— TENNIS —
Mills injured, but Nebraska
coach still expects success
By Mike Callahan, Jr.
Staff writer
When your No. 1 tennis player is
down with a foot injury, lady luck must
hate you.
But despite that major setback for
the Nebraska men’s tennis team, life
goes on, and everyone else’s role just
got a little bit bigger.
This weekend, the No. 64, national
ly-ranked NU tennis team (2-2 overall
and 0-1 in the Big 12 Conference) is
heading east for some big non-confer
ence matchups, battling Illinois State
(2-3) Friday, and No. 36 Indiana State
(7-1) on Saturday.
The Huskers were handled easily
in their Big 12 opener against confer
ence-title contender No. 17 Texas
A&M (6-1), but bounced back nicely
on Sunday, pouncing in-state rival
Creighton (6-1).
Coach Kerry McDermott has been
forced to perform a juggling act with
his lineup because of the foot injury of
projected No. 1 player, Lance Mills.
Against Texas A&M Feb. 11, Mills
attempted playing at the No. 4 spot, but
dropped his match 7-5, 6-1 to Ryan
Newport
“His foot is currently in a boot and
the doctors are really not sure what’s
wrong with it,” McDermott said,
“We’re gonna give it about 10 days,
and from there we’ll decide whether or
not we should try to do a medical red
shirt this year.”
While Mills nursed his foot three
worthy players have shared time at the
No. 1 singles, juniors AdnanAdzialic,
Kai Rieke, and Jorge Abos Sanchez.
Junior doubles player Kelsey Moran
thinks NU is in good hands with these
players.
“Sanchez is playing good as always
and seems to win every match he
plays,” said Moran, “and Kai has
proved he can compete at the No. 1
position.”
Regardless of who’s playing at the
No. 1 spot, Indiana State are hot,
McDermott said.
“Overall as a team, they’re so
strong,” he said. “But we’ve beaten
them in the past, so I think the guys will
have a lot of confidence coming in.”
The Sycamores are led by No. 1
slotted Jonas Piibor, who needed just
two sets to take care of die nation’s No.
47 singles player, Andrew Nisker from
Vanderbilt y
Something one can expect, accord
ing to Coach McDermott, is a win
against Illinois State’s Red Birds.
- SOFTBALL —
Husker players taught lesson
A 1-5 weekend only motivates the Huskers
By bean Callahan
Staff writer
Expectations were high for the 2000
Nebraska softball team.
With a roster full of players who
played in the College World Series two
years ago and the regional finals last
year, the Comhuskers had preseason
thoughts of getting back to the promised
land.
After a 1-5 finish in last weekend’s
Fiesta Bowl Tournament in Phoenix, the
No. 13 Huskers were issued a wake-up
call that they still have a long way to go
to get to the level at which they would
like to be.
They play six games this weekend
in die 2000 UNLV Classic in Las Vegas.
“There wasn’t any one thing that
went wrong,” NU Coach Rhonda
Revelle said. “It was one of those week
ends where you can either learn from it
and go on, or we can just sit and mope.”
In the Fiesta Bowl Tournament,
Nebraska was outscored by its oppo
nents 38 to 17 and out-hit 56 to 33.
To increase the woes, All-American
pitcher Jenny Voss started ofiFher senior
season 0-3 with a 7.00 ERA. In a total of
15 innings pitched, Voss struck out
seven batters but gave up 14 walks.
As a sophomore, Voss led the nation
in wins with 40 and compiled 14
shutouts during that year. Last season
Voss was 23-11.
Center fielder Jennifer Williams
said that she was disappointed about
NUls showing in Phoenix, but the tour
nament was a good learning process
that will help the team get better.
Williams, a senior, said it was the lit
tle things like leaving runners on base
that hurt Nebraska the most
Each person goes out there with
the expectation of their self” Williams
said. “We know that’s not how we play.
Everyone on this team knows what it’s
going to take to win.”
The most devastating loss over the
weekend didn’t come on the field for the
Huskers, but in the loss of third-base
man Cindy Roethemeyer for the season.
Revelle said that she is unsure of
Roethemeyer’s future status because
she is in her fifth year of eligibility.
Going into this weekendkgames in
Las Vegas, Williams has confidence
that everything will turn around for NU.
“We know our level of play,”
Williams said. “If we play our game,
we’re going to come ahead. We’re look
ing at making a statement this weekend.
We have a lot of pride of who we are as
players and who we are as Nebraska
softball.”
_ •;>£ ~ 'f ■ • \ '
Women’s hoops keep NCAA hopes up
By John Gaskins
Staff writer
The task that the Nebraska
women’s basketball team faces to keep
its NCAA Tournament hopes alive is
quite simple: The Huskers likely must
win their last four regular season
games.
With a 12-11 overall record and 6-6
record in the Big 12 Conference, NU
will probably have to do more than just
win.
It will need help from the teams
above it in the Big 12, and the Huskers
probably will have to win at least two
games in the Big 12 tournament
Game one of the Huskers’ must
win tour begins in Waco, Texas, on
Saturday at 7:05 p.m. in a matchup
against last-place Baylor (6-16 and 1
11).
“It’s crunch time for us, big-time,”
NU forward Charlie Rogers said after
the Huskers’ 66-62 setback to 12th
ranked Texas Tech on Wednesday night.
“We just have to keep putting our
selves in position to win games.”
The Bears might be die ideal oppo
nent, as they come into the game
ranked last in die Big 12 in nine statisti
cal categories, including scoring
offense and margin. But BU won its
first conference game of the season on
Tuesday night in a 71-60 victory over
Oklahoma State.
Also, Nebraska must beware of
emotional drain after barely falling
short against Tech. Last season’s loss to
BU, which snapped NU’s 27-game
home winning streak, came after an
emotional 68-67 win over Iowa State.
