V .
NU develops
depth despite
injuries,
inexperience
— -. —
Matt Miller/D N
NEBRASKA’S MANDY MONSON and the rest of the volleyball team reached the regional semifinals in the NCAA
Tournament last season. They lost to Long Beach State.
By Shannon Heffelfinger
Senior Reporter
For the Nebraska volleyball team,
1997 was a year of development.
It was a year trying to develop
chemistry for a team that was without
13 of its 15 players at different points in
the season. It was a year of developing
depth when injuries to three key players
spawned a mid-season setback.
It was a year of developing maturity
on a team that listed 11 freshmen and
sophomores and one senior on its roster.
And most of all, it was a year of learn
ing for a somewhat inexperienced team.
The conclusion of a seasonlong les
son hit the No. 9 Comhuskers with a
final realization Dec. 15 at the NCAA
Tournament Pacific Regional Final in
Long Beach, Calif. Top-ranked Long
Beach State schooled the young
Huskers on the 49ers’ home court.
A 15-9, 15-9, 15-3 loss ended NU’s
year and taught that at the highest level,
youth plus enthusiasm and heart come
up short when facing experience.
“Long Beach was just a better team
than us,” said NU Coach Terry Pettit.
“They exploited our weaknesses before
we really had a chance to make a run of it.
“But I was proud of our team the
entire match. We are a team that was rat
tled at midseason, but we hung in there,
and we came back and made a good run
at the end of the season ”
The Huskers entered the NCAA
battle riding a 12-match winning streak
after losmg four of six in October.
NU’s skid began with back-to-back
losses to Colorado and Oklahoma Oct.
8 and Oct. 10. Nebraska hit just .148
against Oklahoma and totaled 13 ser
vice errors in three games. The Huskers
played without starter Jaime Krondak
(back injury) and back-row specialist
Renee Saunders, who broke her foot at
the end of September. Both missed
much of the season.
“I see a sense of self-doubt in them
on the court, and I don’t ever remember
seeing that before,” OU Coach Miles
Pabst said at the time.
The Huskers lost another match
before regaining some confidence and
momentum in wins at Texas A&M and
at the NU Coliseum against Baylor. The
week marked the emergence of a new
starter and key contributor, freshman
Angie Oxley, as well as the develop
ment of several younger players.
Oxley, who came out of her redshirt
season to stabilize the Huskers in the
back row, did just that. She led NU with
3.3 digs per game in November and
December.
Nebraska returned to its old form
the final two months of the season,
defeating several ranked teams - includ
ing No. 9 Texas and No. 16 Texas A&M
- and went 10-0 in November. The mark
earned NU a No. 2 seed in the NCAA
Pacific Region.
“Five weeks ago, they could have
decided to be a mediocre team and limp
home,” Pettit said on Nov. 31. “They
knew they couldn’t win the conference,
and they could have just let things go,
but they didn’t do that.”
After receiving a first-round bye.
Nebraska pounded Michigan State at
home in the second round of the NCAA
Tournament before losing to Long
Beach in California.
Whenever a team loses, the
younger players are already looking for
ward to next season,” NU setter Fiona
Nepo said. “We’ve matured this season.
Everybody on our team made the deci
sion (during the slump) to refocus. We
weren’t just along for the ride.”
The Huskers lose only two players,
Saunders and Lisa Reitsma, from their
1997 squad. The All-American Reitsma
broke the school record for career
attacks and completed her eligibility.
Saunders, a two-sport athlete, chose to
focus on basketball, where she has two
years of eligibility left.
But NU returns starters Mandy
Monson, Krondak, Angie Oxley, Megan
Korver and Nepo, as well as key contrib
utors Tonia Tauke, Nancy Meendering,
Nikki Henk and Katie Jahnke.
“Em very optimistic,” Pettit said.
“We lose a great player in Lisa Reitsma,
but we’re really a good young team
that’s just going to get better. I was glad
we were able to push ourselves to this
point so that we could experience this.
“And I told the team that while I was
proud of them, our goal next year is not
to finish second in the regional.”
I 1
Carlson
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