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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 1997)
*, i ?*--v t:: ■■■' ; ) * l TUESDAY, JANUARY 14,1997_&__ PAGE 7 I - ' :'i Middle blocker’s final two years are lost because of a nagging knee problem. By Shannon Heffelfinger Staff Reporter Stacie Maser knew it couldn’t last forever, but the middle blocker for the Nebraska volleyball team wasn’t ex pecting the end of her career to come so quickly. It is difficult for Maser to remem ber the exact day when she learned a scholarship would not be allotted to her next season. She knows it was sometime in October, but the details of that moment seem fuzzy to her now. What the 6-foot sophomore does remember is the pain she felt, and it wasn’t coming from her aching left knee. “I was angry at first when I real ized that my career was over,” Maser said. “The decision was not my own. But it was getting to the point where I was feeling the pain in my knee all the time, not just on the court.” The continuous pain in Maser’s knee is the main reason for her depar ture. She tore her anterior cruciate liga ment at the Minnesota Volleyball Fes tival prior to the 1994 season. Maser then suffered through two surgeries and a grueling three-year rehabilitation period. Maser — a graduate of Lincoln Northeast — played through the pain as a redshirt freshman, "fercoming her to hit .266 1995 as she Big Eight newcomer-of uie-year honors. But her successful season was cut short when she in jured cartilage in her impaired knee at the Big Eight Tournament. “I came back really fast from the first injury,” Maser said. “I had a good quick rehab. Things were going great until I re-injured it.” Instead of repairing the damaged cartilage as they had in 1994, doctors decided to remove it The loss of the cartilage resulted in a decrease in her jumping ability, and restricted her lat eral movement Maser hasn’t been the same player since, she said. “My knee just kept swelling,” Ma ser said. “I couldn’t do anything about it. It was hard because I knew that I wasn’t playing the best volleyball of my life.” There were times this season when the pain in Maser’s knee caused her to undergo treatment five times a day. If Maser had been allowed to continue to compete for the Comhuskers, Coach Tory Pettit said, she would have risked lifelong damage. “If she would have played after this season,” Pettit said, “she’d have been in a situation where her lifestyle would be different by the time she was 30.” Pettit has seen this situation before. Prior to the 1996 season, senior middle blocker Jen McFadden had her career cut short by a back injury, and in the spring of 1995, defensive specialist Stephanie Clerc also could not play because of a back injury. Although limited by her injuries, Maser was still able to successfully contribute at the net this season, keep Please see MASER on 8 AlMetes can work part time NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — In a radical change for the slow-to-change NCAA, delegates at the NCAA Con vention voted Monday to allow ath letes to hold part-time jobs. r Besidesletting athletes work part time the most revolutionary legis lation adopted in years—the delegates voted to grant partial qualifiers a fourth year and put die finishing touches on the new governing structure of college athletics. But the main item on everyone’s mind was the allowance of part-time work. “This is a major shift in concept for this organization,” said Washington State’s Sam Smith, chairman of the NCAA Presidents Commission. “For years we’ve said we will not provide any additional funding in any way from any source. “The NCAA is trying to move to ward a recognition that students play a larger role than they’ve had the last :v several years. We made some progress today into where we need to be.” Approved by a 169-150 vote, the measure lets Division I athletes hold part-time jobs whenever they want during the academic year. However, they can only earn the difference be tween die value of their scholarship and the cost of attendance at their . school. Delegates agreed to grant partial qualifiers a fourth year of eligibility, but only if they earn their degree in four years. This should have little ef fect on the Big 12 Conference, which does not accept partial qualifiers. Both concepts had been voted down at previous conventions. In contrast to the controversy over part-time work, delegates gave near unanimous approval to the final pieces of a vast new structure of the NCAA itself. No longer will Division I schools meet once a year with the smaller schools to vote on NCAA sports leg islation. Each body of the NCAA will