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TUESDAY, JANUARY 14,1997_&__ PAGE 7
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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
