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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 1982)
Texas A&M The Battalion Sports September 9, 1982 Page 17 leAggie Ladies’ volleyball ltln gtk ,er -n%| are prosj ks,” earn excited about ’82 by John P. Lopez Battalion Staff go d When most coaches lead a ‘ or tleam to a 40-16 record, a scond-place finish in confer- a [( nee action and a ninth-place tie ens t the NCAA tournament, , r f 0 | hey’re content to have an “off’ re thai ear! to rebuild. abando; R But not ie volleyball Agg* oach Terry Condon “WeTl be a lot better this eai|” she said. “Our main goal t line i to seti ; toj reach the final four of the ational tournament. And I link that if we play like I know ( /e can, reaching the tourna- l i (i nent is a realistic goal. Assistant volleyball coach Lin- ly Vivas agreed with Condon, aying the Aggie Ladies should " e JOO percent better. She cited 11 everal reasons for the improve- )aw ^' nent. “One reason is because the eople that are returning have otten better talent-wise over ie summer,” she said. “A lot of te players played on teams dur- ig the summer and some stayed n ere and worked out with Dave Villiams, who is the strength oach. Also, we have more ex- erience coming back. Most of bereturning players arejuniors aid rr nl seniors.” intciJThe Aggies should also be im- ;rower iroved, she said, because they ystry' Fhev ftn i they Jennifer Giese have acquired several talented recruits and transfers. “Joey Vrazel and Sherri Brinkman are two new people with a lot of talent,” she said. “For her size, Brinkman is prob ably the most agile player I’ve ever seen. And Vrazel is very, very good.” How good is Vrazel? “We call her ‘Razzle Dazzle Vrazel’,” she said. Condon said Vrazel is exactly the type of player the volleyball team needs. Susan Wetzel “Joey is probably our best,” she said. “She played on the na tional championship team at Utah State and on the Olympic team in 1980. She’ll be our cap tain because she’s a motivator and a real good leader, which is one thing this team hasn’t had in a while. Having a leader should help because every team needs someone to lead them.” Condon said two other play ers that have improved over the summer are Cathy Frederick and Lisa Johnson. “Their improvement has been dramatic,” she said. “Cathy is just a good steady setter and Lisa has gotten physically stron ger which has made her a better overall player. She’s hitting the ball a lot harder.” Other returning starters in clude junior Jennifer Giese and senior Sue Wetzel. The Aggie Ladies, Condon said, are all anxious to start play and prove just how much they have improved since last year. “We’ve looked real good in practice, but practice and the games are a lot different from each other,” she said. “Attitude is our biggest asset this year. Ev erybody’s working harder, con centrating more, they’re back ing each other up and theyre just real gung ho about the up coming season. The only aspect of the Aggie Ladies’ game that worries Con don is their blocking ability. “We have the personnel for blocking,” she said, “but we still need to work on it a little more. Chemine Doty was going to start for us as a blocker but she mes sed up a knee at the national sports festival this summer. That really hurt us.” The Aggie Ladies open the season tonight when they face Illinois State at 7:30 in G. Rollie White Coliseum. Cowboy receiver opportunistic Johnson plays key role fitt, Marino face challenge mng t grove ploym 'klanott, 13 erefe United Press International Those expecting a one quarterback show hen they tune in to tonight’s nationally leVised Pittsburgh-North Carolina game lay be in for a slight surprise, ry rapj For months before the season, talk has tes, een centered around Pitt quarterback Dan ,n— larino as a genuine Heisman Trophy can- ion u: Hate. But the sixth-ranked Tar Heels have I saidTpretty fair quarterback of their own in ave an wf 1.” ie dim f i souib drawn lifornia t herea senior Rod Elkins. “I’m expecting a big year from Rod,” North Carolina Coach Denny Crum said. “He’s the kind of competitor who always thinks he can do better.” Crum expects Elkins’ senior year to re semble his sophomore season, when he led the Atlantic Coast Conference in passing. But the top-rated Panthers have more to worry about than just Elkins — they have tailback Kelvin Bryant, the nation’s third leading rusher last year, to contend with as well. Marino, already the Panthers’ all-time leading passer, will have a dynamic receiv ing trio of flanker Dwight Collins, split end Julius Dawkins and tight end John Brown to pick from. United Press International DALLAS — Even Butch Johnson feels his personality is one for study in some psycholo gy class. Off the field he’s a basically gentle soul who is quick with a one-liner and is neck-deep in civic enterprise. He is, for inst ance, on the board of directors of the Dallas child abuse center. On the field, however, he re lishes the opportunity to take out his frustrations on his fellow man and admits to gaining re venge on one particular foe by blocking him at knee level on a kick return, an incident which put that player out for the season. “I guess I’m a schizophrenic,” said Johnson. “Off the field I’m Dr. Jekyll. But on the field I’m Mr. Hyde.” Well, maybe. But what Butch Johnson really seems to be is opportunistic. And he has par layed that opportunism into a reputation as one of the best- known non-starting players in the National Football League. Once again he will be on the bench when the Dallas Cowboys open their season against the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday night. Drew Pearson and Tony Hill will be the Cowboys’ starting wide receivers. But because the game will come in for quite a bit of attention, there is every chance that Johnson will play a key role in it. All five of Johnson’s touch down catches in 1981 came in games that were televised coast to coast. His spectacular touch down catch in Super Bowl XII against Denver ranks as one of the highlights in the history of the Cowboys. When a network beams a Cowboys’ game nation wide, Johnson just seems to naturally show up on the screen. “I crave the big game,” said Johnson. “I can’t wait until they (the Steelers) get to town. It’s my natural expression, I guess. I like to make things happen. “It’s been that way all through my career. I’ve never shied away from the big game. When people are afraid of get ting hit,- I want to be in there. Games like that send me to a different level. I forget about ev- See JOHNSON page 18 heal P as thei the ant h.Ash rprise was t k the i him," imbOt N K beij SI 7* 13-11 l7$\ The Student Aggie Club Organizational Meeting with Guest Speaker MEETING WITH COACH SHERRILL Thursday, Sept. 9 7 p.m. Cain Hall Film Room - Everyone Welcome! — BEAT t.u. arlington!