'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