Holtz looks
forward to
Texas battle
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP)—Notre
Dame Football Coach Lou Holtz can’t
think of a more intimidating place to
play than Miami. But Saturday’s trip
to Texas will come pretty close.
“It’s just a hard environment be
cause there’s an air of excitement and
Texas plays very well at home,” Holtz
said.
Saturday’s game will be the first
time since 1952 that No. 8 Notre Dame
has played at No. 6 Texas, and the en
thusiasm has been building for months.
“When people lode forward to a
game, they don’t make mistakes,”
Holtz said. ‘Texas will be very well
focused and enthusiastic.
“We’re not a great defensive foot
ball team. We’re a good defensive foot
ball team, but a good defensive foot
ball will not slow down Texas.”
But Holtz isn’t ready to surrender.
Of the 11 starters on the Irish defense,
five grew up in Texas and know ex
actly what’s in store for than.
“Our players will not be intimi
dated,” he said. “I think the team will
react favorably. You come to Notre
Dame to play these types of games.”
Holtz’s record in Texas, isn’t stel
lar. When he was the Arkansas coach,
Holtz took three top 10 teams to Aus
tin and never won.
'
Pepin eager to face
Big 12 competition
Vince D’Adamo
Staff Reporter
For many years, the Nebraska
track and field teams dominated the
Big Eight Conference. Now, with
the dawning of the Big 12, the
Cornhuskers are looking to continue
their winning ways.
Hie Cornhuskers won the last
three men’s indoor titles and the last
two outdoor championships. On the
women’s side, the Huskers have
won 17 consecutive indoor cham
pionships and placed second in the
outdoor meet last season after win
ning 16 straight titles.
“The women’s streak was a
tough one to lose,” NU Coach Gary
Pepin said. “But all is said and done.
It’s like that chapter is closed and
the book is read. We’re starting from
scratch again.”
The main returnees for the
women include Janet Blomstedt,
Angee Henry, Tashika Lewis and
Tressa Thompson. For the men, the
top returning athletes are Tom Fish,
Willie Hibler, Alex Lamme, Scott
Warren, Balazs Tolgyesi and Shane
Lavy.
Nebraska’s annual domination
breeds high expectations. Pepin said
his athletes are aware that their suc
cess is a result of intense workouts.
“Some people have been com
peting all summer, as late as the
Olympics,” he said. “Some even
beyond that. Those who haven’t
competed have been training indi
vidually.”
Among other athletes, throwers
Greg Armitage and Paulette
Mitchell will be missed. Pepin said
the departed seniors passed along a
winning legacy. Nebraska’s men
placed second and the women
fourth at the March NCAA Indoor
Championships in Indianapolis.
“We had a very strong women’s
team and maybe our strongest men’s
team,” Pepin said. “They were fine
athletes with good leadership quali
ties. I hope the returning athletes
have some idea of hard work and
dedication.”
With the conference expanding
from eight teams to 12, Pepin said,
this season presents bigger chal
lenges. He said Texas is the stron
gest of the four former Southwest
Conference schools.
“The conference meets will be
like a miniature national champion
ship,” Pepin said.
“There won’t be hardly any easy
places to score. There used to be
areas you could exploit.”
By Trevor Parks
SeniorReporter
The Nebraska volleyball team has
picked up verbal commitments from a
pair of Iowa’s best high school play
ers.
Nancy Meendering, of Hull West
ern Christian, and Jill McWilliams, of
Grandview Park Baptist in Des
Moines, said they will sign letters of
intent in February to play for the de
fending champion Cornhuskers.
NU received its first commitment
of the 1997 season from Ogallala’s
Angie Oxley earlier this month.
Western Christian Coach Tom Van
Den Bosch said Meendering chose
Nebraska over Michigan State and
Minnesota because of her close rela
tionship with the school.
“I think she had coming to Ne
braska as her main option for quite
awhile,” Van Den Bosch said. “She
wanted to check out some other
schools, but nothing else was better far
her than Nebraska.”
Meendering, a 6-foot left hander
who plays both middle blocker and
right outside hitter, visited Lincoln
Sept. 6 to attend the Huskers’ match
against Michigan State. She has also
been to the last two summer Nebraska
volleyball camps.
Visiting camps is not the only con
nection Meendering has to NU. As a
high school freshman, she played with
Nebraska All-American Lisa Reitsma
at Western Christian.
Van Den Bosch said the transition
for Meendering will be easier then
Reitsma’s.
“Lisa blossomed so much after she
left high school,” Van Den Bosch said.
“Here, she used her pure athleticism
and height to beat teams. But when she
got to Nebraska, she needed some time
to get better. Nancy, physically is much
r -
further developed then Lisa.”
“Nancy’s strong, active and very
vocal on the court. She plays very ag
gressive.”
Meendering was named the Gass
2 A (second-largest class) player of the
year last season after leading her team
to the state championship. She aver
aged 5.5 kills per game and had a hit
ting percentage of .349.
This year, die is hitting .300 aver
aging 4.5 kills per game for 5-3 West
ern Christian.
“She’s cm a team now with not as
many role players as we had last year,”
he said. “The weight of the team is on
her shoulders, and it’s been hard for
her to focus making all these recruit
ing trips.”
McWilliams, a 6-foot setter and
outside hitter, averaged 5.8 kills per
game as a junior. She is the four-year
setter for ho* club team.
Dick McWilliams, Jill’s father and
the coach at Grandview Park Baptist,
said his daughter was recruited prima
rily as a setter by Nebraska.
The elder McWilliams said his
daughter chose Nebraska because it’s
close to Des Moines, She has been to
Nebraska’s volleyball camp for the last
four years.
“She knows the coaching staff and
players well,” Coach McWilliams said.
“She is comfortable over there, and
they have a very good, quality pro
gram.”
McWilliams chose Nebraska over
Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas State and
Wisconsin. She watched Nebraska
beat Michigan State Sept. 7 — one
night after Meendering’s visit — and
the next morning, McWilliams told NU
coaches she wanted to attended Ne
braska.
“When she was a little girl, she
went to the Iowa State-Nebraska
matches and she really enjoyed them,”
McWilliams said. “She always thought
it would be neat to be a Comhusker.”
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