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The Battalion Page 5 • Friday, November 7, 2003
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Slumping A&M falls to Nebraska Big 12
By Staff & Wire
THE BATTALION
Despite outshooting
Nebraska, 22-10, the Texas
A&M soccer team dropped its
Big 12 Tournament first-round
game against the Huskers, 2-1,
on Thursday in front of 692 fans
at the Blossom Soccer Complex
in San Antonio.
With the loss, the Aggies
dropped to 12-5-2 while
Nebraska improved to 12-6-1.
“This is very frustrating from
our standpoint,” said A&M
coach G. Guerrieri. “We have
had some losses that have been
hard to swallow this season. I
thought we came out and took
the game to them the entire
match. We have to put this
behind us and prepare for the
NCAA Tournament.”
Trailing 1-0 and running out
of time in regulation, A&M’s
| Becky Olsen
"A collected the
ball at the top
T- °f the 18-yard
| box and hit a
shot that
sailed over
i|A I N e b r a s k a
goalkeeper
guerrieri Brooke
Bredenberg
and dipped into the net to tie the
game with 2:30 remaining.
Nebraska midfielder Brittany
Timko scored the golden goal just
1:20 into the first overtime peri
od. Timko received the ball on a
diagonal cross over the A&M
defense from Ashley Carter on
the right flank. Timko raced past
the A&M defense and slipped the
ball underneath a charging Kati
Jo Spisak and into the net.
Nebraska took the initial lead
in the game’s 22nd minute on
tournament opener
Timko’s first goal of the match.
Jenna Cooper made a long
uncontested run down the left
flank and took a shot from the
left comer of the 18-yard box.
The shot caromed off the cross
bar and the right post to the feet
of Timko, who buried the ball
from point-blank range.
Despite the Nebraska goal,
the Aggies dominated play in
the first half, outshooting the
Huskers 14-3.
Of the 14 first-half shots,
Bredenberg saved four and the
Nebraska defense cleared
another off of the goal line.
A&M forward Cristina
Echavarry had a shot bang off
the crossbar.
The site and date of A&M’s
next game will be announced
on the NCAA Tournament
selection show Monday. The
show will air on ESPNNews at
3 p.m.
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Stoops says OU more prepared
John C. Livas • THE BATTALION
Texas A&M wide receiver Terrence Murphy hauls in a pass during A&M's win over then-No. 1 Oklahoma last sea
son. OU coach Bob Stoops said the Sooners are "fully aware" of what the Aggies will bring to Norman on Saturday.
By Michael Crow
THE BATTALION
After losing five of six games, the Texas
A&M football team rebounded with a much-
needed 45-33 home win over Kansas on
Saturday. While there might typically have been
some sort of celebration to follow, the Aggies’
upcoming opponent and remaining schedule
hardly afforded them the time.
During the remaining three weeks of the
2003 season, A&M has the country’s toughest
schedule, meeting three teams currently ranked
in the top-25. This week's matchup pits the
Aggies against undefeated and consensus No. 1
Oklahoma.
“(Oklahoma has) had some impressive
wins,” said A&M coach Dennis Franchione.
"They’re scoring lots of points. They’ve got
lots of playmakers. They’ve only let two teams
have over 300 yards. They deserve to be ranked
No. 1.”
The Sooners (9-0, 5-0 Big 12) were the coun
try’s top-ranked team last year when their
national title hopes were dashed by A&M in a
30-26 shocker. In the Aggies’ first-ever defeat of
a No. 1 ranked team, then-freshman Reggie
McNeal came off the bench to pass for 191 yards
and four touchdowns.
Oklahoma had narrowly escaped an upset as
the national No. 1 two years prior when they
visited College Station. Down 14 points late in
the third quarter, the Sooners rallied to a 35-31
victory.
This year, the Aggies (4-5, 2-3) will undoubt
edly lack the element of surprise. Oklahoma
coach Bob Stoops said his team will not be tak
ing A&M lightly anytime in the near future.
“Virtually the same Texas A&M group of
players came out a year ago and beat us there,”
Stoops said. “Our guys are fully aware of that.
So, we understand that we have to be on top of
our game and ready to play to continue to put
ourselves in a position to win a championship.”
The OU offensive attack includes a Heisman
Trophy candidate in quarterback Jason White.
The senior has passed for 2,842 yards and 27
touchdowns, while throwing only six intercep
tions. Largely behind his arm, the Sooners boast
the highest scoring offense in the Big 12 with
45.1 points per game and trail only Texas Tech in
terms of passing offense. Still, teams cannot sim
ply concern themselves with combating the
Oklahoma offense, as the Sooners also lay claim
to a defense that is arguably the best in the coun
try. OU is surrendering a mere 14.4 points and
245.3 total yards per game. By comparison, the
Aggies have allowed 33 points and 399.8 total
yards per contest.
Not surprisingly, the Sooners have been led
by senior linebacker Teddy Lehman, an All-
American and the 2002 Chevrolet National
Defensive Player of the Year. Lehman’s team-
high 73 tackles include eight tackles for a loss.
His 17 tackles for a loss last season were the
third-most ever in a long history of outstanding
Oklahoma linebackers. Lehman and the Sooners
See Sooners on page 7
Ag volleyball
trying to keep
focus vs. OU
By Blake Kimzey
THE BATTALION
In the waning weeks of the Big 12 conference
schedule, the theme for the Texas A&M volleyball
team is focus. Never are coaches more wary of a
cellar-dwelling team than late in the season when
so much is riding on the line.
Saying there are no bad teams playing volleyball
in the Big 12 really isn’t just the politically correct
thing to say; there really aren’t any bad teams in the
conference. A&M coach Laurie Corbelli isn’t kid
ding when she says losing to the University of
Oklahoma could be devastating.
Instead of preparing to take a day off against a
struggling team such as OU, Corbelli has her team
preparing for an all-out war.
“It is mentally preparing to perform and being
business-like that is so important, especially late
in the season,” Corbelli said. “I think this is the
time of the year where teams aren’t focused and
can get careless. Winning on Saturday is even
more important than a match against somebody
like Nebraska, because you have everything to
lose if you don’t perform well.”
Corbelli has reason to be suspicious that things
could go awry if her squad were to let up.
Sprained ankles and ACL injuries haven’t
derailed the Sooner volleyball team in the morale
department, despite its woeful Big 12 record.
When University of Oklahoma volleyball coach
Kalani Mahi pencils in his starting lineup against
the Aggies this weekend, he might be thinking about
how much his team has spent on Ace bandages.
After starting the season on an optimistic note,
the Grinch spoiled Christmas for the Sooners
three months early. A few weeks into their season,
the Sooners lost one-third of their starters to a
bevy of injuries.
“We got off to a very quick start in the first part
of the season,” Mahi said. “We felt really good and
then five or six matches into the season we lost our
number one middle blocker to an ACL injury, and
then we lost we lost a third of our starters in back-
to-back matches.”
When the Sooners limp into G. Rollie White
Coliseum Saturday, they will be as rearranged and
See Volleyball on page 7
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