SportsThursday
NU skills
add up
to ideal
season
I
thought
Ivy lea
g u e r s
were
smarter
than this.
B u t
Emily
Brown,
Brian
Christopherson
senior
captain of the Princeton volley
ball team, just couldn’t resist
from throwing a little dirt up in
Goliath Nebraska’s eyes.
“We’re setting up for the
biggest upset in national volley
ball history,” Brown said of
Friday’s first-round NCAA duel.
Upset? Are math questions
going to be involved? Maybe a
Science Bowl?
At least David had a sling
shot and some rocks when he
slew Goliath.
Besides the athletic-skill
edge Nebraska holds, the Tigers
are just too short by volleyball
standards.
Princeton has only three
players on its team who stand
more than six-feet tall.
Nebraska, meanwhile, has
only two players under six-feet.
If this were a pick-up game,
Princeton players would likely
take the volleyball and go home.
So I’ll go out on a limb and
say the Huskers will handle the
Tigers in three games.
I’ll go one better.
I’ll say Nebraska will march
straight into the Final Four in
Richmond, Va.
This team has had Final
Four on the brain since the
plane ride home from last year’s
Sweet 16 loss.
The Huskers scheduled
early September tests like the
Notre Dame Tournament, in
part, to prepare for the back-to
back games the NCAA tourna
ment requires.
Nebraska stormed out of the
Notre Dame Tournament confi
dent and unbeaten.
The Husker players yawned
whenever they weren’t laughing
throughout the conference sea
son.
But leave it to good old
Kansas State, the purple men
ace themselves, to show that
indeed the Huskers could be
beaten.
K-State forced Nebraska to
go five games in the last match
of the year, and NU didn’t look
quite as invincible with sopho
more outside hitter Laura
Pilakowski sitting it out after
having her appendix removed.
Ah yes, the Pilakowski fac
tor.
Will Laura be healthy
enough to knock down NCAA
kills, or will matches be put in
the hands of true freshman
Anna Schrad?
No worry Cook says.
Pilakowski will be back soon
enough (as in Sweet 16 time),
and young Schrad is very capa
ble of handling her share of the
load if Laura sits.
And if the Pilakowski factor
proves to be a minus for the
Huskers, throw out that variable
on count of the home-court fac
tor.
Quite frankly, opposing
teams just don't win in the NU
Coliseum.
Teams might trade a few
punches with the Huskers, but
NU seems to get a point, then
another, then another in the
flash of an eye. The crowd’s
voices begin to echo off the old
brick walls and before the other
team knows it, Nebraska play
er’s are smiling and in control of
the match.
With Nebraska’s talent level
and the Coliseum aura, it’s clear
to see Nebraska is off to the
Final Four.
Shoot, if you're going to go
undefeated into the Final Four,
you might as well win the whole
thing.
BY LINCOLN ARNEAL
Down by 19 points to Wisconsin with
eight minutes left to play, the Nebraska
women’s basketball team looked to be on
its way to a blowout loss at the hands of
the No. 19 Badgers.
But the Huskers weren’t quite dead yet,
coming alive behind the play of freshman
K.C. Gowgill.
Although NU finished on the wrong
end of a 74-64 score, the late 15-2 run,
which brought the Huskers to within six,
gave NU Coach Paul Sanderford’s young
team something positive out of
Nebraska’s first loss of the season.
“We just came out and played harder
in the second half,” Sandeiford said. "We
tried to get the ball moving more by using
Wisconsin
Nebraska
74
64
screens and were able to score.”
It was freshman Cowgill who sparked
NU (4-1) down the stretch. The guard
scored 10 of her 12 points in the second
half, ieading NU’s stable of underclass
men back into the game.
“As they guarded me closer on the out
side, I wanted to take the ball to the bas
ket and draw fouls,” Cowgill said.
But it also was youthftil mistakes that
hurt NU down the stretch. With less than
two minutes remaining, a shot clock vio
lation along with a ball that bounced off
of Margaret Richards’ hands sealed the ,
outcome.
Inexperience also defined the first
half, as Nebraska watched awestruck as
Wisconsin (3-2) lit them up.
“We came out a little bit shell
shocked,” Sanderford said. “We were pas
sive on defense and didn’t play well.”
Wisconsin started the game on fire,
shooting a torrid 66 percent from the field
in the first half. They made 14 of their first
18 shots to take a commanding lead.
Early on, the Badgers relied on Jessie
Stomski, who scored eight of Wisconsin’s
first 13 points. NU was not able to stick to
its defensive game plan as they allowed
Stomski to light them up as she finished
with 20 points.
“We need to work on coming to guard
people,” Sanderford said. "We weren’t
very physical, and we let them do what
they wanted.”
Nebraska countered with a strong
inside game with Casey Leonhardt, who
had 12 points and 10 rebounds for
Nebraska.
It was the bench that kept NU in the
game. Along with Cowgill, Candace
Blackbird chipped in 10 points and five
assists.
"We got a big lift off the bench,”
Sanderford said. “We had a good bal
ance.”
Despite the loss Cowgill said the team
could use this to their advantage.
"This is a good confidence builder. We
battled during the second half and were
able to come back,” she said. “If we put
together a full game, who knows what
could have happened.”
Four sophomores backbone of No. 1 Cornhuskers
BY SEAN CALLAHAN
Maybe former Nebraska
Volleyball Coach Terry Pettit
picked the wrong year to retire.
True, when first-year Coach
John Cook was handed a tradi
tion-rich Comhusker volleyball
program, he was left with several
difficult obstacles.
Most notably, he didn’t have
senior All-American Nancy
Meendering, who opted to red
shirt after trying out with the
U.S. National team for most of
the spring and summer.
