8B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TENNIS
Jayhawks' stronger season leads to sweeping UMKC, 7-0
BY JUSTIN HILLEY ihillev@kansan.com
The Jayhawks earned another dual match sweep, 7-0, of UMKC on Sunday.
In a total of three meetings, the Jayhawks have never dropped a dual match point to the Kangaroos. KU has an overall record of 5-3, and Big 12 action begins March 13.
The Jayhawks have improved over last year's record of 3-5, after eight matches, but are not getting complacent. Kansas coach Amy Hall-Holt said she likes the attitude of her team.
"I think the girls are setting goals for themselves, and we're finally getting comfortable, but we can't just be comfortable," Hall-Holt said. "We've got to keep working hard in practice and taking the right steps forward."
Sunday's competition against the Kangaroos featured new KU doubles tandems of Edina Horvath and Kate Morozova and Yuliana Swiston and Kuni Dorn.
Only 30 minutes into the doubles competition, Horvath and Morozova were comfortably
sitting together on court No. 1 after defeating UMKC's Chelsea Horner and Emily Lindsay, 8-0. They watched their teammates complete the 3-0 sweep in the doubles round, which also included the freshmen combo of
Erin Wilbert and Alessandra Dzuba wished 8-2.
With a jubilant crowd sitting courtside, Svistun and Dorn looked like they had not lost the recipe to their doubles chemistry.
"We played together one year ago, and we were pretty good," Switsun said. "And we played during the fall, and we had some good results. But it's the first time this year, so it was kind of a challenge for us."
The singles round was a blowout as each KU player won in straight sets. Svistun and Morozova quickly won their respective matches, 6-0, 6-0, with Swistun's victory giving the Jayhawks the dual match win over the Kangaroos. Dorn and sophomore Maria Martinez
each contributed with 6-1, 6-1,
victories.
Svistun was not Dorn's only new partner on Sunday.
"We've got to keep working hard in practice and taking the right steps forward."
"I changed my racket before the match, so I feel so much better, and I feel confident on the court right"
AMY HALL-HOLT Coach
now. I played with an Adidas racket; my game was so much more aggressive," Dorn said. "Maybe it's a mental thing, but I had a lot of problem with my elbow. And right now I don't feel it."
Hall-Holt said the
teams confidence tevet continues to increase, and that it's working hard to make sure it stays that way.
"It's feeling the ball, getting out there and making sure that we're comfortable with any ball your opponent is setting up for you, and creating opportunities," Hall-Holt said. "Today, they created opportunities for themselves to help them succeed through the points, and that's what it takes to keep getting better."
— Edited by Sam Speer
Ryan Waggone/NKANM Freshman Ekaterina Morozova returns a shot during her singles match Sunday morning at First Servie Tennis. Morozova defeated Daniela Dementi of UMKC 6-0, as the Jawahirks win UMKC 7-0, import their record to 5-1 in the season.
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
SWIMMING & DIVING
Kansas takes fourth place in Big 12 Championships
BY HALLIE MANN
hmann@kansan.com
After four days of breaking school records and lifetime best results, Kansas took fourth place at the Big 12 Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. Despite all of the successes, Kansas
scored 493 points, placing them behind their rival team, Missouri, which finished third with 582 points. Coach Clark Campbell was pleased with the team's performance.
Mayrovich
and said they did what they came to do.
"This was a good championship meet for us," Campbell said. "We had 80 percent of our athletes finish with their best times ever and that's what it's more about for us."
In the second half of the meet, senior Maria Mayrovich qualified for the finals in the 100-yard freestyle. Mayrovich earned her second bronze medal with a time of 48.77 seconds. Mayrovich made it to the finals in every freestyle race except the 500-yard and 800-yard relay, which she did not compete in.
"Out senior class meant a lot to the program," Campbell said. "They've made a big difference to
the direction of the program and they did well here."
Kansas' underclassmen also had a strong showing during the
and I wasn't expecting to win."
second half of the meet. Making her Conference Championship debut, sophomore Iulia Kuzhil took the bronze in the 100-yard backstroke. Kuzhil's time of 53.63 seconds broke the school record of 54.76 seconds.
"I've never been to such a big meet before," Kuzhil said. "I'm really excited about my time. I didn't know how fast I could go
Kuzhil
Freshman Abigail Anderson finished sixth in the 100-yard butterfly final with a time of 54.44 seconds, beating her season best time of 56.93 at Kenyon. In the 100-yard backstroke Anderson finished eighth with a season best time of 55.35 seconds.
"We were super impressed with
our underclassman performances," Campbell said. "These girls have set the program up well for years to come. The staff is excited about all of the
Anderson
returners we'll have next year."
Kansas had two divers qualify for the finals in every event. Sophomore Erin Mertz made three consecutive appearances in the finals of this meet. Mertz took eighth in the 3-meter diving finals with a score of 274.10 and sixth in the platform diving final with a score of 222.75.
"This was really exciting
because last year I didn't make it to the finals in all of the events." Mertz said. "We did really well and we had two divers make it to every final, which was one of our team goals."
Diving coach Eric Elliott said the meet was a good learning experience for all of the divers. Elliott said the meet was a good high level competition for the team to get them prepared before going to the Zone Diving Championships.
"We got the important stuff
done in the morning by qualifying," Elliott said. "We could've done a little better in the evening but we're going to work on being mentally prepared for the next meet."
Kansas has qualified one athlete, Mayrovich, in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle for the NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas from March 19 to 21. Kuzhil will have to wait until Thursday to find out if she qualified for
the 100-yard backstroke. The 200-yard medley relay will swim in a time trial this week to try and make the final cut for NCAA Championships.
All four divers have qualified for the Zone Diving Championships in Columbia, Mo., from March 13 to 15. From there, the divers can qualify for the NCAA Championships.
Edited by Realle Roth