Sports
Thursday, November 10, 1994 Page 7
Offensive lineman reflects on
career as a Cornhusker
Senior Reporter ' -
Zach Wiegert came to Nebraska unsure of
what he could accomplish.
But after five years as a Comhusker, the
offensive tackle finally is seeing some results
from the efforts he put in on the offensive line
Wiegert was named one of four finalists for
the Lombardi Award last week and remains a
favorite for the Outland Trophy.
“I came in here, and I was just a scared
freshman like everyone else,” Wiegert said. “I
was on scout team my first year, and I was
going against guys like Mike Croel, and I
thought, ‘Geez, I’m never going to be able to
play with these guys. ’
” As the year went on I got better and better
and just improved every year. Hopefully, ev
eryone will remember me as a great player.”
The 300-pound senior from Fremont un
doubtedly will earn his third All-Big Eight
selection this season after playing in all but
two games in his four years at Nebraska.
Wiegert said he had no second thoughts af
ter choosing the Comhuskers, especially after
receiving so much playing time as a redshirt
freshman in 1991.
“I thought for a while about going to Wash
ington to school just because my mom was
moving to Seattle,” he said. “She just moved
for a year and came back, so it’s a good thing I
stayed here. Ever since I committed to Ne
braska I’ve been happy. This was a perfect
school for me.”
Having Wiegert in a Nebraska uniform is
just as important to the Nebraska coaches as it
is to Wiegert.
“Zach has meant an awful lot to this foot
ball team,” offensive line coach Milt Tenopir
said. “If there is a guy that you can’t have get
hurt, it’d be Zach. He’s an intense football
player and one that the team rallies around.”
Nebraska’s chances of landing Wiegert were
improved by his older brother, Erik, an all
class, all-state Nebraska athlete and an All
Big Eight offensive guard for the Huskers let
tering in 1989, 1990 and 1991.
“He (Erik) helped quite a bit to get ad
justed,” Wiegert said. “Not so much on foot
ball, but just off-campus stuff. He helped me
quite a bit just settling into things and letting
me concentrate more on football. I was able to
worry about the game of football more than on
paying my rent or something like that.”
Wiegert, who is expected to be a first-round
selection in next April’s National Football
League draft, said he was only a few injuries
better than his brother. J
“I’ve had more publicity, but Erik played
guard and I play tackle, and he was a great
lineman in his own right,” he said. “The only
thing that kept him from playing in the pros
was that he had a lot of injuries.”
For now, Wiegert doesn’t want to talk much
about the pros.
I don t know what they (pro scouts) want
and I m not too worried about that right now ”
he said. I just try to go out and play good each
week I think mostly they just see if you have
good feet or not because you can always teach
someone how to pass block, as long as they
can move their feet good. But right now, the
only thing 1 ’m thinking about is our last three
games.”
Keitsma sparks NU
to win over Kansas
Huskers raise record
to 24-0; defend No. 1
position in rankings
By Mitch Shrman
Senior Reporter ~ “
The Nebraska volleyball team
came away a winner Wednesday
night in its first defense of the
nation’s No. 1 ranking.
The Comhuskers rolled over Kan
sas 15-13, 15-7, 15-4 before a crowd
°f.3^70.»t the NU Coliseum to im
prove to 24-0 overall and 9-0 in the
Big Eight.
Kansas dropped to 5-18 and 2-7
in conference play.
Weston said. “We can’t seem to get it
down. It’s very frustrating.”
In the first game, Kansas stayed
even with the Huskers until a four
point spurt gave Nebraska a 9-4 lead.
But the Jayhawks came roaring back,
eventually tying the game at 13 after
a long hit by Weston.
“Kansas played stronger than they
did down at Kansas,” Nebraska coach
Terry Pettit said. “We were trying
some things out, so I stayed with
some things longer than I might have
in some situations.”
With Kelly Aspegren serving,
Weston put home a lull on a set by
freshman middle blocker Lisa
Reitsma to give the Huskers a 14-13
lead. On the next serve, a Reitsma
kill ended the game.
Despite Lisa’s lack of experience, she doesn t
allow it to affect her. She still makes aggressive
moves. And if she makes an error, it won’t affect
her next play. ”
u
TOW Y PETTIT
Nebraska volleyball coach
Despite the sweep, the top-ranked
Cornhuskers were not pleased with
the way they played during the match,
especially during the first game, in
which Nebraska hit only .149.
“We played real sloppy and very
poorly in the first game/' said Allison
Weston, who led all players with 20
kills. “We just didn't play very ag
gressively. ^
She said the Huskers’ biggest
problems came on defense.
“It was defense and pursuit,"
Weston said the experience of be
ing in a close game could help Ne
braska down the road.
