Husker golfers fall short of Missouri
GOLFfrom page 9
Krapfl said. “The greens were
rolling really well out here. We just
didn’t get anything to fall.”
Senior Shirin Hornecker, fin
ished fourth overall and led the
Huskers with a three-round total of
225. Three Tigers, including tourna
ment champion Stefanie Mitchell,
who shot a 219, finished in the top
three spots.
Husker sophomore Hanne
Nyquist was fifth with a score of
226. Sophomore Elizabeth
Bahensky and junior Gretchen Doerr
tied for seventh at 230, and senior
Rachelle Tacha finished in a tie for
13th at 230.
Hornecker said the Huskers
expected to win too easily against the
competition, which was not as strong
as last year.
“We had played with Missouri
last year, and we really didn’t think
they would play as well as they did,”
Hornecker said. “We didn’t take the
first round as seriously as we should
have, and Missouri played really
well.”
Hornecker also said the HiMark
Golf Course was a departure from
Firethorn Country Club, the previ
ous host of the Chip-N Club
Invitational. She said NU failed to
take advantage of an easier course
with reachable par-5s.
“It wasn’t as hard of a course as
we’ve played before, and it’s proba
bly easier than most we’ll play this
year,” she said. “We didn’t take
advantage of the shorter holes like
we should have.”
The brightest spot in terms of
improvement was Doerr, who shot
her career best in the two days.
Krapfl said Doerr is working herself
into an important role on the team.
“She is really hitting the ball well
right now, which is good to see,” she
said. “That was her best collegiate
performance, and she’s starting to
become consistent.”
Overall, Krapfl said, the team did
well for the conditions, but still has
plenty to work on before its next
tournament in Lubbock, Texas, on
Sept. 15 and 16.
“We’ve got to work on the short
game a little more than we have,” she
said. “We’ve got to get our game at a
point where we’re mentally prepared
to shoot near par in every round
instead of shooting 75 or 76.”
Chlp-N Club Results
Team 1st Round Score 2nd Round Score 3rd Round Score Total
Missouri 295 294 299 888
Nebraska 307 297 305 909
Kansas St 301 313 312 926
Oral Roberts 322 313 311 946
North Texas 325 313 320 958
Creighton 326 326 343 995
Missouri KC 323 329 338 990
Texas Pan Am 332 335 349 1016
BriarCfiff 346 331 327 1004
Top 10 Individual Scores
Stefanie Mitchell Missouri 219
Letita Moses Missouri 220
Amelia Moses Missouri 224
Shirin Homecker Nebraska 225
Hanna Nyguist Nebraska 226
Gina Spalitto Missouri 229
Brooke Bell North Texas 230
Elizabeth Behensky Nebraska 230
Gretchen Doerr Nebraska 230
Tobi Probst Missouri 230
Aaron Steckelberg/DN
Korver seeks dominance
as Husker middle blocker
KORVER from page 9
begins, that you can win.”
Will to win
Last weekend at the NU
Coliseum, Korver found a way.
In two lengthy five-game bat
tles against No. 24 Arkansas and
eighth-ranked Pacific, Korver
pounded a total of 40 kills. Against
Pacific, Korver recorded a career
high 22. Usually the Huskers’ sec
ond or third offensive option,
Korver was the “go-to player” over
the weekend, NU coach Terry Pettit
said.
“There is only one issue with
Megan ever,” Pettit said. “If she
relaxes, and if she has that soft
focus in her eyes, she’s an excep
tional player. She knows that, and
she does a good job in critical situ
ations of maintaining that. She is a
real force when she has all of her
athletic ability working for her. 1
feel really solid about what we’re
doing with her.”
Learning to relax nas been dif
ficult at times for Korver. After
basically owning the middle
blocker position last season, the
All-Big 12 selection has faced
some competition this year.
Sophomore Tonia Tauke and fresh
man Katie Jahnke - who redshirted
last season with an injured knee -
are challenging Korver for her
spot.
“There has been more stress on
me,” Korver said. “It’s been more
of a stress on everybody. But I
would definitely want to play on
this year’s team over last year’s
team, even though I didn’t have a
lot of stress last year. The competi
tion is making us better. It makes
me a better player. I just have the
mind-set that if I’m going to get on
the court, I really have to do my
best everyday in practice.”
Korver emphasizes mental
preparation, and she plays her best
matches after focusing on an oppo
nent’s tendencies. Korver concen
trates on reacting to ah opponent’s
middle blocker. Often Korver said,
she tries to predict her foe’s
approach so she can move into
position for a block.
The strategy has obviously
worked. Korver led Nebraska in
blocks last year with a Big 12
Conference-best average of 1.53
per game.
In 1997, Korver is again mak
ing contributions at the net.
Through six matches, Korver has
posted a team-high five solo
blocks and 18 block assists. She is
second on the team with 71 total
kills and a .338 hitting percentage.
The statistics seem similar to those
during her first season with the
Huskers, but her role has changed.
Last year, Korver’s sophomore
season was her first at Nebraska.
From Panama, she became NU’s
first-ever transfer after spending
her freshman season at George
Washington University. An
Atlantic 10 all-conference selec
tion in 1995, Korver spent the
beginning of last season trying to
find a role on a new team and
improving individually, instead of
giving leadership to her team
mates. She hopes the leadership
comes this season.
New role
“It’s different this year, I feel
like an upperclassman, and I need
to lead,” Korver said. “And it’s hard
sometimes when your in practice
and you want to just draw to your
self and concentrate on you. But I
realize that I have to open up to the
team and give some leadership.
Korver hopes to have a part in
leading the Huskers to the national
championship at the Final Four in
Spokane, Wash., later this season.
Winning a championship is some
thing the 1996 Big 12 newcomer of
the year has never accomplished at
any level. As a high school fresh
man, Korver was not a member of
the Norris High varsity team when
it won the Class B state title, and
Nebraska won its national champi
onship the year before Korver
transferred.
Pettit wanted Korver to com
pete for NU as a walk-on in 1995,
but Korver opted to accept a schol
arship from George Washington , a
decision she does not regret.
“I wouldn’t trade my experi
ence at George Washington for
anything in the world,” Korver
said. “But I knew that if I was
going to spend four or five hours a
day on athletics that I’d have to
love what I was doing, and it was
n’t like that there. The support and
the chemistry weren’t there. If
there’s anyplace in the nation
where volleyball is at its peak, it’s
here. It’s home.”
UCF QB
worries
defense
UCF from page 9
495 yards, six touchdowns and one
interception.
“Benching Daunte Culpepper
would help us greatly,” Osborne
said. “I hope people understand
that we’re playing, what I think, is a
good football team.”
Osborne said Culpepper has
many similar qualities to former
Husker quarterback Tommie
Frazier.
“He has some of the things
Frazier had,” Osborne said. “When
he drops back to pass, he can hurt
you many ways.”
NU All-America rush end
Grant Wistrom said if Culpepper
played at a larger football power
house, he’d be a serious contender
for the Heisman Trophy.
Defensive tackle Jason Peter
compared Culpepper to Texas quar
terback James Brown and former
Arizona State quarterback Jake
Plummer. Brown and Plummer
were the only two quarterbacks to
lead their teams to victories over
Nebraska last year.
Peter said the NU defense will
come at Culpepper with a lot of
pressure and blitzes.
“When you pressure
(Culpepper), he has a tendency to
throw the ball away,” Peter said.
“We have a chance to get some
turnovers.”
It keeps
more than
memories
alive.
American Heart M
Associations-^^
Fighting Heart Disease
and Stroke
American Heart
Association
Fighting Heart Disease
and Stroke
[Winter Break!
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