SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, February 22, 1994
9
Men's tennis hopes to cause a racket
Jayhawks to test winning streak at tournament
By Matt Siegel
Kansan sportswriter
As a player in 1985, Michael Center, then a junior, helped the Kansas men's tennis team to a 9-0 start. Now, as the Kansas coach, Center has the No. 33 Kansas men's tennis team off to a perfect 10-0 start.
"I know the guys have mentioned the streak," Center said. "But I kind of downplay it. If we want to keep the streak alive, we still have our work cut out for us. We want to get the national respect we think we deserve."
Kansas will have a chance to gain some national respect tomorrow in Louisville, Ky., at the United States Tennis Association/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Intercollegiate Indoor Team Championship. The 20-team field includes perennial powers such as Stanford and Texas. Center said the field was comparable to the top 20 teams in the nation playing each other.
Kansas faces the host team, No. 15 Kentucky, in the first round of the tournament. If the Jayhawks defeat the Wildcats, Kansas would face defending national champion
Southern California, who received an automatic bye into the second round.
"We have to beat Kentucky first," sophomore J. P., Vissepoa said. "If we play USC, I don't think there is any reason why we can't compete with them. They might have a little bit more experience, but I don't think there is any legitimate reason why we can't beat them."
The Jayhawks said they felt confident after defeating West Virginia 4-3 Saturday. Although Kansas' No.1 singles player, sophomore Reid Slattery lost, the team won at the three, five and six singles spots. Along with the singles victories, Kansas won two of its three double matches.
Visssep and freshmen Tim Radogna, playing in the No. 2 doubles spot, are 7-0 in doubles during the spring season. Visssep said the reason for their success was due to an unlikely source.
"I tmr wears a navy blue bandanna," "Vissepo said. "I thought it would be good to wear a bandanna so we would match. But every time I would wear the bandanna we would fall behind. So I switched to wearing a red Kansas hat and we have won. I told Tim we have to stick with the bandanna and the hat combination. It's working."
Superstitions aside, Center said the reason for the Jayhawks' success had been their resiliency and ultimately finding ways to win. Center also said that another key was that everybody had contributed to the Jayhawks' winning streak. But even Center didn't expect the early success his team has had.
"My goal for this team is to peak at the end of
the year," he said. "It's still early, so I'm somewhat surprised but definitely not shocked. I felt like we were strong up and down our line-up. I didn't feel like we had any weak spots on our team but to be undefended at this point , yeah, I'm a little surprised."
Center said the only concerns he had were making sure the team stayed healthy and becoming mentally tougher. As for which team was better, the team Center played on nine years ago, or the team he's coaching now, Center picked this year's Jayhawks.
Big Eight basketball sees change of tide
"This team is deeper," he said. "When I played we had the best player that we've ever had here in Mike Wolf. He was a dominant No. 1 player and we just kind of filled in after him. But this team is more talented and has more capabilities."
By Gerry Fey
Kansan sportswriter
What a difference a year makes.
Last season at this time, Kansas was 8-2 in the Big Eight Conference and on its way to a third consecutive conference title. Missouri was 4-6 and would end the season in seventh place.
The tide has turned in the conference somewhat this season with No. 10 Kansas at 6-4 and third, while No. 6 Missouri sits with the best conference record at 11-0.
With its 79-68 victory against Kansas on Sunday, Missouri swept the Jayhawks 2-0 this season for the first time since 1990 and clinched at least a tie for the conference title.
Although nothing has changed much on the Tigers' squad, Kansas coach Roy Williams said they were a lot better team than last year. Missouri lost only one starter from last season in forward Warren Jeffen.
"I've been one of Missouri's biggest fans since the beginning of the season," Williams said. "It's true that they are not much different from last year. Seventh place last year is very misleading. The ball is bouncing their way this year."
Missouri coach Norm Stewart said last season showed the Tigers what needed to be done to win a conference title. Missouri won the big Eight Tournament, but lost in the first
round of the NCAA Tournament last year.
Nebraska coach Danny Nee, who will face Kansas tomorrow, said the difference has been Missouri's ability to win the close games this season.
Missouri continues its chances of being the first team to go undefeated in the conference since Kansas was 14-0 in 1971.
"In my eight years in the league, I've never seen a team dominate like Missouri has done," Nee said. "They've won at places that they're not supposed to win at in the Big Eight."
