Novemh:
ridly, November 10, 2000
Sports
THE BATTALION
9 Aggies look to the sky
wMpurnamentpits Texas A&M against Golden Eagles
flits,]®* Brian Ruff 1 ■
the Battalion
13 WiBAftcr its 4-1 loss to the Big 12
dedea "lampion Nebraska Cornhuskers
as weekend in San Antonio, the
d studei sjo 9 Texas A&M soecer team (17-
longsidfj) looks to rebound on Sunday
■■en it hosts the second round of
:tognii|e 2000 NCAA Soccer Tourna-
hebeauimlnt at the Aggie Soccer Complex,
edfeMThe Aggies will take on the
uchikwh-ranked Marquette Golden
lilgles.
nlineorBMarquette (20-2-1) advanced to
sor mi* second round with a 2-1 double
ass tf: overtime victory over Wright State,
sedby*Marquette was led by forward
n pet' Bite Gordon, who ended the game
i, dire, with a shot past the Wright State
stanceLgoalkeeper 109 minutes into the
match. Marquette won its second
nteme isti light Conference USA title last
inceeu.l
weekend in St. Louis with a win
over Cincinnati.
Gordon’s game-winner, her 16th
goal of the season, was also her
fourth game-winning goal in a row
and third in overtime.
In 1999, the Aggies were defeat
ed in the third round of the NCAA
tournament by the same team that
sent A&M home early in 1998 —
the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Coach
G. Guerrieri’s team advanced to the
Sweet 16 for the second time in the
team’s history in 1998.
“The team had to scratch and
fight for every single win, and
they’ve done it,” Guerrieri said.
“Now we ask them to step it up and
understand that now, if we lose, we
go home.”
Forward Heather Ragsdale leads
the Aggies with 14 goals and nine
assists on the season, accumulating
37 points.
Midfielder Kristen Strutz also
continues to contribute to the Ag
gies’ offensive pressure. Strutz,
who was named to the Big 12 Con
ference All Tournament Team, is
second on the team with 11 goals
and nine assists.
Goalkeeper Esther Thompson
will look to add to her 5.5 shutout
total against the Golden Eagles.
Should the Aggies defeat the
Golden Eagles and advance to the
Sweet 16 this Sunday, they will face
the winner of the Southern Califor
nia/UCLA matchup.
A&M finished second in the reg
ular season and took second in the
Big 12 tournament.
Kickoff for the A&M/Marquette
matchup is set for 1 p.m. Sunday.
BERNARDO GARZA/The Battalion '
Aggie forward Heather Ragsdale and midfielder Kristen Strutz will be face the Marquette Golden Ea
gles Sunday in the NCAA Soccer Tournament at the Aggie Soccer Complex.
Cross country teams ready for NCAA run
After Saturday meet, Aggies could advance to national match in November
lasses
ne.'BidV Diane Xavier
ere nil l Tilt' Battalion
in?,®®® Mtet fAUvAg, \2 CYrampi-
ay willifliships, the Texas A&M cross country teams are
icanrt ready to prove themselves in the NCAA South
I with Central Regional Championship Saturday morn-
(ieaK ingat North Tex^ts in Denton.
I The women’s 6-kilometer race will begin at 9
] ass s ec am. and the men’s 10k will begin at 10 a.m.
entankl 5 The event will mark the squads’ biggest meet
of the season, as it determines which teams will
Bualify for the the NCAA Cross Country Champi-
1^, pnship Nov. 20 in Ames, Iowa.
Website® The top two teams and the top four finishers
who are not on the top two teams will advance
to nationals.
I J A&M coach Dave Hartman said the 24th-
~ Tanked women’s team, coming off of its strongest
leasonever, expects to challenge 1 Ith-ranked fa
vorite and defending champion Arkansas for the
■tie. The team anticipates making its first NCAA
championship appearance .
I “We’ve trained for this particular match all
iyear long,” Hartman said. “We did have an off
lay at the Big 12 meet in Boulder. However, we
I ■ere up against some of the toughest competition
| the nation.”
E Hartman said that the Boulder race prepared his
|uads to perform their optimum best at regionals.
“I think the South Central Regional competi
tion will not be as hard as the Big 12 contest,”
Jartman said. “There are not as many strong teams
we have to go up against.
“Also, we are more familiar with the course we
running on, which is to our advantage, ” he said.
A&M is favored to battle third-ranked Texas
hristian for an automatic berth based on the
am’s season performance.
BERNARDO GARZA/The Battalion
Brandon Beasley and the men's cross country team will compete Saturday in the NCAA
South Central Regional Championship, and can then advance to the NCAA Championship.
“I believe our squad is better than TCU, despite
their ranking in the South Central Regional polls,”
Hartman said. “TCU has raced against a lot weak
er teams than us, whereas we’ve run against the
best and toughest.”
The men’s team, which has struggled this sea
son, will attempt to make its second straight ap
pearance at nationals.
“I know our guys are ready despite our sub-
par performance in other meets,” Hartman said.
“We’ve been training for a 10k all year, which
this race is, whereas other squads haven’t.
“If we run like we are capable of, we can fin
ish second or third,” he said.
“Our toughest competition will be against the
University of Texas,”
THE LOUDEST YELL
CHALLENGE: Guinness Wrid Record
for loudest outdoor stadium sports crowd
Be at the Texas A&M/Oklahoma game
this Saturday to add your voice
to a new record!
BRANDON HENDERSON/The Battalion
Ags set for Iowa State
By Bri e Holz
The Battalion
After a heartbreaking loss to
No. 1 Nebraska on Wednesday, the
Texas A&M volleyball team will
try to get back into the win column
when it takes on Iowa State Satur
day at the Hilton Coliseum in
Ames, Iowa. First serve is set for
7 p.m.
The No. 24 Aggies posted their
second loss in a row against Ne
braska for the first time since 1998.
The loss broke the Aggies’ record
28-match home winning streak.
“We can take a lot away from
the loss,” said A&M coach Laurie
Corbelli. “We were backing off
from our attack, not wanting to
make the error. We have to get bet
ter offensively against the better
teams and put more balls away.”
The Aggies sit in fourth place
with a 10-5 Big 12 record, while
Iowa State remains in last place,
with a 0-16 record. The Cyclones;
were defeated by Colorado oft
Wednesday, while Nebraska re-,
mains at the top of the league. ;
In 1999, Iowa State finished in.
last place in the league with a 1-;
16 record.
The Aggies hold an. 11-1 all-!
time series record and have not lost;
to the Cyclones since 1989.
The Cyclones’ middle blocker!
Stacy Nicks leads the team with;
1.02 blocks per game.
A&M middle blocker Heather;
Marshall said the loss at home-
helped the team realize that it cannot
let the crowd be its only motivation.
“We can’t rely on the energy from
the crowd; we need to rely on our
volleyball,” she said. “The external
factors won’t always be there!”
See Volleyball on Page 8.
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