SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, February 28, 1994
11
Kansas smashes way past Louisiana State
Victory lifts tennis team to 7-1 record
By Dan Lara
Special to the Kansan
After defeating No. 9 Mississippi recently, the No. 15 Kansas women's tennis team was worried about a let-down against unranked Louisiana State.
But those worries proved to be unnecessary as the Jayhawks beat the Tigers 8-1 Saturday at the Alvamar Racquet Club.
The Jayhawks lost only one of their nine matches and improved their record to 7-1.
Kansas freshman Amy Trytek returns the ball during her 6-1, 6-4 victory against Louisiana State's Margaret Sale. The Jayhawks won the meet 8-1.
"We are playing with a lot of confidence right now," Kansas coach Chuck Merzbacher said. "Louisiana State is really young, but we have more experience, and we're on a roll."
Louisiana State coach Tony Minnis said, "We played OK. It was great to play KU and see where we are. They are a top-10 team."
In No. 1 singles, junior Nora Koves defeated Nelly Pardo 6-3, 6-2, and
junior Rebecca Jensen won the No. 2 singles match against Suzana Rodríguez 6-2, 6-4.
In No. 3 singles, senior Mindy Weiner defeated Kirsty Llewellyn 6-2,6-0,
and senior Kim Rogers overcame a slow start to defeat Natalie Johnson in No. 4 singles 6-4,6-0.
"I always start pretty slow in my matches," Rogers said. "But I played pretty today and with a lot of confidence. It was just a matter of keeping focused and keeping the ball in play."
Merzbacher said that senior Abby Woods, who played in the No. 5 singles spot, turned in the team's best performance. Woods beat Elina Rocha 0-0, 6-1.
Freshman Amy Trytek played a strong first set then withstood a surge from Margaret Sale before beating her 6-1, 6-4 in the No. 6 singles.
"I played smart in the first set but then wanted to get the match over with in the second set because I felt sick," Trytek said. "I lost my poise on the court."
In No. 3 doubles, freshmen Chessa Bieri and Heather Heidel lost the only sets and match of the day for Kansas. They fell to Rocha and Llewellyn 6-1, 6-4.
- defeated Pardo and Cymantha Owen 6-2, 7-5. In No. 2 doubles, Woods and Rogers, who are ranked No.15 nationally in doubles, defeated Johnson and Rodriguez 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.
In No. 1 doubles action, Koves and Jensen - ranked No. 10 in the TIA toll
Kansas will look to build on its success Thursday at the Intercollegiate/United States Tennis Association National Team Indoors in Madison, Wis. The Jayhawks face Wisconsin at 2:30 p.m.
Wisconsin will prove to be a tough first round opponent, Merzbacher said. Last year, the Badgers beat No. 8 Arizona State at home.
"They're the home team, and they
have had a lot of good matches at home," he said. "We need to go out and have composure."
Kansas defeated Wisconsin last season 7-2.
Despite the home court advantage for Wisconsin, Kansas is ready, Rogers said.
"Even in our practices, everyone is
practicing tough and playing well," she said.
Kansas should beat Wisconsin if the Jayhawks play as well as they did against Louisiana State, Minnis said.
Kansas track shows progress in Big Eight
Should the Jayhawks prevail, they would play the winner of the match between Pepperdine and Duke, both of which are top-10 teams.
By Andrew Gilman
Kansan sportswriter
Although the Kansas track team had only two victories during Friday and Saturday's Big Eight Conference indoor meet, it scored well enough to capture a tie for second place on the women's side and a fourth-place finish for the men.
Nebraska won both the men's and women's competitions.
The lack of first-place winners did not discourage Kansas coach Gary Schwartz. He said that it was one of Kansas' better meets.
"We did extremely well," he said. "The kids worked hard for this, and they have a lot to be proud of."
Bazzoni, who approached each jump with a shout, was not completely satisfied with his efforts.
Senior John Bazzoni won the pole vault championship with a jump of 17.23/4, and junior Kristi Kloster ran the 800-meter in 2:09.20 to secure the victory.
Bazzoni's jump of 17-7 earlier this season provisionally qualified him for the NCAA meet, March 11-12 in Indianapolis.
Kloster, who took the lead in the 800 race right before the final lap, extended it all the way to the finish in recording her second-conference championship.
"I just had the little things go wrong," Bazzoni said after missing at 17-8 3/4. "My goals were to do better than this. I hit it once with the tooth and once with the chin. I give up," he said jokingly.
A provisional qualification does not guarantee that he will be competing, but it assures him that someone must better his mark for him not to go.
Kloster, who won the 1993 outdoor championship, gained a provisional qualification to the NCAA meet as well.
"I felt confident the whole time," she said. "I hung behind until I saw an opening and started to kick all out."
Although she admits that a trip to
NCAA's was in the back of her mind, Kloster said she was more concerned for the team.
"Earlier in the week I was thinking about nationals," she said. "But today, I was focusing on the team. I wanted to get some points for them."
Along with the winners there were many second-place finishers.
Kansas had six people who finished second, but none were as vocal about their finish as senior miler Michael Cox.
