Sports
UT’s 1 -2 punch KOs Huskers in five games
By John Gaskins
Staff writer
AUSTIN, Texas-Nebraska tried to
knock on Texas’ door Saturday night,
hoping for the breakthrough win of the
season.
And for a while, the third-ranked
Comhuskers’ volleyball team had its
foot planted firmly inside- appearing to
finally barge back into the Big 12
Conference title hunt and avenge a sea
son full of upsets and fifth-game break
downs.
Blit after NU took a two-games-to
one lead, a couple of UT gate keepers
named Erin Aldrich and Kathy Tilson
slammed the door shut. The 10®-ranked
Longhorns stormed through the fourth
By Joshua Camenzind
Staff writer
Many will say that Texas has Nebraska’s
number. Many will also contend that the
Longhorns were motivated by comments
made by the Huskers in the two weeks leading
up to Saturday’s game.
And Defensive Coach Charlie McBride
will be right there agreeing with them.
McBride’s defense held UT to only a field
goal in the first half but gave up 21 points in
the second half.
game and staved off the Huskers in the
fifth to break NU’s five-match winning
streak, 15-11,15-7,12-15,9-15,15-13.
on Oct 9.
Meanwhile, Nebraska (15-5) dis
tanced itself in third place at 7-3 and two
matches back, halfway through the con
ference slate. The loss also left
Nebraska 0-4 in five-game matches -
all against top 16 teams - but bothNU
Coach Terry Pettit and All-American
outside hitter Nancy Meendering
denied NU has any fifth-game prob
lems or jinxes.
“We have the same mentality going
into every game,” a frustrated
Meendering said after becoming the
first player in school history to record
six 30-kill performances in one season.
“They just had better fundamentals.
We were well-prepared for this. I just
wish we could’ve handled it better than
we did.”
This is one of
those matches that
could have gone
either way,” NU
Coach Terry Pettit
said. “I felt in
order for us to
win, the match
would have to go
four or five
games, because
we just aren’t that
Pettit
dominant ot a team nght now.
Wife fee dramatic victory, UT (15-3
overall) kept itself in a first-place tie
wife Kansas State atop fee Big 12 stand
ings at 9-1 after losing to fee Wildcats
Nate Wagner/DN
Ralph Brown and the rest of the Husker defense played a spirited game against Texas but were doomed by 11 plays in the second half that
helped (IT win 24-20.
McBride: Pre-game talk helped seal fate
Texas kept NU s defense off-balance with
slide blocking and running the ball enough to
keep them honest, McBride said.
“They scored three touchdowns in 11
plays,” McBride said. “And when you have
that happen to you in rashes like that, that is
pretty concerning.”
McBride said Texas did bring a new twist
against the Huskers.
“They got the ball off quick,” McBride
said. “They weren’t on their normal rhythm.
They were like throwing quick drop backs
from the shotgun. And then they got some big
plays on deep routes. But normally they were
trying to hit us in the intermediate areas.
“They really did a good job of knowing
there was going to be pressure, probably
anticipating what Kansas State did, probably
anticipating that we are the same type of
team.” / -
McBride said that NU did not help its own
cause when several players made comments
about Texas prior to the game.
“I didn’t even know it happened until this
morning,” McBride said. “My wife read
something about it, and I am not sure what
Please see DEFENSE on 11
The two-hour, forty-minute match
proved to be an exquisite dessert for the
3,630 fans at the Gregory Gymnasium
after the delicious feast the two pro
grams provided in Saturday’s football
game, a 24-20 Texas win.
After the Longhorns took game one,
NU roared back in game two and used
14 of Meendering’s match-high 32 kills
to go up a game. For the night,
Meendering swung 82 times and hit
.317.
But Aldrich, a three-time NCAA
Champion in the high jump, and Tilson,
a sophomore hitting nearly four kills per
game, took charge from there. Aldrich
finished with a career-high 32 kills, and
Tilson reached the same feat with 31.
“I told Erin in the middle of game
four, ‘You’re winning this match for
us,’’’Texas Coach Jim Moore said. “And
she goes, ‘OK,’ and she did.
“And Kathy, I can’t be more proud
of anybody I’ve ever coached because
she wasn’t even recruited by anybody,
and she comes out and prbves she’s one
of the best outside hitters in the coun
try.”
Tilson followed Aldrich’s 13-kill
third game with a nine-kill game of her
own in game four. But it was its domi
nance in game five that kept Nebraska
from stealing the win.
Please see VOLLEY on 11
NUwins
Big 12, gets
No.l seed
} v :
By Brandon Schulte
Staff writer
In assembly line fashion, the Nebraska soc
cer team captured the Big 12 Conference regular
;iseasqn.title.
By pounding out two wins'agalnsT
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, the
Comhuskers wrapped up the No. 1 seed at the
conference tournament and moved to 16-1-1
overall and 9-0 in conference.
Nebraska jumped out to early leads in both
games, defeating the Sooners 3-1 on Friday to
clinch the title and the Cowgirls 10-0 on Sunday.
The Cornhuskers have won 12-straight
games against league opponents and have
outscored them 57-5 over that stretch. This sea
son alone No. 4 NU has outscored league foes
43-3.
Coach John Walker was pleased with the
way the team played despite the limited avail
ability of All-conference midfielders Amy
Walsh and Jenny Benson. Benson missed both
matches with a lingering groin injury while
Walsh missed Friday night’s game and played
sparingly on Sunday.
“We didn’t play our best soccer game of the
season, but we also played without two of the
best players in the country in the midfield with
Amy Walsh and Jenny Benson out of the line
up,” Walker said. “We also stayed undefeated in
the conference and won the Big 12 title, so obvi
ously we don’t have too many complaints.”
Nebraska sped away from OU in the first 10
minutes with goals from sophomores Meghan
Anderson and Becky Preston and cruised to the
victory as Christine Latham added a goal later in
the half.
OSU put up less of a fight as Lindsay^
Eddleman scored the game-winning goal in the
seventh minute. Seven other Huskers con
\ tributed goals in the blowout victory.
With her goal, Eddleman became the lead
ing scorer in Husker history with 117 points.
She added two assists later in the game to bring
her career total to 119, which is three better than
the 116 points Kim Engesser scored in her
career.
Anderson, the Big 12 Soccer Player of the
Week, notched three goals and three assists this
weekend to give her 41 points in 1999. She
became the fifth player in NU history to eclipse
the 40-point mark in one year.
Nebraska will need to crank out a win
against Iowa State this Friday to close the regu
lar season perfectly in conference. Walker said
the team will continue to work on getting better
as it has the last couple of weeks, with the Big 12
Tournament looming in less than two weeks.
“We’ve focused on hying to improve the last
couple of weekends,” Walker said. “The idea
that everyone is capable of making contributions
is something we still need to work on ”