Trevor Parks
Early NU loss
could produce
crucial victory
Last year the Nebraska football
team was asked the same question
over and over: “Can you rebound from
a heartbreaking loss in last season’s
final game and win a national champi
onship?”
The Comhuskers answered with a
resounding yes and won an Orange
Bowl thriller.
Now it’s time to ask another Ne
braska team the same question.
Can the Nebraska volleyball team
bounce back from a loss to Penn State
and contend for the national title?
The IJuskers rolled through the reg
ular season undefeated with 31 wins
and hosted Penn State in the NCAA
Mideast Regional final.
But the wheels fell off the Nebraska
steamroller and the sign thatread “Aus
tin or bust” went up in flames. No trip
to Austin, Texas. No NCAA Final
Four. It wasn’t a national champion
ship game, but the pain was similar for
some Nebraska fans.
The feeling lingers like a post-bowl
game hangover.
But the Nebraska volleyball team
doesn’t have to wait the entire season
for vindication. The Huskers get a
chance to extinguish the fires of pain in
the season opener.
Nebraska plays Penn State Aug. 25
and payback will be on the minds of
many, including Nebraska senior out
side hitter Allison Weston.
“It will be nice to play Penn State
right away,” Weston said. “I wouldn’t
say it’s revenge, but it will be nice to
beat them.”
The next opponent for the Huskers
could be the No. 1 Stanford Cardinal,
which could be a measuring stick to
see if the Huskers can win their first
title.
But only if Nebraska loses.
Beating the No. 1 team in the sec
ond game of the season would be great,
but it would be Aug. 26.
If the two teams were to meet again,
say Dec. 16 for the NCAA title, the
team that lost in August would be
looking for revenge.
The football team learned a lot
from its loss to Florida State in 1994.
We’ll see if the volleyball team learns
the same lessons.
Nothing really matters in volley
ball until Nov. 29 when the NCAA
Tournament begins. A record of 25-3
would be better than being unbeaten
for die Huskers.
' The Huskers wouldNhave no pres
sure, no problems with overconfidence
and no delusions of being unbeatable.
The pressure of the 31-game winning
streak wore the Huskers down mental
ly last season.
Coach Terry Pettit knew Nebraska
wasn’t deep enough to win die title. He
was right
Pettit knew best
In his own subtle way he kept re
minding everybody, but nobody want
ed to listen.
Pettit also knows that losing is a
great way to learn, and the Penn State
loss may have been the best thing for
this year’s Nebraska volleyball team.
He knows that losing may be infre
quent this year, but those few losses
could be helpfiil.
After all, there is no shame in losing
a couple of matches.
Lose in the regular season and get it
out of die way, instead of waiting until
die last match.
Losing will be good. And losing on
a hot August night would be much
better than on a cold night in Decem
ber in Springfield, Mass.
Parks is a a senior news-editorial major
and a Daily Nebraskan senior reporter and
columnist.
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