“Unfortunately the teams we’re
playing down the road —if we are
tied 13-13 — are going to be a lot
stronger than Kansas,” she said. “It
really didn’t give us a true test of what
we can do.”
Nebraska jumped out to a 7-2 lead
in the second game, but again, Kan
sas came back and cut the lead to 9
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af Kansas as Kally Aspagran aad Paggy Mayar task an. 1 p
7. It was at that point, Husker setter
Christy Johnson said, that Nebraska
began to turn things around, in part
due to the play of the Reitsma and
sophomore Kate Cmich.
“Lisa really gave us a lift,”
Johnson said. I thought she did a
really good job. I thought Kate did a
really good job. The subs were ready
to play.” J
Seven consecutive points, with the
final kill coming from Peggy Meyer,
gave Nebraska a two games to zero
lead.
Pettit said the subs played a major
role Wednesday night, even though
backcourt specialist Stephanie Clerc
sat out the match with the flu.
He said the play of Reitsma, who
contributed 5 kills and hit .714, gave
Nebraska a needed lift off the bench.
‘Despite Lisa’s lack of experi
ence,’’ Pettit said, “she doesn't allow
it to affect her. She still makes ag
gressive moves. And if she makes an
error, it won’t affect her next play. I
think you can tell the team enjoys
playing with her, because she’s an
exceptional athlete.”
Kansas did not have enough left
to mount another challenge in the
third game. *
Much like the first two games,
Nebraska established a 7-2 lead. Af
ter six sidcouts, it was the Huskcrs
who took control, quickly scoring
eight of the next 10 points and end
ing the match on a block bv Rcitsma
Pettit’s expectations will push NU to ‘take the Eieht’
At Tom Osborne’s press confer
ence on Tuesday, he had a question
for Nebraska volleyball coach Terry
Pettit.
Osborne wanted to know how
Nebraska’s success in volleyball this
season might affect Pettit.
Pettit responded, “When you work
here long enough and when you are
as successful- as the football coach,
you get an office like that one up
there.”
Now Tom Osborne's office is nice,
with footballs and mounted fish, but
Pettit is not the mounted fish type of
guy.
He’s a guy that would have some
one go out and catch a fish for him
and then expect that person to mount
it for him.
That is how he is, and that is how
he appears on the court. He has great
expectations, not only of himself but
also of his team.
He expects his team to win. It’s
not anything he does. It’s not any
thing his assistant coaches do.*It’s
something his players must do.
“Volleyball is execution more than
it is one big play that gets you seven
points or a home run,,r Pettit said.
That execution occurs on the
court, and Pettit has no control over
what might happen.
However, one thing Pettit can con
trol is a distraction many teams across
the country would like to have.
The Comhuskers are ranked No.
1 in the Volleyball Monthly poll and
the American Volleyball Coaches
Association poll.
So for the first time since 1990,
the Huskers are in the top spot.
And for the first time, there are
two undefeated No. 1 teams on cam
pus.
Trevor
Parks
- For those who may only follow
volleyball, the other one is the foot
ball team.
But Pettit knows that being No. 1
in football carries a lot more weight
than the top ranking in volley ball
“There is no working toward a
bowl game,” Pettit said. “ We re work
ing for the NCAA tournament, where
you have to win 6-7 matches straight
to win a national championship.*^
But Pettit’s Huskcrs already have
won 24 straight matches. What’s six
or seven more?
The ranking is nothing but an in
dication of how everyone perceives
the Nebraska team, he said.
Pettit is cautious partly because of
his team’s easy schedule.
Or maybe it’s easy because Ne
braska has whipped up on everyone.
Only losing five games all year is
impressive for any sport.
For now, though, the Huskers are
concerned with winning back the Big
Eight title they held for 17 years.
And guess which team took it from
the Huskers last year.
The Colorado Buffaloes.
Way to go Bill McCartney! An
other sport, another rivalry. Well, at
least Colorado beat Nebraska at
something a year ago.
On the horizon lurks another
showdown against the Buffaloes in
Boulder — with the Big Eight title
on the line.
Pettit said his team was focused
on dethroning the Buffs.
“At the end of practice, the play
crs hold hands and say ‘Take the
Eight/” Pettit said. ‘‘They lake a lot
of pride in this conference; that’s
their goal ”
Seventeen years of volleyball
championships. And then poof!
Gone.
But a new foundation for another
championship string could be laid in
less then seven days, when the Husk
ers try to make it 18 for 19 against
the Buffs.
If the Huskcrs lose, which they
won’t, they will end in a tie for first
with Colorado.
I’m sure Nebraska would live with
that, but who would want to live with
Colorado?
If they do lose, though, the Husk
ers still can hold their heads high,
and who knows, maybe someday
Pettit will get an office like Osborne’s.
Parks Is a junior news-editorial major
and a Dally Nebraskan staff reporter.
