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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 1997)
improving j By Nate Odgaard Staff Reporter The Nebraska men’s tennis team isn’t picking up where it left off last year. And NU coach Kerry McDermott isn’t complaining. “We’resetting a lot better atti tudes about expecjting to win,” McDermott said. “We didn’t have that at all last year.” After playing its first two tour naments of the season, Nebraska appears to be a different team than the one that finished second to last in the Big 12 Championships last spring. Senior co-captain Magnus Grahn, Nebraska’s No. 1 singles player, finished 6-1 after competing in the ITA Clay Court Championships in Baltimore and the Tom Fallon Invitational in South Bend, Ind., last weekend. Grahn won the A Flight Singles title at the Tom Fallon Invitational, becoming' the first Husker to get past the quar terfinals in the top singles division. Grahn posted a 4-0 record and defeated Jamie Gordan of Purdue 3 6, 7-6,6-2 in the championship match. Grahn lost Only two sets in four matches over the weekend. McDermott said Grahn’s perfor mance was especially impressive considering the senior from Sweden didn’t play his best tennis all week end. “If he can win matches without playing at the top of his game, that says a lot about his competitive ness,” McDermott said. Nebraska freshman Jorge Abos Sanchez won the B Flight consola tion title with a 6-2,7-5 victory over Purdue’s Jason Marshall, while sophomore Andrew Wiese defeated Colorado’s Devin Grieve 4-6,6-3,6 4 to capture the C Flight consolation title. In doubles, junior Dinko Verzi and senior Markus Bergerheim fin ished 3-1 and advanced to the A Flight semifinals before losing to Peter Magnusson and Fernando Forte from Indiana State. In B Flight singles, Bergerheim advanced to the semifinals going 2 1 before losing to B Flight Champion Mike Passarella of Harvard 6-4, 5-7,7-6. The tournaments featured some of the top teams and players in the nation. Grahn opened the season with a loss in the qualifying round in Baltimore. But he redeemed himself when he rallied to defeat the No. 1 seed? Western Michigan’s Thomas Hamilton, in the consolation round. “We knew he was starting to gain confidence,” McDermott said. While Grahn’s confidence esca lated en route to the finals in South Bend, his play did not. “I felt like my game wasn’t working 100 percent,” Grahn said. “(But) I kept telling myself I have to give it my all.” Grahn set a good example for the rest of the team, McDermott said, as he rallied to win his first round match and the finals. Despite facing a match point against the No. 44 ranked player, Grahn prevailed in the finals with a 3-6, 7-6 (11-9), 6-3 win over Purdue’s Jamie Gordon. “He wasn’t serving that well, but he kept hanging in there mentally,” McDermott said. McDermott praised each Husker’s individual effort in the tournaments. He said the players showed heart and composure. “We had a talk about coming back even when you’re down,” he said. “Our kids are expecting more out of themselves.” Grahn said he agreed with McDermott that Nebraska’s early season success is an indication of good things to come. “It’s nice to see it’s not just the top players - the whole lineup is playing well,” Grahn said. “Itls good to know we have depth. We need that to win matches we lost last season.” NU given fifth verbal commitment By David Wilson Senior Reporter The Nebraska football team received its fifth verbal commit ment from Aaron Golliday, a 6 foot-5, 230-pound tight end from York. Golliday said he made his decision following a visit to Kansas State last weekend, despite a request by the Wildcat coaches for him to hold out. “The facilities weren’t compa rable,” Golliday said. “Just the fans and the atmosphere at Nebraska - there’s nothing like it.” The Cornhuskers offered the senior a scholarship on Sept. 19, Golliday said, just before York’s third game. “I pretty much knew,” Golliday said. “I had it narrowed down to Kansas State and Nebraska right away. I didn’t see any point in waiting. The scholar ship might not be there later.” As a tailback this season, Golliday has helped York to a 2-2 record in Class B, averaging about 135 yards rushing per game. Golliday moved from tight end to tailback this season to pro vide the offense with “punch,” York coach Randy Cordes said. Though he hasn’t played the position since his sophomore sea son, Golliday is being recruited as a tight end. He sat out his junior season after breaking his ankle while playing on the Valentino’s All-Star basketball team - but Golliday has returned to top form this season, Cordes said. “He makes a tremendous impact whenever he has the foot ball,” Cordes said. “I don’t know if he has the out-and-out speed as a running back that plays Division I. But he has good speed and I think he’d be an excellent tight end.” Golliday, who has qualified academically, said he ran a 4.9 second electronic 40-yard-dash at the Huskers’ football camp last June. Cordes said he doesn’t keep lifting or running records, but he does know Golliday’s strengths. “He has great mobility,” Cordes said. “He has good vision. He has the ability to catch the football. He is physical. He does a lot of things.” High school seniors cannot sign letters of intent until February. Evans likely to redshirt 1L VAIN o from page 9 injury. Evans returned to practice on Sept. 1, but was still bothered by the injury and flew back to Boston early last month to have it re-evaluated. He was scheduled to return for the Washington game but was still both ered by the injury and didn’t make the trip. “(The doctor) told me he thinks it’s going to be better,” Evans said. “It’s just going to take more time than I expected. It has been very frustrat ing to sit Out. But I have just tried to accept the fact that there’s nothing that I can do about it. I’ll just come back when I can.” His teammates have also sensed that sitting out this year has taken its toll on Evans. “You can tell that it’s frustrating for him,” junior I-back Ahman Green said. “I know how he feels because I / __ went rnrougn it witn my tun toe last year. You just want to get better.” It will be especially tough for Evans to not play against Kansas State. Evans had his best game, statis tically for the Huskers, including a 69-yard touchdown run. “This is the game that I really wanted to be back for,” Evans said. “It was going to be my first home game back, and I was planning on having another great game against Kansas State.” While the injury has set back his football career, Evans said he has gained maturity. '"'“Fve been away from football for a year now, so I’ve had a chance to find out a lot about myself,” Evans said. “I know what’s important to me and what’s not important. “I’ve had to grit my teeth for a long time. When I get back on the field, everyone will sense my hunger.” | t ’ t| i t-, ■ i 1 'j I" . j ■spsaagcr ' ■ h||KhhhB||SU|Ub[I V ^B>PPBB>PPIP|WWW|Mliy ■lliiiliiilliigf^HiiHiiv r ■HMHWMp ■Wiiiiiiiliiiiir V ^-1 Sr ;. p|| p' :r ->PHFJi 11