Ringo leads by attitude MNCOfrompagelO ing so many goals and reaching almost all of them as a team and as an individual.’’ The one goal that Ringo and her teammates strive to reach this season is a national cham pionship for Nebraska. The road to the champi onship will take another turn this weekend when the Huskers travel to Norman, Okla., for the Big 12 Championships. On the back of NU’s mind is the stumble it took last year in Ames, Iowa, where Iowa State upset the Huskers for die Big 12 Championship. The setback, the first time in the six years of the confer ence that NU wasn’t crowned, fuels the competitive fire for this year’s squad. “Last year was kind of a fluke for us not to win it,” Ringo said. “I think that all the (Big 12) teams know that we are better than them. It is more a compe tition for second, third and fourth. They should know that we plan on taking it easy, but you never know until you walk in and see how the judges will be.” Nebraska, as well as their Big 12 foes, will began competi tion Saturday at 7 p.m. Huskers hope to cage Tigers BASEBALL from page 10 Louisiana Spring Break and Jamie Rodrigue’s five innings of work against WSU. "He gave us a chance to win,’’ Childless said. Pitcher Brian Rodaway noted that the Husker bats have been hotter in2001, which has made up for a weaker pitcher corps. “But I think it’s coming around," he said Shane Komine, 5-1 and two strikeouts away from the Nebraska school record, gets the start today. Rodrigue will follow on Saturday (2 p.m. start), and the starter on Sunday (1 p.m.) is still unknown. Softball team strives \ to keep streak alive FROM STAFF REPORTS The red-hot Husker softball team is riding on a 12-game win ning streak. In the past seven games, No. 18 Nebraska has outscored its opponents 31-1, and Husker pitchers have gone 30 innings without allowing a run. NU will try to prolong the unbeaten stretch this weekend against Missouri in the confer ence opening doubleheader. The Tigers (18-15) are on a tear of their own, winning 10 of the last 11 games. Senior pitcher Stephanie Falk leads Missouri with a 1.28 ERA and a 13-9 record. Offensively, outfielder Karen Williams spearheads the attack with a .470 batting average. Offense looks to fill holes OFFENSE from page 10 mage. "They haven’t run into themselves very often," Tenopir said, grinning. Despite this spring’s circum stances, Tenopir said that his goals for his players remained the same as always. “To compete in the Big 12 conference. It’s no different than the last 27 falls I’ve been here," Tenopir said. “You never want to have a falling off. We want to have players who can execute our offense. The goal is always to have a team that is competitive.” Tenopir knows that in Nebraska’s style of play, the team success will only go as far as the performance of his line. “It all starts there (the offen sive line), in any scheme,” Tenopir said of the team’s suc cess. “We’ll have a good line; it’ll just take us a little time to gel.” I Men hope to see double ■McDermottsaid doubles'wins would turn his team around BYVUCE KUPPtG In college tennis, doubles may count for only one point But it’s often the most impor tant point For the Nebraska men’s tennis team, the doubles have often been the difference in a near upset The Comhuskers (6-8,0-2) have lost five one-point matches this season, all which could have gone the Huskers’ way had they won die doubles point "The doubles point is just so for big for us because we fed like we can always win three out of six singles, but getting that fourth one has been tough for us," Coach Kerry McDermott said. “The dou bles point helps get some momentum going into singles." A strong start at doubles could be pivotal to a Husker upset this weekend when they face three opponents who have been ranked in the top 75 most of the season. Today, NU travels to 15th ranked Texas before heading to No. 64-San Diego on Saturday and San Diego State on Sunday. McDermott said a win or two this weekend could be a major turning point for the Husker team that has struggled recently, drop ping seven of its last eight match es. In contrast, die women’s ten nis team (13-2,1-2) has a five match winning streak heading into Sunday morning's match at TtexasTtech (6-5,2-4). Haying against seven ranked opponents in its last eight match es, NU has gone 6-2 with die two losses coming to top-20 teams on the road. That has been enough to propel the Huskers into the top 50 at 49th, the best ranking in school history. Like the men, the NU women’s doubles have often been reflective of the Huskers’ per formance this yean In all but one of their wins, the Huskers also won the doubles point Freshman Elissa Kinard, who [days No. 2 doubles, said winning doubles put the strain on NU’s opponents. “When you win the doubles point you go into the singles with less pressure because you only have to win half of them,” she said. “It also helps with confi dence." HHOMER'S i O N S A L E N V. 1 Driving A Mition ana Discovery |pu htlheWtr Against MULE Gwenmcxs' hook-soturuled new sounds prove that the band has truly hit Ms stride, and that Thrasher's unique approach to songwriting has now begun to buid the perfect environment of hummable hooks within said song structures. DRIVING A MILLION is a journey through a utopia built in sound. The French twosome, Thomas Bangaller and Guy-Manuel De HomenKhristo, impersonate aliens and robots in their interviews and put records out only once every three yens. 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