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SPORTS
The University Daily
KANSAN
April 25, 1984 Page 16
I
Wolf's confidence is running bank high
KU freshman Mike Wolf will be the favorite to win the Big Eight Conference singles tennis title when the championships open Friday in Westwood. Wolf has beaten every conference foe and has won 15 of his last 16 singles matches. The Stillwell native, who has helped KU become a threat once again in the Big Eight, has lost only three times this season.
Watching Mike Wolf play tennis at his best is like watching the Mississippi River flow. His fluid skills are like an underwent, deceptive yet powerful. Giving him a grip, his glove may be calm at the moment, its rasing force can crush them instantly.
"The other guy knows it," Michael Center, Wolf's doubles partner, said recently. "They might get some points off him, but they know he can turn it on at any time. It's like they are waiting for the onslaught."
AS A FRESHMAN, he has beaten every Big Eight Conference opponent and is the favorite to take the
conference singles title Friday at the Woodside Racquet Club in Westwood
"I think I have proven myself at the No. 1 singles position." Wolf said. "I just need to go out and play my game and play confidently."
Wolf has proven himself by winning 15 of his last 16 singles matches, and losing only three times all season. In February, he beat Kelly Everden of Arkansas, who was ranked sixth in the country in the last collegiate poll. He has also been the central figure as the champion of the season, but has gone from pretender to contender.
But none of this has surprised KU tennis coach Scott Perleman.
I THINK I HAD these expectations for him." Perelman said. "I felt when we recruited him that he was such a great athlete. I watched him more than almost anyone else and I felt he was a huge deal. So it beak he had never really put it together."
Wolf had been the dominant player in the Kansas City area in the past few years, gaining fame from the Missouri football team. How could he be would his first year at KU.
"I thought I could maybe execute as well as I have, but I didn't know if I would get the wins over the big players like I have," Wolf said. "I'd had some good wins on him, but I were to or 12 or 13, but I never quite been able to beat the top players."
After beating Everden, Wolf has a newfound confidence that has him playing his best tennis as the season progresses.
"I'm playing with a lot of confidence right now." Wolf said. "I feel it will take a good player with a lot of savvy and a lot of court knowledge to be able to play fairly ignorantly when I'm not concentrating. Right now, I feel that I am and
that makes it that much tougher to beat me."
WITHOUT THE ARROGENCE of a John McEroee, Wolf's self-confidence is established from the moment he sips on the court.
"You can tell he's confident by the way he walks around." Center said. "He's always questioning you if he wants to take a walk, but won't let you take advantage of him."
That is where Wolf sometimes runs into trouble. He holds some opponents in such low regard that he is not ready to play every match.
"In my situation, like a lot of other players, I think that is true." Wolf said.
"I'm playing against a huge variety of players. The caliber varies so much that it's hard to get up for every single match."
Wolf began the season just wanting to quality for the NCAA tournament. Now, after his recent success, he hopes he can do more than just quality.
"I'm confident I can beat some of the better players, Wolf said. "It will
come down to if I can beat three or four of those guys in a row. That will be the test."
Wolf apparently has passed his first test with flying colors. A native of Stillwell, he was recruited by every major school in the nation, and chose a military training program, burning desire to play the best college players was a key in his decision.
"THE WAY I PLAYED in the Missouri Valley, I've never wanted to settle for anything less than playing one," Wolf said. "I was in a situation where I always wanted to play the better players."
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State,
perennial conference powers, both told
Wolf that he might fit into the lineup at
the No. 3 or No. 4 spot. Although he has
proved them wrong. Wolf admits that he
got the KU program.
And he hasn't had a second thought about chose KU over the glamour programs of Southern California or Southern Methodist.
"WITHOUT A DOUBT in my mind, I made the best decision for me," he said. "For another player, he might have wanted to go somewhere where he could play with All Americans everyday. But I felt being able to play one or two in the lineup and having the support of a team was important. I knew it was going to be in my hands."
