A&M coach says NU
is tourney favorite
By Jay Saunders
Staff Reporter
The Big 12 Conference is hop
ing to show that it is more than two
teams deep in the first-ever league
soccer tournament.
No. 5 Nebraska is the favorite
in the tournament, which will be
played Thursday through Sunday in
St. Louis.
Nebraska owns the only perfect
record in the country at 19-0. But
ninth-ranked Texas A&M (16-2) is
hoping to end the Comhuskers’ per
fection.
The Huskers will play either
Texas Tech or Missouri Saturday at
11 a.m., and A&M will face Baylor
or Texas Saturday at 1 pjn.
The championship game will be
played Sunday at 1 pjn., and tele
vised on Fox Spats Rocky Moun
tain — Channel 58 in Lincoln —
the first-ever live telecast of a
women’s collegiate soccer game.
Aggie Coach G. Guerrieri said
he’s excited about another possible
matchup with Nebraska. NU beat
A&M 1-0 in Lincoln on Sept. 29.
“I am sure Nebraska will get into
the final, Guerrieri said. “They are
the team to beat in the tournament.”
Playing tough teams could give
the young teams of the Big 12 ex
perience for the future.
“Teams like Nebraska, A&M,
Florida and Clemson have gotten
themselves into the nation’s elite in
the blink of an eye,” Guerrieri said.
Note:
NU’s Kari Uppinghouse and
Texas A&M’s Bryn Blalack have
been named the co-conference play
ers of the year. Nebraska’s
Uppinghouse, Stephanie Vacek,
Lindsay Eddleman, Isabelle
Momeau and Jenny Benson were
selected to the All-Big 12 first team.
Becky Hombacher and Kristen Gay
made the second team. Husker
Coach John Walker has been the
league’s coach of the year.
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NU linebacker Foreman
emerges a future star
FOREMAN from page 7
Tom.
“I didn’t know he had a Ph.D., so I
asked him why they called him Dr.
Tom. I was laughing and I was think
ing, Tm stupid.’”
Nebraska stuck with Foreman, and
Foreman stuck with the Huskers, sign
ing one month after NU lost to Florida
State 18-16 in the 1994 Orgnge Bowl.
When Foreman arrived in Lincoln,
Nebraska had lost eight-straight bowl
games.
“I looked at all that, but I thought
maybe I could come in and help make
a difference,” Foreman said.
Since Foreman’s arrival, Nebraska
has won two national championships,
and although he redshirted his first sea
son, he started every game at Sam line
backer a year ago.
This season, the 6-foot-1, 230
pound Foreman switched to Mike line
backer.
Despite playing behind senior Jon
Hesse, Foreman’s level of play hasn’t
dropped. He has 33 tackles, including
one for a two-yard loss.
* Last Saturday in the Huskers’ 73
21 victory over Oklahoma, Foreman
picked up his first career interception.
But what Foreman loves best about
his new position is that he gets to call
NU’s defensive plays as a middle line
backer.
“It’s not as prestigious as quarter
back,” he said. “But when you’re call
ing the plays, it’s like you’re in control
of the defense. It’s an honor.”
Rozier shot
in N. Jersey
CAMDEN, HJ. (AP)—Former
Nebraska I-back Mike Rozier, the
1983 Heisman Trophy winner, was
shot several times early Wednesday
on a street comer in Camden, N J.,
police said.
Rozier, 35, of Camden, was
listed in satisfactory condition at
Cooper Hospital-University Medi
cal Center. He was shot twice in the
stomach and once in the hand, po
lice said.
Authorities were searching for
a suspect and offered no motive for
the shooting, which occurred
around 12:45 am. in the McGuire
Gardens housing development, a
few blocks from where Rozier lives.
In seven NFL seasons, Rozier
rushed for 4,462 yards and 30
touchdowns.
Nee expects Lue to direct NU show
LUE from page 7
ing 45 percent from the field.
But ultimately Lue, a 6-foot, 170
pounder from Mexico, Mo., said he
just wants to be the floor leader and do
whatever it takes to win ballgames.
“If we need a basket, then it’s my
job to score,” Lue said. “If we need to
get an assist, I’ll do what it takes to get
the job done. If we need a steal, then
I’ll get a steal. That’s how I look at it.”
Nee said Lue is ready to become
the Jfccal point of the Husker offense,
which will continue to play an up
tempo style despite an extra emphasis
on working the ball inside.
“We want to play quick,” Nee said.
“We are a full-court team and Tyronn
Lue is just dynamite in the full-court,
fast-break game.
“But you’re going to see the ball
go inside way more, so guys like Mikki
Moore and Bernard Gamer are going
to get way more shots than they’ve
gotten before in their careers.”
And Lue is the perfect player to run
that offense, Nee said.
“I’ve never coached a quicker or
better defensive player than Tyronn
Lue at where he is today, right now,”
Nee said.
Nee said he wants Lue to consis
tently play like he did last season in
Nebraska’s 81-71 loss at Kansas. In
that game, Lue scored 21 points with
four assists, two steals and drilled five
of six 3-pointers, all while playing
against Vaughn, me of the nation’s top
point guards.
“I want him to do that every night,”
Nee said, “But he’s just realizing how
good he is.”
Improved serving assists NU rise
SERVING from page 7
homa. In a difficult three-game victory,
Nebraska posted six aces and only
three serving errors.
Junior outside hitter Lisa Reitsma
said the Huskers have had to rely on
their serving to overcome a poor per
formance at the net recently, including
a season-low .150 hitting percentage
against OU.
“We have been able to win even
though our hitting has not been what it
should be because of our serving,”
Reitsma said.
Hedbeck deserves much of the
credit for Nebraska’s recent serving
success, Reitsma said.
“She has really taken on a leader
ship role,” Reitsma said. “She sets an
l .. ' . i
example by overcoming the pressure.”
But Hedbeck said the main factor
in NU’s improvement at the line is that
the entire team—which includes five
sophomores and four freshman — has
matured over the course of the season.
“The pressure of serving was hard
for some of the younger players to
handle at first,” Hedbeck said. “But
they are starting to get over that, and
we are starting to come together.”
Coach Terry Pettit said serving is
critical as Nebraska moves into final
three weeks of the regular season. The
Huskers are currently tied with Texas
A&M for the Big 12 lead.
After home matches Friday and
Saturday against Missouri and Iowa
State, NU will face four ranked teams
—including three on the road—in its
last eight matches.
“You don’t win on the road if you
don’t out-serve your opponent on the
road,” Pettit said. “You have to take
rides and you have to serve aggres
sively, and I think that’s something
we ’ve really worked on.
“In fact, I would like to see us be
come as good a serving team as there
is in the country by the end of the sea
son.”
' Note:
Previously No. 1-ranked Hawaii
was beaten last weekend by Stanford
in four games, dropping the Rainbow
Wahine to No. 3 in the latest AVCA
Coaches’ Poll. Florida, which lost to
Hawaii in its season-opener, took over
the top spot.„
stiaft.