Cox, who placed ninth at nationals a year ago and won the conference championship as well, was edged by a tenth of a second by Iowa State senior Steve Green. Cox vowed revenge.
"I wasn't happy at all," he said. "I'll beat him next time, it doesn't matter where we are, I beat him. I wouldn't have been happy with anything but a win."
Cox's defeat in the mile came shortly after junior Melissa Swartz was passed on the last turn of the mile run and finished second with a time of 4:52.14.
"I have no excuses," she said. "I was thinking about the team and trying to finish in the top three. But, maybe next year."
Perhaps the biggest disappointment came from senior Harun Hazim.
Hazim, who finished third the last two years in the long jump at the indoor championships, failed to show up for the 55-meter dash and was disqualified from any further competition.
"There was a lack of communication," Schwartz said. "As the head coach I'm responsible for the misunderstanding. I compare it to not showing up for your own wedding. It's very disappointing."
On a brighter note, junior Natasha Shafer placed second in the 55-meter dash and fourth in the 200-meter run, behind freshman teammate Latanya Holloway.
"I was pleased that I was able to get second," Shafer said, after running a 7.09 in the 55-meter dash. "I thought I
Big Eight Indoor Championships
1. Nebraska 175
2. Kansas 88
    Oklahoma 88
3. Colorado 81
4. Missouri 67
5. Iowa State 18
6. Oklahoma State 10
Men's results
1. Nebraska 143
2. Iowa State 119
3. Colorado 75
4. Kansas 73
5. Oklahoma 62
6. Missouri 35
7. Oklahoma State 19
Note: Kansas State did not compete as a team but as individuals.
Source: Kansan staff research KANSAN
ran well."
More scoring came from the women's triple jump. Kansas placed second, third, fifth and eighth in the event. Junior Cassandra Bryant-Wans, who finished second, said that the Kansas jumpers helped each other.
"I did not jump very well," she said. "But we were pumping each other up. That tells you a lot. It's consistency."
Bryant-Wans was talking about junior teammates Heather Schorling, third, Tarita Triplette, fifth, and Debbie Jacobs, eighth.
The women's improvement was also impressive. They scored 88 points, an improvement of 36.5 points from last year's 51.5.
"Overall, I'm pleased," he said. "We did better in some places, and so-so in others."
The men scored only 19.5 points and finished seventh last year, 53.5 points less than this year's 73 points.
The final results are substantially better than last year's indoor results.
These results satisfied Schwartz.
Justin Bickford/SPECIAL TO THE KANSAN
Senior Joe Pickett takes a hand-off from freshman Kerry Boize in the 4x400-meter relay. The 4x400 team placed third Saturday and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships.
Women's basketball signs four fledgling Jayhawks for next year
Keshana Ledet is a 5- foot -11-inch forward who attends Central Arizona College. Ledet averaged 14 points and 10 rebounds in her first year at Central Arizona and garnered NJCAA honorable mention All-America honors.
The Kansas women's basketball team has signed four recruits.
SPORTS in brief
Three of the players are high school seniors and the other is a junior college transfer.
Cynthia Hogg, a 6-foot-2-inch power forward, is from the same high school that produced junior forward Angela Aycock. Hogg was a freshman at Lincoln High School in Dallas when Aycock was a senior. Hogg averaged 22 points and 16 rebounds as a junior.
Tasha King, who plays at Harding High School in Memphis, Tenn., averaged 16 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.3 steals a game and shot 51 percent from the field as a junior. She was named Memphis player of the year.
Koya Scott could replace senior center Lisa Tate. As a junior, Scott , a 6-foot-3-inch center, averaged 9 points and 12 rebounds a game. She was a first team all-district selection.
Kansas has a chance to sign up to three more players this spring.
Tennis team suffers narrow loss
The Kansas men's tennis team almost pulled off an upset against No. 15 Texas Christian, losing 4-3 Thursday night at the USTAITA Men's National Indoor College Championships in Louisville, Ky.
Although the Jayhawks lost the match, there were some bright spots for the Jayhawks. Sophomore Reid Slattery, ranked No. 22, upset Paul Robinson, the No.19 player in the nation, 6-2, 2-1, 6-7, Freshmen Tim Radoga and Trent Tucker also were victorious at the No.5 and 6 singles spot.
As for doubles play, the Jayhawks No. 3 tandem of junior Manny Ortiz and sophomore Victor Fimbres won, pushing their match winning streak to six.
Kansas is 10-2 this season in dual match competition. Both losses have been by the same score, 4-3.
The Jayhawks will play again March 4 against Wichita State at 6 p.m. in the e Alvamar Racquet Club in Lawrence.
Season opener rough for golfers
The Kansas men's golf team struggled in its season opener Friday and is currently in 15th place out of 18 teams in the Ron Smith/University of Florida Invitational in Tampa, Fla.
The Jayhawks trail Texas Christian, the overall leader, by 25 strokes.
Junior Tyler Shelton is leading the Jayhawks and is tied for 42nd place with a score of 77. Seniors Casey Brozek and Matt Gogel are tied for 53rd place. Jay Hepler a score of 80 for 76th place. Senior Jeff Moeller is in 89th place.
South Alabama is in first and second in individual positions.
Compiled from Kansan staff reports.