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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 1997)
NU bounces back after tough loss to beat Missouri Women’s tennis team was close to biggest win in school history against Baylor. By Jay Saunders Staff Reporter After a weekend split with Baylor and Missouri, the Nebraska women’s tennis team is exactly where it was before playing those two matches. The Bears (12-5 and 7-1 in the Big 12 Conference) handed the Comhuskers a tough 6-3 loss on Sat urday, but NU rallied to beat the Ti gers 9-0 on Sunday at the Woods Ten nis Center. Against Baylor, No. 2 singles player Lisa Hart beat Carolyn McGrath 6- 3,6-2 and No. 6 Adriana Dulic con tinued her hot streak by beating Julie Hamilton 6-2,2-6 and 6-2. “We were about four games from the biggest win in the program’s his tory,” NU Coach Scott Jacobson said. “This was a heart-wrenching loss.” Although the score didn’t reflect it, the match could have gone either way. The Huskers (14-6 and 4-5) won the first set at No. 1 and No. 3 singles as Annie Yang won her first set 6-3, but dropped the next two sets 6-3 and 7- 5 at No. 3 to Hortensia Hernandez. And Sandra Noetzel after winning the first set 3-6 dropped the next two to Barbara Navarro 6-4 and 6-4. “I don’t know what went wrong,” Yang said. “If we won those close matches going into the doubles, we would have been up 4-2.” The No. 1 doubles team of Noetzel and Jenni fer Thoste contin ued to tear through opponents, notch ing an 8-4 win against McGrath and Vanessa Abel. Even though Noetzel and Thoste have combined for a 12-6 record this year, Jacobson said Thoste is gaining more confidence on the court. “Thoste is starting to play with a certain vibrance,” Jacobson said. “It looks like she enjoys being on the court.” Instead of letting down after such a tough loss, the Huskers came back with a vengeance, posting a 9-0 win over Missouri on Sunday. NU domi nated both singles and doubles, play ing all nin? matches without dropping a seC ** J J V V C f S | Jacobson said the Huskers couldn’t suffer a letdown after such a tough defeat the day before. “They recognized the long-term importance of this match,” Jacobson said. “They have a certain level of re spect for their teammates. That level Please see TENNIS on 8 Mike Warren/DN LISA HART takes a swing in Nebraska’s match against Missouri on Sunday. Hart was 2-0 on the weekend. Huskers struggle against hot Tech By Jay Saunders Staff Reporter Nebraska Men’s Tennis Coach Kerry McDermott described Texas Tech as an up-and-down team. And unfortunately for the Comhuskers, Tech was on the upswing Saturday. “We were hop ing to catch them on their down side,” McDermott said. “All in all it is not a good feel ing to lose, but it doesn’t set us back u un> NU (9-12 overall and 1-6 in the Big 12 Conference) won just one match, losing to the Red Raiders 6-1 at the Woods Tennis Center. Tech jumped out to an early lead by winning the doubles point by sweeping the three matches. NU used new doubles combinations at the two and three spots. McDermott paired Kelsay Moron and Magnus Grahn at No. 2 doubles and had Fredrik Riesbeck and Roshan Fernando at No. 3, but that experiment didn’t work out as the Huskers lost 8-3 and 8-6. The regular No. 1 doubles team of Dinko Verzi and Markus Bergerheim lost their match 8-4. “We thought we had to win the 44 We were hoping to catch them on their down side ” Kerry McDermott NU men’s tennis coach doubles point to win the match,” McDermott said. “Our No. 1 team didn’t play a bad match, but the other team played flawlessly.” Although Verzi didn t notch a wm in doubles, he provided the only singles victory. Verzi, who normally plays at No. 2 singles, moved into the No. 1 spot and won his match 6-4,7-5 over Tyiir Jimenez. NU was without the services of An drew Wiese. Wiese sprained his ankle last weekend and was not in the lineup against the Red Raiders. Henrik Andersson filled in for Wiese at the No. 6 spot but lost 6-2,6-3 to Doug Lacy. . McDermott said Wiese practiced Sunday and could be back for NU’s big gest duals of the year next week. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State travel to Lincoln for duals that will de cide where NU will finish in the region. “This next weekend is what we need to gun for,” McDermott said. “We need to make something happen.” Ex-Husker . Gregory dies at 50 From, Staff Reports Ben Gregory, a former Ne braska running back and assis tant coach at Colorado, died of a massive heart attack Thursday night at his home in Boulder, Colo. He was 50. Gregory, who played for NU from 1965 through 1967, was the running backs’ coach at Colorado since 1991. Gregory’s son Morgan played tor the Comhuskers from 1987 through 1989. He is also survived by his wife, Bonnie, a daughter, Brooke, and two grandchildren. “It’s a devastating loss to our family, both Ben’s immediate family as well as the Colorado football family,” CU Coach Rick Neuheisel said. At Nebraska, Gregory rushed for 1,024 yards and nine touch downs in his career. He went on to play in the NFL for die Buf falo Bills before returning to NU in 1971 as a graduate assistant. NU Coach Tom Osborne said he was saddened of the news. “He had a positive influence on everyone here and is someone we are very proud to call a Ne braska graduate,” Osborne said. Injuries slow NU scrimmage Banged-up Husker offense sluggish once again.. By David Wilson Staff Reporter Plagued with injuries, the Nebraska offense had more fumbles than touch downs during Saturday’s scrimmage at Memorial Stadium. _ Between 15 and 20 players — in cluding three of NU’s top four offen sive linemen — did not play in the scrimmage, NU Coach Tom Osborne said. The practice was cut from 130 plays to 100 because of the number of injured players. An unhealthy offensive line has affected the timing and execution of the entire offense, Osborne said. “The offensive line has had pretty significant problems this year,” Osborne said. “It makes for a lack of coordination and a lack of experience.” Senior right guard Jon Zatechka left practice with a hip pointer, becom ing die sixth injured offensive lineman. Senior center Aaron Taylor, senior guard Eric Anderson, junior center Josh Heskew, sophomore tackle Jeff Clausen and sophomore tackle Adam Julch also missed the scrimmage. “We had too many turnovers and too many mistakes,” Osborne said. “I think some of that is due to the fact that we have no continuity in the offensive line. We just need to ex ecute better.” Because of the injuries, younger and less enced linemen are seeing more ing time — which could help NU ni the fall, Osborne ”"™"" said. Matt Hosionson would probably not have played center at all if Heskew had not been hurt,” Osborne said. “I feel real comfortable with Hoskinson at center. Depth at center was a big concern.” Osborne said the offense always takes more time than the defense to gel. “There’s no question that offensive football takes timing, more practice and more execution,” Osborne said. “I think we’re going to have a good of fense provided everybody recovers from surgery and comes back in the fall.” NU Receivers Coach Ron Brown agreed. This year’s receiving corps, Please see INJURIES on 8
