Sports Wednesday
Husker defense steps up in near loss
■Sophomore Lindsay Wisdimeier
was key in NU's come-from-behind
win, propelling NU into the NCAA
Tournament's third round.
BY SEAN CALLAHAN
It looks like the wake-up call
came just in the nick of time for the
top-ranked Nebraska volleyball
team.
After being pushed to five games
and nearly upset by South Carolina,
the Comhuskers (30-0) say they now
know what it’s going to take to win the
national title.
Despite being down against the
Gamecocks late in the match, Coach
John Cook said he never had any
doubt in his team’s ability to perform
in the clutch.
“I think it was a big wake-up call
for us,” Cook said.
“Probably what I was really trying
to say was maybe our team wasn’t
prepared for what South Carolina
gave us, and we weren’t prepared to
play at the level.”
Going the distance is something
the Huskers aren’t used to. In fact,
going even four games is pretty
uncharacteristic for NU. In
Nebraska’s 30 matches this season, it
has been taken to four games four
times and the full five games only
twice.
Until Saturday’s victory over
South Carolina, all of the four- and
five-game matches for NU have
come on the road.
Cook said he would give a lot of
the credit to NU’s come-from-behind
win to the way sophomore Lindsay
Wischmeier performed defensively.
The defensive specialist had 15 digs,
some at crucial moments, against the
Gamecocks.
“Great defensive plays inspire
other players to pick up their game,”
Cook said.
“Not only did she make some
great plays and turn some big points
in that fourth game, but she also
inspired other people to play great
defense.
“That was a turning point for our
team.”
Wischmeier said it was the setter
dump that really threw off the
Huskers' defense in the first three •
games of the South Carolina match..
Playing setter for most of last sea
son helped Wischmeier make the
adjustments needed on defense, she
said.
“I just knew there needed to be
some big plays made out there in
order for us to get going, to get the
crowd back into the game and to get
momentum back. I had to make
them,” Wischmeier said.
“I have to be in the right place at
the right time.”
Said Cook: “When I went back
and looked at the tape, not very many
balls landed on the floor in games
four and five. I think that’s why you
saw South Carolina tighten up.”
What’s unique about Wischmeier,
" Not only did she make
some great plays and
turn some big points in
that fourth game, but
she also inspired other
people to play great
defense.
John Cook
volleyball coach
Cook said, is she knew her role on the
court.
Wischmeier agrees with her
coach and says she takes pride in
making big defensive plays.
“Digs always excite the crowd,
they always excite the team no matter
what,” Wischmeier said.
“It’s always been that way in vol- •
leybalL I think everyone wants to see
a great dig; itsabigliftforyourteam.”
Scott McOuig/DN
Lindsay Wisdimeier's 15 (figs helped Nebraska tofend off upstart
South Carolina infive games SaturriayJuesday,NUGoachJohn
Cook pointed to the sophomore defensive specialist as a spark
pluginthecome-from-behindwin.
Davison's career consistent, insatiable
■The NU wide receiver has
succeeded both in the record
books and on the field.
BY DAVID DIEHL
Looking at Matt Davison, one
wonders what has made this receiver
the man who sits right at the top on
almost all of Nebraska's career
receiving charts.
His size? His speed? His hands?
All of them are contributing factors,
but in his own words there is some
thing else that has made Davison the
model of consistency on the football
field.
“I think most of why I’ve been
able to play here for so long is what’s
above my shoulders,” the Tecumseh
native said, “more than my physical
abilities.”
When the curtain closes on
Davison’s Nebraska career late Dec.
30, after the Cornhuskers’ date with
Northwestern in the Alamo bowl, it
will be £ career that has written the
definition of consistency for
Nebraska football.
Davison has led NU in receiving
the last three seasons. His team-high
21 grabs in 2000 give him 93 for his
career. The Heisman Trophy-win
ning Johnny Rodgers’ 143 career
catches is almost, well, uncatchable
in NU’s current run-first, throw-sec
ond offense.