meet individually on policy and rules. The new federated system, putting college presidents and conferences in control, will take effect Aug. 1. “It’s a long road we’ve traveled,” said University of Nevada president Joe Crowley, who also headed the committee that hammered out the radi cal new structure. Leader role fine with NLPsLue Point guard battles back from knee injury to led Huskers. By David Wilson ’ r ^ Staff Reporter ■' < i Staying focused has not been easy for Nebraska point guard Tyronn Lue this season, but his leadership has yet to flounder. Lue, a 6-foot sophomore from Mexico, Mo., has had his focus shaken by a series of events beyond his control. He suffered a sprained knee Dec. 31 against Cincinnati at the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic and last week his grandmother passed away, making it hard to concentrate onbasketball. After missing the Jan. 1 loss to Bowling Green, Lue showed his leadership abilities could overcome adversity playing three days later at about 60 percent at Colorado. “In the Colorado game, it really hurt,” Lue said. “I didn’t have any business playing, but I wanted to help the team.” Haying at 80 percent, Lue led Nebraska to a win over Creighton. At almost 100 percent he exploded for 29 points. Saturday against Texas A&M. * Coach Danny Nee said he’s re mained confident in Lue through Lue’s troubles. “Tyronn Lue is the heart and soul,” Nee said. “He’s absolutely, I feel, our best player.” Lue’s 29-point performance was just cme point shy of his career high — a 30-point outburst against Oregon in his second NCAA game. But his production did not come unassisted. After pre-game warm-ups on Saturday, team psy chologist Jack Stark helped Lue concentrate on his game. . ' “He tried to get things blocked out of my mind,” Lue said. ‘1 just wasn’t into it” r Lue’s focus and hustle earned him 10 points in die first half and after applying a heating pad to his knee at halftime, Lue added 1-9 more points in the second half and finished 10 of 17 from die field. “I was just feeling good to wmmm TYROM UE (No. 1N| takes a shot agaiast Unas ASM'S Dario Qmsada Sot urcloy Aftor d 29 point oiitbufst opoinst tiw Appios Lno is svsvspinp 16.2 poiits per game. ■ '> • ■' •• - night,” Lue said. “I took a quote from Reggie Miller, 'If it feels good and you miss it, there’s nothing you can do about it’ “Even if I miss some shots, Venson Hamilton and Mikki (Moose) are great rebounders.” LUe buried a jumper with 24 seconds remaining in the game to put the Huskers ahead 73-69, but Aggie freshman Jerald Brown re ,■ sponded 11 seconds later with a 3 pointer to narrow Nebraska’s lead to one. “When we were down, they (my teammates) were telling me, 'Tyronn, you have to take over the game,”’ Lue said. They always tell me to take over the game. 1 did a good job of that” r _ t Lue was fouled with 10 seconds remaining, but the Big 12 Conference’s leader in free-throw percentage made one of two at tempts to give NU a two-point lead. Two missed Texas A&M shots later, the .Huskeys won 74-72. * From die free-tfirow line Lue was 8 of 10, which lowered his per centage to .863 and snapped a streak of 14 straight successful free throws. i. Lue has improved over last sea n e game” TyronnLue NU point guard . son when he shot just 69 percent from the line. “In high school, T was a great tree-throw shooter,” Lue said, ‘last year, I just wasn’t focused. *Tn high school, I worked a lot harder (on free throws) than I (fid hoe.” In addition to shooting 50 free throws after practice three times a week, Lue said he shoots free throws on his own time at the Cam pus Recreation Center. Though Lue is averaging 16.2 points and 4.7 assists per game, Nee said Lue’s numbers could improve. *1 want the ball in his hands,” Nee said. “He’s going to captain us.” Fast start no surprise to Colorado By Vince IHAdamo Staff Reporter For many years, college basketball on the Colorado campus has been like an ignored stepchild, toiling in the shadow of a suc cessful football program. Entering this season, the Buffa loes had just three winning seasons in the past 15 yt^rs. But this year, CU is win ning games faster than Ralphie can Billups run around the football field. CU made headlines following Saturday’s 80-78 win at No. 20 Texas Tech — Colorado’s second straight conference road win—ending the Red Raiders’ 35-game home win streak. Overall, die Buffaloes have won five consecutive games. Last season, Colorado finished 9 18 overall and 4-9 in the Big Eight under interim Coach Ricadro Patton. Pattern replaced Joe Harrington, who quit in the middle of last season. Once Harrington left, Big Eight Please see CU on 8