Throughout the season, senior guard Melvin Booker has been a consistency for Missouri. Booker was named the Big Eight Player of the Week for the second consecutive time after scoring 32 points against the Jawhaws on Wednesday.
Despite Booker's success this season, Oklahoma coach Billy Tubbs still would not concede the award to him. Oklahoma senior forward Jeff Webster leads the conference with a 24.7 points a game average, and Tubbs said he still was partial to Webster.
"Booker is an outstanding player, but it's not my call," Tubbs said. "I think Jeff Webster is the best player in the Big Eight. Booker deserves all the credit he gets, but I could have told you at the beginning of the season that it wasn't going to be an Oklahoma player."
AP Men's Top 25
The Jawahires, after Sunday's home loss to Missouri, are on the rope of getting knocked out of the Top 10.
| | Record | Pts. | Pts. |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 1. Arkansas (60) | 20-2 | 1,630 | 1 |
| 2. Michigan (58) | 19-4 | 1,500 | 7 |
| 3. North Carolina (1) | 19-4 | 1,465 | 2 |
| 4. Connecticut (1) | 21-5 | 1,365 | 7 |
| 5. Missouri | 22-3 | 1,341 | 3 |
| 6. Kentucky | 20-3 | 1,321 | 1 |
| 7. Kentucky | 20-5 | 1,104 | 11 |
| 8. Temple | 19-4 | 1,082 | 13 |
| 9. Louisiana | 21-4 | 1,043 | 16 |
| 10. Kansas | 21-8 | 982 | 4 |
| 11. Massachusetts | 21-5 | 938 | 10 |
| 12. Indiana | 16-5 | 935 | 16 |
| 13. Louisville | 20-4 | 930 | 5 |
| 14. Purdue | 21-4 | 916 | 9 |
| 15. UCLA | 18-3 | 817 | 6 |
| 16. California | 21-4 | 816 | 19 |
| 17. California | 18-5 | 598 | 19 |
| 18. Syracuse | 17-5 | 582 | 14 |
| 19. Saint Louis | 20-3 | 438 | 18 |
| 20. Minnesota | 18-8 | 326 | 20 |
| 21. Boston College | 18-7 | 194 | — |
| 22. Marquette | 18-7 | 189 | 22 |
| 23. Oklahoma St. | 18-7 | 122 | — |
| 24. New Mexico St. | 18-7 | 98 | — |
Other receiving votes: Cincinnati 96, Aia-Blair ham 84, Maryland 79, Penn 42, Texas 35, Georgia 70, Wake Forest 12, Wisconsin 20, New Orleans 13, Xavier 10, Illinois 10, Murray 10, Ohio 10, Ohio
Source: The Associated Press
AP Women's Top 25 Kansas, after winning one and losing one this weekend, doubled two spots to No. 12.
| Team | Record | Pts. | Pts. | Pts. |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 1. Penn St (5) | 25.1 | 1,820 | 1 | 2 |
| 3. Colorado | 20.1 | 1,561 | 1 | 2 |
| 4. Connecticut | 21.3 | 1,482 | 3 | 2 |
| 5. North Carolina | 22.2 | 1,405 | 4 | 5 |
| 6. Southern Cal | 19.2 | 1,341 | 7 | 5 |
| 7. Texas Tech | 19.4 | 1,324 | 8 | 5 |
| 8. Louisiana Tech | 20.3 | 1,094 | 12 | 1 |
| 9. Virginia | 21.3 | 1,062 | 6 | 9 |
| 10. Purdue | 20.4 | 1,092 | 6 | 9 |
| 11. Stanford | 16.5 | 945 | 13 | 10 |
| 12. Kansas | 19.4 | 880 | 10 | 13 |
| 13. Vanderbilt | 19.6 | 845 | 14 | 14 |
| 14. Iowa | 16.5 | 836 | 11 | 15 |
| 15. Seton Hall | 21.3 | 716 | 16 | 17 |
| 16. Alabama | 18.5 | 615 | 17 | 18 |
| 17. Boise St | 20.3 | 500 | 19 | 19 |
| 18. Mississippi | 19.2 | 328 | 24 | 20 |
| 19. Washington | 16.6 | 322 | 15 | 16 |
| 20. Florida Intl. | 19.3 | 322 | 16 | 17 |
| 21. Florida | 20.4 | 182 | — | 23 |
| 22. W. Kentucky | 18.6 | 175 | — | 24 |
| 23. Mississippi | 21.6 | 161 | — | 20 |
| 24. Rutgers | 15.5 | 148 | — | 20 |
Others receiving votes: Georgia 106; San Diego
187; Clifton 79; Oregon 84; Autumn 57;
Okahoma St. 51; Bowling Green 45; SW Miami
st. 38; Indiana St. 37; Northwestern St. 28;
Santa Ana St. 26; University of California
LA91 N. Mexico St. 16; Aa Birmingham St.
