NU soccer team vaults* 13 positions to 12th SOCCER from page 7 “We beat them in the spring and people said it was a fluke or whatever. We just went out there and wanted to give them a good game.” Nebraska (3-0) was ranked 25th in the season’s first poll. Duke (0-2) also lost to No. 1 North Carolina 2-1 and fell to 18th in the latest poll. Don’t mention NU’s place in the polls to Coach John Walken He said rankings don’t mean anything. “I don’t put a lot of stock in it,” Walker said. “I don’t want the players to put a lot of stock in it either.” But Walker recognizes the virtues of being a highly respected team. “As far as exposure, it certainly helps with recruiting,” he said. Because of the long season ahead, Walker said, it would be a mistake for the team members to pat themselves on the back.' “Sometimes you get teams that have big wins, and they start thinking they’re better than they really are,” Walker said. “Then the intensity drops off and they don’t do the right things.” So much for five-year plans. The Huskers have achieved their high rank ing status in just three seasons. How ever, the team wants to reach even greater heights. “We’ve got to remember how we got there,” Walker said. “We’ve done it because of hard work.” The Huskers have been explosive offensively, scoring 17 goals in their first three games. Kari Uppinghouse and Gay have combined for eight of those goals. Nebraska has been equally spec tacular on defense. Goalkeeper Becky Hombacher has recorded 15 saves and allowed only one goal. “Everyone seems real excited,” Gay said. “We’re just working real hard in practice and not really concentrat ing on what the polls say right now.” IMffl—OTCt£ mum ItScBSE Hi-,,. ,.rJ A m-i. -i nowara u. rwcnots 8381 Center Ave. Hometown 27870 2 AW STATE, USA Unlicensed riders account for 80% of the fatalities in some states. So get your motorcycle operator license today. And prove that you are a better rider. Nebraska Motorcycle S; 1-800-553-1! Wheel'll & Deal'll Bike Shop ! Free U-lock with new I bike purchase. • o “ Bring in this coupon & UNL student IP. Offer expires 9-30-96 * I-2706 Randolph 438-1477 A. f /: A , > / ; V ■ A< • A* Lecture Notes AA ' -* A x > \ ■ A*^ r^" A . j iCour**rdckfits^ ^,/N-v cAt^py^feto^A.A'A - Ataniihaftnjp -v; .%AA COPIES AA^AA'AaAVAvA p . - ;,' - 7 - - - - ' •;.; * , 8.5x11 20# white V >' ■ ■ . "A rJ Grade A Notes at Nebraska Bookstore / , Lower Level • 13th & Q Street • 477-7400 - __ --- Mxrr Miller/DN All VIOLA, Nebraska’s All-America shortstop, practices at the NU Softball Complex. Viola, a junior, is the top returning player for Nebraska, which finished 42-23 last spring. _• _ \A. •__ NU softball team focuses on M season improvement Revelle will stress fundamentals during the three-toumament fall season. Bt RUSSELL X WlLLBANKS Staff Reporter Last week marked the beginning of the fell season for the Nebraska softball team. The fall season may not mean much to the fens, but for the team, this is an opportunity to build to ward the spring. After a successful 42-23 season last spring, the team has great ex pectations for the next year. “I think we have as good of tal ent as we ever had,” Coach Rhonda Revelle said. “With the returners having two years of postseason play under their belt, they are wanting to take that to the next level, which would be the College World Se ■A_ w nes. But with seven new players, Revelle said, NU’s goal will take some work to reach. For the team to get to that level, she said, it needs to mature and become a working unit. “Honestly, my goals for this sea son are to get us fundamentally sound on both an individual and on a team basis,” Revelle said. Saturday and Sunday, Nebraska will open its fall season by playing host to the Husker fall Classic at the NU Softball Complex. Augustana, Northern Iowa, Loyola Marymount and UNO will join Ne braska in the tournament. NU will play in the NIC Tour nament in Rock Island, 111., Sept. 20-22 and in the Big 12 Fall Gasic, Oct. 4-6 in Independence, Mo. Revelle said the Huskers are using the fall season to develop of fensive and defensive consistency. Revelle said the veteran players must set the tone. “I want to be a team leader and set a good example for the new people,” said Ali Viola, an All America shortstop. “Basically, I want to do what I did last year or better.” Viola hit .421,15 home runs and 71 RBIs in the spring. Last spring also marked the be ginning erf* new era. Softball was the first Big 12 sport to begin com petition. “It was good for the team,” Viola said. “We have more competition.” Revelle said the Big 12 will pre pare Nebraska well for the postseason. “It’s a strong softball confer ence,” Revelle said. “It is really exciting to be able to compete at that level. “Even though we have a lot of work to do, we aren’t expecting any drop off in performance,” Revelle said. Defensive inexperience hurts Aggies in opener AGGIES from page 7 question marks in our secondary. Go ing out to BYU in the opening ballgame, I’m sure we’ll know just how well we have progressed so far.” r “There’s probably not another team in the country as capable as checking the secondary out as BYU.” Unfortunately, Slocum was right. The BYU passing attack riddled A&M's secondary for 536 passing yards and the Cougars won 41-37. Now as A&M prepares for its sec ond game of the season Saturday at Southwest Louisiana, Slocum is look ing for answers to the secondary's problems. After the BYU game, Slocum said he was goingto reevaluate A&M’s sec ondary and possibly make changes before Saturday’s game. However, the Aggie performance against BYU doesn’t mean A&M is ready to give up on its season, Slocum said. . 5 The front seven of A&M’s defense will be strong, he said. Qne of the standouts is senior nose guard Edward Jasper, who set a Tfcxas A«M record last season with 14 tackles for losses. Also returning for the Wrecking Crew—the Aggie defense’s nickname since the late 1980s — is sophomore inside linebacker Dat Nguyen. Nguyen, the Southwest Conference’s defensive newcomer of the year last season, be came the first freshman ever to lead the Aggies in tackles with 94. “Our front seven should be very strong,” Slocum said. “We should be solid again on defense, provided we can fill the holes in our secondary.” Slocum said the Aggies’ biggest concern on offense is quarterback Brandon Stewart, a transfer from Ten nessee who ran the Aggies scout-team offense last year. Stewart never started a college football game before the Pig skin Classic. “If Brandon Stewart develops like I hope he does, we should be an im proved offensive team,” Slocum said. Our offensive line is stronger and has more athletic talent, and the receivers should be the same and possibly im proved from last year.” Stewart, who played in 11 of 12 games for Tbmiessee in 1994 — but had not taken a soap for A&M until the game against BYU — was rated the nation’s ninth best quarterback by The Sporting News. Against BYU, Stewart completed 20 of 28 passes for 232yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, y MSU hires law firm to investigate DETROIT (AP) — Michi gan State’s athletic department has paid more than $650,000 for an internal investigation of sev eral alleged NCAA violations. That sum represents cash payments to Bond Schoeneck, a Kansas City, Mo., law firm hired by the university to conduct the internal probe. The billings cover the 16 months between December 1994, when ex-Spartans player Roosevelt Wagner’s allegations of wrongdoing became public, through March of this year. Michigan State officials said they did not know why they haven’t received any bills from Bond Schoeneck since then. Hie NCAA, in a letter of in quiry, cited claims that an aca demic adviser pressured faculty to change players’ grades and urged a student to feign mental illness to get an extension for course work, and that a Florida man gave gifts to recruits.