The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, September 28, 2000, Image 9

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    Thursday, September 2i
Index: Section B
Sports 2B, 3B; World 4B; Opinion 5B
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Sports
Pa^e IB
THE BATTALION
A&M soccer taking on two
Aggies host New Mexico on Friday, visit Baylor Sunday
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Junior midfielder Michelle
Baylor Bears this weekend.
coDY WAGES/Th E Battalion
Royal and the Aggies face the New Mexico Lobos and
The Aggies have never beaten the Bears in Waco.^
By Reece Flood
The Battalion
The Texas A&M soccer team will try to
improve upon its 7-3 record in a non-confer
ence home game against New Mexico and a
road game against Big 12 Conference rival
Baylor this weekend.
The Aggies will host the New Mexico Lo
bos (5-5) Friday at 7 p.m. at the Aggie Soc
cer Complex. The Aggies said they can de
feat their non-conference foe, but know that
New Mexico is more than capable of coming
out of the game with a win.
“They’re a good team,” said junior for
ward Anne Tamporello. “We played them last
year. We ended up beating them, but they’re
one of those teams that, if we’re not on the top
of our game, they could snatch a win right
from underneath us.”
Sophomore forward Heather Ragsdale
said the game against a non-conference team
comes at a good time, giving the Aggies one
more game to prepare for a conference rival.
“I think New Mexico will give us a chance
to continue on with what we’re doing right
now,” Ragsdale said, “and help us get ready
for Baylor, which is a big conference game.”
The game against Baylor (4-4, 1-1 in Big
12) is a big one for the Aggies every year. Bay
lor has a 3-2 lead in the all-time series — two
of the five games, were decided in overtime.
Last year, the Aggies traveled to Waco and
lost a close one to Baylor, 1-0. On Sunday,
A&M will travel to Waco again for a 1 p.m.
showdown with the Bears.
Ragsdale said she enjoys the rivalry that has
developed between the two conference teams.
“It’s an ongoing rivalry,” Ragsdale said.
“They’re a good team, so it makes it more fun.”
The rivalry between Baylor and A&M was
cemented in 1997 when the Bears defeated the
Aggies in a controversial game at the Baylor
Soccer Field. A Baylor shot skimmed the side
of the net at the 23:46 mark in the first half.
It was ruled a no-goal and play continued
until the linesman and head referee stopped
play, discussed the shot and overturned the
original ruling, giving Baylor a goal. Regula
tion time ended with a 1-1 tie and Baylor went
on to win in overtime.
Tape reviews showed later the shot hitting
the outside of the net, proving the goal should
not have counted.
“Three years ago they had the ghost goal,”
Tamporello said. “Ever since then, it’s always
been a big game for us, every time. I’m sure
it is for them too.”
The players are not the only ones who rec
ognize the Baylor game as a big one. A&M
assistant soccer coach Phil Stephenson said
that playing in Waco will be a difficult chal
lenge for the Aggies, especially considering
none of the current members of A&M’s team
have ever won in Waco.
“It’s a huge, huge game,” Stephenson said.
“When we play up there, they have a great
home-field advantage. We expect to see their
best performance of the season. We have to
match it and beat it.”
Stephenson said A&M is prepared to trav
el, already having played tough road games
this season. The Aggies have defeated 7th-
ranked Hartford, 17th-ranked Harvard and
I Bth-ranked Florida all on the road.
“We’ve got some good road games under
our belt,” Stephenson said. “Basically we’ve
bloodied the team. The team is used to play
ing with hostile crowds, a field not like ours,
not eating at Jason’s Deli and those things.”
Ihallenge on tap for Aggie volleyball team
&M travels north to face the No. 1 Nebraska Cornhuskers
!y Bree Hqlz
e Battalion
As the Texas A&M volleyball team prepares
to go to war with the No. 1 -ranked University of
Nebraska, it is trying to focus on its own execu
tion and team unity. The fact that the Aggies
jbave never won on Nebraska’s home floor does
[not worry them.
I “It’s always a close game when we play
(there,” said senior middle blocker Heather Mar-
Ishall. “They’ve got a great crowd like we do, so
it’s always like playing in front of the 12th Man.
(Hopefully, we’ll rise to the occasion and get a
Win there.”
jf First serve is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday at the
Lincoln Center.
I Defending Big 12 champion Nebraska is cur
rently 11-0 (4-0 Big 12) and holds an all-time se
nes lead over A&M, 11-6. Last season, the Ag
gies defeated the Huskers at home, 3-2, but lost
to Nebraska in Lincoln, 1-3.
The Huskers return four starters from last
year’s squad that finished at 27-6 and 17-3 in
conference play. They advanced to the NCAA
tournament but were defeated in the third round
by the University of California-Santa Barbara.
A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said Nebraska is
a well-rounded team with experienced returners.
“They have a lot of size and athleticism, and
they are very smart players,” she said. “They’re
not up and down; they don’t lose a lot of points
at once, and they don’t make a lot of errors.”
Junior outside hitter Erin Gibson said the team
has to focus on itself in order to be successful.
“Our focus is on what A&M does,” Gibson
said. “We can’t be concerned with what Nebras
ka is going to do. We have to go out and play like
we have nothing to lose.”
Because of Nebraska’s strong front row, the Ag
gies have been working to improve their defense.
“Our blocking and coverage are big concerns
for us,” said junior outside hitter Michelle Cole.
“But as long as we do what we know how to do,
we’ll be all right.”'
A&M is not intimidated by top-ranked
teams. Earlier this season, the Aggies faced
then-No. 1 UCLA.
“We look at it as an advantage,” Marshall said.
“We’ve seen competition like this before, this
caliber of a team. It’s just a matter of meeting the
challenge once again.”
Corbelli said confidence will be key for A&M.
“As long as we strongly believe we can go in
there and beat them, it will happen,” Corbelli
said. “I’ve seen this team do some amazing
things, and I think defeating Nebraska could be
one of them.”
CODY WAGES/The Battalion
Freshman middle blocker Carol Price (left) and junior outside hitter
Michelle Cole (right) lead the Aggies to Lincoln for a showdown with NU,
£700
■ ' ''
4
Olympic Aggies
ft
eddl Watch
Third time not a charm: American sprinter Gail Devers,
favored to win the gold in the 100-meter hurdles for the last
three Olympics, will not get her medal for the third straight
Games. Devers tore her left hamstring in her semifinal race
Wednesday in Sydney.
Venus red hot: U.S. tennis player Venus Williams won
Olympic gold Wednesday in straight sets over Russia’s
Elena Dementieva. The win pushed Wiliams’ winning
streak to 32 matches, and she is only the second player
to win the U.S. Open and Olympics in the same year.
TV Schedule: Thursday, September 28, 2000
NBC:
•10 a.m. to Noon — Tennis, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Track
• 7 p.m. to Midnight — Equestrian, Track & Field, Gymnas
tics, Synchronized Swimming
• 12:41 to 2:11 a.m. — Basketball
MSNBC:
• 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. — Volleyball, Basketball, Soccer
CNBC:
• 5 to 9 p.m. — Boxing, Wrestling, Tennis
Heard’s dream still alive: Former
A&M sprinter Floyd Heard is still in
pursuit of an Olympic medal. Heard
qualified for the third round in the
the 200-meter Wednesday in Sydney.
$ Sykora set for next match: former
A&M volleyball player Stacy Sykora
and the CIS. team face Russia in a
| semifinal match on Thursday.
Gold Silver Bronze
USA
29
15
25
CHN
25
14
15
RUS
18
17
21
AUS
13
21
14
FRA
12
13
8
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