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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 1998)
The Bait Battalion Page 7 • Friday, October 9, 1998 Judgment Day ^gies’ host No. 2 Nebraska CornhuskerSy highest ranked opponent since 1983 BY JEFF SCHMIDT The Battalion Gen. William T. Sherman through Atlanta, i-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers march kyle Field with a destructive reputation. After |eCornhuskers have won 19 straight games, 10 Jhtroad games and three out of the last four na- I championships. MIKE FUENTES/Tiik Battalion to make# runn j n g back Dante Hall runs the ball in A&M’s over the University of North Texas. lie conipj: The last time Texas A&M University played the Cornhuskers, in the Big 12 Championship game, the Aggies ran into a juggernaut. Before the Aggies could blink they were down 37-3. The final score: 54-15. “We caught them last year when they were smelling the national championship,” A&M football coach R. C. Slocum said. “They had lost the year be fore in the conference championship game [against Texas]. Their coach [Tom Osborne] was going to re tire. They had everything going their direction, along with being a very talented football team. “They were a good football team hitting on all cylin ders when we played them. We got off to a bad start and really never made a contest out of it.” Call it the Aggies’ “Game of the Decade. ” Or maybe decade and a half. The Cornhuskers are the highest-ranked oppo nent to travel to Kyle Field since 1983, when the sec ond-ranked Texas Longhorns throttled A&M 45-13. Senior linebacker Dat Nguyen was eight year’s old at the time. Also, the Aggies have not defeated a top-10 team since 1989, Slocum’s first year, and are 0-7 against top- five teams. Despite being an overwhelming underdog against Nebraska, junior quarterback Randy McCown said the Aggies are not as intimidated as they were last year. “[Last year] I don’t think we were as relaxed as we usually were,” McCown said. “We’re not building it up as much as we did last year. By doing that, I think the guys will come in a little more relaxed and play better.” Slocum, who constantly faces charges that he can not win big games, said he is relaxed and looks for ward to coaching against Nebraska. “I’m looking more forward to this game than if it was just some other team coming in here this week,” Slocum said. “Playing this type of game is really what it’s all about.” Nebraska has traditionally dominated the series against A&M, holding a 6-1 advantage. A&M’s lone win MIKE FUENTES/The Battalion Senior outside linebacker Warrick Holdman pursues University of North Texas quarterback Jason Attaway in A&M’s 28-9 win. Holdman is fourth on the team in tackles, with 32. He leads the team with two sacks. came in 1955 with coach Paul “Bear” Bryant at the helm. However, the Cornhuskers are not without flaws. Thanks to a porous secondary, giving up nearly 600 yards passing to Louisiana Tech, the Cornhuskers are 36th nationally in total defense. By contrast, A&M is 14th. Nebraska also showed chinks in its armor last Sat urday against Oklahoma State. It took a punt-return touchdown with less than eight minutes left to give Nebraska a 24-21 victory. Nebraska faces the possibility of playing the game with its third-string quarterback, former walk-on Monte Christo. The top two quarterbacks, Bobby New- combe and Eric Crouch, are hampered with injuries. If the Aggies are to defeat the Cornhuskers, they should thank home-field advantage. Not the crowd noise, but the grass. “I think most coaches would feel that option teams aren’t normally as good on grass as they are on As- troTurf,” Slocum said. “The cuts they make, the changes they make, the footing of Astro Turf is a lot better than it is on grass.” he user;!! the pi® Iheir mar ;er snowi ry good It ennis opens new facility against Nebraska vermani BY AL LAZARUS The Battalion he Texas A&M Men’s Tennis Team usher in a new era of Aggie tennis jhtat 7 p.m. when it hosts the Uni ty of Nebraska Cornhuskers in what be the first match played at the Texas I Varsity Tennis Center. We’re excited to get things going this ,especially with the new [tennis cen- ”A&M tennis coach Tim Cass said. I’ve had some time to practice at the courts, which is good because you iously want to feel at home when are playing at home. ” !ass said he is excited to be playing raska the night before the schools’ bail teams square off at Kyle Field. We’re very enthusiastic to get the ice to play Nebraska at this time,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll be pumped up, too. They will probably feed off the fact that their football team is ranked No. 2 in the nation.” Cass said the new tennis center and the expected crowds should help elevate Texas A&M to the premier status enjoyed by the nation’s top tennis schools. “We feel like the crowds here are go ing to be very beneficial to us,” he said. “We want to be able to bring a recruit in for a match, and have him see a full house, like a lot of the top teams in the nation always have. ” The Aggies made a big step toward becoming a premier team last season, when they finished No. 13 in the na tion. The breakout season included victories over two top-10 schools, Pep- perdine University and the University of Texas. The victory against the Longhorns gave the Aggies the Big 12 Tournament championship. Sophomore Shuon Madden, who