GUY ROGERS/The Battalion
|or wide receiver Chris Taylor eludes a tackle against Louisiana Tech
ersity. Taylor caught a school-record 96-yard pass last weekend.
aylor provides Ags
ith big-play threat
BY DOUG SHILLING
The Battalion
pr years now, the Texas A&M
Football Team has been looking
for a game-breaking receiver.
Hie one person who can stretch a de-
Ke and keep things honest for the
■ning game. The Aggies may have
iilHlly found their guy — although it
; oBk converting a former quarterback
to find him.
■While at Madisonville High
3!!f«ool, junior wide receiver Chris
ba®lor shined as quarterback and de
fensive back. When it came time for
college, however, he wanted a
cfcnge. While he could have gone to
■another school to play quarterback,
fTavlor wanted the chance to play
r -wide receiver.
?.\«When A&M football coach R.C.
Slocum and offensive coordinator
'1,(1 Steve Kragthorpe gave him the op-
diMrtunity, Taylor jumped at the
chance to be able to play wide re
ceiver and stay close to home.
"Being from Madisonville was
probably the most influential factor
in me deciding to come to A&M,”
Taylor said. “I could have stayed at
quarterback and went to Rice, but I
thought it was time for a change. I
wanted to see if I could play receiver.
1 came to A&M and coach Slocum
gave me the chance to play receiver,
and I wanted to make the most of it.”
Taylor has definitely made the
most of his switch to receiver. At a
position that is very deep with play
ers like Chris Cole, Leroy Hodge, Matt
Bumgardner and Bethel Johnson,
Taylor seems to have a knack with
coming through when the Aggies
need him the most.
Last year, although he had not had
a catch up until the game against the
University of Nebraska, Taylor made
see Taylor on Page 10.
Sports
:
Page 9 • Thursday, September 23, 1999 •
Volleyball downs
Tigers in 3 games
JR BEATO/Thk Battalion*
Senior outside hitter Summer Strickland spikes the ball against the
University of Missouri last night at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
BY BREE HOLZ
The Battalion
With smiles on their faces and
nonstop giggling, the Texas A&M
Volleyball Team quickly disposed of
the University of Missouri Tigers 15-
0, 15-8, 15-6 last night at G. Rollie
White Coliseum.
"We just had a good time,” senior
outside hitter Summer Strickland
said. “We kept playing our game,
and we put it on them like we’re sup
posed to.”
A&M posted a phenomenal .765
hitting percentage in game one with
four kills apiece from Strickland and se
nior middle blocker Amber Woolsey.
Strickland recorded her first kill
on the game’s first point. Kills by
sophomore outside hitter Michelle
Cole and Woolsey moved the score
to 4-0. Sophomore setter Jenna
Moscovic, Woolsey, and Strickland
proved unstoppable the rest of the
game, and a block by Woolsey end
ed the first game.
The second game began much
like the first with the Aggies taking a
commanding 5-1 lead. But A&M mis-
cues tied the game at 5 and A&M vol
leyball coach Laurie Corbelli took a
timeout. The Aggies regrouped and
two kills from Cole and one from se
nior outside hitter Celia Howe would
eventually end game two.
The Aggies immediately jumped
to a 6-0 lead in game three with kills
from junior setter Claire Harvey,
Leahy and Howes. The Aggies con
tinued to build their lead with kills
from junior middle blocker Heather
McWhirter and Strickland. But A&M
lost momentum and the Tigers man
aged to score four straight points to
put the score at 10-5.
Corbelli called a timeout, and the
Aggies refocused and a powerful kill
on the ten-foot line from McWhirter
brought the match to a close.
“I think they were a little intimi
dated,” Corbelli said. “It’s a good thing
our team was ready to jump on them. ”
The Aggies crushed the Tigers by
smashing the all-time school record
for hitting percentage with .533.
Strickland led the Aggie attack
ers with 11 kills and posted .714
hitting percentage which is her
new career high.
Aggie duo heads to Clay Courts
BY BETH MILLER
The Battalion
FILE PHOTO/The Battalion
Juniors Dumitru Caradima (left) and Shuon Madden
are the nation’s top-ranked doubles team.
Batman and Robin could not out-muscle
them; Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson could
not outwit them. Not on the tennis court, at
least. Individually, they are juniors Dumitru
Caradima and Shuon Madden, the two high
est-ranked players on the Texas A&M Men’s
Tennis Team. Together, they are the top-
ranked doubles team in the country.
Madden said while he and Caradima differ
in playing style, they work well together on
the court.
“We complement each other,” he said. “I
like to compete; he is smart on the court. He
is more of the calm one on the court, and I am
the more fiery one. ”
The duo has been ranked No. 1 since Feb
ruary 1999 and is the first A&M pair in his
tory to achieve the top ranking. Their record
last season was 20-2 overall, and they
earned All-America honors from the Inter
collegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
Madden and Caradima will try to continue
their reign today through Sunday as they par
ticipate individually and as a doubles team in
the National Clay Courts tournament in Bal
timore, Md.
A&M coach Tim Cass said being ITA All-
Americas puts Caradima and Madden in role-,
model positions for the rest of the players on-
the A&M team.
“They have brought up our standard of
play for the team,” he said. “They have been;
called upon for more and more things as they
have gotten older, and they are measuring,
sticks for our players.”
Cass said the top 64 singles players in the!
nation have opportunities to participate in'
four events during each fall semester; this
tournament, a hard court All-America tour-;
nament, the Rolex national indoors tourna
ment and the NCAA championship.
see Tennis on Page 10.
' SC T1
’ firstal
more 50*1
2000?''
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U.S. MARINE
1st Row: April Burns, Gregory York, J.B. Pritchard, Geoffrey Womack, Megan Wright, John Webb
2nd Row: Christopher Collins, Travis Patterson, Chet Fisher, Michael Rountree, Devin Mullen, Robin Walther
3rd Row: Nathan Wright, Christian Solomon, Gilbert Trejo, Jeff Thigpen, Peter Alandt, Capt. Jeff Daniels
4th Row: Jason Bragg, Paul Tong, Randy Farris, Andrew Kelemen, Andres Gonzalez, Ben Beach
Not Pictured: Daniel Loughry, Keith Wilson
U.S. Marine Corps Officer Selection Office 846-9036/0273