The facts don’t scare KSU’s North Platte native
■ Kelle Branting and the
Wildcats are coming to
Lincoln to win, though
they have never done it.
By John Gaskins
Staff writer
Kansas State middle blocker Kelle
Branting laughed when she was told
that no Big 12/Big Eight Conference
opponent had won on Nebraska’s
Coliseum floor since 1977.
A
“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard
that,” Branting said. “It really doesn’t
bother me. I love to play great competi
tion. Any time that you get to play
Nebraska at Nebraska, you should be
excited.”
And despite another daunting fact -
K-State hasn’t beaten NU in all 58 of its
previous tries - Branting said no histor
ical information will faze the 24th
ranked Wildcats (6-2) when they open
up 1999 Big 12 play against No. 5 NU
(8-2) in the Coliseum at 7 tonight.
The match will provide extra signif
icance for Branting, a North Platte
native, and four other Wildcats who hail
from Nebraska. Third-year KSU Head
Coach Jim McLaughlin said he expect
ed an emotional homecoming for the
Nebraskans, some of whom grew up
attending Husker matches and might
feel they were overlooked when NU
didn’t recruit them.
“They’re pumped up about it,”
McLaughlin said. “They love it.
Nebraska is a great volleyball state. It
would be very special for them to beat
Nebraska and show them, ‘Hey, we’re
good, too.’”
The five Nebraskans include
sophomore hitter Liz Wegner of
Tecumseh, who is second on the squad
with 4.92 kills per game. McLaughlin
said recruiting Nebraska players has
been one major reason for K-State’s
recent success.
The ’Cats finished 19-12 last sea
son, made it to the second round of the
NCAA Tournament and are looking to
build themselves into a Big 12 power.
McLaughlin said he expected to
improve on KSU’s fifth-place finish
from 1998 and wanted to prove wrong
the coaches who picked the ’Cats to fin
ish in the same spot in this year’s pre
season poll.
One way he’s gone about doing that
is intentionally setting up a grueling
non-conference schedule that included
matches at No. 2 Penn State and No. 5
Long Beach State - the top two teams
in the nation in 1998.
And although they lost both match
es 3-0, McLaughlin said it was the per
fect preparation for playing NU in the
Coliseum.
“The pressure will be on
Nebraska,” McLaughlin said. “They’re
supposed to win these matches at
home. We’re going up there to win.”
Anderson steps up to new husker soccer roles
itULiii irompageB
MVP awards. She was 10 years old.
“She could be in with the 16- and
17-year-olds, and she would be the
MVP of the camp. You knew then she
was going to be a good player. You
never know back then how good they
actually are going to be. It is nice to
see her now doing so well, having
known her back then.”
Anderson was playing soccer well
before she met Bechtold. Soccer has
been in Anderson’s blood for as long
as she could remember. She had two
older brothers who played soccer and
parents who were avid soccer fans.
When Anderson was 8, her par
ents wanted to get her on a club team,
but the only one available was a 12
and-under team. She made it. From
that time forward, Anderson always
played with older girls.
“It didn’t phase me that people
were bigger or faster,” Anderson said.
“I was always way littler, but I liked
the challenge. I was always quiet
because I wasn’t their age. I did my
job and moved on.”
Those days of playing with older
girls at Tranquility Park made the
transition to college soccer an easy
one. Playing with sophomores,
juniors ana seniors was nothing new.
However, the role she played was
different. A season-ending injury to
left midfielder Jenny Benson during
the summer forced Anderson into
immediate action at that spot.
Anderson was accustomed to
playing center half, but she grew to
like her new left midfield position.
She scored five goals and dished out
nine assists while starting every
game.
Anderson also had to adjust to a
new soccer environment. She no
longer had Tranquility Park. Schulte
Fieldhouse and Abbott Sports
Complex became the new spots for
the soccer rat.
Anderson could be found in the
fieldhouse early in the morning doing
individual workouts with Bechtold.
She also would get to practice early in
the afternoons to take free kicks and
stay afterwards to get more shots in.
“She has a tremendous work
ethic,” Bechtold said. “When
Meghan reaches a goal, she is going
to reach for the next one and next one.
She sees her game as always improv
ing. That work and attitude helps her
keep exceeding expectations.”
Before the 1999 season, Coach
John Walker met with Anderson and
told her that one or his expectations
for the upcoming season was for her
to be more offensive minded.
Already Anderson is doing her
best to exceed that expectation. Her
six goals already are more than she
scored last fall, and they tie her for
first on the team. She also has added
two assists and her 14 total points
ranks her second behind Lindsay
Eddleman.
She is doing this in a position she
doesn’t feel comfortable at - center
midfield.
With Benson healthy again this
fall, Anderson moved to center mid
field to benefit the team.
“I had always played center half,”
Anderson said. “It is my natural posi
tion but not on the college level. In
the middle, you have two or three
people on you instantly, and everyone
is so big.”
She may feel a little out of posi
tion, but her coaches feel she is doing
well.
“The midfield is a better fit for
her,” Bechtold said. “She can attack
more, and she can distribute. She has
very good vision. She and Amy
(Walsh) really complement each
other well.”
In her second season, Anderson
complements nearly all of her team
mates. But even as a senior in high
school, she didn’t see herself becom
ing a Husker.
The only reason she took a visit to
NU was to get her parents off her
back. But as soon as she got into the
car after her visit, she had changed
her mind and knew that staying in her
home state was the right decision.
“I am extremely happy with my
decision,” Anderson said. “I grew up
in Nebraska, and I grew up as an
underdog. I feel a responsibility to
show the rest of the country that we
can play soccer in Nebraska.
