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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 2000)
'JoveniberJ, Wednesday, November 8, 2000 Oil Sports THE BATTALION Texas A&M guard Bernard King hit a jump shot with just 3-seconds remaining to seal A&M's iber of Aa 79-77 exhibition win against Australia's Team Ezybonds. King had 19 points on the night, has corneal A&M basketball wins first exhibition match of season By Jason Lincoln ' The Battalion The Texas A&M basketball team debuted a new look for a new season and started it off with a win. The Aggies played their first exhibition match of the sea son against Australia’s Team Ezybonds with shaved heads. It was a sign of unity between a young team looking for a new start. Despite having three starters from the ’99-’00 season si4e- lined with injuries, the Aggies were able to tap the source of anticipated newcomers to claim a narrow win over Team Ezy bonds, 79-77. Keith Bean highlighted the newcomers list, racking up 20 points before fouling out with just two and a half minutes re maining. Bean hit a clutch three-pointer with five seconds re maining in the first half to give A&M a 40-38 lead going into the locker room. Bean’s contribution at the low post position adds a new di mension to the Aggie offense, which was dominated by the guards in 1999. • “It was a great to have Keith playing with us,” said A&M guard and the team’s returning scoring leader Bernard King. “Now I have somebody to go to inside.” The game would stay closer than the presidential election all the way to the end with the largest margin being a mere six points. “There was a little confusion going on out there, being the first game,” said A&M coach Melvin Watkins. “But overall we got the job done.” A&M was able to take a slim four-point lead going into the final three minutes, but Bean fouled out with 2:34 re maining, leaving the Aggies without their leading scorer for the home stretch. Team Ezybonds came back to tie the game at the two- minute mark before both teams hit a lull for the next minute taking the game into the final 60 seconds in a tie. Ezybonds jumped into the lead with 58 seconds remaining as Dami Anderson cut inside for a layup. King answered 15 seconds later after an A&M timeout and the game was tied once again going into the final 15 seconds. Enter true freshman Nick Anderson and his defensive skills. The Aggies were wearing practice jerseys with the words “Defense Wins” on the back. That motto would prove true down to the wire. Anderson, playing on four fouls, made two huge stops in the final 15 seconds, blocking a shot by China Richardson from just 5 feet out and then forcing Richardson out of bounds on the ensuing throw-in, giving the Aggies one last possession. Despite the final defensive stand, the Aggies were not sat isfied with their defensive effort throughout the game. “We weren’t pleased with our defensive effort,” Watkins said. “It goes back to our practice that hasn’t been as quite as good because of the injuries and we actually had to play some See Basketball on Page 12. ss institiitii |§ Aggies look for home floor magic against ’Huskers cultyare\w Y g REE h olz Tlunities„ .. , , , 1 be Battalion T student' xperienai With its home-match winning :d reseat:: strea k 011 the line, the No. 24 Texas iolar,sain&M volleyball team will battle the he world . N°-1 Nebraska Cornhuskers tonight at G. Rollie White Coliseum at 7. brightScltiii The 'Buskers have maintained a th lookailio'P ei 'fect 23-0 record this season and irticular.lp are 15-0 in the Big 12. A&M is tied “It malestii for third place in the conference with id the suppoiii Kansas State and holds a 10-4 league [record and a 15-6 overall mark. “We’re really focusing on our im- rovement and what we need to do as a team,” said A&M coach Laurie Cor- belli. “Nebraska is such a net-dominat- g team that we have to also be able to be smart and powerful at the net.” Nebraska leads the nation in block average (4.04) and hitting percentage |.333). However, the Huskers have not on at G. Rollie White since 1997. _ The team is looking forward to fl| [facing them at home and we know Inatthe pressure isn’t on us to get an / Ipset,” Corbelli said. “We’ve got lothing to lose.” I Outside hitter Erin Gibson hopes lie Twelfth Man will be a factor in the match. 