Coach Paul Sanderford said he still
believes NU’s hopes should be high
after its victory over No. 23 Kansas on
Sunday and near-win at Tech.
“I’m comfortable with the scenario
of where we are,” Sanderford said
before the Tech game, “because I think
we should be better. But you’ve got to
play die hand you’re dealt”
Men gymnasts ready to roll after week off
■ JNo. 1U Huskers go to
dual in California after
using last week to heal.
By John Gaskins
Staff writer
Even though three-time national
champion Marshall Nelson suffered a
possible career-ending knee injury, the
Nebraska men’s gymnastics team had
its best weekend of the season last
week.
That’s because the Cornhuskprs
didn’t compete.
NU Coach Francis Allen decided
not to send any of his gymnasts to the
Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas, an
open tournament to all amateur gym
nasts, in order to heal our wounds.
Ready or not, the 10th-ranked
Huskers are on the West Coast this
weekend and will duel with No. 20 UC
Santa Barbara (0-7) on Saturday night
Allen is gratefiil, both for the rest
and this week’s competition.
Before his disaster at OU, Nelson
had been the healthiest of Allen’s key
gymnasts. In breaking three school
records in three weeks after a 21-month
layoff, he carried NU while Jason
Hardabura, last year’s NCAA all
around champion, was out of competi
tion with a sore back.
“I told everyone after we lost
Marshall that we have to have some
people step up,” Allen said. “We still
have the same team that aided up third
at nationals last year. Once we really get
going with (Jason) Hardabura back,
we re going to be OK.”
Luckily for NU, Hardabura will
return to competition this weekend in
the floor, pommel horse and vault.
At 24, the junior from Ontario said
the soreness is typical for a gymnast his
age. Hardabura’s back had been sore all
winter, and he said he was trying to go
“way too fast” in his rehabilitation and
re-aggravated the injury just days
before the first meet.
Since then, Hardabura has been
taking it slow, thanks to Assistant
Coach Jim Howard’s more gradual and
progressive recovery program.
“I’ve always put a lot of stock in my
top gymnasts, maybe too much stock,”
Allen said. “This time the horse ate the
wrong oats before the race. Jay’s injury
is nothing life-threatening. We just have
to make sure he stays healthy.”
-TRACK-—
Athletes run for spot
on conference team
By Jamie Suhr
Staff writer
Nebraska track and field team
members will have one last chance
to impress the coaches at the NIAC
Invitational run on Saturday at the
Bob Devaney Sports Center.
The coaches will use the final
meet of the regular season to
choose the remaining spots for the
Big 12 Indoor Conference
Championships in Ames, Iowa,
Feb. 25-26. Final decisions will
not be made until they meet again
Monday. The coaches must decide
on 52 athletes from a team of 121.
“It’s an important meet for the
kids,” Coach Gary Pepin said.
“They’re battling for one of 26
spots on the conference team.”
Mark Kostek, event coordina
tor and combined events coach,
said about 20 spots are locked up
for both the men’s and women’s
teams.
“We’re still trying to figure out
our conference team, and what
athletes we can use to maximize
our points at the meet,” Kostek
said.
Kostek said the coaches will
. look to see who the other Big 12
’ schools select in order to get the
. best matchups.
In the NIAC, the Huskers will
be facing schools that are Division
III and NAIA.
\ “This is a flat tune-up,” Kostek
. said.
But for Ryan Stairs, a long
jumper and triple-jumper, this isn’t
They’re
battling for one
of 26 spots on
the conference
team.”
Gary Pepin
Track coach
a tune-up.
“For me, it’s definitely impor
tant,” Stairs said. “This year I’ve
been plagued with injuries. Right
now, I’m borderline for the team.”
Stairs, a sophomore who was
on last year’s conference team,
said making the team has been
much tougher than it was last year.
Stairs said he was happy to see the
meet have so few teams, giving
him a better chance to advance to
the final round.
While most of the Husker team
is competing at the NIAC
Invitational, six members of the
team are in Norman, Okla., partic
ipating in the Sooner Relays.
Rene Pretorius and Emily
Waibel will be competing in the
hurdles while Lesley Owusu,
Stella Klassen, Cheryl Harmon
and Yelena Stanisavljevic will
team up for the 4-by-400-meter
relay.
The women will be competing
against athletes from Texas,
Baylor, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Women gymnasts want
perfection against Gators
By Jason Merrihew
Staff writer
The Nebraska women’s gymnas
tics team heads to Florida to com
pete in a quadrangular against the
No. 18 Gators, No. 19 New
Hampshire and unranked Towson
State.
The Huskers are heading to
Gainesville, Fla., with a season
high 196.6 team score that they
earned last Tuesday against Iowa
•w State in Lincoln.
Coach Dan Kendig said his team
still has room for irnprovement,
’ except Heather Brink, who got a 10
on the vault against ISU.
The team’s attitude reflects the
coach’s attitude.
“We didn’t have a perfect meet,
although many audience members
I
thought we did,” senior Nicole
Wilkinson said. “We had some falls
and wabbles here and there. By all
means it wasn’t perfect. We have
some room for improvement.”
The strong freshman class this
year has been the main reason
Nebraska is ranked among the elite
in the nation. Freshman A.J. Lamb’s
star continues to shine, as the
Lincoln native is coming off a sec
ond-place finish in the all-around
with a 38.7.
Jen French, a freshman from
Greensboro, N.C., set a career high
against the Cyclones on the balance
beam with a 9.85. Freshman Julie
Houk also set a career high when
she earned a 9.90 third-place finish
on the floor exercise. Houk also
chipped in with a second-place
9.875 on the uneven bars.
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