“I am not a glamour girl like some
of the players at other schools are. I
fit in well at Nebraska.”
Anderson hopes she has set an
example to other top in-state players
by going to Nebraska. Paige Phillips,
the top player last year, already has
followed her lead and is at NU this
fall.
Just because Anderson is in
Lincoln, she can’t escape the irre
sistible force ofTranquility Park.
When Anderson gets down or
stressed, she returns to the soccer
fields of her youth to soothe herself.
“I go home and go to Tranquility
and watch little kids’ games.”
JNebraska
takes first
in Arkansas
From staff reports
The Nebraska women’s golf
team shot a 306 to finish in first
place at the Razorback Invitational
Tuesday in Rogers, Ark.
With last week’s win at the Big
12 Fall Preview, the Cornhuskers
have now won back-to-back tour
naments for the first time since the
1989-90 season.
Four Huskers placed in the top
10. Nebraska finished the two-day
invitational with 604 shots - ahead of
Florida and Nevada (617), Arkansas
(621) and Iowa State (630).
Husker Sarah Sasse shot a 75
Tuesday, good for a two-day total of
150 and a fourth-place finish. Amy
Roux, shot a 79 to tie for fourth
with Sasse at 150.
NU’s Elizabeth Bahensky
(73,80) and Amanda Krane (79,74)
finished the invite in ninth place at
153. Catha Fogelberg (82,78)
rounded out the Husker lineup with
a 160, good for 26th place.
Evans: vouch changed his mind
EVAN a from page 9
posed to be doing,” Evans said. “I
don’t see the point in beating
California 45-0. We knew we were
going to beat them.”
On Tuesday, Solich addressed
some of the problems with the rushing
offense so far this year. He did not rule
out throwing the ball more against
Missouri but said the team would
remain committed to running the ball.
Evans said he knew exactly what
Nebraska’s problem was in comparing
this year’s offense to offenses of the
past under Coach Tom Osborne.
“The play calling is so bad that I
even knew what we were going to run
before it came into the huddle,” Evans
said. “We ran the same stuff. After a
turnover, we always run an option. Go
ahead and look.
“When Coach Osborne called a
play, he was playing chess. When
Coach Solich calls a play, he’s playing
checkers.”
Evans said he sympathized with
current players and would urge any
future recruits at I-back “not to go
there.”
“The program isn’t what it seems,”
he said. “It’s like two programs; Coach
Solich’s team and (Defensive
Coordinating) Coach (Charlie)
McBride’s team.”
Some of those current players
spoke Tuesday in response to Evans’
initial comments in the Tuesday edi
tions of the Omaha World-Herald and
the Lincoln Journal Star. Evans
refused comment to the DN Monday
night.
No. 1 I-back Dan Alexander said
the team didn’t feel Evans belonged on
the team anymore.
“All this goes to show what people
have known throughout history, that
selfishness doesn’t get the job done,”
Alexander said. “We have to work as a
team, as a community, as a culture to
fcfc
Eric knows what s going on. He knows
he really quit
DeAngelo Evans
former NU I-back
get things done.
“We forgave him, but we weren’t
sure it’d be the best thing for him to
come back to the team. There were
guys that wanted him to come back.
Other guys didn’t want him to. But we
didn’t want to divide the team about
this. We wanted to stay unified.”
In discussion of Evans’ situation,
some of the team members were fol
lowing the orders of Solich, Evans
said, who had a personal problem with
the I-back, stemming from the original
Sunday night conversation when
Evans said he was quitting the team.
“I know he is egotistical,” Evans
said. “There is no reason I shouldn’t be
back on the team. But I offended him
personally.”
The personal factor is important
with Solich, Evans said. It’s what has
kept Crouch and Correll Buckhalter,
who essentially did the same thing, on
the team, while he is off it.
Crouch denied Tuesday that he had
ever left the team.
“I never quit the football team at
all,” Crouch said. “I never missed any
practices. I never missed any meetings.
I was never given a second chance.
That’s out of the question. I never
needed a second chance.
“I’m not going to listen to anything
said about that situation. A lot of things
that are said, some of those things are
false.”
Said Evans: “Everybody on the
team knows Eric dropped his classes
and went back to Omaha and was say
ing he wasn’t coming back. Eric
knows what’s going on. He knows he
really quit. Solich went and got him in
Omaha. That’s a fact.”
Evans also said he would forgive
junior rush end Aaron Wills for com
ments made last week. Wills said
Evans would have a hard time gaining
trust with fans and teammates.
Wills apologized Tuesday for the
statements.
“I said those comments, and after
reading them in the paper I realized
that in talking to my mom and my
friends, those comments did sound
very harsh,” Wills said. “I’d like to
publicly apologize to DeAngelo ”
Evans said now that the ordeal is
past, he is glad Nebraska didn’t take
him back. He isn’t sure where he’ll
transfer yet but assumes he’ll do well
wherever he goes.
ior me i>r l scouis ... i ney
know who I am,” Evans said. “If I just
stay healthy, I’ll be fine. Trust me.”
Nebraska also wants to move for
ward from the Evans issue, for better
or for worse. Solich said he under
stands Evans’ statements over the last
few days - “I know he is tremendously
frustrated,” Solich said, “and when you
are tremendously frustrated, that tone
can come out.”
As for the team being distraction
free, Solich said he only hopes it is.
“I can’t give a 100 percent guaran
tee about anything,” Solich said. “This
was disturbing to everybody. It wasn’t
good for anybody, but we move on.
The team would certainly like to have
no distraction.
“Can something come up down the
road? Anything can come up.”
Tracy L. Gish, O. D.
Jim D. Johnson, O .D.
Jonathan Knutson, O. D.
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