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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2012
CLUB SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Racquetball Club wins second place in St. Louis matches
RYAN SCHLESENER
rschlesener@kansan.com
The KU Racquetball Club competed against itself for a first place finish in St. Louis last weekend.
Eight of the club's 30 members traveled to St. Louis for the Missouri Pinchshot tournament and came back with both individual and team success.
Out of the eight teams, including the University of Arkansas, University of Missouri and Saint Louis University, the club finished second, losing only to Missouri, which brought a team nearly twice its size.
Along with the team's success, players did well in singles and doubles tournaments throughout the weekend.
On the men's side in the singles competition, Justin Heaton, a freshman from St. Louis, edged out John Frisch, a graduate student from Roseland, N.J., for first place. Frisch finished second.
In the women's singles bracket,
Hannah Hindman, a senior from St. Louis, finished first. Hindman is the president of the club.
Along with singles success, the women's doubles team, consisting of Hindman and Erin Hoffmann, a freshman from Kirkwood, Mo., finished second.
Hoffman said she felt great about the performance.
"Even when I lost to more challenging opponents, I felt like I gained a lot of experience," she said.
Heaton said he was very encouraged by the team performance as a whole and happy with the way his teammates helped him out throughout the weekend.
"It helps at tournaments to have teammates watch you play," he said. "They can tell你what to do better and how to get that competitive edge on your opponent."
The racquetball club will travel to Overland Park for the 2012 Kansas State Open & Regional Racquetball Championships from April 20 to April 22.
Want to join the fun?
If you are interested in joining the KU Racquetball Club, contact Hannah Hindman at KUracquetball@gmail.com. Visit http://www.recreationku.edu/programs/sport_clubs/ if you would like more information on this, or any other KU club sport.
Frisch said that now that the team has a coach, everyone is improving more quickly.
"To do better in tournaments, we just need to continue working hard during practice and focus on the nuances of the game," he said.
The team practices from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays at the Ambler recreation center and is open to all students, regardless of experience.
(Left to right) Stephanie Munger, Josh Frisch, Hannah Hindman, Eric Baum, Justin Heaton, Drew Kuchinski and Jarod Hart traveled to Saint Louis last weekend to compete in a racquetball tournament and took home the second-place team trophy. Members of the team also took home honors in singles and doubles competition.
CONTRIBUTED BY HANNAH HINDMAN
Edited by Ian Cummings
TENNIS
CHRIS NEAL/KANSAN
Sophomore Paulina Los approaches the net to score during her singles match-up against UMKC Tuesday night. Los and Monica Pezzotti are ranked No. 42 in the nation.
CHRIS NEAL/KANSAN
Sophomore Claire Dreyer competes in a singles match against UMKC Tuesday night at the Jayhawk Tennis Center. Kansas won. 6-1
Team builds confidence against UMKC
The Jahwhaws earned the doubles point early, as the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches were completed in half the time it took to finish the No. 1 match. Doubles team Monica Pezziotti and Paulina Los, who are ranked No. 42 nationally, needed a tiebreaker to take down Eva Dalvai and Laura Bouet, 8-7(6).
"I think after Hawaii, there was nowhere to go but up," sophomore Claire Dreyer said. "We've been practicing hard and everyone has been so positive and so confident in all of our abilities and talent."
Kansas bounced back from a poor outing at last month's Hawaii Invitational and rolled to a 6-1 victory against the Kangaroos.
cmihelic@kansan.com
UMKC had never beaten the Kansas tennis team going into the Jayhawks' first dual match of the spring season. And that didn't change Tuesday night.
In singles, Windom beat Bouet, 6-4, 6-1, while Los bounced back from her long doubles match to defeat Lisenby, 6-1, 6-1. Maria Belen Ludueña also won her first match as a member of the Kansas tennis team, finishing off Amslemel, 6-2, 6-0. Khanevskaya had the team's closest singles match—a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Schulte.
Dylan Windom and Victoria Khanevskaya routed UMKC's Suzan Lisenby and Amelie Amsallem, 8-0, while Victoria Khanevskaya and Dreyer defeated Gabriela Pintos and Madeline Schulte, 8-2.
The lone singles loss came for Monica Pezzotti, who fell to Dalvai after using an injury timeout when she landed on her wrist diving for a ball in the first set.
"I don't think [the injury] had anything to do with it," coach Amy Hall Holt said. "[Dalval] is a very talented
"It was a good confidence builder for the dual matches we have before conference play," Windom said. "I feel like these next matches are important for our confidence going into conference play"
The team will play three home dual matches this weekend, starting Friday at 2 p.m. against the University of Texas at El Paso.
girl, and I think Monica is very talented. I think the hype of playing No. 1 in itself is a big leap for Monica."
— Edited by Corinne Westeman
BASEBALL
KU catcher named to conference first team
The college baseball blog Collegebaseballdaily.com named Kansas catcher and designated hitter James Stanfield to the first preseason All Big
12 First-Team.
Stanfield
Stanfield, a senior from Owasso,
Okla., hit for a .327 batting average last year with five doubles, two triples and two home runs. Last
can put the ball in play, striking out just 13 times in 129 plate appearances.
season was a huge improvement for Stanfield at the plate. In 2010, he hit just .238, 89 points lower than last season's average. He also raised his slugging percentage in 2011 from .262 to .460.
Stanfield has also proven that he
In three seasons at Kansas, Stanfield has started 96 games at four different positions. He has 45 RBIs, eight doubles, three triples and two homeruns in his career.
Stanfield spent the summer playing in the Hawaii Collegiate League for the Kamuela Panielos. He batted .488 in 43 at-bats with three doubles and a triple.
The Jayhawks open the season Friday at Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro, Tenn., at 3 p.m.
Stanfield becomes the first Jayhawk named to the list since Tony Thompson and Brian Heere appeared on the website's list before the 2010 season.
NBA
Pierce replaces Bird as Celtics' No. 2 scorer
- Max Lush
Pierce needed nine points to tie Bird's total of 21,791. He had seven points at halftime, then hit a 3-pointer with 10.23 left in the third quarter to pass Bird.
BOSTON — Paul Pierce passed Larry Bird for list. 2 on the Celtics' career scoring list, finishing with 15 points as Boston increased its winning streak to five straight with a 94-84 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday night.
Pierce nearly celebrated the milestone with a triple-double, coming up just short with nine assists and eight rebounds.
Reggie Williams scored 21 for the Bobcats, who lost their 12th straight despite staying within 11 points through the first three quarters. Cory Higgins added 20 points and Kemba Walker had 16 points and seven assists for the Bobcats
Rajon Rondo added 14 assists and 10 points, Kevin Garnett scored 22 and Ray Allen finished with 17 points.
Pierce still has a ways to go to become the Celtics all-time leading scorer. John Havlicek holds that mark with 26,395 points.
Pierce knew he had it, raising his arms as Boston fans gave him a standing ovation. The applause lasted for several minutes as teammate Garnett waved the crowd on for more.
The outcome never seemed in doubt and fans focused on Pierce making history for a franchise loaded with it. There was no announcement — or need for one — as everyone seemed to know what Pierce's shot from the top of the key meant in addition to giving the Celtics a 48-40 lead early in the third quarter.
The official announcement finally came during a time out with 5:14 left in the third and Pierce went to mid-court, blew a few kisses and bowed during another round of applause.
Associated Press
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