Pettit says loss didn t ruin season
□ y i mi redi sun
Senior Reporter
One disappointing defeat didn’t
spell failure for Nebraska’s volley
ball season, Nebraska coach Terry
Pettit said.
The loss to Notre Dame in the
NCAA Championships may have been
disheartening, but Pettit said he was
encouraged by his team’s overall per
formance this year.
“It ends the season,” Pettit said.
But you judge
your season over
all, and we had a
very good year.”
The Huskers fin
ished the season
with a 25-6 record.
Five of their six
i—--j losses were 10
Pettit teams ranked in the
Top 25.
With the lossof All-Big Eight play
er Eileen Shannon and two-time Big
Eight player of the year Stephanie
Thater, Pettit said his goal for this
year’s Husker team before the start of
the season was for the team to be
ranked in the Top 20.
“I knew we’d be talented, and I
think, as a coaching staff, we felt we
could be a Top 20 team. We were
eighth in the final poll, so we did
that.”
Nebraska’s 17-year reign atop the
Big Eight also ended with two con
secutive losses to Oklahoma and Col
orado. The Huskers finished second
to Colorado with a 9-2 conference
mark.
“There were a couple other goals
we didn’t get,” Pettit said. “We want
ed to defend our conference champi
onship, and we lost by the slimmest of
margins to Colorado and also to Okla
homa.”
The NCAA loss to Notre Dame
wasn’t a result of a lack of intensity,
Pettit said.
“It was more-so a lack of concen
tration,” he said. “We seemed to lose
concentration. We’d lose a point or
two and then lose our concentration.
“In the second game when we were
up 10-8, we lost our concentration,
and they scored seven points to win
the game.”
The Huskers play during the sea
son brought in school records and
several post-season awards.
Setter Nikki Strieker was named
the Big Eight player of the year, and
she was named first-team All-Big
Eight for the second year in a row.
Sophomore middle blocker Allison
Weston also was named first-team
All-Big Eight. Freshman Jen
McFadden was second-team All-Big
Eight and the newcomer of the year in
the conference. And freshman
Stephanie Clerc was tabbed the Big
Eight’s backcourt specialist of the
year.
With five starters returning next
year, Pettit sees a bright future for
Nebraska volleyball. Christy Johnson,
who has two years of experience, will
take the departing Strieker’s place at
setter next season.
“Christy Johnson comes out of her
redshirt year,” Pettit said. “On the
face of it, we should be good. It de
pends on whether they work hard now
and during the spring volleyball sea
son.”
Nee
Continued from Page 7
Strickland is averaging 7.6 points
and Badgett 9.5 points per game.
Nee said dock, who is averag
ing 6.0 points per game, might be
the player who could step up his
play the most in Johnson’s absence.
“Jason was playing at an A or A
plus level in November but then he
hasn’t shown what he is capable of
in game situation,” Nee said, “1
think this weekend is a great oppor
tunity for him to show what he can
do.”
Creighton enters the game with
Nebraska at 1 -3. Its only win came
against UNO, a Division II school.
But Nee said records wouldn’t
matter when the Bluejays and the
Huskers renewed their annual ri
valry.
“It’s abiggamc,” Nee said. “We
play against them all summer long
in summer leagues in Omaha so we
know them well. It’s a healthy ri
valry, and it hasn’t mattered what
our records have been — they’ve
been good games.”
Jiuskers drop to J-j
after loss to SMSU
From Staff Reports
Nebraska’s women’s basketball
team was handed its third loss of the
year when 17th-ranked Southwest Mis
souri State beat the Comhuskers 71
57 Wednesday night in Springfield,
Mo.
Nebraska, which now stands at 3-3
on the season, was held to its smallest
point output since suffering a 69-57
loss at Oklahoma State on Feb. 1,
1992.
The Bearcats never trailed in the
game, and had a comfortable 32-21
lead at halftime, and extended its lead
to 23 at 68-45 during the second half
to help pull away from the Huskers.
Nebraska forward Nafeesah Brown
had a team-high 13 points, and Husker
center Emily Thompson, who is a
Springfield native, had a career-high
eight points in the loss.
“I thought we gave them a pretty
good battle,” Nebraska coach Angela
Beck said. “It is frustrating, but we
have had a heck of a preseason al
ready.”
■» -v
You re
a invited
^December 10
& }-s:3° j
At Cornerstone
640 N. 16th St.
Ward
Continued from Page 7
including ESPN’s Lee Corso.
“1 think he’s the most gifted quar
terback since Roger Staubach,” Corso
said, comparing Ward to Navy’s 1963
Heisman Trophy winner. “The best
college football player I’ve ever seen
was Staubach, and he’s the best since
1963.”
Although Florida State is a 17
point favorite to beat the Huskers,
Ward said, it’s premature for people
in Tallahassee, Fla., to begin cele
brating a national championship.
“(Nebraska’s) a good team, and
they’re not getting a lot of credit that
they deserve,” Ward said. “They’re a
lot better than they’ve been given
credit for.”
With the Seminoles being ranked
No. 1 in the Associated Press poll but
only third in the CNN/USA Today
coaches rankings, Florida State may
only be able to win a part of the
national championship with a win
over the Huskers.
But, Ward said, any part of the
national title will suit him just fine.
“When you’ve been waiting five
years, we can be co-champs, semi
champs, whatever — just as long as
we are champs,” Ward said.
Two years ago, however, a nation
al title might have seemed out of
reach when the senior from
Thomasvme, Ua., took over at quar
terback.
Before the 1992 season, Florida
State installed its “fast-break offense”
— a version of the run-and-gun—to
use Ward’s talents. But early on, he
was plagued with an interception prob
lem that caused many to doubt his
quarterbacking abilities.
But this season Ward has thrown
only four interceptions in 380 attempts,
and he said being able to overcome
that problem symbol ized what he was
about — confidence.
“The thing about me is that I never
doubt my ability to do anything, and
I’m confident in my abilities,” Ward
said. “Everyone should be confident
in themselves, because if you’re not,
then you’re doubting yourself.”
Defend
Continued from Page 7
rushing for four touchdowns, he threw
for 27. Nine Seminole receivers have
caught 10 or more passes this season,
compared to four for the Huskers.
But the Huskers do have some
reason to be optimistic about their
chances against the Seminoles.
The secondary leads the Big Eight
in pass defense and ranks 12th nation
ally, allowing 163.9 yards per game
through the air.
A victory over the Seminoles,
which would assure Nebraska of its
first national title since 1971, would
be extra sweet for Wright and safety
John Reece, the two senior starters
said.
“I can’t even describe what it would
mean to me,” Wright said. ‘‘It would
be the best feeling to win the national
title. It’s always been a dream. It’s
unspeakable right now.”
Reece feels the same way.
“It would mean the world to me,”
he said. “I would probably be the
happiest person on the earth. I can’t
really come up with the words to
describe the way I would feel. What
better way would there be to go out
than on top?”
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