NU optimistic about season
New coach, leaders don’t dampen team’s hopes
”- > *
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One thing we definitely lost was some
leadership. Thats one thing were working
on in practice. It's a different team, but a
good team.”
Terry Pettit
NU volleyball coach
By John Gaskins
Staff writer
Not much changes in the world of
the Nebraska volleyball - not the phi
losophy, not the goals the players set,
and certainly not the results.
But plenty has changed since the
Huskers finished their 32-2, Final
Four-qualifying 1998 season, namely
its personnel. Nebraska will have
plenty of gaps to fill offensively,
defensively and in the cokching
department.
The banners representing NU’s
dominance in volleyball, 21 of them
representing Big 8 or Big 12
Championships, one of them being
the 1995 NCAA Championship, will
always hang over the team’s home
court at the NU Coliseum.
But gone from the arena and the
1999 spring practices, which started
March 7, are the three senior leaders
from the 1998 team - Megan Korver,
Jaime Krondak and three-time All
American Fiona Nepo.
And gone is 10-year Assistant
Coach Cathy Noth, a former All
American under Coach Terry Pettit.
“One thing we definitely lost was
some leadership,” Pettit said. “That’s
one thing we’re working on in prac
tice. It’s a different team, but a good
team.”
But if you notice anything at then
spring practices, new leaders are
emerging. One obvious leader is new
Associate Head Coach John Cook.
Cook, who was named as Noth’s
replacement Feb. 23, brings seven
years of head coaching experience to
the Huskers. He compiled a 161-73
record at Wisconsin, including berths
in the regional finals each of the past
two years.
But Cook is not new to the NU
program. He was an assistant with
Noth under Pettit from 1988-91.
“No one misses Cathy as much as
I do,” Pettit said.
“(Fourth-year Assistant Coach)
Nikki (Best) and John have assumed
responsibility very well.
“John is doing a lot of our defen
sive training. He’s a great coach and
he brings a lot to this team.”
And the players have already felt
Cook’s impact within the first three
weeks of practice, especially consid
ering they must step up in light of
middle blocker Korver’s departure.
“We can really see our team
improving in defense everyday,”
junior outside hitter Nancy
Meendering said.
“(Cook) gets on us for defense
even if we’re not working on defen
sive drills. He’s really intense.”
Cook said his transition from UW
to NU has been an easy one and he
has very much enjoyed working with
the Huskers so far.
“There are a lot of issues for us to
work through and we’re still learning
a lot,” Cook said. “We’re still figuring
out who will be on the court and
interchanging a lot of players.”
Losing Nepo, the team’s com
manding setter and court leader, is
enough to send a coach reeling in
spring practice. But junior Jill
McWilliams, Nepo’s replacement,
has emerged as one of the team’s new
leaders and is breaking the court’s
silence that was left when Nepo left.
McWilliams said she was ready
fill Nepo’s gargantuan shoes.
Pettit, Meendering and Cook all
singled McWilliams out when speak
ing about Nebraska’s performance
over spring break at a scrimmage
tournament in Malibu, Calif. The
Huskers easily defeated San Diego,
Fresno State and host team
Pepperdine, which took NU to five
games in last season’s regional.
“I was very pleased with Jill’s
play,” Pettit said. “She was very con
sistent. The setter leads by setting hit
table balls, and Jill’s doing that right
now.”
Another expected leader is
Meendering, who led the team in kills
last season.
“We sat down this winter and dis
cussed what are goals are for this sea
son,” Meendering said.
“We pretty much made the same
goals as last year - win the Big 12
championship, win our regional in
the NCAA tournament, and win the
national championship. There’s no
reason why they should be any differ
ent.”
And although the season official
ly gets under way more than five
months from now, both Pettit and
Cook agree.
“I haven’t seen anything so far to
believe that this team can’t compete
for the national championship,” Cook
said.
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Soccer team short
on bench depth
■ Huskers are still
looking forward to
spring games. .
By Jay Saunders
Staff writer
Three months ago, the
Nebraska soccer team had one of
the deepest benches in the Big 12
Conference.
But five graduating seniors, one
player departure and a host of
injuries have almost made for a
spring of discontent.
The Comhuskers played their
first two spring exhibition games
against Florida and Alabama with a
minimum 11 players.
“It’s frustrating because you
don’t have your whole squad,” NU
Coach John Walker said. “We are
hampered by numbers. We have
trained with 11 or 10 players.”
The foundation laid by five
seniors for last season’s 17-4-1
record is gone. Going with the
seniors is sophomore Julie Greco,
who decided not to return to the
team.
Those six players accounted for
41 percent of the team’s scoring in
the fall.
On top of that, five players are
injured and have not played so far
this spring. Despite not having a
bench to go to at all, Walker is find
ing a silver lining.
“It doesn’t faze me that much,”
he said. “There isn’t a day I can
think back and say, ‘That was a poor
practice.’”
But Walker did say it would be
nice to have the injured players
competing in a season where indi
vidual improvement is stressed.
Junior Jenny Benson and
sophomore Jackie Erdkamp are still
recovering from knee injuries suf
fered in die fall.
Recurring knee injuries have
also kept sophomore Lauren Tatum
and junior Isabelle Momeau out.
“It is frustrating so many people
have gotten hurt,” freshman Kelly
Rheem said, “but we have enough to
get good practice sessions. We are
getting everything we can out of it”
Rheem is one of six freshmen
that are reaping the benefits of a
depleted Husker squad. The
younger athletes that were role play
ers in the fall are now being looked
to for offensive production.
“It’s nice your younger players
get minutes,” Walker said. “We are
watching them evolve into veteran
players.”
The Huskers used the bare min
imum in their games so far this
spring. NU is 1-1, with a loss to
Florida and a win against Alabama.
On the horizon are games
against two of the top teams in the
country. NU travels to North
Carolina for a game April 11.
The one home match of the
spring will be April 17 against Santa
Clara, which Walker said would
probably be the No. 1 team when
the fall preseason rankings are
released.
“That will be a fun weekend,”
Walker said. “We will get a good
picture of where we are.”
Answers to ’99 football’s
most pressing questions
QUESTIONS from page 9
All-Americans in comerback Ralph
Brown and rover Mike Brown. Ralph
Brown was a third team All
American last season and was All
Big 12 in 1997 and 1998.
Mike Brown led the squad in
tackles last year with 102.
Also returning are Clint Finley
and Erwin Swiney, listed as starters
in the free safety and left comerback
slots, respectively.
Right behind Finley is Dion
Booker and Swiney’s backup is
Keyuo Craver, who made appear
ances in all of NU’s games last year
and intercepted a pass off Kansas
State’s Michael Bishop. Craver
shared first-team duties with Swiney.
Craver will battle Swiney for the
starting left comerback job. Not to be
forgotten is Joe Walker, a roverback
who is recovering from a tom anteri
or cruciate ligament. There are also
redshirt freshmen Mike Demps and
DeJuan Groce, who, if not for
injuries, might have played as true
freshmen.
So, yes, the secondary is loaded.
. Jmsm* mmm
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