Sports Weekend
Friday, November 4, 1994 Page 7
NU volleyball team prepares to hook horns with Texas
Bv Mitch Shwman_
Senior Reporter
For a team with the nation’s best
record and the longest winning streak
in school history, the Nebraska vol
leyball team was not a happy group
Wednesday night.
After improving to 22-0 and 8-0
in the Big Eight with a three-game
sweep of Kansas State, middle
blocker Allison Weston was baffled
at the Huskcrs’ play.
“Kansas State came out and played
very hard, and we did not,’’ said
Weston, the reigning American Vol
leyball Coachesr Association national
player of the week and two-time Big
Eight player of the week. “We weren’t
mentally ready to play.”
Nebraska gets a chance to make
up for its lackluster performance on
Saturday night when it plays host to
Texas in a 7:30 match at the NU Coli
seum. Doors will open at 6 p.m.
The Longhorns, ranked No. 22 in
the latest AVCA poll, bring a 14-6
overall and 6-2 conference record to
Lincoln.
Nebraska coach Terry Pettit said
the match would be a battle based on
the two teams’ past matches.
“Texas is probably the program
most similar to Nebraska,” Pettit said.
I
“They have great athletes, bright ath
letes. They are always good, and we
have a great rivalry with them.”
Nebraska has hooked horns with
Texas every year since 1986, losing
six of the ten matches. Since 1990,
however, the Huskers have won three
of four times.
The Huskers will be looking for
revenge Saturday night. A year ago
in Austin, Tex., site of the 1994 Fi
nal Four, the Longhorns trounced the
Huskers 15-5, 15-6, 15-4.
Nebraska and Texas have four
common opponents this year. Against
Louisiana State, New Mexico, Duke
and Texas Tech, Nebraska is 4-0.
Texas is 3-2.
Although Saturday night’s match
has no bearing on Nebraska’s imme
diate goal — the Big Eight title — it
is important to keep moving in the
right direction, Pettit said.
“Our focus is just to play as hard
as we can,” he said. “This team is
probably playing better than its tal
ent. Physically, it may not be one of
the most overwhelming teams that
we’ve had, but they have yet to play
a bad match.”
Pettit said the Huskers were look
ing down the road to Nov. 16, when
they would meet defending Big Eight
champion Colorado.
“These next two weeks,” he said,
“beyond preparing for our opponents,
we have to prepare to play Colorado
in Boulder.1’
He said the Colorado match prob
ably would determine the champion
of the conference. If Nebraska beats
the Buffs, Pettit said the Huskers
probably would win the title outright.
A loss in Boulder, he said, probably
would lead to a tie for the champion
ship.
But, at the same time, Pettit said,
the Huskers aren’t overlooking any
opponent.
NU doesn’t want repeat of ’93 KU game
By Mitch Shfiwi__
Senior Reporter
Nebraska quarterback Brook Berringer viv
idly remembers last year’s Kansas game.
“Everybody remembers,” Berringer said.
“You don’t walk away from a game like that
and not remember.”
The junior from Goodland, Kan., will make
his fifth career start for the No. 1 Cornhuskcrs
in Saturday’s 1 p.m. kickoff at Memorial Sta
dium against the Jayhawks.
A year ago, in Lawrence, Kan., Tommie
Frazier led Nebraska to a 14-7 lead over Kan
sas in the second quarter before giving way to
Berringer because of a sore shoulder.
In the final minutes of the first half,
Berringer drove the Huskers 77 yards to the
Kansas 6-yard line before being picked off in
thc'end zone.
The Jayhawks tied the game at 14 in the
third quarter. Later, they had a chance to win
after tailback June Henley scored to make it
21-20 with 52 seconds left in the game.
But Askeiki Preston’s pass for the two-point
conversion fell short in the end zone, and
Nebraska’s undefeated season was preserved.
Berringer said the 9-0 Huskers would not
like to see another game like last year’s.
In the last few years, the 5-3 Jayhawks, 2-2
in the Big Eight, have taken a page out of the
Huskcr pi ay book
The Jayhawks’ powerful running game is
headlined by tailbacks L.T. Levine and Henley
and driven by an offensive line that averages
290 pounds per man. It is gaining 261.9 yards
per game, making it eighth in the nation.
Levine, who ran for 161 yards last week in
a 24-14 win over Oklahoma State, has taken
over the starting spot from Henley, who burned
the Huskers for 148 yards last year.
See KANSAS on 8
Travis Haying/DH
Nebraska’s Donta Janas and Dwayne Harris try te gat at Calorade quarterback Key Detmer during last Saturday's 24
7 win aver the Buffs.