84; Arkansas St. 6; George Washington St. 5; Kent St.
7; Stephen F. Austin St. 9; Hampstead Tech St. 1W
Louisiana St. 4; TAMA AM. 3; Creighton 2
Source: The Associated Press
Knight Ridder PHOTO
U. S. hockey player Peter Clavaglia shows his joy after scoring a goal in the opening minutes of yesterday's USA vs. Italy hockey game at the XVII Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.
U.S. hockey beats Italy, advances
The Associated Press
LILLEHAMMER, Norway — Dan Jansen stumbled and the U.S. hockey team sent him a message: Hang in there. So when the U.S. hockey team was in trouble, it turned to Jansen for inspiration.
About 24 hours after watching a tape of the speedskater's incredible story of triumph amid tragedy, the American hockey players raced into the medal round.
The United States scored five times in the first 14:31 last night and went on to beat Italy 7-1, earning a quarterfinal shot against unbeaten Finland.
"Here we are, sitting here, we had tied a bunch of games and had lost to a great team in Sweden and we were a little dejected," said Peter Ciavaglia, whose goal 1.50 into the game pointed the Americans (1-1-3) toward tomorrow's quarterfinal match with the Finns (5-0).
"All of a sudden, we look at this guy, who had gone through so many hardships in previous Olympics. He had to overcome so much more than we've had to. It was just emotional. It touched all the guys. It was never so silent around this team."
Jansen had won everything but Olympic gold until winning the 1,000-meter race last week. In 1988, he fell during both the 500- and 1,000-meter races; the 500 flop came the day his sister died. In 1992, he struggled again. And this year, almost fell
during the 500, finishing eighth.
"We had sent丹斯丹 a letter from the team after he lost the 500, saying we were behind him and wanted him to know that people were really positive," U.S. coach Tim Taylor said.
Taylor, who tried to motivate his players during Sunday's practice by uncharacteristically shouting obscenities at them, decided to show a film of Jansen's 1,000-meter victory after Sunday's dinner.
"I didn't know the circumstances completely of the Dan Jansen story," Ciavaglia said. "And it just shows you, when things aren't going well and you have a bad shift or a bad game or you don't get the breaks, you can look back and say, 'Here's a guy who overcame a lot more than I did.'"
Of course, the U.S. hockey team had plenty to overcome, too, especially its aggravating habit of falling behind in every game.
"When you've played the first four games and you've had the lead for maybe five minutes total, the guys in the locker room said, 'Hey, let's try something different, let's get out in front.' And it worked," Clavaglia said.
"Coming back all the time is as emotionally draining as it is physically. It's just nice to get a big lead. We wanted to come out and make a statement in this game, that we're not going to lie down
and play dead. The tournament's just starting."
Looking for its first medal since 1980, the United States finished fourth in Pool B preliminary play. Finland wonPool A.
"Going into the tournament, we knew the only thing that mattered was making the metal round," U.S. captain Peter Laviolette said. "It doesn't matter whether we're 5-0 like Finland or not. Right now, we've got as many points as Finland, which is zero."
The U.S. team snapped a six-game Olympic winless streak dating back to the 1992 semifinals.
Italy (1-4), made up mostly of Canadians and Americans of Italian descent, was never in the game. The United States, which led by more than one goal for the first time all tournament and also had its first third-period lead of the Olympics, outshot the Italians 47-16.
"We played with a sense of urgency, 'Laviolette said. "We had to do it and we came out flying."
Brian Rolstorf scored one goal in each of the second and third periods, tying him for the Olympic lead with seven goals.
"We know we can play with Finland," Rolston said. "Our coach says they're playing as well as any of the great Russian teams, but that just gives us a little boost. We know we have to play our best and I think we will."
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