FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 1
Sports Opinion
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NU soccer team
overcomes odds
to lead Big 12
Saturday, the Nebraska football
team is looking to rebound from its
first regular-season loss since the
George Bush administration. But
the Comhusker state is not void of
an unbeaten Division-I team.
The Comhusker futbol team —
OK, I’ll be more conventional and -
call them the soccer team — will
try to extend its unbeaten streak to
nine games Friday and Sunday
against Texas and Texas A&M.
The lOth-ranked Husker soccer
team has been in existence for only
three years. So far, it has not acted
its age. Five-year plan? Forget it.
“We’re a little ahead of sched
ule,” Coach John Walker said.
And it looks like the Huskers
have gained their deserved respect
in the USA Today Coaches’ poll.
La& *w£ek, the team played less ‘ ‘
than its best in victories over Colo
rado College and Vanderbilt but
climbed from 13th to 10th.
Two weeks ago, Nebraska
outscored Oral Roberts and Loyola
Marymount 14-1 — and the Husk
ers fell from 12th to 13th in the
polls. It’s an outrage!
rirsi oi an, waucer can piay as
many as 15 players without a
dropoff in performance. Secondly,
each player in Walker’s rotation
accepts her role whether starting or
coming off the bench. To a Husker,
starting is not the issue.
Walker and his staff have done
a colossal job of recruiting, espe
cially last year. Freshmen Lindsay
Eddleman, Isabelle Momeau and
Jenny Benson have wasted no time
making an impact. They have
helped take the pressure off the vet
erans like Kristen Gay, Kim Ratliff
and Kari Uppinghouse, the nation’s
seventh-leading scorer who this
week was named to the Soccer
America team of the week.
On Tuesday, Walker fought off
back spasms to appear as a guest at
Tom Osborne’s weekly press con
ference. Sunday’s game, he said,
will be a good barometer for the
program.
It’s the biggest game in the his
tory of the program. If Nebraska
wins, it takes over the top spot in
the NSCAA Central Region ratings,
which are used to determine
seedings for the NCAA Tourna
ment.
The Husker offense has been
like an octopus. If one arm doesn’t
wrap you up, the other will.
However, it’s easy to overlook
the Husker defense. One reason
Nebraska scores so often is because
of its defensive pressure. Like most
good teams, the Huskers take as
much pride in defense as offense.
Ami after Sunday, they may be
taking pride in their new seat atop
the Big 12 Conference.
D’Adamo Is a senior broad
casting major and Daily Nebras
kan staff reporter. *.
NU eyes mental rebound
Colorado State brings
a high-octane offense
to Memorial Stadium.
By Mike Kluck
Squor Reporter
Nebraska lias prepared this week
to face two opponents Saturday at Me
morial Stadium: Colorado State
and the Comhuskers’ own football
mentality.
Following last Saturday’s 19-0 loss
to Arizona State, the No. 8 Huskers (1 -
1) play CSU (2-2) at 11:38 a.m. The
game will be televised by Fox Sports
Net on Channels 10/11 and 3. Satur
day will be a chance for NU to learn
about the stability of its team follow
ing a loss for the first time in 27 games.
‘It’s about mind frame and the kind
of mental attitude you have come game
time,” I-back Damon Benning said.
“That’s an area we failed. Mentally, we 1
weren’t as prepared as we should be.” i
It wasn’t the fault of the coaching
staff, Benning said, but the Huskers
were unprepared for Arizona State, i
The senior co-captain said each Husker
must to take it upon himself to be ready
for Colorado State. CSU has lost this
season 48-34 to Colorado and 35-28
to Oregon.
On Saturday, Nebraska will try to
recapture the desire it possessed the
past two seasons. “It’s important we’re
ready or else we will be back here next
week talking about the same thing,”
Benning said.
“When you’re out there driving and
lit one of those speed bumps in the
oad, you don’t stop. You keep on go
ng or take a different path.”
He said Saturday’s game will be a
est of the Huskers’ resiliency and char
acter, which has been a major factor
n the team’s success the past three
seasons.
Center Aaron Taylor said the offen
sive line also did not perform up to
standards against ASU. That should
:hange against Colorado State, he said.
“We feel with the game coming up
fiat we are all going to give more ef
fort in order not to have that happen
again,” Taylor said. “We have to come
lut with a change of attitude.”
MattMuxer/DN
LINDSAY EDDLEMAN (right) breaks away from Vanderbilt’s Ginger Harrelson. Eddleman, a freshman,
played the game last Sunday with a sprained ankle.