will take over the No. 1 position for the Ag gies this year, said the team is looking to build on last season’s accomplishments. “This year, we’re looking to take things to a level above last year’s,” Mad den said. “Even though we did pretty well last year, we want to take this pro gram to a new level, and hopefully Ne braska will be a good start to our goals.” Madden said he and his teammates are looking forward to playing their first match at the new tennis center. “We’re all looking forward to it,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll get a lot of people in. It’s a great facility. The school did a great job constructing it. “Hopefully we’ll be able to take ad vantage of it throughout the season.” I >K 'E J inner Big 10 official named Big 12 commissioner MIAS (AP) — Kevin L. Weiberg, live Kansan who spent nearly a de as a senior Big Ten official, announced Thursday as the new nissioner of the Big 12. liversity of Kansas Chancellor Robert enway, chairman of the Big 12 Board rectors, said the board was unami- iinits decision to hire Weiberg, who 'd a three-year contract, luring the interview process he ex- ied innovative ideas,” Hemenway “And he has a broad range of ex- 'nce in financial operations, televi- contracts, the inner workings of ma- onferences, women’s athletics, and er equity.” 'eiberg said he was “delighted to have the opportunity.” “I think it’s a great and very competi tive conference, and I appreciate the con fidence shown in me by the presidents and chancellors,” he said. Hemenway said the board inter viewed both Weiberg and University of Virginia athletics director Terry Holland on Wednesday. Weiberg succeeds Steve Hatched, who resigned May 7 after he reportedly came under internal scrutiny for his treatment of league staffers, allegations he denied. Oklahoma State associate athletic di rector Dave Martin had worked as com missioner in the interim. Weiberg, a 42-year-old native of Antho ny, Kan., graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education from Kansas State in 1978. He received a master’s in athletics administra tion from Western Illinois the next year. His first job out of college was as sports information director at Wayne State College in Nebraska. He then spent 1980-87 as an athletics spokesman, as sistant athletic director and associate ath letic director at Wichita State. He was associate AD at the University of Maryland from 1987-89 before moving to the Big Ten as associate commissioner and chief operations officer. In that job, he was responsible for the league’s overall fi nancial and office management. Weiberg was promoted to deputy com missioner, second-in-command to Com missioner James Delany, last August. A&M volleyball team faces much-improved KU squad BY ABBY LITTLE The Battalion The Texas A&M Volleyball Team plays two underrated teams this weekend: the Univer sity of Kansas and University of Oklahoma. The Kansas Jayhawks have an overall record of 10-5, but are only 1-3 in confer ence play. They lead the conference in serv ing effectiveness. The Jayhawks are better on the road than they are at home, with records of 3-1 and 1- 3, respectively. That is a good thing accord- MIKE FUENTES/The Battalion Senior outside hitter Stacy Sykora spikes against Baylor. Sykora has 202 kills this year. ing to freshman setter Jenna Moscovic. “I think it’s good for us to have a team that can play on the road because some other teams have come in here intimidated and we don’t get to play our game,” Moscovic said. Kansas’ new coach, Ray Bechard, holds the highest winning percentage among col lege coaches at any level. He established the .923 winning per centage at Barton County Community Col lege in Great Bend, Kan., in 13 seasons. His expertise helped the Jayhawks play better than they have been in past seasons. “I think that they are a much-improved team, maybe stronger than we’ve ever seen them,” A&M volleyball coach Laurie Cor- belli said. “They aren’t the same team as the past. I’m impressed with what I’ve seen in terms of improvement.” Oklahoma is 6-10 this season, including a five-game losing streak. They lost two of their outside hitters who had been the core of their team for four years. Corbelli said she anticipates a hard-fought match. “I’m expecting a very, very tough match and a match that we’re going to have to be executing as well as we have,” Corbelli said. “I still think that they are looking and still working to replace those two studs they had last year on the left. They haven’t beaten a lot of teams yet that are highly ranked, so it’s hard to see how good they can be. I think they have some really good players, but I don’t know that they’ve put it together yet.” The goal is to become a stronger team, but not to overlook what they perceive to be two easy teams to beat. see Volleyball on Page 8. 1 Now Hiring Part-Time Positions UCS Inc. seeks candidates for the following open positions at our College Station office. • Technician Assistant • Customer Service/Help Desk • PC Support • Inventory Control We offer $6.00 per hour to start and real world work experience with opportunity for full time after graduation. To apply, call our Personnel headquarters: UCS Inc. 1-800-883-3031 3833 So. Texas Avenue, Suite 201 Metro Centre Bryan, TX http://www.ucs-systems.com UCS hires non-tobacco users only E.O.E. 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