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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 2003)
AGGIELI sday. September 24, Sports s Society will A Christian emy Evans at ? mation, go S ing of 3hner t rating with m 7:30 p.m.to showing of for $1 for stu- ups in the MSC jdicures and :tivities in the ion, call 845- off with a cul- A/orld of Islam" For more infer- nsa.tamu.edu, I The Battalion Page 5 • Wednesday, September 24, 2003 Aggies look for more consistency Sharon Aeshbach •THE BATTALION Texas A&M junior middle blocker Melissa Munsch goes for the kill against Southwest Missouri State. A&M hopes Jones and Munsch will continue to roll By Blake Kimzey THE BATTALION All-American senior middle blocker Monique Gerlach is like a needle in a haystack for the University of Colorado volleyball team. As one of just three upperclassmen on her team, Gerlach is somewhat of an enigma, surrounded by youth and inexperience. To be exact, 10 underclassmen pepper a Colorado roster which, battle tested at 9-3, will provide the foundation for a duke-it- out Big 12 home opener tonight for the Aggies. Colorado coach Pi’i Aiu likes to grumble about his team’s inability to close out games; however, Colorado has only surren dered three close matches, all of which came on the road. Youth and inexperience, he says, breed mistake-riddled matches in crunch time. “We need to leam to close games out because youthful mistakes are very charac teristic of this team right now,” Aiu said. “We let our inability to secure winnable matches show against Penn State and at Kansas.” Aiu, the most successful coach in Colorado history, isn’t shy about acknowl edging the talent of his young team. “However, despite our youth, we are as talented as we’ve ever been,” he said. The Aggies, by comparison, look much older with 12 players returning. A&M coach Laurie Corbelli knows that the demographic separation between Colorado and Texas will mean very little when the conference oppo nents square off. “Statistically, we match up very close with Colorado,” Corbelli said. “There is a very good chance this will be a long match because we usually go five games with Colorado. We should beat each other up for two-and-a-half hours.” The No. 25 Aggies will be looking to sophomore outside hitter Laura Jones and junior middle blocker Melissa Munsch to set the tone for an A&M squad still looking for consistency at its current 8-3 mark. After finishing fifth in the Big 12 last season and being ranked for the first time this year, the Aggies are looking to fortify their competitive stability within the Big 12 and beyond. Looking to Jones and Munsch, Corbelli said, is a formative start. “I've been pleased with the consistency of Laura Jones and Melissa Munsch,” Corbelli said. “But, we’ve been mixing up our system so much that it has been hard to find that consistency overall.” As the matriarch of a talented on-court group, Gerlach remains the epicenter of a team eager to ascend the ranks of the Big 12. Colorado assistant coach Jil Thomason said it will be mid-season by the time her team finally hits its stride. “1 think midway through the Big 12 sea son we will come together and show our full potential,” Thomason said. “Our girls look to Monique (Gerlach) to set the tone, who has been an outstanding four year starter for us. She leads by example.” Match time is set for 8 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum, and will be televised live on College Sports Television (CSTV). Clarett sues NFL to be eligible for 2004 draft By Erin McClam THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — Suspended Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett sued the NFL on Tuesday, asking a judge to throw out a league rule preventing players from entering the draft until they have been out of high scho for three years. Clarett, who rushed for 1,237 yards and led Ohio State to a national cham pionship as a freshman last CLARETT season, is not eligible for the draft until 2005 under current rules. The lawsuit, filed in federal court New York, claims the NFL rule violates antitrust law because it is separate from the league’s current collective bargaining agreement with its players union. “The rule is a restraint of ama teur athletes who were strangers to the collective bargaining process,” the suit says. A message left for NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wasn’t immediately returned Tuesday. When NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue was asked earlier this month if he thought the league could win such a lawsuit, he