Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 1995)
Ashman leaves NU for Cal-Poly Pomona By Mike Kluck Staff Reporter Mike Ashman is going home. Nebraska’s top assistant baseball coach accepted the head coaching job at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona Wednesday. Ashman said he was returning to Cal-Poly Pomona to be closer to his son. Zachary. He said he missed his son because as a coach in Lincoln, he had very few opportunities to see his son. Ashman said he had no desire to leave the Nebraska baseball program, but the opportunity to be a head coach at a Division II program presented him with a dilemma. He said he had to choose between being a head coach and running his own program, and being the top as sistant coach at a Division I school. “This was an opportunity to get back where I played and help build the program back to where it was before,” Ashman said. Ashman played college baseball at Cal-Poly Pomona and led the team to the NCAA Division II Champion ship in 1980. He was named second team All-American and was the only Division II player who played on Team USA in the World Champion ships. Ashman said Cal-Poly Pomona’s athletic director, Karen Miller, talked to Nebraska coach John Sanders for more than an hour Tuesday night about Ashman’s ability to be a head coach. Ashman said he was told that he was competing with the head coach from the University of Pittsburgh for the job. Ashman said Sanders and the rec ognition of Nebraska’s athletic pro grams helped him wm the top spot at Cal-Poly Pomona. “John Sanders put me in a position to be considered for such a fine op portunity such as this,” Ashman said. “Nebraska is not a good place; it is a great place. John does an incredible job, and this total environment can’t be beat.” Ashman said he 1 iked the Nebraska program, but Cal-Poly Pomona had other benefits, including a pay raise. Ashman was hired as Nebraska’s top assistant in August 1994 and served as hitting coach, infield coach and pitching coach. In 1981, Ashman was a 24th-round draft pick of the Oakland Athletics and spent five years with their orga nization. He also spent one year with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization and reached the Triple-A level with both teams. Before coming to Nebraska, Ashman was the Riverside Commu nity College associate head coach in 1992 and i 993 and an assistant from 1990-92 Since arriving at Nebraska, Ashman has been the key to bringing top talent from California junior col leges to the HusKers. Last season, three starting posi tion players and tnree pitchers from “This was an opportunity to get back where 1 played and help build the program back to where it was before. ” MIKE ASHMAN former Nebraska assistant baseball coach Riverside C.C. played for the Husk ers, Nebraska senior outfielder Mel Motley, who played for Ashman at Riverside C.C., said he was surprised to hear Ashman was leaving, but said he understood the reasons. “I’m a little disappointed, but I understand baseball is a business,” Motley said. “Mike is doing what is best for him and his family.” Motley said Ashman helped make Motley’s transition to Nebraska easier. But Motley said he didn’t plan to follow Ashman to Cal-Poly Pomona Ashman said he would not en courage Nebraska players to follow him to Pomona, but said if any wante J to transfer at the end of the year, he would look at their situation. Sanders said he hadn’t made i decision on Ashman’s replacement. “Mike did a fine job for us, and we obviously will miss him, and we wisn him the very best,” Sanders said. “We are very pleased that Mike was named head coach at his aima mater and are proud that our program played a big part in helping him get the job ' Ou<<toWK<‘p«r< i Hunters need to prepare for dove season success Nathan McKinney For area hunters, the opening of dove season is die first in a round of fall bird hunting seasons, and with millions of doves migrating through Nebraska annually, there can be plenty of action. Doves are fast, erratic flyers that cause even the best shooter to be humbled. Although not as popular as pheas ant and quail, doves offer challenges which can prepare hunters for the more popular bird seasons. The best way to hunt doves is to start hunting in the early morning or late afternoon, setting up between moderate to heavy cover and a water source. Be patient. When doves begin their daily flight patterns, they fly in droves of a hun dred or more at a time. Even with these numbers, a hunter has to be extremely good or lucky to go home with a limit. There are many good public areas around Lincoln with the right cover for doves. The best places to start will be close