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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 1994)
Sports Monday, November 7, 1994 Page 8 Travis Hsjring/DN Nabraaka mlddla blacfcar Paggy Mayar aplkaa hama a kill during tha Huakara’ thraa-gama awaap avar No. 23 Taxaa an Saturday night at tha Nil Callaaum. NU volleyball could be at the No. 1 spot By Mitch thwman Senior Reporter A three-game sweep over No. 23 Texas on Saturday night coupled with No. 1 Stanford's loss to UCLA on Friday night may give the second-ranked Nebraska vol I - mi rtnn ley oai i team me nation’s No. 1 spot later this week. The Corn huskers, 23-0 and 9-0 in the Big Eight, de feated the Long horns 15-8, 15 9, 15-11 before a sellout NU Coliseum crowd of 4,605. Nebraska coach Terry Pettit said the rankings meant little to him — and even less to the outcome of the season. “Rankings are fun for sports talk shows, Pettit said. “We Itnow where our team is at. We are not a great team. We are a good team.” Texas coach Mick Haley, whose team fell to 18-7, said Pettit was downplaying the importance of the rankings. Haley, in his 15th year as Long horn coach, said as long as Ne braska won the rest of its matches, the Huskcrs would be in a position to host a regional playoff in the NCAA tournament next month. “I think it’s real important for them,” Haley said. “Terry might not want to say that, but 1 think all coaches think like that.” Nebraska looked like the nation’s No. 1 team at the begin ning of the first game. Powered by the serving of Kelly Aspegren and Maria Hedbeck, the Huskers quickly established a 12-0 lead. “They certainly did unnerve us a little bit early, Haley said. “I have seen a lot of teams just bail when they get attacked like that. 1 thought wc were real good to come back.” Texas cut Nebraska’s lead to 14 8, but an errant set by Carrie Busch gave the Huskers the first game. “Our serving in the first game set the tone,” Pettit said. The second game was an even battle until Nebraska scored six consecutive points to take an 8-2 lead. Texas cut the lead to 9-8, but the Huskers scored five straight points and won the game on a Longhorn illegal hit. Pettit said Texas was focusing its attention on middle blocker Allison Weston, which forced set ter Christy Johnson to look to Peggy Meyer. Meyer registered 10 kills and led the team with a .529 hit percentage. ey were committing to the outside hitter and the right side player, leaving Peggy alone,” Pettit said. “Our setter recognized that, got Peggy the ball, and Peggy had a big night offensively.” But the Longhorns could not keep Weston under control all nignt. The 6-foot junior All American candidate came on strong in the second half of the match, leading Nebraska with 14 kills despite hitting only .286. “You can come out with a good game plan initially,” Pettit said, “but Weston is too good to be held in check for long. Ali is playing at a player-of-the-year level. Our team plays off her energy.” The Huskers struggled early in the third game, but a 10-point spurt iced the game and the match. Af ter five sideouts with the score 14 11, Billie Winsett’s kill gave the Huskers the game and the match. “(Texas) competed real well,” Pettit said. “If they were a lesser team, they would have backed off; but we expect them to battle every time. We have a great tradition in our matches with them.” Both polls rank NU first By Tfvor Park*__ Staff Reporter For the second time this season, the Nebraska football team has taken over first place in both The Associ ated Press and CNN/USA TODAY coaches’ polls. The 10-0 Comhuskers were voted No. 1 in both polls on Sept. 4 after defeating West Virginia 31-0. Now after Saturday’s 45-17 victory over Kansas, Nebraska remained No. 1 in the AP poll and moved into first in the coacnes’ poll ahead of Penn State, which defeated Indiana 35-29 on Saturday. Coach Tom Osborne said he was surprised to see the Huskers jump so far ahead of Penn State. “I thought it would be close and that we might be rated ahead in both polls,” Osborne said. “I was some what surprised by the swing in the coaches’ vote. Why that would be, I don’t know.” The Huskers picked up 12 mote first-place votes than last week in the coaches’ poll, jumping ahead of the Nittany Lions by 27 points. In the Associated Press poll, Ne braska picked up six more first-place votes for a total of 39. Penn State received 22 votes, and 9-0 Auburn received one vote. The Huskers also increased their point lead in the AP poll to 18 over Penn State. One possible reason why the Huskers took over the top spot was that Indiana scored 15 points in the final two minutes