
six straight points off the serves of Strieker,
who finished with 40 set assists and one ace in
the match.
Cornell again came back to make it 8-3, but
then Nebraska scored five straight points to
virtually put the game away. In the third game,
the Huskers scored 12 straight points to win the
match.
Kiley Timperley/DN
Nebraska’s Peggy Myer (left) spikes the ball over Cornell’s Michele Kizorek
during the first round match of the NCAA volleyball tournament Wednes
day night at the NU Coliseum. Nebraska won 15-7,15-4,15-1 to advance to
the second round Sunday against Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.
Coach of Big Red
praises Huskers
By Mitch Sherman
Staff Reporter
The Big Red volleyball team went down in
the first round of the NC AA tournament Wednes
day night.
Not the Big Red from Nebraska, but the Big
Red from Cornell, the Ivy League’s first repre
sentative in the NCAA tournament.
And there was no doubt about which red was
bigger, Cornell coach Merja Connolly said.
“They were the strongest, tallest, most phys
ical team we have played,” Connolly said.
“We’re not stupid at Cornell. I’m very honest
with my team. We told our team coming in that
they would have to play an almost flawless
game to come out with a win.”
Even though the Cornhuskcrs sent Cornell
packing after less than one hour of work in a 15
7,15-4,15-1 victory.ConnollysaidtheBigRed
would benefit from the experience it gained
from the loss to Nebraska.
“It’s a big step for Cornell and Ivy League
volleyball,” she said. “Nebraska has a great
team.”
Connolly, whose team finished the season
17-10, said she could not compare 25-5 Nebras
ka with other top teams around the nation
because she had not seen most top teams play.
The Huskers play Notre Dame Sunday at 2 p.m.
in South Bend, Ind.
“I haven’t seen Notre Dame,” she said. “But
I know we didn’t sec the potential of Nebraska.
We didn’t push them. They have a great team.”
One Husker weakness stood out, Connolly
said.
“The only weakness I see is if people aren’t
coming at them as hard,” Connolly said. “If
they go up against a shorter team that has good
placement and hits a lot of dink shots, I could
see them having problems.”
But Connolly, who was a middle blocker
and captain of UCLA’s 1984 national champi
onship team, said she hoped Nebraska would do
well.
“It’s nice to say we lost to the winners. We
wish them the best of luck — unless they play
UCLA.”
Huskers lose first game on the road
From Staff Reports
A combination of hot shooting by
Appalachian State and poor defense
by Nebraska cost the Cornhuskers as
they lost their road opener 91-82 in
Boone, N.C., Wednesday night.
The loss knocked the Huskers to 1 -
2 on the season, while Appalachian
State improved to 2-0.
“1 knew it was going to be a tough
game, but it’s just disappointing,”
Nebraska coach Danny Nee said on
KLIN’s post-game radio show. “We
are just not in sync and we’re just not
playing good fundamental defense.”
After a strong start by the Huskers,
Appalachian State finished the first
half with a 17-7 run to head into the
lockerroom with a 48-38 lead.
Nod Carter, a 6-foot-6 forward, led
the Mountaineers with 22 points in
the first halfand finished with a game
high 32 points.
It was the second-straight game
that the Huskcrs allowed an opposing
player to score more than 30 points,
which concerned Nee.
“You can’t let someone go off,”
Nee said. “We have got to play better
defense than that.”
Hot outside shooting by the Moun
taineers also burned the Huskers.
Appalachian State hit 11 three
pointers for the game, including 6-of
10 in the first half.
Mountainecrguard Brain Hcgedid
the most damage from long-range by
hitting five three-pointers and finish
ing the game with 18 points.
Chad McClendon added 16 points
for Appalachian State.
The Huskers answered the Moun
taineers’ first-half run with a 17-7 run
of their own to start the second half to
tie the game 55-55 on a three-point
play by Jamar Johnson, who had a
career-high 29 points Wednesday
night.
But the Huskers could not retake
the lead as the Mountaineers hit con
secutive three-point baskets. Nebras
ka got no closer than three points the
rest of the way.
iw
Huskers lead All-Big 8 team
From Staff Reports
Nebraska led the Big Eight with
six players named to the coaches’
first-team all-conference squad
announced Wednesday.
The Cornhuskers edged out
Colorado and Kansas State, which
each placed five players on the first
team.
Calvin Jones was named a first
team running back for the second
straight year. Other Huskers on the
first-team offense include tackles
Zach Wiegert and Lance Lundberg
and guard Ken Mehlin.
