THE UNIVERSITY DARY KANSAN
MONDAY APRIL 20.2009
SPORTS
3B
TENNIS
Jayhawks lose last two matches of regular season
Seniors Svistun and Horvath win singles, doubles matches against Texas A&M in last home competitions of their NCAA careers
BY JUSTIN HILLEY jhilley@kansan.com
Competing against Big 12 opponents No. 32 Texas and No. 35 Texas A&M, Kansas dropped its final two regular-season matches over the weekend, bringing their conference record to 4-7 and overall record to 10-12. The Big 12 Championship begins Thursday in Norman, Okla.
KANSAS CAREER RECORD
Jayhawk seniors Edina Horvath, who was recently named to the 2009 Academic All-Big 12 Women's Tennis Team, and Yuliana Swistun played their final two home matches of their distinguished NCAA careers.
Singles
Edina Horvath 63 62
Yuliana Svistun 66 44
Doubles
Edina Horvath 76 54
Yulian Svistun 44 49
Svistun said she wished she had more time to play for the growing KU squad.
that come next year we are going to do even better than this year and then I realize that there is no more next year for me."
Saturday's doubles action featured a victory by Kansas' Horvath and freshman Kate Morozova
"I feel very sad," Svistun said before Saturday's dual match against Texas. "And it is very hard to believe. Sometimes I still think
against the ranked Texas pairing of Vanja Corovic and Marija Milice, 8-3. But by that time Texas had already clinched the doubles point by winning at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions.
The Longhorns were relentless in the singles round as every match was won in straight sets, except at the No. 2 position where Morozova was able to take Krista Damico to three sets before losing 6-2, 5-7, 10-8. Texas defeated Kansas 7-0 in the dual match.
Svistun and Horvath were honored on Senior Day Sunday. Devoted fans gave bouquets of flowers and recognized their outstanding achievements, such as
Swistun's four consecutive winning seasons.
Sunday's 6-1 dual match loss to Texas A&M included some success from Kansas. The KU doubles pair of Horvath and Morozova was able to win its match, 8-6, but the Aggles still took the early doubles point. Swistun was the only Jayhawk to pull out a victory in the singles competition, winning in a third-set tiebreaker 10-1.
Coach Amy Hall-Holt talked about Horvath and Svistun's careers after Sunday's dual match.
"Edina has always been a top competitor," Hall Holl特. "She
puts her heart and soul out there. It was a tough role that I had her play at No. 1, but she fulfilled the role as a senior. I was really happy with how she ended her regular season."
Hall-Holt said that watching Swistun play during the past four years has been "a learning experience" for her.
"The girl couldn't even volley when she got here." Hall-Holt said. "And now she's playing No. 3, and she's got one of the best records on the team. I'm really proud of both of them. They strive for excellence and it shows."
PGA
— Edited by Grant Treaster
Brian Gay wins Verizon Heritage by 10
BY PETE IACOBELLI Associated Press
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C.
— Brian Gay put on a record-setting show at the Verizon Heritage. And this time, he didn't have to share the spotlight with anyone.
Gay shot a 7-under 64 Sunday to win at Harbour Town Golf Links by an astounding 10 shots. He broke the 13-year-old scoring record, finishing at 20 under 264 on the way to his second PGA Tour victory.
"Just another unbelievable day!"
Gay said.
There have been many more of them the last two years for the former Florida Gator, who remains the only player to win two Southeastern Conference championships.
But finding golf success has been a struggle for the 37-year-old, who did not break through for his first victory until his 293rd start in February 2008 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico.
Bad luck for Gay, that triumph came the same weekend Tiger Woods' finished off the field at the
World Golf Championships' Match Play event.
"Yeah, it's a bit of validation." Gav said.
And perhaps one of the PGA Tour's more dominating performances.
He had the tour's largest margin of victory since Phil Mickelson won the 2006 BellSouth Classic by 13 strokes.
Gay bested Loren Roberts' mark of 19 under in winning the 1996 Verizon Heritage. Gay's 10-shot edge over Luke Donald (66) and Briny Baird (68) shattered the seven strokes five-time champ Davis Love won by in 1998.
Besides a $1,026 million first prize, Gay earned a spot in next year's Masters, something he also didn't get with the Makakoba victory. It will be his first time at Augusta National.
"I've had a lot of heartache not getting in that tournament, winning (and) not getting in, and missing by one spot on the money list two times," he said. "I just figured, who cares? What's going to happen
is going to happen, just go play golf"
Gay moved into the lead Friday and carried a three-stroke margin over Tim Wilkinson into the final round. Gay's game plan? Don't do what he did at Mayakoba, holding on despite some passive, wait-for-pars play.
"I told myself to keep my head down and keep plugging along," Gay said. "I didn't watch any (leader) boards. I didn't watch anything."
Soon enough, Gay was out of sight of the field.
He essentially wrapped things up two holes into the round — and never gave the chasers a chance to climb back in.
Gay struck his approach to 10 feet on No.1 for a birdie to increase the lead to four. A hole later, he rolled in a curling, uphill 57-footer for an eagle-3, raising his putter as the ball disappeared into the cup.
Playing partner Wilkinson, facing a 10-footer for birdie, never had a chance with the cheers for Gay still in his ears and the margin
increased to six shots.
A birdie on the par-5 fifth gave Gay a seven-shot edge that no one could dent.
Gay moved into the lead Friday with a run of five straight birdies and continued his precise, accurate play throughout. He made only two bogeys — one Friday and one Sunday — and bettered Roberts' low of three bogeys for the 1996 tournament.
The tour began keeping hole-by hole scoring records in 1983.
"I'm happy for the guy. He's playing phenomenal," Baird said.
The only back-nine drama was if Gay could break Roberts' scoring mark. It looked dicey when Gay posted a bogey on the 12th hole to fall back to 17-under.
Surely, with a large lead and victory all but wrapped up, Gay would pull back a bit the rest of the way.
Not this time.
Gay regained the lost stroke with a birdie on the next hole, then matched Roberts with a birdie on the par-5 15th.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brian Gay acknowledges the gallery on the eighth hole after making birdie during the final round of the Verizon Heritage golf tournament Sunday at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island. S.C.