Sooner coach confident
about chances for victory
SOONERS from page 9
would beat them in Lincoln.
“Another thing that will help us is
that for the first time, our experience
on the court equals Nebraska’s. We
won’t be intimidated by them on our
home court.”
The Sooners suffered two three
game losses to NU last season and
have not posted a victory against the
Huskers since 1993. But Pabst favor
4 ably compares the 1997 version of
the Sooners to past teams, pointing to
the dominant and consistent play of
outside hitters Patrice Arrington and
Melissa Peterson.
Arrington is 11th in the nation
with 5.29 kills per game and has
earned conference player-of-the
week honors after posting a league
record 40 kills against Kansas State
last Saturday in Norman.
Peterson, who Pabst labeled “one
of the best - if not the best - passers
in the nation” averages 4.29 kills per
game and leads all Sooners with 169
digs (3.25 per game) this season.
“Our outsides are as good as any
in the country,” Pabst said. “Patrice is
tough to stop when she gets going
because she has such great power.
She has a great work ethic, she’s
competitive, and her all-around
game has improved.
“At this point in her career, she is
playing smarter than she ever has.”
Pabst also credited the emer
gence of middle blockers Danielle
Cornelius and Tanisha Webster as a
key to OU’s success this season.
Webster, a junior who averages
1.18 blocks per game, sat out last
season after winning the Big Eight
Conference blocking title her sopho
more season. Webster broke the Big
12 record with 13 block assists
against Kansas State Saturday.
Cornelius, a 6-foot freshman,
averages .96 blocks per game.
Those four players, along with
junior setter Meredith Van Horn -
who averages 15.88 assists per game
- can lead Oklahoma to its first
NCAA Tournament birth since 1989,
Pabst s^id. Pabst predicts that OU
will finish the season ranked in the
league’s top four.
“Coaches can speculate and fan
tasize,” Pabst said, “but it’s up to the
team to put ‘em on, tie them up and
get after it.
“At times this season, we’ve put
‘em on brilliantly and played excep
tionally well. It’s just doing it for the
duration. But I think we’re on track.”
Pettit agreed that the Sooners can
pose a challenge to conference
teams. ?
“Oklahoma is the team that
nobody wants to play,” Pettit said.
“They have a lot of talent and
tremendous outside hitters.
“They are going beat a ranked
opponent on their floor this year, and
I just hope that team isn’t us.”
NU hopes to improve
against top opponents
. . >■*#*** By Nate Odgaar&
Staff Reporter
, Less than one week into the bowl
ing season, the Nebraska women’s
team appears to be in top form.
The Huskers, who won the
national championship last year as a
club team, cruised to the Milwaukee
Intercollegiate Bowling Invitational
title last weekend with a pin total of
10,953. Purdue finished second, but
was a distant 797 pins behind.
While NU coach Bill Straub said
Nebraska’s dominance “proved we
have a solid squad,” he said room for
improvement still exists.
“(We’ve) not exactly reached our
potential yet, but we’re headed in the
right direction,” Straub said.
The Huskers will have an oppor
tunity to improve this weekend when
the men’s and women’s teams will
compete in their first and only meet of
. the year. Nebraska is one of six
schools to play host to the Great
Plains Conference Tournament.
Competition begins Saturday at 12:30
p.m. at Sun Valley Lanes in Lincoln.
Though the Husker women rolled to
the title in Milwaukee, Straub remains
low-key about the team’s performance.
“Our team is solid, but let’s see
how it does against a field stronger
than (Milwaukee),” he said.
Wichita State will be the team to
watch this weekend, Straub said
“They’ve been in the NCAA
Championships at least the last 10
years,” Straub said
Straub is uncertain about the rest
of the field this weekend.
“We haven’t seen the other five
schools in the conference, but I think
we’ll do fine,” he said
Straub said competing in Lincoln
gives the fans an opportunity to per
sonally support the Huskers.