All-American outside lineback
er Trev Alberts was no surprise on
the defensive squad. Teammate
a
Barron Miles, a junior cornerback,
joined Alberts on the first-team
defense.
Tommie Frazier, who was beat
en out by Kansas State’sChad May
for the first team, was named sec
ond-team All-Big Eight quarter
back.
Nose tackle Terry Connealy,
linebacker Ed Stewart and rover
Toby Wright received second-team
defensive honors.
Wingback Abdul Muhammad,
split end Corey Dixon and tight
end Gerald Armstrong were honor
able-mention offensive selections.
Linebacker Mike Anderson,
defensive back John Reece and
kicker Byron Bennett also were
named honorable mention.
-w -V
Shower nozzles, other obstacles can t stop the ttusKers
1 like two things: Cornhusker foot
ball championships and nudism.
Though I’ve spent some time in
prison for the latter, which has made
its appeal wane, my love for the
Comcnuckers has been ignited by the
character of this team, and it burns
brightly in the Los Angeles of my
soul.
Adversity seems to be the theme
and the norm for the Nebraska foot
ball team nowadays.
The Huskahs have not only had to
face the task of defeating four Top 25
teams with a slew of injuries, but
they’vc also had to deal with constant
ridicule from the press.
Of course, this is only accentuated
by the fact that the team had to see
Kevin Ramackcrs naked the entire
season. That’s hell.
Yet, amidst the tribulations, the
Cornhumpers have managed a per
fect 11-0 season and an opportunity to
play for a national championship.
For testimony to this team’s Fiber
and spirit, one need only look to left
comerback “Red” Barron Miles.
Last week. Miles, in a fit of clean
liness, left the team’s practice a bit
early in order to shower.
When the Huskers finished their
weightlifting, they joined Miles in the
shower only to find him unconscious.
Miles was at a loss for what hap
pened, but apparently he was vicious
ly attacked by the shower nozzle,
slipped and hit his head.
Unfortunately, Miles now is suf
fering from zepophobia — an acute
fear of personal hygiene.
Coach Tom Osborne expressed
relief that his comerback was not
injured in the accident, but allegedly
he also said Miles really hadn’tsmcllcd
so good since the accident.
Despite being shaken up and a bit
funky. Miles played an outstanding
game against the Oklahoma Sooncrs,
stopping OU on a key fourth down
that destroyed any chance of a S wooner
comeback.
Beau
Finley
But accomplishment in the face of
difficulty is nothing new for “Coun
try” Miles.
B.M. is perhaps the smallest player
of the Huskers, yet he is the starting
cornerback for the ComChuckcrs, the
backup punter, and the main man in
the NU punt-return team.
A little-known fact: Miles is also
backup toChancellorGraham Spanier.
Miles is a true Renaissance man.
And here comes some more adver
sity.
Despite Miles’ and the rest of the
Husker secondary’s outstanding year
(second in the Big Eight in pass de
fense), only one player—John Recce
— was given any recognition by the
AP sports weasels or writers.
This snub came in spite of the fact
that the Huskers shut down the formi
dable passing attacks of UCLA, Col
orado and Oklahoma. Of course, the
Kansas State Air Kitties’ performance
doesn’t count — it was a fluke, a
fluke, I say.
They have a word for that type of
slight in Spanish — “El Screwjobo.”
But this is just a sample of the poor
treatment dealt to the Combumpcrs
this season.
But 1 say forget the AP voters,
forget Matt Frier, forget the 487 yards,
forget being vanquished by a piece of
bathroom equipment and forget Craig
James.
In fact, I ‘ vc got a couple words for
James, the ex-SMU running back.
The first is “Eric Dickerson” and the
second is “piggyback.”
Are the Huskers the best team in
the country? I certainly don’t know.
But there’s nothing to say they’re not.
Nebraska’s record is unblemished.
Florescent State can’t say that. One
loss is testimony that they are not the
“best.” At least not every game.
Thus, if you’re going to allow FSU
to play for the national championship
instead of West Virginia, then you
need to account for all of the intangi
bles and not just schedules.
Voters should look at the adversity
teams go through, the injuries they
overcome — both on the field and in
the showers — and other things that
supplement a record.
Basically, the voters have decided
that there are more important things
than records. Fine, maybe they’re
right. But don’t bad-mouth and look
down on these Huskers because of the
past. They may not be pretty, but the
‘skers win.
Teams of destiny have come from
a hell of a lot less.
Finley is a first-year law student and a
Daily Nebraskan sports columnist.