The wide receiver finds himself
behind only Rodgers again in receiv
ing yards. His 1,456 yards are second
to Rodgers’ 2,479.
In the last three years Davison
has played in 36 games, started each
of the last 24 and has only been held
without a catch four times.
He also holds the school record
for reception yards in a game.
Davison caught 10 balls for 167 yards
in the 1998 loss to Texas A&M.
Quarterback Eric Crouch, a good
friend of Davison's, has been throw
ing the ball to No. 3 for parts of the
last two and a half years. He said it
was nice not losing any sleep at night
knowing someone in red would be
there at the end of each pass.
“It’s a great feeling knowing you
have a receiver so reliable,” Crouch
said. “A lot of teams don’t have that.
Matt’s one of those guys that can
make big catches for you.”
And when the curtain does close
and Davison exits the Alamodome
stage left, the hard work he has given
.the NU program and his steady per
formance throughout are what he
wants to be remembered for.
“I think they’ll look at me as a
Scott McCkirg/DN
NU senior wide receiver Matt Davison will finish his Husker career with the second-most catches and receiving yards in school history, behind only
Heisman Trophy Johnny Rodgers in both categories.
consistent player that worked hard
every day and got the most out of
what he was blessed with,” he said. “I
think I've done that.”
With the unwavering perform
ances demanded of only those in the
tight-rope walking business,
Davison said he thought his skills
could have fit in anywhere.
Coming out of Tecumseh High
School he was not just consistently
good in one sport, he was good
across the board. A two-sport All
Nebraska athlete, Davison was not
only named as an All-State receiver,
but also as Nebraska’s Mr. Basketball
in 1997.
Those abilities lured Kansas
State, Colorado State, Wyoming and
other schools to the Davison’s front
door. But there was an apparent
devotion to the home state.
“I just grew up 45 minutes from
Lincoln, and when Coach Osborne
calls you feel like you should say yes,”
Davison said.
With that, NU snagged its man
who would snag pass after pass for
four seasons.
“That’s what makes him so valu
able,” Coach Frank Solich said. “He’s
a guy you’ve been able to count on
through his entire career here. He
demonstrated that very early on.”
Please see DAVISON on 11
Women face
Washington
for next test
BY LINCOLN ARNEAL
It has been a roller coaster of a season so far for
the women’s basketball team. After winning their
first four games, they have lost their last two.
Coach Paul Sanderford said he expected that from
this team.
“We are going to hit some bumps in the road,”~
he said. “But we have to be tough and resilient.”
The Huskers will try to bounce back from a 66
57 loss to Creighton as they take on Washington (3
2) tonight
Last year NU beat Washington 89-86 in
Lincoln. Sanderford said the Huskies, who fin
ished 8-22 last season, are a better team than the
last time they played.
"They are improved over
last year,” he said. "They were
really young when they came
into here.’’
The Huskies are missing
their leading scorer from last
year, Loree Payne, who has a
stress fracture in her foot.
Sophomore Kellie O’Neill
has been filling the void for
the Huskies. She put up 27
points against top-ranked
Connecticut in a 100-54 loss.
Husker senior guard
Amanda Went said
Washington would press NU,
much like Creighton did, but
the team should be better
suited to handle the pressure.
“We put in a new press
break and some offense we
want to run that will hopefully
break (the press) and get into
our half-court offense,” she said.
One of the problems for the Huskers is they are
behind in putting in their full package of defenses
and offensive plays.
“Last year we mad-dogged them (1-2-2 zone
press) and turned them over about 25 times,”
Sanderford said. “We don’t have that in yet.”
Sanderford said the reason his young team was
behind in implementing schemes was because it
was spending more time on fundamentals this
year.
He said he could put the things in now, but it
wouldn’t do any good down the road.
“Gimmicks don’t work in March,” Sanderford
said. “Fundamentals win in March. We have to
build a good foundation for this team.... I am not
going to sacrifice winning a game for developing
this team.”