“Anytime you get a chance to per
form in front of the home crowd, it is
definitely special,” he said
NU receives
sixth verbal
commitment
■ A linebacker from
Papillion-La Vista
accepts a Nebraska
scholarship.
By David Wilson
Senior Reporter
Jeremy Slechta, a defensive
lineman from Papillion-LaVista
High School, became the sixth
player to give a verbal commit
ment to Nebraska.
The 6-foot-5, 260-pounder,
who was offered a scholarship
after attending the Comhuskers’
football camp in June, recorded
10 solo tackles and 21 assisted
tackles through the Monarchs’
first four games.
“He’s a heck of a high school
football player,” Papillion coach
Gene Suhr said. “I think he’s
going to make the state very
proud.
“He’s very agile and has great
feet. He’s quite an athlete. He’ll
definitely find a spot somewhere
on the Nebraska football team.”
Though he serves as a line
man on both sides of the ball,
Slechta is being recruited by
schools - including Michigan
and Kansas State - primarily as a
defensive lineman. High school
seniors can’t sign letters of intent
until February.
Slechta sat out Papilhon s 45
21 victory last week as part of a
two-week suspension for abusing
the school’s alcohol policy. While
at a homecoming party, a com
plaint was filed by the mother of
a “pom-squad” girl, and Slechta
was questioned by school offi
cials. He admitted he had been
drinking, and, following school
policy, served a two-game sus
pension that ends today after the
Monarchs face Millard North.
Three other players were sus
pended for the same reason.
“If you know Jeremy^you
know he’s an outstanding kid,”
Suhr said. “He’s a good student
and he has been a model student.
He just made a bad decision one
time.”
Suhr said Osborne contacted
Slechta the day of the incident,
and Slechta told Osborne the
truth about what had happened.
“He had the courage to stand
up,” Suhr said. “He could have
lied, but he’s a person of integrity.
He faced his mistake. I’m really
proud of him and the way he han
dled it.”
By Sam McKewon
Staff Reporter
It’s midterm time for the Nebraska
men’s and women’s cross country teams
on Saturday.
The Huskers will face 10 top-25
teams this weekend as they travel to the
Furman Invitational in Furman, S.C.
The invite is largely considered a
preview to the NCAA Championships,
as it is run on the same course as the
championships and features the best
regular-season field around.
“I’m really excited to see how well
die teams match up down there and how
good some of our individuals are,”
Coach Jay Dirksen said. “This is pretty
much the toughest meet of the year,
short of the NCAA Championships.”
Participating in the field on the
women’s side will be four of the top five
teams in the nation, including No. 1
Stanford. The Cardinals are also the top
ranked team on the men’s side of the
draw where three of the top five teams
in the nation are participating.
Dirksen said the competition
throughout the field will test the
Huskers.
“It’s a great meet to show who’s
good and who’s not, and how far a team
has to go to be a certain level,” he said.
“I doubt that anybody will get close to
Stanford, though.”
What Nebraska is shooting for from
both the men’s and women’s teams is a
finish inside the top 10, which Dirksen
said might be more attainable for the
women than the men.
Again pacing the NU women will
be freshman Amy Wiseman, Dirksen
said. In NU’s two invitational this sea
son, Wiseman has finished third and
11th, and Dirksen said she^will have a
chance at the top 20 in South Carolina.
“Amy certainly has the talent to be
up there and the good thing about her is
that she has the experience that we re
looking for,” Dirksen said.
One runner Dirksen said has helped
the Huskers immensely this season is
freshman Kate Centerwall. Centerwall
finished 29th at the Griak Invitational. .
“Kate’s been a lifesaver,” fcirksen
said. “She runs really smart races and
doesn’t get caught up in what everyone
else is doing. She ends up catching a lot
of people at the end.”
On the men’s side, freshman Jereon
Broekzitter and senior Cleophas Boor
look to lead NU.
The men’s lineup will be filled out
by senior Aaron Johnson, freshman
Marcus Witter, and junior Lou Petricca.
“We’ll run as hard as we^can,” he
said. “We’ll find out how-good we are
this season.”
A
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