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
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Each league consists of 6 teams, 4 persons per team (except Doubles Leagues: .. ^
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