9
Friday
December 8, 1995
The Battalion
ports
Powerhouse Gators end A&M’s run
Evan Zimmerman, The Battalion
Texas A&M senior outside hitter Andrea Williams prepares to tap the
ball over the net during the Lady Aggies' win against South Carolina.
McElroy earns All-
American honors
At a
Glance
Sf’Orts Briefs
Alamo Bowl tickets still
available for students
There are approximately 900 of
Texas A&M's original allotment of
student tickets for the 1995 Alamo
Bowl against Michigan.
The tickets cost $40.50 with a
student ID card and can be pur
chased from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
through next Wednesday at the ath
letic ticket office at G. Rollie White
Coliseum.
If all the tickets are sold, the Uni
versity is allowed to request more
from the game. There were 669 tick
ets sold Thursday.
Death of coach ruled
suicide at Cornell
ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) — The death
early Thursday of a Cornell Univer
sity assistant men's basketball coach
was ruled a suicide.
Neither Cornell nor Ithaca Police
released the circumstances of
Michael Taylor's death. It was ruled
a suicide by Tompkins County Med
ical Examiner Dr. John Maines.
"All of us are deeply saddened,"
said Susan H. Murphy, vice presi
dent for student and academic ser
vices.
Authorities were summoned to
Taylor's off-campus home about
midnight by a roommate. Fire de
partment personnel attempted to re
vive Taylor, but were unsuccessful,
police said.
Classes continued as scheduled
Thursday, said Linda Grace-Kobas,
a university spokeswoman. Extra
mental health workers were called
in to help anyone needing counsel
ing, she said.
NBA referee O'Donnell
retires after 28 years
NEW YORK (AP) — Jake O'Don-
nell, who officiated more than
2,100 regular season game sand
279 playoff games during his 28
years as an NBA referee, has retired,
the league announced Thursday.
O'Donnell also worked .39 NBA
Finals games during a career that
began in 1967-68.
"Jake has been, without ques
tion, one of the greatest referees
this league has ever had," commis
sioner David Stern said. "Every fan
and every person associated with
the NBA owes him an enormous
debt of gratitude for his work. Not
only did he handle one of the
toughest jobs in sports for 28 years,
he excelled at it."
Upcoming Events
A&M Football
The Aggie Football Team will con
clude its 1995 schedule with a bowl
matchup against the University of
Michigan Thursday, Dec. 28 at the
Alamo Bowl in the AlamoDome in
San Antonio.
NFL Football
Sunday: Detroit Lions at Houston
Oilers, 12 p.m.
Philadelphia Eagles at
Dallas Cowboys, 12 p.m.
NBA Basketball
Friday: San Antonio Spurs at
Chicago Bulls, 7 p.m.
Washington Bullets at
Houston Rockets, 7 p.m.
Women's Basketball
The Women's Basketball Team
will travel to Hawaii for the Maui
Invitational this weekend.
□ The Lady
their season 23-7,their
best record since 1^3
when they went 27-h.
Staff and Wire Reports
The Texas A&M Women’s
Volleyball Team’s quest to
ward a NCAA Championship
ended Thursday night in
Gainseville, Fla.
Matched against a superior
opponent in the University of
Florida Gators, the Lady Ag
gies were demolished in three
straight games, 15-4, 15-13,
and 15-4.
The loss dropped A&M to
23-7 on the season while the
fourth-ranked Gators im
proved their overall season
record to a pristine 35-1.
It was the Lady Aggies’
first-ever trip to the NCAA
Sweet 16, and it was also one
of the least effective perfor
mances of the season for
A&M, which never truly got
its offense going while the
Gators seemingly scored at
will.
The first game was a clinic
in why the Gators have lost
just once this season.
Florida converted 17 kills
in 34 total attacks while com
mitting just five errors for an
outstanding hitting percent
age of .353.
Meanwhile the Lady Aggies
fumbled to find their offense
— scoring just five kills while
committing six errors en route
to a -.040 hitting percentage.
The second game was
A&M’s best shot to get into
the match, but the team came
up just short in the 15-13 loss.
The Lady Aggies were able
to stay close with a .152 hit-
tottg percentage, committing
seven errors this time but also
recording 14
kills.
T h e
Gators made
six errors,
but still man’-
aged a hit
ting percent
age of .231.
The third
game was
near carbon-
the Gators
racking up a gaudy .347 hit
ting percentage while the
Lady Aggies could only man
age a .163 mark.
In all the match took just
one hour and 17 minutes be
fore a crowd of 2,248.
For Lady Aggie seniors
Suzy Wente, Andrea Williams
and Dana Santleben, Thurs
day was the final game of
their careers.
As has become the norm
over the past two seasons,
Suzy Wente was the Lady Ag
gies’ leader in assists, adding
to her all-time Southwest
Conference leading total with
28.
