Huskers grab No. 1 seed in tourney
Nil’s postseason will begin Friday night against Morgan State
By Andrew Strnad
Staff writer
There were very few surprises when the
NCAA volleyball tournament brackets were
announced Sunday night at the Hewit Center in
the bowels of Memorial Stadium.
Nebraska, fresh off a sweep over Kansas State
on Saturday night, clinched its second Big 12
Championship and all but assured the
Comhuskers' playing host to a NCAA regional.
When the brackets were announced Sunday
night, the Huskers were more relieved than excit
ed with their No. 1 seeding in the Pacific region.
“Friday night after practice I just wanted to
know,” NU senior setter Fiona Nepo said. “I was
getting nervous waiting until the end here.”
The Huskers (28-1 overall, and 19-1 in the Big
12 Conference) were the last No. 1 seed unveiled
during the half-hour 64-team selection show that
saw NU earn its fourth top seed in the past five
years.
Some first-round matches begin Thursday, but
the Huskers play Morgan State (25-10, 15-0) of
the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference on Friday
night at the NU Coliseum.
“I don’t know anything
about Morgan State,” NU
Coach Terry Pettit said. “But
it looks like its an exciting
bracket.”
If the Huskers get by the
Honey Bears from Baltim
ore, they will play the
Utah/Illinois State winner
Saturday night.
The top four teams are
seeded in each region and
will play host to the first- and second-round
matches with the top seeded team holding the
regional.
The other seeded teams in the Pacific region
include No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 3 UC-Santa Barbara
and No. 4 Michigan state.
The other three top seeds were no surprise as
both Long Beach State (30-0, 16-0 in the Big
West) and Penn State (30-0, 18-0 in the Big Ten)
finished the season undefeated.
The 49ers will play host to the Mountain
region, and the Nittany Lions will play host to the
Central region.
Florida (31-2, 14-0 in the Southeastern
Conference) received the other top seed in the
East region.
In terms of conference bids, the Big 12
received six bids, along with the Big 10 and
Western Athletic Conference.
Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Kansas State
and Colorado join NU in the tournament.
Despite five other teams from the conference
in the tournament, the Huskers wouldn’t be forced
to play any one of them until the Final Four at the
earliest.
Both Pettit and senior outside hitter Jaime
Krondak like that arrangement as Krondak would
Mistake-plagued Huskers
manage win over Aggies
By Sam McKewon
Senior editor
The turnovers just keep on cornin’
for the Nebraska men's basketball
team.
Fortunately for the Cornhuskers,
their charitable spirit didn’t hurt them
against an overmatched North Carolina
A&T on Saturday.
NU defeated the Aggies 65-47
despite 21 giveaways to move to 3-2 for
the season. The Huskers had averaged
22 turnovers in their first four games of
the year.
In the process of the sloppy victory,
Nebraska 65
N. Carolina A&T 47
NU senior center Venson Hamilton
became the Huskers’ career leading
rebounder. With nine rebounds,
Hamilton surpassed Leroy Chalk for
the No. 1 spot and now has 787 career
rebounds. Chalk's previous record was
778.
Hamilton broke the record in the
second half and was presented the bas
ketball at mid-court to an ovation from
the 9,117 fans at the Bob Devaney
Sports Center.
After the game, NU Coach Danny
Nee had praise for Hamilton, but first
turned his attention to his team’s
turnover woes, which left a 1-3 A&T
squad trailing only 30-22 at halftime.
“We’re getting turnovers so many
different ways.” Nee said. “We get them
splurges - spurts. It’s going to kill us
dgauisi goou teams, n s going 10 Kill us.
The Huskers had 10 turnovers at
halftime and squandered a 30-18 lead
in the last 22 seconds. In the second
half, NU had 11 turnovers, but took
control with a 14-2 run to extend its
lead to 44-24 and traded baskets from
there.
The Huskers, who were handed a
78-41 dismantling by Wisconsin in the
Top of World Classic, would take the
ugly win - “It’s better than a pretty
loss,” guard Cookie Belcher would say
afterward. But with key games vs.
Tulsa, Creighton and Minnesota com
ing in the next month, the players said
the first order of business is eliminating
turnovers.
“We had 21 turnovers against a
team that doesn’t play pressure
defense,” said NU forward Andy
Markowski, who led all scorers with 15
points and added nine rebounds. “We
Scott McClurg/DN
NEBRASKA FORWARD Chad Johnson dunks the ball during the second
half against North Carolina A&T on Saturday at the Bob Devaney Sports
Center. Johnson finished with six points against the Aggies.
can't have it or we’re not going to beat
anybody.”
Belcher added 13 points, while
Hamilton chipped in 10 from taking
only four shots. His low scoring output
was overshadowed by his new record,
which could reach 1,000 rebounds by
the time the season is over.
“It motivates me a lot to put the
record at a point where nobody can
attempt to break it,” Hamilton said.
“Every day I go out there I try to work
getting at least 12,13 or 14 rebounds.”
Nee said that Hamilton’s record
will be hard to eclipse because few
have Hamilton’s nose for the ball.
