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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1998)
rciM »lfte a plate ?' ial Classi;| i the e Battalion Sports Page 9 • Tuesday, October 6, 1998 (ole makes impact on volleyball team BY GRANT HAWKINS The Battalion ) mores an Tu 1 nthe fall of 1994, Michelle Cole entered freshman year at Temecula High School ’emecula, Calif. he wide-eyed freshman spent her mid school days acting on stage, and was yto take her career in drama to the high- ol level. ifter high school career would be on (be, but that stage was a volleyball at 78am I r ( Things did not work out like she ir ;inally planned. schoolsc I'j came t 0 high school fully and intend- la ' tie ltd ogo out for the drama team, but 1 nev- omirt pr jg urec ] out when the tryouts were,” Cole 5 teams:: ia 1. “I needed something to do, so I ling-rouncl U ght rd try volleyball. I showed up in ea shorts and regular shoes, not tennis io s. It was the first time 1 ever played.” y y: hour years later, the decision to try vol- T mall landed her in College Station and a i Patti 1 ' n 8 s P ot 011 l * ie 16th-ranked Texas A&M oleyball Team. As a true freshman. Cole ;uard C;:l been in the starting lineup since the :Kinnev e irgia Tech game earlier this season. Cole tart. jnot expect to see playing time so early per job, ||ier college career. The first time I was in the starting line- for a 3.38 kills per match, ranking her third on the team, and second to only senior outside hit ter Stacy Sykora in digs with 3.14 per con test. Cole made the adjustment to the col lege game smoothly, something she said is much different than high-school ball. “Everything is so much quicker in the col lege game than in high school,” Cole said. “Everyday in practice, she is ready to go with an incredibly enthusi astic attitude.” - LAURIE CORBELLI A&M VOLLEYBALL COACH vas thro I Cole said, “I was still on the bench and Ida State lyone on the starting squad was saying, I educartmhelleget out here.’” re on thel| id Spike isi Hein:.. Me, a 6-foot outside hitter, is averaging Cole made recruiting visits to A&M, Georgia Tech and Long Beach State after being named to the Fab 50, Volleyball Mag azine’s annual list of the top high-school seniors in the country. She said her deci sion to attend A&M was influenced mainly by coach Laurie Corbelli. “Laurie and John [Corbelli] are totally awesome,” Cole said. “Everywhere I went, people told me the Corbellis were awe some. They are 10 times better than 1 thought they would be.” As a true freshman. Cole is learning on the run. The Aggies are currently 10-2 on the season and 3-1 in the Big 12 Confer ence after making it to the NCAA Sweet 16 a year ago. With the help of seasoned veterans Syko ra and junior middle blocker Amber Woolsey, Cole has gained first hand knowledge of what it takes to succeed in Division IA volleyball. “I’ve learned that you keep going,” Cole said. “Even if you just got blocked, you keep swinging, and your teammates are behind you to cover you.” Cole said her teammates have been the most enjoyable part in her inaugural season at A&M. “This team is so energetic,” Cole said. “We are always cracking jokes about something. ” “If she [Michelle] wasn’t as great player a player as she is,” junior outside hitter Celia Howes said. “I don’t know if I would have made the improvements I have.” The season started with questions about the players’ lack of experience, but those questions have quickly withered away be cause of Cole, Corbelli said. “She brings us a truck-load of self confi dence,” Corbelli said. “Everyday in practice she is ready to go with an incredibly enthu siastic attitude. “I had so many people tell me, ‘You’ve got a great kid,”’ Corbelli said. “I hear that all the time, but Michelle is special. She’s got some thing about her that I think partly God gave to her and partly she worked towards herself. ” NEWCOMBE MIKE FUENTES/The Battalion Freshman Michelle Cole ranks third on the voleyball team in kills with 3.4 a match. ick injury ends career Texas A&M senior 3M STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS A nagging back injury ended the eer of Texas A&M senior center Irio Quesada, according to men’s sketball coach Melvin Watkins. Quesada suffered from a bulging ;kin his back in September 1997, lich