But Cook’s cupboard was far
from bare. In fact, the first-year
coach had three more All
American candidates and
arguably one of the nation’s top
defensive specialists. All four are
sophomores.
How about a nickname -
"The Fab Four.” The group -
Amber Holmquist, Greichaly
Cepero, Laura Pilakowski and
Lindsay Wischmeier - may be
the backbone of the Husker
squad.
Cook said without
Meendering he knew this was
the group of players that had to
take the leadership roles.
"We knew it was a special
class,” Cook said. "There’s a great
middle in there, a great left side
that we didn't know at the time,
but we knew Pilakowski was a
great athlete. Greichaly, we knew
could be an All-American setter.
“The other person every
body forgets about is Lindsay
Wischmeier. She’s really the
heart and soul of that group.
She’s the one that pulls those
guys together, she's the one that’s
always pushing them in the
weight room in all those differ
ent areas mentally.”
Wischmeier’s blue-collar
attitude definitely doesn’t go
unnoticed by her three fellow
sophomore All-American candi
date teammates.
Holmquist said she consid
ered Wischmeier the most
important piece to the puzzle on
the Huskers 28-0 perfect regular
season.
"She’s the one that may not
get as recognized, but she gets
the incredible digs in the back
row and she's the one that holds
the team together on the court,”
Holmquist said. “I think her role
is more important then anybody
else’s.”
That’s a strong statement
considering the fact Holmquist,
Pilakowski and Cepero all lead
the nation statistically at their
respective positions.
Please see VOLLEYBALL on 9
NCAAs gives GW
a break from pain
BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON
Of the four teams competing in the first and
second rounds of the NCAA volleyball tourna
ment at the NU Coliseum this weekend, nobody
has been on a bigger roller-coaster ride this year
than George Washington University.
Losing a match this weekend won’t hurt the
George Washington team nearly as much as losing
the chance to play, the chance to get away from
the pain that still lingers with both players and
coaches.
The game has made them concentrate on
something else besides the death of their coach,
Yvette Moorehead, who committed suicide in
August.
"The first three weeks were so hard,” new
GWU Coach Jo Coronel said. “Then school start
ed, and the girls were able to focus on volleyball
and school.
"The worst part is going to be when the season
is over and you have more time to think about her
death."
The Colonials dedicated their season to
Moorehead, and capped it off in dramatic fashion
with a marathon five-game win over Xavier in the
Atlantic 10 Conference Championship game.
“We toasted some Gatorade to that win,” said
Coronel, who claimed Atlantic 10 Coach-of-the
Year honors in his first season.
Now, the 25-5 Colonials hope to keep this
memorable season ticking with a first-round win
Sutton longs for last year s OSU team
■ From injuries to inexperienced
players, the Cowboys may find it hard
to live up to last year's Sweet 16 squad.
BY JOSHUA CAMENZIND
Eddie Sutton is very adamant that
he is not ready to retire from coaching.
Still, the 64-year-old basketball
coach at Oklahoma State said at last
month’s Big 12 Media Days that in the
preseason, he had thought about tak
ing a year off from coaching.
No, Sutton’s health is not deterio
rating - he just has a young team try
ing his patience every now and then.
"I got a good staff, so sometimes I
get a little impatient and go sit down
and drink a Diet Pepsi,” Sutton said. “I
told my son (Assistant Coach Sean
Sutton) the other day that if it gets too
bad that he was taking over, and I was
taking a sabbatical.
“I am going to pull a Phog Allen. I
remember one year that he did not like
his team so he just said he would come
back next season.”
Not many can blame Sutton for
wanting to take time off after coaching
last year's team, which lost to Florida
in the Sweet 16. The 30-year veteran of
college coaching had his team all laid
out before him last year.
Sutton knew Doug Gottlieb, who
Was anniahlv tho Hoct naccor in crhnnl
if things broke down he could give the
ball to Desmond Mason, a first-round
NBA draft-pick, and Mason would
make something happen.
Want outside shooting? Sutton
would call a play for either Joe Adkins
or Glendon Alexander. Sutton also
could turn it up inside by giving the
ball to either Brian Montonati or Alex
Webber.
In a nutshell, Sutton’s team
coached itself at some points, and it
became one of the best in OSU history.
But this year’s team hasn’t made it easy
on Sutton, despite a 2-0 record gained
by wins over the University of
Missouri-Kansas City and North
Texas.
Sutton knows 20 turnovers a game
won’t get it done if OSU hopes to stay
among the Big 12 elite.
One of the Cowboy returnees, jun
ior Fredrik Jonzen, said his new team
mates were athletic but would require
Sutton to take on a much more hands
on role this year.
“He is really going to have to be a
teacher this year,” Jonzen said.
“During practices last year, everybody
knew what we were doing and, he was
just stopping practices for minor
things. This year it is big things, and he
stops us in practice a lot and talks to
the guys.”
Sutton said he welcomed the chal
lpnop
“ / have always thought of
myself as a teacher, and
this year, we certainly
have a lot of teaching to
do.”
Eddie Sutton
Oklahoma State coach
a teacher, and this year, we certainly
have a lot of teaching to do,” he said.
All of the new players lack big-time
experience outside ofVictor Williams,
who should take over the point guard
duties at OSU without a hitch.
Williams transferred to Oklahoma
State from Illinois State, where he was
the Missouri Valley Freshman of the
Year. He practiced with the veteran
Cowboys while sitting out his transfer
year in 1999.
“He is one of the best guards I have
ever played with,” said forward Andre
Williams, a sophomore who led all Big
12 freshmen with 1.25 blocks per game
last season.
Sutton said the point guard
Williams would be challenged for
playing time by would-be Maurice
Baker, who has gotten rave reviews for
his athleticism. But so far, the two have