1 “We thrive on playing at home,” she said. “We always do better when the crowd is on our side. G. Rollie as been nice to us.” Nebraska returns five starters from last year’s squad that won the Big 12 Championship and advanced |b the third round of the NCAA tour- ■ament, but was defeated by the Uni- . yersity of California-Santa Barbara. wo The ’Huskers finished the 1999 season with a 17-3 league record and a 27-6 overall record. Sophomore set ter Greichaly Cepero was the Presea son Big 12 Co-Player of the year along with A&M setter Jenna Moscovic. Earlier this season, the ’Huskers swept the Aggies in Lincoln, Neb. A&M defeated Nebraska last season at G. Rollie White, 3-2, but lost in Lincoln, 1-3. Nebraska holds a 12-6 all-time series lead over the Aggies. The Huskers are led by middle^ blocker Amber Holmquist, who leads the Big 12 with a .434 hitting per centage and 1.96 blocks per game. Corbelli said the team is trying not to focus on the 28-match home win ning streak, but wants to focus on playing to its full potential. “The streak is nice and it’s fun in terms of our wins at G. Rollie,” she said. “But it’s not going to last forever. For Nebraska, it’s hard to stay un defeated all year, and they have to perform their very best, and that’s a lot of pressure.” Middle blocker Heather Marshall said the team is ready for the match and does not plan to hold anything back. “We’re ready for a big match,” she said. “We really want to win it and get all those emotions out and play that fun game again.” Outside hitter Michelle Cole said the team has to play with confidence in order to be successful. “It’s going to take six players playing at the highest level,” she said. “Everyone on the court is going to have to bring their best game.” Moscovic sets the stage for A&M's biggest upsets Texas A&M setter Jenna Moscovic has been a focal point in every ma jor A&M upset in the past two and a half seasons. Tomorrow night she looks to add another top team, Nebraska, to her kill list. By Jason Lincoln The Battalion There is one on every team — a player who sets the tone for the en tire unit. But some are better than others, and when it comes to volley ball, not many can top A&M setter Jenna, Moscovic. With No. 1 Nebraska entering G. Rollie White Coliseum tonight, the Aggies will look to their veteran set ter, who has been a part of every ma jor A&M upset in the last two seasons. Moscovic started at A&M three seasons ago as a true freshman. Since then, she has been on the floor to de feat Nebraska twice at home, help lead A&M to first the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament in 1998 and then to the Elite 8 in 1999 after defeating national title favorite Hawaii on its home court. Now the Aggies will put a 28- game home winning streak against the best team in the nation. Accord ing to A&M coach Laurie Corbelli, every big game starts with the setter, Moscovic. At least that is one area A&M can have confidence in. Moscovic has become one of the country’s best at her position by being one of the most consistent. Her repu tation and performance as a freshman and a sophomore earned her Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year Honors. “She is so physical, a great court demeanor, very steady and really works on not showing when she’s real high or real low and that is a real steadying factor for our team,” Cor belli said. “With all her years now be hind her, she has become one of the top setters in the nation. She’s really a joy to coach.” So far this season, the All-Amer- ica candidate is making an impres sive bid as one of the best. With still a season and a half to go in her career, she became only the fourth player in A&M history to sur pass the 3,000 assist milestone. On Oct. 18 against Texas, Moscovic posted 88 assists to set the school sin gle-match record. Everything A&M does offensive ly revolves around Moscovic. When she is in a groove, the whole team plays well. “It’s like a quarterback who’s overthrowing or underthrowing and is out of sync, you have to make a change,” Corbelli said. “Very rarely does that happen with Jenna, but she’s only human and occasionally she is a little out of sync. ... But it’s See Moscovic on Page 12. posters • unique aggie t-shirts • framed art • texas a&m caps and visors your source for Aggie fashions that won't leave you broke. POST OAK MALL 764-4444 Ags ready forSooners G oing down to the wire against an unranked team that lost its last five games is not the best way for a football team to prepare for a matchup with the best squad in the country. This is exactly what Texas A&M did last week against Oklahoma State while waiting for its chance at Oklahoma. But the Ag gies’ atti tude at Tues day’s media luncheon showed that the Aggies could care less about their performance against the Cowboys anymore. To a man, the A&M football team was businesslike and con trolled. No trash talking, no wild predictions —just quiet confidence and an eagerness to get to work. “Guys have been talking about the OU game since before we even played Oklahoma State,” said out side linebacker J.ason Glenn. “We all realize how important this game is to our season and the school.” The backdrop for this game could not be scripted better for the 2000 seniors. In their last game at Kyle Field, the seniors have an opportunity to go out by beating the consensus No. 1 team in the country, a feat no Aggie team has accomplished in school history. See Notebook on Page 12. LITERACY VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA STUDENT LLEH. Change YOUR World! i/I 800.777.0112 I STA TRAVEL I Book your tickets online @ uvuvin/.statravel.com