“He’s got an instinct for the ball,”
Nee said. “He’s going to get more than
1,000. Rebounding is a lost art. Venson
and Andy Markowski are both good
rebounders.”
NU out-rebounded A&T 41-31 for
the game and the Aggies only shot 30.3
percent from the floor to NU’s 52.2 per
cent. A&T was led by guards Bruce
Jenkins are Jonathan Richmond, who
had 13 and 12 points.
The Huskers next play Tuesday
against Tulsa at the Sports Center.
Nebraska then plays host to the
Ameritas Classic on Friday and
Saturday, playing Southwest Texas
State in the first round. Hamilton said
the upcoming games are critical.
“There’s some big games, and hard
ones, too,” Hamilton said. “We’ve got
to have a couple great practices and just
play hard.”
u
I’m very pleased. I don’t
know a lot about these
teams, and thats
whats exciting about
the tournament
Jaime Krondak
NU outside hitter
rather face a different set of teams.
“I’m very pleased,” Krondak said. “I don’t
know a lot about these teams, and that’s what’s
exciting about the tournament.”
The Final Four is to be played Dec. 17th and
19th at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.
Tickets for this weekend’s first- and second
round matches at the NU Coliseum will go on sale
this morning at 8:30 at the NU ticket office.
NU attacks KSU early,
beats Wildcats in three
By James Nicas
Staff writer
MANHATTAN, Kan. - After play
ing their previous two matches on the
opposing teams’ senior night, the
Nebraska volleyball team knew about
Nebraska 15 15 15
Kansas St. 3 12 7
the emotion Kansas State would have at
its final home match.
The Cornhuskers made sure the
emotion wouldn’t be carried throughout
the duration of their match.
Nebraska ran off 14 straight points
in the first game to leave the No. 20
Wildcats in the dust of a 15-3, 15-12,
15-7 victory in front of 2,145 at the
Aheam Field House.
Nebraska finished the regular sea
son 28-1 overall and 19-1 in the confer
ence. while Kansas State ended 18-11
and 12-8.
With the victory, the No. 3 Huskers
reclaimed the Big 12 title after Texas
won it last year. It is also the 20th con
ference title in 22 years for NU.
“On the road, it is more important
you are competitive in the first game,”
NU Coach Terry Pettit said. “You want
to come out and become comfortable, if
not take over a court. We played well,
but KSU may have been thinking about
other things.”
The match was highlighted by
sophomore outside hitter Nancy
Meendering’s 19 kills and .515 hitting
percentage.
After losing the first point in game
one, Meendering had five of her kills,
and NU out-hit the Wildcats .350 to
.077 to take the first game.
For the match, the Huskers out hit
KSU .350 to .052. It was the eighth time
in 10 matches that Nebraska held then
opponent under a . 100 hitting percent
age.
“They score points well, and they
have a presence at the net. They have a
great setter, and they just make things
happen,” Kansas State Coach Jim
McLaughlin said. “I’ve seen most of the
teams and I don’t think anybody can
match up with them.”
Kansas State came back in the sec
ond game to take an 8-5 lead, but three
straight Megan Korver aces tied the
score.
Korver finished the match with
eight kills, eight block assists, and a
.727 hitting percentage.
NU finished out the game with
three straight points on Denise Koziol’s
serves with the srnre tier! at 1 ?
The victory ended a string for NU
that had the Huskers facing eight ranked
opponents in four weeks, with the last
four contests on the road.
Last Wednesday, Nebraska came
from behind in all three games to defeat
No. 17Colorado 15-10,15-12,15-12 in
Boulder.
Meendering led the NU attack with
19 kills, w hile junior outside hitter
Mandy Monson helped with 11 kills
and a .550 hitting percentage.
With the road grind behind them
and a Big 12 title in hand, Pettit said he
was proud of the Huskers.
“When we dropped that match to
Texas A&M, our backs were against the
wall,” Pettit said. “We’ve had three
senior nights against three great teams
in emotional atmospheres and we got
the job done.”
NU places 5th in Wahine Classic
From staff reports
A trip to Hawaii produced the
first loss of the season for the No. 24
Nebraska women’s basketball team.
It came in the form of a 85-67 set
^—mmm back to No.
Nebraska 85 izuclau,
the first
® • round of the
Rainbow
Wahine Classic Friday. But the
Cornhuskers rebounded with two
wins to finish fifth in the eight-team
tournament.
NU defeated St. John’s 85-66 on
Saturday and then escaped with a 62
61 victory Sunday over Louisville, a
team the Huskers will likely play
again in the Seelbach Tournament on
Dec. 29 in Louisville, Ky.
The Bruins, who defeated No. 5
North Carolina on Saturday,
outscored NU 46-9 in the ffontcourt.
The Huskers held an early 9-2 lead,
but trailed 44-32 at halftime.
Against St. John’s, NU had two
players record double-doubles: guard
Nicole Kubik had 11 points and 12
rebounds, while Monet Williams had
10 points and 13 rebounds. The win
Sunday over Louisville improved
NU’s record to 4-1 this season.
The Cornhuskers next play
Thursday at Drake.