Shannon Heffelfinger
Free advice
to help NU
beat KSU
OK. I know only two days have
passed since the Nebraska football
team’s 42-7 spanking of Iowa State,
but... it’s time to forget about it. NU
center Josh Heskew hit the nail on the
head after the game when he said the
Cornhuskers would start thinking
about this week’s showdown with No.
1 Kansas State on the bus ride home.
For the first time ever, Nebraska
is truly an underdog in this game. And
although I’m not really a football
in in vi, iiviv 13 111^ ntt avi v iv t wii wiiai
the Huskers need to do to win:
1. Get Joe Walker the ball. The
guy can score. He has a knack for it.
Think about it. Walker, a defensive
back, has scored 18 points this sea
son. That’s more than offensive
threats Sheldon Jackson, Matt
Davison, and Joel Makovicka.
Wouldn’t it be effective to have
Walker line up at wingback a few
times? Nebraska’s offense has not
been very high-powered and KSU
has one of the best defenses in the
country. NU needs to score however it
can.
2. Shut down the Wildcats’ run.
KSU hasn’t really needed a rushing
attack this season because they
haven’t faced a secondary as good as
NU’s. If the Wildcats can’t turn to the
run when necessary, they’re in trou
ble.
3. Establish the fullback. With the
exception of the A&M game, Joel
Makovicka has been a non-factor
when the Huskers have struggled.
Nebraska averaged 20 points in close
games against Oklahoma State and
Texas. Makovicka’s rushing total
from the two games? 20 yards.
4. Shock Kansas State in the first
quarter. KSU hasn’t been challenged
early in a game this season, and they
haven’t played any good teams either.
Colorado? The Buffaloes are now a
proven fraud. Texas? The Longhorns,
who have improved immensely in the
last seven weeks, were not that good
when they played Kansas State.
5. Keintroduce Sheldon Jackson
to the offense. The senior tight end
was NU’s big-play receiver during the
first three games. The Huskers have
barely made an attempt to go long
over the middle since.
6. Play for pride. NU Coach Frank
Solich admitted that the Huskers
“suffered for a few days” after the
Texas loss. There are a few seniors
who don’t seem like their normally
chipper selves during interviews.
They’ve lost more games this season
than they have in three years. They’re
angry. But that anger has to be chan
neled into pride, because pride can be
NU’s greatest motivation against a
cocky, top-ranked KSU team.
So there you have it - my advice.
But what do I really know? If that
doesn’t work or sounds dumb,
remember, it was free.
Shannon Heffelfinger is a
junior news-editorial major and a
Daily Nebraskan senior staff
writer.
NU captures 2nd Big 12 title
By Matt Miller
Photo chief
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -Nebraska Soccer
Coach John Walker had a kiss to welcome back the
Big 12 Championship trophy after defeating
Missouri 4-0 at the Blossom Soccer Park in San
Antonio, Texas.
“I’m very pleased with the outcome of the game,”
Walker said. “Today with, we played with a lot of pas
sion and desire, and we really
played a complete game.
Everyone made a contribution
at some point and that was
good to see.”
Nebraska, which won the
title game in 1996 and lost in
the title game last season, start
ing pressuring a less-seasoned
and noticeably fatigued Tiger
team from the start.
One minute after freshman Becky Preston hit the
crossbar with a header, senior midfielder Kristen Gay
hit a header from 9 yards out at 6:57.
A two-goal cushion came three minutes later
when junior defender Isabelle Momeau hit a rolling
ball past the outstretched arms of MU goalie Jackie
Adamec from 35 yards out in the 20th minute.
It was Momeau’s first goal of the season and
helped the pave the way for a defensive MVP award
for the Big 12 Tournament. Becky Hogan, Lindsay
Eddleman and Sharolta Nonen joined Momeau on
the all-tournament team.
“The ball was perfect, just rolling,” Momeau
said. “I had a good angle. I just cracked a shot. It was
all in slow motion.”
After the ball sneaked under the crossbar and
dropped into the net, Momeau leaped into the air.
Missouri suffered another blow when forward
Nikki Thole, the second leading scorer in the Big 12,
injured her knee at 42:59. Missouri managed only
five shots and Thole was held shotless bv NU’s
Nonen, Momeau and Christine
Gluck.
The Huskers kept continu
ous pressure on the Tigers, fir
ing 22 shots on goal.
At the halftime break,
Walker reminded the team it
still had 45 minutes left to play
for the Big 12 Championship.
NU had already learned its les
son Friday night in the semifi
nals against Texas A&M.
1 he Huskers lost a two
goal lead after halftime. NU finally won 3-2 in the
third overtime when Hogan, a senior, scored on a
header from Meghan Anderson’s comer kick.
During the A&M game, Walker constantly
reminded his team to not let up. The Huskers could
not find their groove until midfielder Eddleman was
kicked out of the game at 103:38. Eddleman received
her second yellow card for unsportsmanlike conduct
She had to sit out the championship game but will
return for Nil’s NCAA Tournament game against the
winner between Texas A&M and Alabama.
Preston started the second game of her career in
place of Eddleman and had shots two shots hit the
crossbar against Missouri.
“Preston played awesome,” Momeau said. “She
took one on one and kept going. All the forwards did
well.”
Big 12 player of the year Kim Engesser scored
twice in the second half with goals in the 50* and 7151
minutes to close scoring for the Huskers.
“Things weren’t really clicking,” said Engesser,
who did not have a shot Friday. “I definitely felt like I
had to pick it up.”
Against the Aggies, NU was outshot 25-7, the
first time NU was outshot anytime this year. Goalie
Karina LeBlanc had a school-record 12 saves.
■ Nebraska
gets a bye in
the first
round of the
NCAA
Tournament.
Please see
story on
page 11.
Matt Miller/DN
Nebraska midfielder Kristen Gay battles Missouri’s Kate Dwyer for a header during NU’s 4-0 victory
over the Tigers in the Big 12 Championship. Gay scored NU’s first goal of the game.
Huskers sweep 21 st-ranked Wildcats
Scott McClurg/DN
HUSKER SETTER Jill McWilliams saves a ball during the first game of
Nebraska’s sweep of Kansas State Friday evening at the NU Coliseum.
By Andrew Strnad
Staff writer
Like a Broadway play when the star
of the show goes down with laryngitis^
the Nebraska volleyball team relied bn
the tobls of an understudy Friday night
And despite the absence of senior
All-American setter Fiona Nepo, the
show went on for the No. 3
Cornhuskers as sophomore Jill
McWilliams filled in brilliantly in a 15
8, 15-10, 16-14 victory over No. 21
Kansas State.
Nepo, who had started 90 consecu
tive matches, surprised the 4,411 fans in
attendance at the NU Coliseum by not
playing due to a sprained ankle. Instead,
McWilliams started for the Huskers
(23-0 overall, and 14-0 in the Big 12).
The Wildcats (14-8, 8-5) were sur
prised to start the match without seeing
Nepo on the other side of the court as
Coach Jim McLaughlin scrambled to
prepare Kansas State for McWilliams.
“It affected us,” McLaughlin said.
“It was startling at first, and the girl that
was in there really did a good job.”
66
This team is going to
grow from this
because we re on our
way to get a Big 12
Championship
Cathy Noth
NU assistant coach
The girl, McWilliams, got situated
very quickly as she had 44 assists on the
night, many of which went to the usual
suspects.
Sophomore outside hitter Nancy
Meendering hit .368 with 18 kills,
while senior outside hitter Jaime
Krondak hit .462 with 13 kills and 13
digs.
Coach Terry Pettit was quite
pleased with McWilliams’ perfor
Please see KSU on 11