Huskers face biggest test
By Vince IKAdamo
Staff Reporter
The lOth-ranked Nebraska soccer
team encounters its biggest barrier yet
this weekend at the Abbott Sports
Complex.
The Comhuskers take on Texas at
7 tonight, and on Sunday at 1 p.m., the
Huskers will take their shot at Texas
A&M. The 8-0 Aggies bring to Lin
coln a No. 6 ranking in the USA To
day Coaches’ poll.
Texas A&M and Nebraska head the
class in the NSCAA Central Region.
The Aggies are ranked first, followed
by the No. 2 Huskers.
Junior defender Stephanie Vacek
broke her tailbone Sunday in NU’s 3
2 double-overtime win over
Vanderbilt, but she will remain in the
lineup this weekend, Coach John
Walker said.
“We feel good about where we’re
at,” Walker said. “We have a long way
to go, and we should have a better idea
of where we’re at this weekend.”
For Texas A&M, junior forward
Bryn Blalack leads the nation with 32
points, including 13 goals. Kristen
Koop has provided support with 19
points and a team-best seven assists.
The Aggies biggest victory came over
eighth-ranked Florida, a 2-1 triumph
in College Station, Texas.
Walker said the Aggies — who
have outscored their opponents 39-6
this year — pose many problems for
the Huskers.
“They’re very fast and experi
enced,” Walker said. “They’re an of
fensive powerhouse. It could be a high
scoring game. They’re an attacking
team, and if anything, they’re probably
underrated in the polls.” *
Nebraska striker Lindsay
Eddleman said the Huskers must not
look past Texas (3-2-2) in anticipation
of Sunday's game against A&M.
“Granted, they’re the 6th-ranked
team,” Eddleman said. “But we can’t
Texas, today, 7 p.m.
overlook Texas. They have a strong
defense.”
Eddleman suffered a sprained ankle
before scoring a pair of goals in
Nebraska’s 5-2 win over Colorado
College Friday. She played Sunday
against Vanderbilt.
Despite winning twice last week
end, die Huskers said they did not play
up to their potential. Nebraska yielded
four goals after only surrendering two
in the season’s first five games. '
“We cannot let that happen,”
Eddleman said. ’We came out lethar
Through two games, the Huskers
are averaging only 157 yards per game
rushing after averaging nearly 400
yards last season.
Against Colorado State, however,
Nebraska should have an easier time
running the ball. The Ram defense
ranks 110th out of 111 Division I
teams.
It’s the Husker defense, however,
that may be the most challenged Sat
urday, NU Coach Tom Osborne said.
Colorado State likes to run a spread
attack with no backs and throw the ball
a lot, Osborne said.
CSU has scored 158 points this sea
son in four games and average eight
yards per play.
“I believe they are a very good foot
Please see CSU on 10
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Kansas, today, 7:30 p.m.
Developing
Huskersface
KU,K-State
By Sam McKewon
Staff Reporter
The Nebraska volleyball team is
currently under construction.
That’s a good phrase for what team
Coach Terry Pettit describes as “still
developing.”
“We’re developing as a team ev
ery day,” Pettit said.
“We do a lot of things, well, but we
still have a lot to work on.”
The No. 7 Comhuskers (8-2) con
tinue their homestand at the NU Coli
seum Friday and Saturday with
matches against Big 12 rivals Kansas
(6-8) and Kansas State (12-1), two
teams against which Nebraska owns a
108-0 all-time record.
Both matches begin at 7:30 p.m.
The Wildcats are off to their best
start in school history and looked im
pressive in last week’s First Bank In
vite. KSU was a focus for Nebraska
this week in practice.
“We watched them last weekend,”
outside hitter Jaime Krondak said,
“and they looked very good. We fo
cused a lot this week on what they
would do and their sets.”
Despite beginning conference com
petition, setter Fiona Nepo said, this
weekend is like any other.
“We just have to be mentally fo
cused and play our game,” Nepo said.
Krondak welcomes the return of a
fiery coliseum crowd after smaller at
tendance figures last week because of
a time conflict with Nebraska’s foot
ball game on Saturday.
“I hope the crowd is a factor again
this week,” she said. “Any time a team
comes into this atmosphere with a full
crowd, it’s tough for them to win.”
Nebraska has won 20 straight home
matches and 65 of its last 67 in Lin
coln.
Pettit said the NU offense is begin
ning to take shape alongside an already
Please see VOLLEY on 11
