By Jay Saunders
Staff Reporter
A huge win in the Big 12 Cham
pionships two weeks ago will help the
Nebraska women's swimming and
diving team at the
NCAA Champi
onships, which
begin Thursday.
NU Coach
Cal Bentz said the
impact will have a
great effect on the
women’s program
• heading into this
weekend.
“We
wanted to go into the meet and be com
petitive,” Bentz said. “We showed that
we can compete against the best teams
in the country.”
Nebraska hardly dominated the
conference meet. The Comhuskers
were trailing after the first three days.
NU held a slim lead on the third day,
but the Longhorns stormed back
quickly to take a one-point lead.
“We are traditionally soft in the
first day,” Bentz said. “We grew a lot
stronger as the meet unfolded.”
The Huskers dominated the final
day with 16 swimmers in five events
—four of whom won titles. Bentz said
the performance showed exactly what
NU is capable of doing.
“We wait down there, looked them
straight in the eye and went after
them,” Bentz said. “We didn’t fold.
We came back from being down one
and went roaring by.”
The Huskers’ roar came from sev
eral different people. Julia Russell,
who was named the meet’s outstand
ing female swimmer, won the 100
and 200-meter breaststroke. But the
big push for Nebraska came in the re
lays where it won all four.
“Relays are a key because they
bring four people together as a unit,”
Bentz said. “Those were moral victo
ries.”
One of those victories was in the
400-yard freestyle relay. Beth Karaica
came back on the final leg to beat
Texas. Karaica touched the wall first
with a time of 3:42.06, edging the
Longhorns who finished with a time
of 3:42.10.
“That takes a lot out of a team,”
Bentz said. “A lot of damage is done
to the spirit. That is a psychological
battle, not just a physical one.”
Now that the Huskers have accom
plished their goal of beating Texas,
they must focus on a trip to the NCAA
Championships at Indianapolis. Bentz
said he hopes this is a big step for the
Nebraska program.
ii
This win is
certainly enough of
an eye-opener that
this is a real team "
Cal Bentz
NU swimming coach
“It raises the level of expectations
for the NCAAs,” Bentz said. “When
you beat a team with that much tradi
tion in a head-to-head competition,
you are well on your way.”
The Huskers could very well be on
their way to opening the nation’s eyes.
Heading into the Big 12 meet, Ne
braska was ranked 16th, but jumped
up the polls to finish 10th in the final
regular-season poll.
Bentz said now the swimming
world can see what kind of a team is
in Lincoln.
“This win is certainly enough of
an eye-opener that this is a real team,”
Bentz said. “I don’t think it is much
of a stretch to realize we are far better
than what we have been ranked.”
Springtime prepares NU for fall
SPRING from page 10_
different roles,” Pettit said, “The main
thing is working to improve individual
skills, and it’s different with every
player.
“With Fiona, we’re working on
getting her in a more consistent posi
tion before she sets. With Reitsma,
we’re looking to develop a quicker
attack.”
Although each player concen
trates on individual skills, the team
collectively works to improve its pass
ing.
Sophomore middle blocker Megan
Korver — NU’s leading blocker last
season—believes the greatest oppor
tunities for playing time in the fall will
cane to those players who improve in
the back row, where NU lost two of its
most consistent passers. Defensive
specialist Maria Hedbeck and outside
hitter Kate Cmich completed their eli
r
frfc
They know they can win spots for the fall
during the spring.”
Tebby Pettit
NU volleyball coach
gibility in December.
“We lost some great passers in
Maria and Kate,” Korver said. “Now,
there are quite a few of us who are
evenly skilled, so we’re working to
step it up with our passing.”
Pettit agreed that passing consis
tently is one of the Huskers’ major
concerns.
“We’re really looking to develop
some primary passers,” Pettit said.
“We have Renee (Saunders) back, but
Korver and Reitsma and (Mandy)
Monson are really working hard to
improve their passing.”
Despite the attention given to in
dividual work, Reitsma, NU’s lone
senior, said the Huskers will not lose
sight of their team goals.
“We work on more individual
skills in the spring so we can come
together as a team during the fall,”
Reitsma said. “That’s where we find
our motivation.”
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Huskies topple Braves
From Staff Reports
Connecticut advanced to play
Nebraska in the National Invitation
Tournament quarterfinals with a
6347 win over Bradley Tuesday
night.
The Huskies (16-14) used a 24
point effort from Richard Hamilton
— who was 10 of 11 from the line
—and 15 points from Kevin Free
man to end the Braves’ season at
17-13 in front of a crowd of 8,338
at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in
Storrs, Conn.
Connecticut struggled from the
field makingjust 8 of 28 shots (28.6
percent) in the first half and fell
behind 23-21 at halftime. In the
second half, the Huskies came back
strong making 11 of 24 shots from
the field and 18 of 23 free-throw
attempts.
Anthony Parker led Bradley
with 25 points and eight rebounds.
The Braves made 18 field goals the
entire contest shooting 37.5 per
cent.
NU remained the only Big 12
Conference team left in the NIT
when Michigan defeated Okla
homa State 75-65 at Ann Arbor.
Notre Dame will play the Wol
verines in the quarterfinals after
beating TCU 82-72 in South Bend
on Tuesday night.
The other NIT quarterfinals pit
Florida State against West Virginia
and Arkansas against UNLV.
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