Although Wente struggled
to a .143 hitting percentage,
she did record eight kills and
three service aces.
Williams, who has emerged
this season as a dominating
offensive threat, was the Lady
Aggies’ go-to player against
the Gators.
Williams recorded a team-
high 11 kills while making
just two errors. She recorded
a .346 hitting percentage and
had four digs.
Santleben was not as lucky
as her two fellow seniors. The
outside hitter recorded just
two kills in 15 total attacks
while committing three errors
for a -.067 hitting percentage.
Fortunately, not all of the
Lady Aggies’ stars are gradu
ating seniors.
Coming back for next year
are junior middle blocker
Page White, who recorded five
kills and a .235 hitting per
centage, sophomore middle
blocker Cindy VanderWoude,
who had seven kills, three
digs and two block assists.
Freshman outside hitter
Stacy Sykora, who had one of
her most solid games of the
1995 season, recording five
kills with three errors in 12
total attacks for a .167 hitting
percentage to go along with
seven digs.
□ A&M's featured back
rushed for 1,122 yards
this season.
NEW YORK (AP) — During his
four years at Nebraska, Tommie
Frazier has been the ultimate
team player, winning lots of
games, but few individual awards.
Until now.
The senior quarterback recently
won the Johnny Unitas Award and
was honored as the Big Eight’s of
fensive player of the year. He also
is one of the favorites to win the
Heisman Trophy this weekend.
Frazier added to his collection
Wednesday when he made The As
sociated Press All-America team.
The all-purpose player is Lee-
land McElroy of Texas A&M, who
rushed for 1,122 yards, caught 25
passes for 379 yards, returned
nine kicks for 208 yards and scored
16 touchdowns.
Ohio State and Nebraska each
placed three players on the AP
team.
Along with Eddie George, the
Buckeyes had wide receiver Terry
Glenn and offensive lineman Or
lando Pace. Frazier was-joined by
Nebraska center Aaron Graham
and defensive lineman Jared
Tomich.
Joining Pace and Graham on
the offensive line are Jonathan Og
den of UCLA, Jason Odom of Flori
da and Heath Irwin of Colorado.
Rounding out the offense is
placekicker Michael Reeder of
Texas Christian. Reeder was 23-of-
25 on field-goal attempts and
made all 20 of his extra-point tries.
The defense is led by Arizona
lineman Tedy Bruschi, the only re
peater from last year’s team. Br
uschi had 14 1/2 sacks to tie the
NCAA career record of 52 set by
Alabama’s Derrick Thomas.
Also on the defensive line ar$
Tomich, Cornell Brown of Virginia
Tech and Marcus Jones of North
Carolina.
Tomich was one of the leaders
of Nebraska’s swarming defense,
which held opponents to 78 rush
ing yards and 13.6 points per
game. He had 10 sacks and 24
quarterback pressures.
Brown had 103 tackles, includ
ing 14 sacks and 11 other stops be
hind the line.
Stew Milne, The Battalion
Tailback Leeland McElroy heads
upfield during a game at Kyle Field.
Early disappointments
overshadow 8-3 season
□The A&M Foot
ball Team finished
19th in the nation.
By Lisa Nance
The Batt alion
They started the sea
son at No. 3 in the na
tion with the chance of
a national champi
onship within their
reach. But the reality of
an 8-3 season and a
ranking of No. 19 has
left Aggie fans wonder
ing what happened?
But as the season got
off to a start, the Ag
gies’ national champi
onship hopes and McEl-
roy’s Heisman shot
slowly started fading.
Aggie fans figured the
team would take the fi
nal Southwest Confer
ence crown. But that
did not happen either.
The Aggies ended
the season 8-3, putting
them at second in the
conference for the first
time since 1990. They
will face Michigan in
the Alamo Bowl on Dec.
28.
Defensive Coordina
tor Phil Bennett said
that a win over Michi
gan is what the Aggies
need.
“I know as a staff
we’ve talked about how
important this Michi
gan game is to us,” Ben
nett said. “Nobody
wants to lose to their
archrival and not per
form well in a bowl
game. A win would
kind of sweeten the
taste in our mouth
right now.
“Playing a team like
Michigan and beating
them probably gives
you more credibility
than beating a team
like Virginia Tech, even
though Virginia Tech is
ranked higher.”
Although the end
was bitter, the season I
started out well with a
33-17 win over
Louisiana State and a
52-9 pummeling of Tul
sa.
Offensive Coordina
tor Steve Ensminger
felt that Aggies got the
season off to an excep
tional start.
“I thought the season
started out really well,”
Ensminger said. “We
played well early in the
year agairist LSU and
Tulsa. We were able to
move the football and
score some points.”