The Washington game marks the third straight
game the Huskers will appear on TV. The 9:30 p.m.
game will be aired on the Fox Sports network..
“We have to
build a good
foundation
for this
team. ... /
am not
going to
sacrifice
winning a
game for
developing
this team.”
Paul Sanderford
women’s
basketball coach
As only coach left after suspensions, Nelsen keeps focus on pool
BY TOBY BURGER
Stepping in for a 23-year swimming
and diving coach and six-time confer
ence coach of the year isn't the easiest of
jobs, especially if it comes unexpected
ly
Paul Nelsen is interim coach for the
Nebraska men's and women's swim
ming and diving teams, at least the tem
porary replacement for long-time
Swimming and Diving Coach Cal Bentz.
Bentz was suspended indefinitely in
September pending a university inves
tigation into possible violations within
the program. Bentz’s top three assis
tants were also suspended, with Nelsen,
who joined the staff in 1997, being the
only assistant spared.
But Nelsen, 30, can't concern him
self with suspensions and investiga
tions. His focus is keeping the cogs of
the swimming and diving program
moving forward.
“This is going to be the hardest year
of my head coaching experience
because it’s my first year,” Nelsen said.
And the challenge is
picking up from where
we left off.”
Nelsen’s path to
becoming Nebraska’s
coach started in
Lincoln. He grew up in
the citv and discovered
Netsen his passion for the pool
after participating in a
variety of sports. By high school, Nelsen
realized swimming was what he wanted
to do.
Although he called Lincoln and the
pool home, he felt he needed to leave
Nebraska to hone his swimming abili
ties. He left for the University of
Minnesota's swim program. It was a
chance for Nelsen to get away and grow
as a swimmer.
Nelsen found success while swim
ming at Minnesota, receiving All
American honors four times. In 1992,
the then-sophomore won the silver
medal in the 200-yard individual med
ley at the NCAA Championships. Two
years later he gained another silver in
the same event at the championships.
Nelsen’s success took him as far as
the 1996 Olympic trials.
Yet, a third-place finish in the 200
meter individual medley didn’t open
the door to the Olympics, closing the
door to Nelsen's 20-year swimming
career. But the finish helped define
Nelsen.
“That did not make or break my
career,” Nelsen said. “I was the first
alternate to the Olympic team and
missed the Olympic team by one place.
That made me the individual who I
am.”
After the narrow Olympic trial
defeat, Nelsen returned to Nebraska,
but he thought the chances of returning
to the pool were slim.
“I told myself I probably wouldn’t go
back to the pool after I competed,” he
said.
The love for swimming prOved to be
too much for him, though. From com
peting to coaching Nelsen couldn’t
escape the pool.
He said he was the benefactor of
being at the "right place, at the right
time.”
Nelsen received an offer to become
an assistant swimming coach because
then-Assistant Jan Bidrman was offered
a coaching position in Canada.
The offer for the assistant positions
four years ago was pleasant, but the
proposition of becoming the head
coach came as a shock.
“A year ago I couldn’t believe that I
would be doing this,” he said. "It’s not
inconceivable to do the job, but to actu
ally be in the job would not be what I
expected.”
The experience of being interim
coach has given Nelsen a new apprecia
tion for the position.
“You don’t really appreciate what
someone does until you’re actually
doing what they’re doing,” he said.
The other battle Nelsen faced was
compiling a new core of assistants due
to the suspensions.
But Nelsen credits his Interim
Assistants Jeff Bro, Doug Humphrey
and Jon Haggerty for helping maintain
the quality the swimming and diving
program is accustomed to.
“Those guys have made my job eas
ier,” he said. “They’re the ones that
make me lbok good.”
Even with the awkwardness of the
situation, Nelsen said his goal was to
“keep the wheels in motion” while help
ing the team and individuals grow and
improve.
“You just have to do the job that
needs to be done,” he said.