*Sf- ■ ..
Gregg Madsen
Good character
carries Huskers
past adversity
I can honestly say I’ve never been
more afraid at any athletic event than
I was last Saturday night at the
NCAA Midwest Regional in Salt
Lake City.
I’d never been so close to such a
devastating injury as I was when Ne
braska sophomore gymnast Amie
Dillman went down.
As soon as she landed her prac
tice vault, it was obvious that she
wouldn’t be getting up.
She cmmbled to the mat, devas
tated from the pain in both of her dis
located knees. I, along with die rest
of die crowd at the Huntsman Cen
ter, was suddenly struck by the true
importance of the sport.
The regional championship
wasp’^ifliyortoWanymore,. „ t .....
The only dung I wanted was to
see Dillman back on her feet with
that electric smile on her face.
I was angry. It’s hard to watch
someone who has dedicated her life
to a sport—and in gymnastics that’s
no understatement — as it comes to
a screeching stop in one second.
I was anxious. Dillman lay on the
mats — surrounded by Nebraska
coaches Dan Kendig, Rob Drass and
Teresa Ijams, along with trainers and
paramedics—for nearly 20 minutes.
I wanted the meet to be over, but
the meet hadn’t even begun.
After wiping away the tears, the
rest of the Comhuskers regrouped to
start the meet on balance beam.
It was obvious that Dillman’s in
jury was on everyone’s mind. But
Nebraska fought hard to salvage a
decent score in the event
And that was the story through
each of the other three events. The
Huskers didn’t have the usual flair
and excitement that had typified the
school’s most successful season in
history, but they didn’t fall apart.
NU had every reason to collapse.
But with the deck stacked against
them, they pulled off one of the gutsi
est performances I’ve ever seen.
They finished a close third and
earned an at-large bid to the NCAA
Championships next Thursday in
Gainesville, Rat
Say a prayer ror Dillman on Sat
urday. She’ll be in surgery for at least
six hours as doctors repair both pos
terior cruciate ligaments and her right
medial collateral ligament.
It won’t be easy, but for inspira
tion all she needs to do is look at her
what her teammates’ did Saturday.
You can tell how talented a team
is by the final score of a meet.
But to see the character of a team
you have to see how they respond to
adversity.
The Huskers didn’t fly home
from Utah with the Regional trophy,
but they did fly home champions.
Madsen is a junior news-edito
rial mqjor anda Daily Nebraskan
staff reporter.
Daniel Luedert/DN
DINKO VERB, Mil’s No. 2 singles player, Is 12-8 overall and 4-2 in the Big 12 this season. MU plays host to
Texas Tech on Saturday.
Tfech up next in rough season
Dual against Red
Raiders is first of
three at home.
By Jay Saunders
' Staff Reporter
The Nebraska men’s tennis
team hopes to bounce back from
several obstacles to finish the regu
lar season on a high note.
NU(9
11 overall and
1-5 in the Big
12 Confer
ence) enters
Saturday’s 2
p.m. dual
against Texas
Tech (8-10 and
1-3) after a se
ries of ups and
downs last
weekend.
The match against the Red
Raiders is scheduled to be played
at the Cather-Pound tennis courts,
but could be moved into the Bob
Devaney Sports Center track area
depending on the weather.
“We are trying to get the guys
to use this match to prepare for
next week,” NU Coach Kerry
McDermott said. “We are giving
ourselves an opportunity to be in
the regional playoff.”
Against Tech, the Huskers will
t
be without No. 6 singles player An
drew Wiese, who is nursing a
sprained ankle. Henrik Andersson,
a senior from Stockholm, Sweden,
who is 1-1 this season, will replace
Wiese in the lineup. \
Wiese, a freshman from Flush
ing Hills, N.Y., is 10-8 this season
playing in the No. 5 and No. 6
spots. McDermott said Wiese
should be healthy for next
weekend’s home duals against
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
McDermott is not worried about
making a late-season adjustment
“All the guys have confidence
that Henrik can get the job done,”
McDermott said. “At the begin
ning of the season, we said there
would be injuries and now we have
one. That is just part of the game.”
Next weekend’s matches against
the Sooners and Cowboys will be
even bigger for the Huskers.
NU needs to win one of those
two duals to stay alive for a spot
in six-team NCAA regional tour
nament. With the importance of
next weekend’s matches,
McDermott said he is stressing his
team take it one match at a time.
The Comhuskers did that last
weekend, winning one of three
matches. Nebraska started off its
weekend with a 5-2 loss to Colo
rado and then lost to Kansas 6-1
the following day.
“We paired up against CU on
every court,” McDermott said.
i . .' .
ii
We are giving
ourselves an
opportunity to be
in the regional
playoff”
*
Kerry McDermott
NU men’s tennis coach
“We played good enough to win,
but didn’t”
In the Kansas match,
McDermott said NU didn’t show
the competitive fire that he had
seen in the Colorado match. The
lack of intensity in that match has
not been a problem this season,
McDermott said.
“Kansas outplayed us, and we
didn’t compete very well,”
McDermott said. “I felt maybe we
were down emotionally a little bit
We didn’t give 100 percent.”
NU salvaged the weekend beat
ing Wichita State 4-3, putting the
team in good shape to advance to
the regional tournament.
“It was a much-needed win for
us,” McDermott said. We have a
ways to go1, but we are keeping our
goals alive here.”
Nuskers
take on
Aggies
By David Wilson
Staff Reporter
The last time the Nebraska base
ball team traveled to College Station
was in 1989. They lost 21-4.
Texas A&M
finished 58-7 that
season and had 11
players who went
on to sign profes
sional contracts —
including Minne
sota Twins second
baseman Chuck
Knoblauch.
But this year,
things are differ
ent.
The Comhuskers (18-19 overall
and 4-8 in the Big 12 Conference) will
look for their first-ever win against the
Aggies (27-15 and 10-8) today at
Olsen Field at 7 p.m.
Texas A&M opened die 1997 sea
son winning 11 of its first 15 games.
But since their first conference loss
Feb. 28 to Baylor, the Aggies are 16
U. f |
- i—.' ^Every time you play a Big 12
tbam^you have your hands full,” Texas
Please see AGGIES on 10
Huskers add
three guards,
lose Mitchell
By Mitch Sherman
Senior Reporter
Assured of a new look in the
backcourt next season, the Nebraska
basketball team has added three guards
and lost one in the first two days of
the spring signing period.
Todd Smith, a 6-foot-4 shooting
guard from Milledgeville, Ga., has
joined Cory Cochran of Neola, Iowa,
and Rodney Williams of Houston in
signing letters of intent to join the
Cornhuskers next fall. But Alvin
Mitchell will not return for his junior
season, Coach Danny Nee said Thurs
day.
Nee has granted Mitchell a release
from his scholarship, and the Husker
coaches expect the 6-foot, 160
pounder from Omaha Burke High
School to transfer before next season.
“We’re in the process of working
with Alvin and helping him contact
other schools,” Nee said. “We’ve
mailed a lot of film out. Alvin and
those schools are currently interview
ing each other.”
Mitchell and Nee came to a mu
tual agreement following Nebraska’s
season-ending loss to Connecticut in
the National Invitation Tournament
last month, the coach said. Mitchell
started five games as a sophomore and
played in 29 of NU’s 33 contests, av
eraging 2.7 points and 1:4 rebounds.
His playing time dropped dramati
cally in the Big 12 Conference season
after a strong showing early in the year.
Please see HOOPS on 10