SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY. FEBRUARY 14. 1995
Women's tennis struggles
SECTION B
Team can't perfect doubles chemistry
By Robert Moczydlowsky Kansan sportswriter
Challenging competition and struggling doubles play became a recipe for disaster on the women's tennis team's weekend road trip.
The No. 10 Jayhawks traveled Friday to Williamsburg, Va., where they took on No. 26 William and Mary, After tying the match at 3-3, Kansas lost all three doubles matches. William and Mary won the match 6-3.
The tailspin continued on Saturday when Kansas remained in Williamsburg to face No. 15 Notre Dame. Once again Kansas tied the match with intense singles play and then collapsed during the doubles matches, losing 6-3.
"Iaccept fullresponsibility for what happened," Kansas coach Chuck Merzbacher said. "I really need to sit down and figure out the right combinations. We need some doubles chemistry."
Merzbacher made some subtle changes in the Jayhawk lineup on Sunday when the team traveled to College Park, Md., to take on Maryland.
The Jayhawks made the most of their new lineup with a 7-2 victory.
"That was a tough day for us," Merzbacher said. "We needed that win. We had a little different lineup, and we got some other players some experience."
Most notable was the switch made at the No. 2 singles spot, as Merzbacher tried to take advantage of the recent success of sophomore Amy Trytek.
"Amy's one of our hottest players right now," Merzbach said. "She's really gotten mentally tough lately. We need that to continue."
Merzbacher also tinkered with his doubles lineup against Maryland, pairing senior Nora Koves with sophomore Chessa Bieri.
Koves attributed the Jayhawks' doubles woes to inexperience and a lack of chemistry.
"I wouldn't say that we played badly this weekend," she said. "We faced good players, and we don't have that much experience in those situations. We need some doubles chemistry. We need to get comfortable with our doubles teams."
Koves, ranked No. 2 in the Rolex rankings, continued to dominate on the individual scene, winning all three of the weekend's No. 1 singles matches. She attributed her success to a relaxed attitude.
"I tried to have a little more fun," she said. "I didn't put any pressure on myself, and that helped me. I hope it continues to work."
Though the Jayhawks struggled as a team this weekend, Merzbacher said that he was pleased with his team's recent efforts.
"This team is so young," Merzbacher said. "I'd call this weekend a success because we needed some adversity to build a little character. We're playing well in singles, we just need to put it all together."
Kansas will have some healing to do before it travels to Chicago to face Northwestern on Friday.
Both Koves and sophomore Bianca Kerchoff are suffering from mild illnesses and are questionable for Friday's match.
"This weekend was like a dip in the fire," Merzbacher said. "Come tournament time, we'll have a team that's been through the bad times together. Now we just have to shut up and play."
INSIDE:
The Kansas men fell to No. 3 after losing at Oklahoma last week, and the Kansas women fell from No. 15 to No. 20 after two back-to-back losses over the weekend. Page 2B.
This week's Associated Press Top 25 men's and women's college basketball polls.
'Hawks tired of stinkin' in Lincoln
Kansas looks to break jinx of Devaney Center
At 7-foot-2 and 270 pounds, Kansas senior center Greg Ostertag doesn't scare easily.
But he doesn't relish the thought of playing in the Devaney Center in Lincoln, Neb.
By Christoph Fuhrmans Kansan sportswriter
"It's a tough place to play." Ostertag said. "The other team could not show up, and we'd still probably lose."
Tonight Ostertag and senior forward Greg Gurley will try to win their first game in Lincoln as Jayhawks.
Kansas has not defeated Nebraska in Lincoln since 1990 and the Cornhuskers' home court is the only place Ostertag and Gurley have not won in the Big Eight Conference.
Kansas controls the tiebreaker with Missouri because the Jayhawks already defeated the Tigers 102-89 in Columbia, Mo.
The No. 3 Jayhawks enter the 8:05 tip-off with an 18-3 overall record and a 7-2 conference mark, tied with Michigan for first.
Nebraska, 16-7 and 3-5, is sixth in the conference.
Ostertag said that he would like to win at least one game in Lincoln during his stay at Kansas.
"That's been one of my goals all year, to go there and get a win," he said. "For some reason, we haven't shown up there to play the last three years."
The last three years for Osterag and Gurley have added to Kansas coach Roy Williams' own streak. He has left Lincoln a winner only once as coach of the Jayhawks.
When the two teams met on Jan. 23 in Allen Field House, the Jayhawks shot 51 percent from the floor and won 84-67.
"I'd take those two percentages
and be a happy puppy on Tuesday night, i can tell you that," Williams said.
Nebraska has won its last two games, including a 100-86 thrashing of Colorado in Boulder, Colo. Nebraska junior guard Jaron Boone scored 31 points and made five of six three-pointers against the Buffaloes.
In conference play, Boone averages 17.2 points a game, and junior guards Erick Strickland and Tom Wald average 16.2 and 10.5 points respectively.
Tenight's game will be the first of three consecutive road games for the Jayhawks. Kansas still has to play at Kansas State and Oklahoma.
The road trip could prove to be vital to Kansas' chance of winning the conference, but Williams emphasized playing one game at a time.
Gurley said that he knew how difficult it would be to win, but that after three years of frustration, the Jayhawks were ready for a victory in Lincoln.
