8B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2007
VOLLEYBALL
Kansas loss to K-State drops team to 5-13 in Big 12
BY RUSTIN DODD
rdodd@kansan.com
Kansas sent Kansas State an early message on Wednesday night, and the No. 12 team in the country responded. With Kansas holding a one game to none lead, and leading 26-25 in game two, K-State was four points away from trailing Kansas 2-0 on its home floor. But K-State rallied to take the next five points, won game two 30-26, and parlayed that momentum into a 3-1 (21-30, 30-26, 30-14, 30-26) victory.
"Obviously a 2-0 game at the break would have been a lot better than a 1-1," Kansas coach Ray Bechard said. "But for;
really competed. We didn't always execute at the best time, but we competed hard and had some really good efforts out of some players."
Bedward was probably thinking of junior middle blocker Savannah Noyes, who led Kansas with 14 kills and a .400 hitting percentage. Noyes did most of her damage in Kansas' game one victory.
But the Wildcats stormed to a 7-1 lead in game two and tied the match at 1-1 with a 30-26 victory. K-State performed better in game three, dominating Kansas 30-14 to take a 2-1 lead.
K-State continued its torrid pace in game four as the Wildcats built
A kill from freshman outside hit ter jena Raiser cut the lead to 12-9, but K-State won the next two points and pushed the lead back to five points. A kill from senior middle blocker Natalie Uhart cut K-State's lead to 19-13, but K-State cruised from there, winning game four 30-26 and clinching the match 3-1.
"They lead the Big 12 in aces and they had 12 tonight," Bechard said. "We didn't seen that much short serve on tape. They would drive us back and then short serve us, and they really took us out our offensive rhythm. Even after game four we were convinced we could get it to a
more plays in the end then we did"
Kansas dropped to 12-16 and 5-13 in the Big 12 Conference, while K-State improved to 21-7 and 13-5 in the Big 12.
Freshmen outside hitters Karina Garlington and jenna Kaiser also put up good offensive numbers for Kansas. Garlington had 11 kills and Kaiser had 12 in the loss.
The loss was the third in a row for Kansas against K-State, and the second this season. Kansas fell 3-0 to K-State at the Horeksi Family Athletics Center on Sept. 12. The Jayhawks dropped to 34-55 all-time against the Wildcats.
STATE BRAGGING RIGHTS
The state of Kansas was well-represented in the volleyball version of the Sunflower Showdown. A combined 14 players - seven from each school - hailed from the state of Kansas.
UP NEXT: SENIOR DAY
Kansads returns home for its last home match of the season
JAYPLAY = 11.15.2007
people
Dance like a man
stopher Trepinski has been a dancer since third grade. Now, dancing has become a tool to reach his future. By Alaide Vilchis Iharra
*Com
*Free
*$300
*Invisal
of improvisation from the dancers. But even when improvising, every single movement has to be perfect.
Trepinski's love for dance began in third grade when he followed his sister's footsteps by taking dance classes. Since then, the hobby stopped being a way of imitating his sister and became a tool to reach his dreams of being a triple threat—someone who can sing, dance and act, in a Broadway performance. He plans to attend grad school to study voice and later work as a dancer on a cruise ship to save money to move to New York.
This is exactly why Ashley Benes, Trepinski's friend and classmate, says only students like Trepinski, who have passion for the art, survive the world of music and dance.
Today Dance has turned into something that can get him though a tough day.
"Dance has always been a great source of happiness for me, it has always been a release." Trepinski says. "For me, it's a way to embody my emotions through movements, letting it all out."
Trepinski stands in a studio with two men and six women waiting for rehearsal to begin. His black hair stands out from the rest of the dancers because he is taller than everyone else by a head. Every dancer scattered throughout the room begins to do a different sharp movement, It is completely silent in the room, all you can hear is the sound of the dancers' feet making contact with the black, rubbery floor of the dance studio.
The teacher walks to the stereo right before everyone flops down to the ground. The sound of classical music pours from the speakers and the dancers get up. Finally, the movements begin making sense with the rhythm of the music.
Trepinski makes sharp, yet graceful movements with his tall, lean body. He bends his back with one arm above his head, then his arms flail in a movement that seems uncontrollable as he folds his body in half leaving his head inches from the ground. Each movement seems accidental, yet his toes are always pointed, his back always straight, his posture always perfect.
But Trepinski struggled to get those movements to look perfect. Mandy Shrwise, the president of the University
Dance Company who has danced with Trepinski for three years, says one of Trepinski's biggest enemies when dancing are his feet. She says he doesn't have arched feet and arched feet are one of those things that if you have them, it's great, but if you don't it is really difficult to get them right.
In the rehearsal, however, his feet didn't look different from the other dancers.'That is one movement Trepinski has worked hard to improve. At the end of the day, says Shrive, what matters about dancing is how dancers treat each individual movement to be able to do a performance as a whole.
"Dancing is all about learning from mistakes and becoming stronger."
Trepinski has adopted that philosophy in his life; even in junior high when other male classmates would wait for him after his dance performances just to make fun of him being a male dancer.
Animosity toward his interest in "girly things" did not come only from his schoolmates. Although his immediate family supported his passion, he always noticed his external family would talk about his cousin's accomplishments in basketball or football with pride, while nobody ever mentioned his dance recitals.
Jerel Hilding, head of the dance department, says the stigma attached to male dancers is one of the reasons there are less male student dancers than female. However, he says, the number evens out when it comes to professional dancing.
Trepinski's response every time he mentions how he felt about being lumped into the stereotype that men shouldn't dance is the same:"It made me really angry."
He says he just doesn't understand why people waste so much effort on hating somebody for what they love. His response to those who didn't like what he did was ignoring them or at least brush off their comments.
"I really tried to make myself stronger from it and I really think I have." He says.
Both Benes and Shwise say Trepinski has become a more confident dancer and person since they met him.
"He is not one of those people who gets lost in the crowd," Bene says. "But maybe it's because he is so tall."
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