SPORTS REPORTER

Although head coach Pete Waite and his NIU Huskies dished out yet another devastating loss to ISU, Redbird head coach Julie Morgan is still in possession of one thing Waite desperately needs—this season’s ISU-Penn State game film.

Morgan sat calmly, apparently undisturbed, at yesterday’s post-game conference as she discussed how NIU was able to overcome, for the second time in less than a month, a seemingly insurmountable Redbird lead escape at the hands of NIU.

As she exited the conference behind senior outside hitter Kim Nelson and setter Juli Schmidt, she left behind but one utterance after her team’s short lived dream of returning to the Sweet Sixteen.

“Don’t forget one thing,” she reminded everyone. “We’ve got the tape on Penn State.”

Waite will have until Saturday to savor in the joy of winning his first NCAA Tournament game, but will need the game film much earlier if his hopes are high on defeating a 27-3 Penn State team.

“Julie and I talked already, and we’ll be talking tomorrow quite a bit,” Waite said. “That’s one thing, we’re good friends and I respect her program a lot. I really didn’t want us to meet in this matchup just because one of us had to lose. She’s got a great program but she’s gonna help me out with some scouting on that team.”

The game film in question is from an Oct. 16 match at the Redbird Arena earlier this season in which the Nittany Lions rolled right through ISU in the first two games, but barely squeaked by in the final game as they defeated the Redbirds in front of 4,008 disappointed fans by scores of 15-7, 15-4, 17-15.

With only this game film to assist them in next Saturday’s match, both the media and the Huskies are turning to the Redbirds for answers and comparisons.

“Both teams are really good and like Julie said, both teams are well-rounded,” Nelson said. “I don’t know if it will go five, but it will be a four-game match. I can’t predict who will win but I think it’s going to be an all-out battle like it was tonight, with 16-15, 15-13 scores.”