"Playing three in a row on the road like that is not easy," he said. "It will be a challenge for us, but unless they change the height of the basket and things like that I'm not concerned."
"It's loud and all red, and they have rowdy fans," he said. "I've never won there but I think we're ready. And we'll go up there and get a win."
Richard Devinki / KANSAN
Kansas sophomore guard Jerod Haase defends against Oklahoma freshman guard Prince Fowler. The Jayhawks' defense has been a key factor to their 18-3 season and their 7-2 conference record.
Kansas pitchers struggle in weekend UNLV series
Runnin' Rebels beat Jayhawks two out of three
By Tom Erickson
Kansan sportswriter
4
Losing two out of three games to Nevada-Las Vegas last weekend obviously is frustrating to Kansas baseball coach Dave Bingham and the No. 23 Jahwacks.
Poor preparation on the part of the coaching staff caused Kansas pitchers to give up solid base hits and walk too many hitters. Bingham said.
With the exception of junior pitcher Clay Baird, who won Saturday's game, Bingham said the Jayhawks' pitching performance was well below what was required to be successful.
"It was probably less than what we were capable
The UNLV hitters pounded out 36 hits off Kansas pitching over the weekend, 14 of which went for extra bases. The Jayhawks also allowed 21 walks in its three games with the Rebels.
earned run averages 1987-1994
of doing," he said. "We really didn't do the things we've done in the past to get the pitchers ready for their first games."
KU baseball
When junior Jami Spittert, the Jahawks No. 1 starting pitcher, struggled in the first game, Bingham said the coaching staff was wondering what the problem was. After the rest of the pitching staff struggled, the allement became a little more obvious.
the eighth to send Kansas back to Lawrence with a 1-2 record.
"We were surprised early on," he said. "As some of the others pitched, I could see that the whole team was affected."
Kansas junior pitcher Aric Peters, who started Sunday's game, said more outdoor practice time was needed to get the
Although Kansas was outscored by only three runs in the weekend series, both losses came by a 13-7 count. UNLV scored its runs in bunches, including a five-run third
Noah Musser/KANSAN
The Jayhawks' pitching nightmares returned Sunday following a 16-7 victory over the Rebels the day before. UNLV scored five runs in the bottom of
"... we haven't
inning and a four-run eighth inning in Friday's victory.
had much work against live hitting."
Aric Peters Kansas junior pitcher
pitching on track.
Peters gave up four runs and six hits in 32/3 innings against the Rebels. A junior college transfer from Seminole Community College in Sanford, Fla., Peters said the competition at the plate was about equal to what he faced last year.
"We're just not in mid-season form," he said. "With all the indoor practices, we haven't had much work against live hitting."
"There's not a whole lot of difference" he said. "They
swing the bats a lot more and were a little more aggressive."
To get better pitching for the Jayhawks' next series, the team must look closely at what mistakes were made on the mound. Bingham said.
Since arriving with Bingham in 1987, pitching coach Wilson Kilmer has seen the team's earned run average drop from 9.09 in 1987 to .426 last year.
Kansas will return to the diamond to face Arkansas this weekend for a three-game series in Fayetteville, Ark.
Improving the quality of pitching has been key in Kansas' rise to baseball prowess in recent years.
When Kansas played at the 1993 College World Series in Omaha, Neb., the pitching staff recorded a 4.05 ERA, the lowest mark during Kilmer's tenure with the Javahawks.
Having several young, inexperienced pitchers this season is a major challenge for Kilmer and Bingham to continue their statistical success.
"We have six freshmen and sophomores on our pitching staff, and we don't really know how they are going to respond," Bingham said. "They're going to have to pitch in some critical situations for us."
JAYHAWK BASEBALL
UNLV13 Kansas7
| | ab | r | h | rb |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 2b Kliner | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| cf Byrd | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1b English | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| c Wilmot | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| rf Igou | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| lf Turney | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3b Wilhelm | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| dh King | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| ss DeMarco | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| | 33 | 7 | 9 | 7 |
KANSAS (1-2)
ab r h rbl
2b Mosher 3 1 1 0
cf Vincent 4 2 1 1
1b Anthony 4 1 1 0
c McClendon 4 0 1 0
rf Crosby 5 3 3 1
lf Plughoff 5 2 3 4
3b Hankins 4 1 3 4
dh Wilkes 4 4 2 1
ss Kleiner 4 1 1 1
27 10 15 16
UNLV(6-3)
Kansas IP H H R ER BB SO
Peters 3,2 6 4 4 4 2
Williams 0.1 0 0 0 1 0
Rude 3,1 7 8 8 3 4
Terry 0.2 1 1 1 1 0
UNLV IP H H R ER BB SO
Garber 4,1 8 7 7 5 7
Oliver 3 1 0 0 3 2
LaRoza 1,2 0 0 0 3 3
E DeMarco DP Kansas 2 LOB Kansas
10 UNLV 9 KB King, Crosey, Plughoff
HR King, Hankins, Plughoff, Vincent,
SB Willey Tumney, Antoine, Krichya
Kleiner, Vincent CIS igou, McClien
don SH Meles Attendance 51.3
Next Kansas game:
Kansas in Fayetteville, Ark., 3 p.m. Friday,
in first game of a three-game series against the Arkansas Razorbacks.