to lakes and ponds. A map of Nebraska Public Areas can be picked up at the Nebraska Game and Parks headquarters at 2200 N. 33rd St. According to Game and Parks fig- j ures, there were more than 30,000 dove hunters in Nebraska last year. Each hunter is allowed 15 doves per day with a possession limit of 3 0. The season will run until October 30, but it’s best to start hunting early because once colder weather hits, doves move south. Cornhusker experience poses welcome challenge to Pacific By Tim Pearson Senior Editor Pacific volleyball coach John Dunning is tired of watching his team play. He's ready for fall camp to end, and he’s ready for his team to play a match that doesn’t have Pacific players on both sides of the net. “Fall camp’s been so long,” Dunning said. “I’m just looking forward to watching my team play someone else.” Dunning will get his wish Fri day when the Tigers open the Asics/ UOP Invitational at Stockton, Ca lif,, with a match against Califor nia, which was 5-23 last season. And if Pacific defeats Califor nia, Dunning, who has won two national titles in his 10 years at the school, will get his dream fulfilled with a probable match against Nebraska Saturday. “I do think we’re good,” Dun ning said. “Whether we’re as good as Nebraska, I don’t know. I’mjust looking forward to it. “A 11 this i s something you dream about, but it may not even hap pen.” Nebraska first must get by Santa Clara, which finished 7-24 last season. But that shouldn’t be a prob lem, Dunning said, based on what he saw last weekend. The Comhuskers defeated Penn ‘Tall camp’s been so long. I’m just looking forward to watching my team play someone else. ” JOHN DUNNING Pacific volleyball coach State, but lost to top-ranked Stanford at the State Farm NACWAA Volleyball Classic. “I thought they were going to win,” he said. “I liked the level of defense on both sides in the Stanford-Nebraska match. Both looked like teams that have played together a lot.” The Tigers return three starters from last year’s team, which made it to the NCAA Regional semifi nals. This season, Pacific is ranked fourth by Volleyball Magazine and eighth by the volleyball coaches association. “All the rankings mean to me is that some of the people involved have respect for my team,” Dun ning said. “We have good players returning, but we have six new people. We’re a lot different.” Nebraska also has changed since the last time Pacific faced the Husk ers three years ago. That year, Christy Johnson was a sophomore and Allison Weston and Billie Winsett were freshmen. Dunning said the task of defeat ing the Huskers hadn’t gotten any . easier since then. “Things that far in the past have no bearing,” he said. “I can’t even remember that we played that match. I can’t say I don’t respect Weston, though.” Weston, who was just getting her feet wet in 1992 in the third match of her career, is now an All American. And Johnson, who rarely played setter in 1992, is now an All-American setter. Winsett, who sat the bench the majority of her freshman sea son, is now an All-Big Eight out- ,J side hitter. Dunning is quite familiar with the Huskers’ seniortrioafter coach-sr ing Winsett and coaching agaitts* Weston and Johnson this summer at the U.S. Olympic Festival. And he’s willing to pit his team against an experienced team such as Nebraska early in the season Pacific will face five teams ranked, in the top 20. “I’m not real afraid of risking things,” Dunning said. “We have one goal here — to get to the F inal Four. All you can do is whatever you can to prepare. We don’t re ally have a choice but to play Ha waii and Stanford. We do it every year.” i BOWLERS . Join the Fun Join a League LEAGUE STARTING DATE & TIME Big 8 Doubles Tuesday, Sept 12,7:00 P.M. Nite Owls Wednesday, Sept 13, 8:00 P.M. Pin Pounders Thursday, Sept 14, 6:00 P.M. Thursday Trios Thursday, Sept 14, 8:00 P.M. Husker Doubles Monday, Sept 18, 7:00 P.M. Each league consists of 6 teams, 4 persons per team (except Doubles Leagues: .. ^ 2 per team, and Trios: 3 per team). Teams and/or individuals must preregister at East Union Lanes N* Games. Students, faculty, staff and friends are eligible. All leagues use handicap, so your team has a chance to have fun and win prizes no matter vour bowline ability. The top 2 teams for each league will qualify to participate in Win more prizes! I Welcome Back Special FOR MORE INFORMATION, Bowling Only CALL RAY 472-9627 OR 5O0per Game! EAST UNION LANES N' GAMES Now Through AT 472-1751 September 11 GREAT COMICS NO JOKE! $j|' iC'i-s >f' ll. -. .' . fc. Collector Comics ilpppll •Science Fiction I •Adventure Games I •T-Shirts • Posters •Magic Cards & much more I ^ It's Cosmic Comics!