replied: "My feeling as com missioner is that we have a very strong case and that we'll win it.” Clarett was suspended from the Ohio State team for at least a year after an investigation deter mined he broke NCAA bylaws concerning benefits for athletes and lying to investigators. He claims it was “almost cer tain” he would have been taken in the first round of the 2(X)3 draft had he been eligible, and would have made millions of dollars in a contract and signing bonus. Clarett’s attorney, Alan C. Milstein, filed the suit a day after he met with NFL executives in Washington to discuss whether Clarett would be eligible for the 2004 draft. Aiello characterized it as “an exchange of views” and said the league would get back to them. He did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday. The lawsuit asks U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin to throw out the rule and declare Clarett eligible for the 2004 draft — or require the NFL to hold a special supplemental draft sooner. SPORTS IN BRIEF TCU asst, coach arrested for DWI FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — TCU suspended assistant coach Willie Mack Garza on Tuesday following his weekend arrest on charges of driving while intoxicated and failing to render aid to an injured person. Garza was arrested early Saturday after fleeing an acci dent in Forest Hill, a small city near Fort Worth, police said. Garza, who coaches corner- backs, wasn’t on the sideline when the No. 19 Horned Frogs win over Vanderbilt Saturday. TCU athletic director Eric Hyman said Garza is suspend ed with pay pending develop ments in the case. Hyman said he and coach Gary Patterson agreed that the suspension was appropriate. (ill have its .m. Contact ecreation to play games Peed 014 or send n.net Can you help us find these people? We’re trying to get the message out! T Melissa Albers Stephen Duncan Joshua Howard Jason Miller Chapman Shoop Traci Anderson Eva Dutton Theresa Hubley Matthew Miller Andrew Siegel Elizabeth Angrove Adam Earl Anne Huddleston Victoria Montemayor Raul Silva Kristen Avery Kent Early Michael Jacobs Elizabeth Morgan Jonathan Simpson Blake Barger Brittani Earp Rebecca Jacobson Sarah Morris Alexander Slaybaugh Cody Barnett James Edwards Lauren Johnson Chontel Mutschink Amber Smith Andrew Beckett James Engemoen Sheri Johnson Billy Jay Nelson Jonathan Sneed Dana Bergstresser John Farquhar David Jones Jonathan Norman Christopher Sohr Rebecca Blackmon Nicholas Feda Amgela Karnuth Joshua Noworatzky Rebecca Stahlman Steven Blackmon Kelli Ferrell Ryan Kerr Michael Nutt Scott Steffen Katherine Blalock Lindsey Petty David Kim Catherine Oberg Jerrod Strickland Alexander Brahm Sean Fox Jae Kim Bert Olah Kathleen Sullivan Sarah Brents Shaun Frederiksen Soo Kim Marisa Ordonez Leslie Tamborello Taryn Brown Johanna Freeman Katherine Knauer-Salinas Lauren Parker Alison Tanner Christina Buffington Ashlee Garcia Aubrey Kotlarich David Peletz Christine Tanton Scott Busing Kathryn Garcia Jennifer Kucherka Karl Petersen James Taylor David Byrnes Sarah Garrick Adrienne LaFleur David Polpelka Timothy Teague Charleen Cabler Blake Gerken Peter Lara Sommer Pool Lindsay Thurman Mark Caldwell Geoffrey Gideon John Lauderdale David Popelka Jerett Turner Danielle Calfee Molly Gittemeier Anna Lee Heather Powdrill Christina Upchurch Christopher Carter Amanda Glogowski Maria Lee Lindsay Priddy Seth Urbanek Esther Chen Allison Goter Christina Lundy Paige Priour Frances Varner Meredith Childs Jerilyn Gottshall Karington Lyle Mark Rand Kaitlynn Verret Caroline Christian William Gould Christopher Malhiot Alex Reeder Laura Wagner Jordan Coburn Stephanie Gunderson Kristin Martin Lauren Reynolds Meggan Walker Jason Coleman Kenneth Habitzreiter Scott Martin Catherine Roark Steven Watters Heather Conard Allison Hanson Christina Mathews Andrew Roberts Brittney Wehring Ryan Craig Nicole Harper Jane Mathews Courtney Robertson Leslie Weichert Tess Crider Lauren Hart Ashley McClellan Chance Robinson Jennifer Wickline Pamela Curtright Galen Hauth Jud McClure Lauren Rouse Kelly Jo Wise Alicia Dale James Helm Matthew McGowan Colbi Sanders David Witter Heather Davis Megan Helton Stephen McMillan Jilaine Sandlin Christopher Wood James Davis Marni Hemberger Joshual Meeh William Saunders Oliver Wu Kathryn Dickson Jaime Hinojosa Nicole Mendoza Michael Schoel Laura Zandstra Jarrid Dietert Julie Hollimon Erika Miles Lydia Schomaker Nicole Drannbauer Adam Holt Ashley Miller Laura Shinn JL IF See Friday’s issue of “The Battalion” for the message!! 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