Game Day '94
l^ebraska'lw*
QB 18 Brook Berringer fi-4 210
FB 40 Cory Schlesinger 6-0 230
IB 1 Lawrence Phillips 6-0 200
SE 7 Reggie Baul 5-8 170
WB 27 Abdul Muhammad 5-9 160
RT 72 ZachWIegert 6-5 300
LT 56 RobZatechka 6-5 315
RG 55 Brenden Stai 6-4 300
LG 76 Joel Wilks 6-3 280
C 54 Aaron Graham 6-3 280
TE 85 Matt Shaw 6-3 235
PK 31 Darin Erstad 6-2 195
LllimSHK'
LOLB 86 Dwayne Harris 6-2 225
DT 55 Christian Peter 6-2 285
NT 99 Terry Conneaiy 6-5 275
ROLB 84 Donta Jones 6-2 220
SAM 4 Troy Dumas 6-4 220
MIKE 41 Phil Ellis 6-2 225
WILL 32 Ed Stewart 6-1 215
LCB 14 Barron Miles 5-8 165
RCB 8 Tyrone Williams 6-0 185
ROV 29 Kareem Moss 5-10190
FS 9 Tony Veland 6-2 200
P 6 Darin Erstad 6-2 195
Memorial Stadium
Lincoln, Neb,
Saturday, 1 :Q0 p.m,
Kansas
QB 9 Asheiki Preston 5-11 185
TB 22 LT. Levine 5-10 210
FB 32 Chris Powell 5-9 220
WR 13 Hosea Friday 6-1 200
WR 6 Ashaundal Smith 5-6 155
TE 91 Brent WHIeford 6-3 255
RT 79 Scott Whittaker 6-6 295
LT 54 Rod Jones 6-4 300
RG 69 John Jones 6-1 300
LG 66 Hessley Hempstead 6-1 295
C 65 Jared smith 6-1 260
PK 36 Jeff McCord 5-9 220
DE 29 Harold Harris 5-11 205
DT 97 Sylvester Wright 6-2 260
DT 94 Darnell Britt 6-1 260
DE 52 Steve Harvey 6-3 230
OLB 39 Don Davis 6-1 227
MLS 46 Ronnie Ward 6-0 220
OLB 16 Keith Rodgers 5-11 200
CB 23 Jason Harris 6-1 160
CB 17 Dorian Brew 5-10 175
SS 3 Gerald McBunows 5-11 188
FS 8 Kwamie Lassiter 5-11 175
P 19 Darrin Simmons 6-1 205
ON graphic
KU’s Mason looks forward
to testing Huskers’ strength
By Tfvor Parka
Staff Reporter
Last year’s 21-20 last-minute loss to Ne
braska is just a distant memory for Kansas
coach Glen Mason.
“That was last year, and this is this year,”
Mason said. “We’re facing a different Nebraska
team, and how we playea last year is no indi
cation of how we’ll play this year.’’
This Saturday the 5-3 Jayhawks play 9-0
Nebraska at Memorial Stadium at 1 p.m.
In last year’s game the Jayhawks had a
chance to tie the Cornhuskers, but instead
Mason opted to go for the win with a two-point
conversion.
However, with 52 seconds remaining, quar
terback Asheiki Preston’s pass attempt fell in
complete and the Huskcrs remained unbeaten.
This season Nebraska enters the Kansas
game undefeated again, except this time with
a few changes.
One change is at quarterback.
This season Brook Berringer will start at
quarterback for Nebraska instead of Tommie
Frazier.
Berringer played against Kansas last year,
completing three of five passes for 40 yards
and one interception.
Mason said he got a firsthand look at
Berringer when Mason tried to recruit him
coming out of Goodland Prep High School.
“I thought he would be a fine quarterback,”
Mason said. “Just because he's sitting No. 2 at
Nebraska doesn’t mean he isn’t any good.”
Although the supporting cast around
Berringer has changed. Mason said the 6-foot
4-inch junior was fitting in well.
“He a running the show pretty good,” Ma
son said. “I’m not surprised at the way he has
performed.”
A helping hand in Berringer's performance
has been Nebraska’s offensive line.
Mason said the Nebraska offensive line re
minded him of some of the great offensive lines
that Nebraska had in the past.
“They are big and strong and physical,”
Mason said. “They’re helping Nebraska lead
the nation in rushing, and that presents some
problems.”
The situation with the Kansas offense is
virtually the same as Nebraska’s.
However, unlike at Nebraska, the quarter
back situation at Kansas is the same as last
See MASON on 8