forced him to miss last season. “Dario just couldn’t overcome the ury,” Watkins said in a news re- ise. “It’s unfortunate for him to end college career this way.” NBA cancels exhibition games, faces possibility of no season had to nij y mistaki ; a great no worn nes up jest th ere fo lowed 3 by o i on the years, :ontinue tradition: ON Pagel ny score * to the con d his le? ” Conner at St. Ed* uy v flag, ^ nee so :ch.” hile it 11 riate in 5 ’thing 3 * ms ore take jortsnu” 1 ju are' taunh 11 ; : is 1 m it d] t is( down il ies. A >n she i; Ke'fl .day- byti* ns, if our If lo)h and ^ five the many' jats, Ttl [ earn*? =bratiof S A ^if weref b other me U P re.” NEW YORK (AP) — After canceling the rest of its exhibition schedule Monday, the NBA’s perfect record of never missing a regu lar season game because of a labor dispute is in serious jeopardy. The league, which had earlier called off the first 24 exhibition games, canceled the final 90 Monday because of stalled labor negotiations with the players. ‘‘At this point, our teams cannot possibly be ready to play any games before November,” deputy commissioner Russ Granik said. ‘‘It’s sad that we have been unable to have any meaningful negotiations.” The next collective bargaining session is set for Thursday. The league said decisions con cerning possible cancellation of regular sea son games would be made next week. The season is scheduled to begin Nov. 3. When the two sides finally meet again, they will have only a few days to strike a deal that would preserve an 82-game schedule. Once a new agreement is reached, it will take at least three weeks to sign players, make trades and hold abbreviated training camps. So unless a deal can be completed a few days after the sides reconvene, there appears to be no way the season can start on its scheduled date. The owners made their latest proposal 10 days ago, still calling for a system with an ab solute ceiling on salaries — or a “hard” salary cap. The union said the owners included 16 pages of new demands that had not been dis cussed in any previous meetings. ‘‘Our proposals would result in an average player salary of more than $3.1 million and a minimum salary for 10-year veterans of $750,000,” Granik said Monday. ‘‘Unfortu nately, the union leadership has been unwill ing to give any serious consideration to what we have offered.” Both sides await a ruling from arbitrator John Feerick on the union’s grievance over whether players with guaranteed contracts should be paid during the lockout. Solich lists QB as questionable for A&M game LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Ne braska starting quarterback Bobby Newcombe is ‘‘a little question able” for Satur day’s game at Texas A&M and will see limited action in practice this week, Huskers coach Frank Solich said. “He made ex cellent progress for a period of time and we thought he was over the hump,” Solich said Monday. “Now his progress has slowed down dramatically and is really at a stop.” Solich said Newcombe was not at 100 percent in last Saturday’s 24- 17 squeaker over Oklahoma State. Newcombe had some difficulty executing the option last Saturday, rushing for 22 yards on 13 carries, Solich said. He did pass for 112 yards, completing 9 of 15 throws. “Bobby wasn’t in as good of shape as he was the week before against Washington,” Solich said during the Big 12 Conference coaches telephone news confer ence. “We had thought he was about 90 to 95 percent.” Newcombe did not practice Monday and the Huskers planned to limit the number of repetitions he takes during workouts this week, Solich said. No. 2 quarterback Eric Crouch, who had been bothered by a pulled hamstring, suffered a bruised hip against Oklahoma State and also would be limited somewhat in practice, Solich said. No. 3 quarterback Monte Chris to is set to take most of the snaps with the first-string offense throughout the week, Solich said. 1999 Aggieland MUGGED! CLASS OF 1999! NOW IS THE TIME TO TAKE YOUR SENIOR PICTURE FOR THE 1999 AGGIELAND YEARBOOK OR, FOR AN EXTENDED SITTING FEE, HAVE YOUR CAP AND GOWN PICTURE MADE AT AR PHOTOGRAPHY THIS SEMESTER. NO APPOINTMENT IS NECESSARY. I OCATED IN THE REDMOND TERRACE CENTER BETWEEN JASON’S DELI AND ACADEMY. HOURS-MONDAY-FRIDAY 9:00-12:00 AND 1:30 5:00. PLEASE CALL 693-8183 FOR MORE INFORMATION.