From there, the Ag
gies went to Boulder,
Colo., for what was sup
posed to be their
biggest game of the
year, a game that
would finally prove that
A&M could play with
the rest of the big-time
teams.
The Aggies played
the Buffaloes well for
three quarters, but
made too many mis
takes to win. They lost
the game 29-21.
Ensminger blamed
his offensive unit for
dropping the Aggies’
See Football, Page 11
Evan Zimmerman, The Battalion
Texas A&M noseguard Eddie Jasper manhandles Houston Cougar running back
Jermaine Williams while Brandon Mitchell and Reggie Brown look on.
THE BATTALION STAFF PICKS
ThcMatch-ups
Nick Gcorgandis /
Kristina
David
Tom
Lisa
Philip
Robin
Rob
Sterling
Stew
Kyle
Michael
Gretchen
Stacy
Jody
Commentary
Tara Willdnson
Buffi n
Winder
Day
Nance
Leone
Greathouse
Clark
Hayman
Milne
Littlefield
Landauer
Perrenot
Stanton
Holley
#14 Michigan at #19 A&M
Michigan
Michigan
Texas A&M
Texas A&M
Texas A&M
Texas A&M
Texas A&M
Michigan
Michigan
Michigan
Michigan
Michigan
Texas A&M
Michigan
Texas A&M Michigan: Can we say disillusionment?
Texas Tech vs. Air Force
Air Force
Texas Tech Texas Tech
Texas Tech
Air Force
Texas Tech
Air Force
Air Force
Texas Tech
Texas Tech
Texas Tech
Texas Tech
Texas Tech
Texas Tech
Texas Tech
Tech: Raiders send out their own air strii*
#9 Texas vs. #13 Va. Tech
Va. Tech
Texas
Va. Tech
Texas
Texas
Texas
Va. Tech
Texas
Texas
Texas
Va. Tech
Texas
Texas
Texas
Texas
UT: At least somebody in the SWC can win a bowl
#1 Nebraska vs. #2 Florida
Florida
Nebraska
Florida
Florida
Nebraska
Florida
Nebraska
Florida
Florida
Nebraska
Nebraska
Florida
Nebraska
Nebraska
Florida
Florida: Too much offense for champs to repeat.....
#6 Notre Dame vs. #8 Fla. State
Notre Dame
Fla. State
Fla. State
Fla. State
Fla. State
Fla. State
Notre Dame
Fla. State
Notre Dame
Notre Dame
Fla. State
Fla. State
Notre Dame
Fla. State
Fla. State
FSU: Absolutely nothing on the line in boring bowl
#3 Northwestern vs. #17 USC
USC
Northwestern Northwestern
Northwestern
Northwestern
Northwestern
Northwestern
Northwestern
use
Northwestern
Northwestern
Northwestern
USC
Northwestern
USC
UN: Wildcats dreamy season gets even rosier....^..
#7 Colorado vs. #12 Oregon
Oregon
Colorado
Colorado
Colorado
Colorado
Colorado
Colorado
Colorado
Colorado
Colorado
Colorado
Colorado
Colorado
Colorado
Colorado
CU: No Aggie will ever bet against them again
#1S Penn St. vs. #16 Auburn
Auburn
Auburn
Auburn
Penn State
Penn State
Auburn
Auburn
Penn State
Penn State
Penn State
Penn State
Auburn
Penn State
Auburn
Penn State
PSU: Nittany Lions and Tigers, oh my.
#4 Ohio State vs. #4 Tennessee
Tennessee
Ohio State Ohio State
Tennessee
Ohio State Ohio State
Ohio State
Ohio State
Tennessee
Ohio State
Tennessee
Ohio State
Ohio State
Ohio State
Tennessee
OSU: Eddie George's Heisman celebration party?
Nevada vs. Toledo
Nevada
Nevada
Nevada
Nevada
Nevada
Nevada
Nevada
Toledo
Nevada
Toledo
Toledo
Toledo
Nevada
Nevada
Nevada
Nevada: Toledo's undefeated? Come on
Lions at Oilers
Oilers
Oilers
Lions
Oilers
Oilers
Lions
Oilers
Lions
Lions
Lions
Oilers
Lions
Lions
Oilers
Oilers
Oilers: Two teams out of the race, playing for ????
Eagles at Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Eagles
Cowboys
Cowboys: As long as it's not the Redskins. —
Last Week
3-9
3-9
7-5
7-5
5-7
7-5
4-8
5-7
5-7
7-5
6-6
5-7
6-6
6-6
5-7
81-99(.450) Somethin'smells in here.
Cumulative
90-71-4
111-50-4
120-41-4
125-36-4
113-48-4
11 7-44-4
101-60-4
108-53-4
108-53-4
117-44-4
117-44-4
120-41-4
108-53-4
99-62-4 .
102-59-4
1661-75940 (-682) Georgandk rents out pick space.