Matt Miller/DN
NEBRASKA FRESHMAN Jorge Abos Sanchez lost 7-5, 6-3 in No. 3 singles action to Texas Tech’s Ryan Shupe. The Comhuskers ended their season
with a 4-0 loss to the Red Raiders in the Big 12 Championships Thursday.
NU sees red in loss to Raiders
By Sam McKewon
Senior Reporter
For the second straight day, the
Nebraska men's tennis team didn’t
have an answer for Texas Tech.
The Red Raiders, who beat the
Cornhuskers 6-1 Wednesday,
defeated NU 4-0 in the first round
! of the Big 12 Championships
Thursday in front of 150 fans at the
Cather-Pound tennis courts.
“We played better today than we
did Wednesday,” NU Coach Kerry
McDermott said. “We fought hard
but I think the better team showed
today.”
Nebraska, which ended its sea
son 13-12 overall, lost the doubles
point 2-1 to Texas Tech (11 -15) to
fall behind 1-0.
The Red Raiders then won three
singles matches before the match
was stopped. Red Raider Peter
Danolic defeated NU’s Dinko Verzi
6-4, 6-4 in the No. 1 singles.
Verzi held the upper hand in
both sets before Danolic came back.
Verzi led 3-1 in the first set and was
serving for the game at 40-15, but
Danolic came back to win five of
the next six games.
In the second set, Verzi was up a
break and serving to go up 5-3 when
Danolic called what looked to be a
service ace wide. Verzi argued but
the cal! stood and Danolic eventu
ally won the game, closing out the
set two games later.
“Dinko had a chance there,”
McDermott said of the No. 1 sin
gles match. “Especially in the first
set. But he didn't get it.”
In No. 3 singles, freshman Jorge
Abos Sanchez seemed to have a
chance, frustrating Texas Tech’s
Ryan Shupe in the first set. But
Sanchez lost his serve at 5-6 of the
first set and then lost the second set
for a 7-5, 6-3 loss.
Texas Tech Assistant Coach
Steve Moore said Shupe's and
Danolic's performances typified his
team’s effort.
“Our willingness to fight and
leadership is what won us the
matches,” Moore said. “Peter’s not a
Our willingness to fight and leadership
is what won us the matches0
Steve Moore
Texas Tech assistant coach
guy who's the most talented in the
world, but there's never a match
where he didn't show up and fight.”
Texas Tech closed out the victo
ry with Casey Biorkman’s 6-1, 6-1
win over NU sophomore Andrew
Wiese.
Tomorrow, Texas Tech will face
No. 1 seed Texas, a top 10 team.
Moore said he expects to have a
tough match against the Longhorns.
“I can’t think of anybody who
expects us to win except ourselves,”
he said. “We’ll need to play great
tomorrow to beat a great team like
that.”
McDermott said he is proud of
the Huskers this season, as they
went through several lineup
changes and injuries. Overall,
McDermott said NU lacked the
aggressiveness they needed to beat
the Red Raiders.
“We played back a little bit, and
that hurt us,” he said
Magnus Grahn, a senior on the
NU team, said he was happy to see
the team stick through adversity.
“We’ve have some ups and
downs this season, some good and
bad times,” Grahn said. “But we
kept fighting hard the entire year.”
NCAA says athletes can work
By Sarah Baker
Senior Reporter
Clint Finley doesn’t want a job.
But between workouts, classes and
homework, it’s not a matter of wanting a
Byrne
a job. It’s a matter of
time.
Time that he
| doesn’t have.
Finley, a
| sophomore free
I safety on the foot
ball team, said he
probably wouldn’t
take advantage of
the new NCAA rule
that allows athletes
to work during the August-May school
year.
“I have enough to do as it is,” Finley
said. “1 think it’ll be just fine - for those
who can handle it.”
“Prop 62” was approved this week
by the NCAA Board of Directors,
which is made up of a group of college
presidents.
