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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 2002)
Sports MO III* for the call:: • ance to be a-' d* )t. 1 issic ept. 11 pc rsions of iWf/' t 11 attaoi *rs apportt- i and Dem The Battalion Page IB • Wednesday, September 25, 2002 blleyball team readies for red-hot Missouri By True Brown THE BATTALION I The Texas A&M volleyball team will have to avoid a potential land mine tonight when it takes on a streaking University of Missouri team in Columbia, Mo. ■ The Tigers, who have not lost a match ■ September, knocked the University of Texas out of the USA Today!AVCA top-25 pci I after sweeping the Longhorns in Austin last week. I The Aggies, meanwhile, are faced with their second straight road contest and are coming off of a five-game loss at Colorado. ■ “We weren’t asleep (in the Colorado match), but it sure came as a wake-up call,” said A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli. “A lot of that match, we really gave away on a silver platter. We did not execute like we know how, and we are going to turn that around. The team is even more motivated now. I’m expecting a much stronger performance.” I The No. 20 Aggies (9-2, 1-1 Big 12) slffered from mental mistakes and 10 service errors against the Buffaloes. I Serving has been a problem thus far for the youthful team. A&M has had more sirving errors than its opponent in seven of 11 matches. I Corbelli said this was because the Aggies are trying to apply immediate pressure to opposing defenses. “We’re trying to be aggressive,” Corbelli said. “We want to attack our serve. We’re encouraging the jump servers, but we’re still lacking some con sistency. It’s new to our team, yet it’s nec essary for us to get that more consistent. We’re trying to find a balance where we encourage our players to be tough, but it’s not an easy thing.” u Missouri... will have a loud band and a loud crowd. It’s kind of dark in their gyniy so it’s not quite as comfortable of a volleyball facility, so there might be a little of an effect. ’’ — Laurie Corbelli A&M head volleyball coach While the Aggies are experiencing some growing pains in the early part of the season, junior middle blocker Tara Pulaski has assumed a leadership role. Pulaski has been a steadying force in A&M’s defense, leading the team in blocks with a .93 block per game average and helping the Aggies out-block oppo nents 93-73. Pulaski led A&M in blocks against Colorado on Saturday and set a career high in digs against Kansas last Wednesday. “I have played behind some great play ers here,” Pulaski said. “The thing with this team is that we are really young, and it kind of fell on the shoulders of me and A.D. (Achilefu) to step into the roles that were left open by last year’s seniors to pull the team along. It’s kind of a natural role.” Missouri (11-1, 1-0) is 4-0 at the Hearnes Center this season and has lost only one game in those four matches. The Aggies are 1-2 in road contests. However, Corbelli said being on the road doesn’t regularly play a big role in A&M’s matches. “I think we’re not that affected (by the road),” Corbelli said. “If anything affect ed us in Colorado it was the thin air. Missouri, though, will have a loud band and a loud crowd. It’s kind of dark in their gym, so it’s not quite as comfortable of a volleyball facility, so there might be a lit tle of an effect.” The match is scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m. from the Hearnes Center. A&M junior Tara Pulaski attempts a block in the Aggies' match against Sam Houston State University. Pulaski leads the team in blocks this season. Cowboy’s Smith gets support from former teammates I IRVING, Texas (AP) — Michael Irvin believes good friend Emmitt Smith will need just five more games to gain 362 yards and become the NFL’s career rushing leader. R “God knows I hope so,” said Irvin, who won three Super Bowls in the 1990s playing with Smith and Troy Aikman on the Dallas Cowboys. || “Believe me, he’s frustrated. He’ll joke about it and say, ‘Y’all left me out here like this.’ But it’s hard to see him that frustrated.” ® Irvin, Aikman, Daryl Johnston and Jimmy Johnson — all of whom now work for Fox Sports — took part in a conference call with reporters Tuesday to discuss Smith and his pursuit of Walter Payton’s rushing record of 16,726 yards. Smith began this season, his 13th, only 540 yards away. Through three games he has 178, an average of less than 60 a game. At that rate, it would take him until the 10th game, Nov. 17 at Indianapolis. But his chase could get a boost because the three games prior to the Indianapolis game are against poor run defenses: at Arizona on Oct. 20, at home against Seattle on Oct. 27 and at Detroit on Nov. 3. The Seahawks game, the eighth of the season, was Irvin’s pick. “You never can tell for sure when he’s going to have a breakout game,” Aikman said. “But I guess it looks like the eighth, ninth or 10th game.” Much was made on the call about Smith no longer being surrounded by the caliber of team mates he once had. Johnston specifically noted problems with Smith's blockers, who are trying to learn new blocking schemes but have hardly practiced as a unit because of injuries. “I think right now the big question is not when he's going to have the opportunity to break the record, but when the offensive line is going to get healthy and play together.’’ Johnston said. Johnson also hit the collaborative effort theme. “A lot of great players can put up numbers and stats, but in order to have numbers plus win ning, you need to have the entire group,” he said. Aikman said he’s never paid much attention to records because numbers can be hollow. In this case, he appreciates what the record repre sents. “It indicates he’s been able to play at a high level for a long period of time,” Aikman said.’That’s what defines greatness. And, obvi ously, to break a record like this, that’s what you’ve got to do.” 1 due witt* 1 * g. final reptf* r that tied to exaw* gence posf-Se jcation of res# >f recommend* er congress#* probes include itions for >n of rticularly tho«' lartment ancu • )-.Mont mate-created e )be would lan a House is limited' 11 intelligent Senate pane Drity to look w enforcemen iation. LS. d't control and i®" with inielligt ial report woe i six montK rt within a y f; dations to f ;ks. > E) .m. icso ipsr TACOS ME, REE /02 Business Career Fair September 24-26 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday Wednesday Accenture KPMG, LLP Allegis Group Kohls AIM Funds Kroger Co. Amereda Hess Lucifer Lighting Allegiance Healthcare Kroger Co. American National Mann Frankfort and Stein Banc of America Securities Luby's, Inc. Army & Air Force Maxim Healthcare Services BP Energy / 1ST North America Marathon Oil Bank One Corporation McKesson Corporation Bridgestone / Firestone National Instruments Black and Decker / Dewalt Mervyn's California Career Center Northwestern Mutual Financial Network Career Center Northwestern Mutual Central Intelligence Agency Office Depot Cemex, Inc. Office Depot Chubb Group of Insurance Companies Pricewaterhouse Coopers Cintas Pappas Restaraunts C intas Randalls/ Tom Thumb Citigroup Payless ShoeSource Consolidated Graphics Royce Homes, L.P. Compass PKF Texas Dynegy Inc. RSM McGladrey, Inc/ McGladrey & Pullen LLP Conoco Randalls E&J Gallo Winery Ryan & Company Delloite & Touche Raytheon Enterprise Rent-A-Car Sears, Roebuck and Company DHL Worldwide Express Royce Homes Ferguson Enterprises Sewell Automotive Company Entergy-Koch Sears, Roebuck & Company General Accounting Office Sherwin-Williams Ferguson Enterprises Shell Oil Company Grainger Smith & Associates GE Capital Services Smith & Associates H.E.B. Grocery Company SourceNet Solutions General Accounting Office SourceNet Solutions Helzberg Diamonds Sprint PCS General Services Administration Study Abroad Hershey Foods Standard & Poor's Guaranty Bank Texas Instruments Hope Lumber & Supply Company Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Halliburton Toys R Us Iconixx The Expo Group HEB UCS Internal Revenue Services TXU Homecomings Financial United States Gypsum International Paint USAA Hope Lumber and Supply US Army Recruiting Battalion Houston International Study Abroad Program Walgreens Job Gusher USAA J.D. Edwards & Company Wal-Mart KBR Walgreens JC Penney Wells Fargo Thursday Applied Materials Automatic Data Processing Boston Consulting Career Center Delloite Consulting Duke Energy Easley Endres Ernst & Young Exxon Mobile Corporation Farmers Insurance Fastenal General Services Administration Hertz Corporation Hewitt Associates Hewlitt Packard IMG Financial Group JP Morgan Chase Kinkos Neiman Marcus Newell Rubbermaid Pepsi Bottling Group Protiviti Saville, Dodgen & Company Southwest Bank Sterling Bank Study Abroad Target Stores Texas Youth Commission Toys R Us UCS US Army Recruiting Battalion Houston Velocity VHA Wells Fargo Financial Receptions 7-9 p.m. @ (Sept 23) Cafe Eccell (Sept 24) Letterman Club (Sept 25) Clayton Williams BSC