Now that Wolf has played well on a collegiate level, the professional circuit is the next logical step. Wolf is thinking about it but admits that he must improve to be able to make a living on the pro tour.
"IVE BY NO MEANS dominated this year and I'd like to dominate. You need to be a dominating force in college sports," he said of the circuit. "I've got a long way to go."
But he is at KU now, and is leaving stunned players in his wake. A conference championship should be a tributary, with an NCAA championship a delta. And Mike Wolf will just keep rolling along.
SPORTS
News briefs from staff and wire reports
KU women win 10 matches in Big Eight tennis tourney
The KU women's tennis team won 10 of 14 matches yesterday at the Big Eight Conference tennis championships and will battle Oklahoma today for second place in the conference race.
today for second place in the tournament.
"We're hanging in there," tennis coach Scott Perelman said. "As young as we are, we played very well. Early on we were nervous and tight, but now we are in the flow of the tournament."
right, but how we are no better in the finals than Barbara Inman at No. 2 singles, Christine Parr at No. 4 and Debbie Coleman at No. 6 all will play in the finals in today's competition. They won their first two matches yesterday.
Cindy Bregin will play for third place in the No.3 singles competition.
Laura Runnels at No.1 and Janelle Bolen at No.5 will play for fifth place.
in the doubles competition, Parr and Inman beat the doubles team of Lynne Myers and Chris Keyzers from Colorado 6-2, 6-0 to advance to the semifinals in No. 2 doubles today.
Bregin and Steffanie Dicke also advanced to the semifinals in the No. 3 doubles. They beat Sarah Berres and Kathy Reiffinger from Iowa State 6-4, 6-2 yesterday.
The No. 1 doubles team of Runnels and Bolen lost 63, 67, 63 to Oklahoma. They will play in the bottom half of the bracket today for the right to play for fifth place.
KU came into the championships one point behind Oklahoma for second place in the conference. Oklahoma State has a comfortable lead and should be the next Big Eight women's tennis champion.
Steamers take 1-0 lead over Comets
ST. LOUIS — Njego Pesa capitalized on goalkeeper Enzo DiPede's mistake for the winning goal in the St. Louis Steamers' 6-4 victory over the Kansas City Comets last night in the first game of an MISL quarterfinal series.
Four minutes into the third quarter, DiPede ran to the corner for a lose ball with Tim Walters of St. Louis in pursuit.
DiPede kicked at the ball and missed. Walters passed across to Pesa for an empty net goal, his second tally of the game, breaking a 4-1 tie.
Tony Bellinger added the final goal at 10:51 of the third quarter off a
A crowd of 7,445, the second smallest in Steamers history, watched the game.
pass from Walters; who also stored a goal
Gordon Hill knocked in two goals for Kansas City late in the first half
Game two of the best-of-five playoff series will be played at St. Louis Friday night.
Niekro leads New York past Royals
NEW YORK — Knueckleballer Phil Nokro pitched an eight-hitter for his fourth straight American League victory, and teammate Butch Wynnegar hit a two-run single in the second inning yesterday, pacing the New York Yankees at a 4-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
The 45 year-old Niekro struck out eight and walked only one in preserving his unbeaten record and lifting his lifetime victory total to 272.
Wynnegar's two-run single, after a single by Roy Smalley and consecutive errors by Kansas City third baseman Greg Pryor and first baseman Steve Ballbon, marked the first runs the Yankees had scored in 25.5 innings.
The Yankees added a run in the fourth inning on Willie Randolph's walk, a wild pitch by losing pitcher Bud Black, 3-1, and Don Baylor's single. This was New York's first earned run in 283 innings.
Don Mattingly added the Yankees four run with a line drive into the right field stands in the sixth inning for his first homer of the year. The home run, New York's sixth in 15 games, was also the first by a Yankee left-handed hitter this season.