The new procedure allows Division
I athletes to work, even though they may
be on full scholarship. The rule permits
earnings of up to $2,000 over the value
of a full scholarship.
The athletes can work at jobs lmed
up by the athlete, boosters or athletic
department.
Other athletes can earn $2,000 plus
the difference between their partial
scholarship and a full scholarship. The
new rules go into effect Aug. 1.
NU Athletic Director Bill Byrne
said although he thinks the measure is a
good idea, he doesn’t know how impor
tant it will be for NU athletes.
“We voted for it when it was part of
the NCAA convention,” Byrne said. “I
think it can work, but I don’t think many
will take advantage of it.”
He said most athletes are already
devoted to training, practice and class.
“There aren’t many more hours in
the day,” Byrne said. “It could offer
opportunities for those athletes whose
training schedules aren’t as busy.”
Tonia Tauke, a junior volleyball
player, said most student athletes are
pressed for time now, and allowing
them to work will only make that worse.
Please see WORK on 12
Tickets still remain for NU
championship celebration
From Staff Reports
More than 35,000 tickets have
been sold for tonight’s “National
Championship Celebration and
Farewell to Coach Tom Osborne,”
but tickets still remain.
The $6 tickets also are good
for admission to Saturday’s Red
White Spring Game at Memorial
Stadium. All seats are reserved.
Tonight’s celebration also will
be held at Memorial Stadium, and
the gates will open at 5:30 p.m.
HuskerVision will present an
hourlong video at 6 p.m. before
the team’s entrance at 7 p.m.
A rededication of Memorial
Stadium will follow, before the
national championship celebra
tion, a farewell to Coach Osborne
and the dedication of Tom
Osborne Field.
The red team in Saturday’s
12:30 p.m. spring game will be
led offensively by quarterbacks
Frankie London and Jay Runty.
The white team will be led offen
sively by quarterbacks Bobby
Newcombe and Eric Crouch.
Next fall’s starting quarter
back could be determined in
meetings after the spring game.
Doubles
spell NU
trouble
By James Nicas
Staff Reporter
This season has seemingly been
one heartbreak after another for the
Nebraska women’s tennis team.
Thursday afternoon was no different in
the Big 12 Championships.
Leading 4-2 after the singles
matches, the eighth-seeded
Comhuskers could not put ninth-seed
Texas Tech away as they lost all three
doubles matches to fall 5-4 at the
Woods Tennis Center.
“Unbelievable,” Husker freshman
Ndali Ijomah said “This is one of those
nightmares that you think will never
happen.”
The loss was even more painful
because of the way the doubles matches
ended Ijomah said.
In the fust doubles match to end the
No. 2 team of Ijomah and senior Lisa
Hart lost 8-5. The duo was up a break at
5-3 before losing the next five games
and the match.
The final two matches were even
more devastating for NU. Both ended in
close 9-7 decisions.
In the No. 3 group, the Husker duo
of Kelli Clark and Gina Pelazini were
also up a break at 5-2. The Red Raiders
tied the match at six, and won three of
the next four games to take*the match.
While that match ended the No. 1
doubles match was just as close.
Sophomore Sandra Noetzel and
freshman Jennifer Thoste were up 4-1
with two break points in the sixth game.
Nebraska was unable to get another
point, and Texas Tech rallied to eventu
ally tie the set at five.
After trading the next four games,
Nebraska did not capitalize on another
break point as Red Raiders Zana
Zlebnik and Amanda Earhart went up
8-7.
Zlebnik and Earhart were able to
finish what Nebraska could not. The
Texas Tech duo won its third break
point, in the 16th game, to end the
match and season for the Huskers.
“Hats off to Texas Tech,” Nebraska
Coach Scott Jacobson said. “There is
no quit in them. They are a team with a
lot of fight and spirit.”
In the singles matches, two Huskers
defeated opponents they had lost to ear
lier in the season.
No. 3 seed Jennifer Thoste rallied to
defeat Laleshmi Rivindra 6-3,4-6,7-5.
Please see WOMEN on 12