against the Nittany The top 25 teams In the Associated The top 25 teams in the USA Todey/CNN Press college foothaH poll, with coflege football poN, with first-place first-place votes In parentheses. votes in parentheses. Rank School Pte. Roc. Rank School Pts. Rec. 1 Nebraska (39) 1,52510-0-0 1 Nebraska (42) 1,53010-0-0 2 Penn St. (22) 1,507 8-0-0 2 Penn St. (20) 1,503 8-0-0 3 Auburn (1) 1.430 9-0-0 3 Miami (Fla.) 1.375 7-1-0 4 Florida 1,321 7-1-0 4 Alabama 1,365 9-0-0 5 Miami (Fla.) 1.283 7-1-0 5 Florida 1,322 7-1-0 6 Alabama 1,239 9-0-0 6 Florida St. 1,269 7-1-0 7 Colorado 1,194 8-1-0 7 Colorado 1,183 8-1-0 8 Florida St. 1,163 7-1-0 8 Arizona 982 7-2-0 9 Texas A&M 1,016 8-0-1 9 Kansas St. 897 6-2-0 10 Colorado St. 846 8-1-0 10 Colorado St. 810 8-1-0 11 Kansas St. 825 6-2-0 11 Oregon 801 7-3-0 12 Utah 696 8-1-0 12 Virginia Tech 784 7-2-0 13 Arizona 686 7-2-0 13 Duke 753 8-1-0 14 Syracuse 650 6-2-0 14 Utah 707 8-1-0 15 Oregon 647 7-3-0 15 Syracuse 685 6-2-0 16 Virginia Tech 641 7-2-0 16 Southern Cal 661 6-2-0 17 Southern Cal - 632 6-2-0 17 Michigan 585 6-3-0 18 Duke 614 8-1-0 18 Virginia 468 6-2-0 19 Michigan 603 6-3-0 19 Brigham Young 439 8-2-0 20 Mississippi St. 327 7-2-0 20 Mississippi St. 382 7-2-0 21 Virginia 301 6-2-0 21 Ohio State 322 7-3-0 22 Wahington 249 6-3-0 22 Washington St. 295 6-3-0 23 Brigham Young 174 8-2*0 23 North Carolina 231 6-3-0 24 Washington St. 163 6-3-0 24 Boston College 197 5-2-1 25 Boston College 122 5-2-1 25 Illinois 188 6-3-0 DN graphic Lions. Osborne said he saw the end of the Penn State-Indiana game, and the same thing that happened there could have happened to the Huskers against Kansas. “Both games were somewhat simi lar in that the games were out of reach for both Penn State and Nebraska,” Osborne said. “The other teams sort of came back at the end.” Nebraska led 45-10 before Kan sas added a late touchdown for the final outcome. However, Husker linebacker Ed Stewart said this was the right time for Nebraska to be the top-ranked team in the country. “Now we control our own destiny," Stewart said. “If we play like we are capable of the rest or this season, we should be in good shape." Strickland says win was tough ■y irtvor pants Staff Reporter After 16 days of practice, the Ne braska men’s basketball team pot a chance to evaluate its progress in an exhibition game against the Nferich Reps on Friday night. What the Cornhuskcrs had was mixed results. On the up side, the Huskers won the game 117-101; shot 65 percent, including eight of 15 on three-point attempts; and had eight blocks. But Nebraska was outrebounded 41-40 and turned the ball over 22 times. Nebraska also allowed 23 of fensive boards and 55 first-half points. Despite the mixed results, Coach Danny Nee said he was pleased with his team’s first outing of the season. “I think our unselfishness is the key that I like,” Nee said. “It was what I wanted — a competitive team." For three Husker newcomers — Tom Wald, Chris Sallee and Chester Surles — the game against the Nferich Reps gave them a taste of competi tion. Wald, a transfer from Mankato State, had 17 points, including nine of 10 from the free-throw line. Junior college transfer Sallee scored nine points, and Surles chipped in four points. Husker guard Erick Strickland, who scored a game-high 21 points, said the exhibition game was a good learning experience for the newcom ers. “There’s a lot of new guys,” Strickland said. “We haven’t quite worked together yet and understand where we need to be. Now we can evaluate the film and see what we can do.” The Huskers never trailed in the game. The game was tied only once (5-5) with 18:03 remaining in the first half. Nebraska’s biggest lead of the game came in the second half, after back-to-back baskets by Surles put the Huskers up 94-78. However, the Nferich Reps cut the Travta H«yta«/DN Nuskor point guard Tom Wald trios to got post tho Vorioh Hops' Dorok Holds during tho Nuskors* 117-101 win on Friday night lead to 98-92 after a layup by former Husker Dapreis Owens with 3:49 re maining. Nebraska put the game away by scoring seven consecutive points. Despite scoring 117 points, Nee said he wasn't happy with the first half performance of the Huskers’ de fense. “We didn’t play as well as we’d have liked,” Nee said. “In the first half our transition defense was a con cern, but we didn’t give up a lot of easy buckets in the second half.*’ Strickland said \ferich Reps pro vided Nebraska with a tough game, which would help in the long run. “Playing against someone that’s good helped us out to see where we’re at,” Strickland said. “We just have to take a step from here and just keep going”