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The University Daily Kansan
This weekend in sports The Kansas City Chiefs face the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, and each team is coming off a loss in Week One. The odds are against the Chiefs because Tennessee is 8-0 in Adelphia Stadium, the Titan's new home that opened in 1999.
Sports
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2000
Inside: The Kansas cross country team is hosting a four-team tournament on Saturday at Rim Rock farm. SEE PAGE 2B
Inside: The Kansas karate club, which teaches self-discipline, is flourishing in its second year.
SEE PAGE 6B
For comments, contact Melinda Weaver or Jason Walker at 864-4858 or e-mail sports@kansan.com WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS
Kansas freshman Sarah Rome dives for a ball while teammates Jamie Morningstar (2) and Jennifer Kraft look on during a match against Wichita State Wednesday. Kansas plays at noon today against East Carolina at the Horejsi Family Athletic Center. Photo by Aaron Lindberg/KANSAN
Kansas plans to win, defend perfect record
By Sarah Warren sports@kansan.com Kansan sportwriter
The 4-0 Kansas women's volleyball team is out to double its record this weekend, as it takes on four opponents at its home volleyball extravaganza, the Jayhawk Classic.
The matches start today when Kansas takes on East Carolina at noon in the Horesei Family Athletics Center. After that, the Jayhawks battle West Virginia at
7 p.m. Kansas will face Furman at noon tomorrow and then wrap things up against Mississippi at 7 toromorrow night.
Coach Ray Bechard said winning all four of those matches this weekend was important to his 'Hawks for more reasons than maintaining their flawless first two weeks.
The most important of those reasons is that the Jayhawks haven't won the Classic since Bechard arrived at KU in 1998. In fact, the Jayhawks have won four out of seven tournaments since his tenure began, and, of the three losses, two were at the Classic.
"We've got to get a win here," said Nancy Bell, senior outside hitter. "Everything's got to be on this weekend."
To Bechard, "on" means the Jayhawks must improve defensively. That means the Jayhawks must protect every square inch of the court, even if it means a nose-dive
JAYHAWK CLASSIC
Teams involved: Kansas, East Carolina,
West Virginia, Furman and Ole Miss.
When: Matches start at 10 a.m. today and
tomorrow.
Where: Horeisi Family Athletic Center
dig.
"Digging is something we need to do better," Beckard said. "We need to take every ball."
However, Bechard doesn't think the offensive facet of his team is flawless either.
"We want to start out-passing and out-serving our opponents," Bechard said after his team disposed of Wichita State, 3-0, Wednesday night. "Once again, we fell behind in our pass/serve stats."
The Jayhawks can't afford to be off, or low, on their pass/serve stats this weekend.
Unlike the winless Shockers, who have now dropped four games, the teams at the Classic might be more of a challenge.
East Carolina, 2-1, has won its last two matches after suffering an opening-season loss to Stanford. West Virginia is 1-2 on the season, while Furman is winless at 0-4.
Mississippi, 2.2, sports two 6-foot 2 underclassmen and a junior, Jamie Burns, who is leading the team with 3.94 kills per game.
mink's
Boehardt said, "They all should be tough."
But not. But they invigilable.
Tough. But not impossible.
"I know we beat West Virginia last year." Bell said. "It will be an extremely good position for us to start the Conference out at 8-0."
Kansas opens the Big 12 Conference season Wednesday against Colorado at the Horejsi.
Edited by Shawn Hutchinson
Creating football schedule poses dilemmas
By Jason Franchuk
sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
chance to succeed."
Sometimes it's hard to understand how tough building a college football schedule can be.
Associate athletics director Richard Konzem's biggest problem is trying to build a fair and balanced schedule for the Jayhawks that is also entertaining for the fans.
"We want to build a schedule that will keep fans interested," he said. "But we also want one where the team can have a reasonable
it seems as though no matter what Konzem, Bob Frederick, athletics director, and football coach Terry Allen have done to schedule success, there has been little chance to have it.
kansas started a home-and-home series with Mountain West Conference member San Diego State last year. To Konzem, it looked like a nice non-conference game in Lawrence against a recognizable opponent. It turned into a 41-13 loss that became the lowest point during Allen's tenure at Kansas.
to be nonest, when we scheuled San Diego State they were not very good," Konzem said.
After the Aztecs pounded Kansas, it looked like a good idea that the Jayhawks had arranged a home-and-home series with Southern Methodist. The Jayhawks won their home game 27-9 last season, but playing in the Mustangs' new on-campus stadium to start the year — when Kansas has been pathetic on the road — was too much.
Kansas lost 31-17 last Saturday and has to sit on that loss until it plays again Sept. 16 at home
against Alabama-Birmingham.
Again, scheduling a relatively easy non-conference opponent backfired. The game last Saturday should have been a perfect opportunity for the Jayhawks to end their road jinx and build momentum. Instead, it turned into a period in which the Jayhawks could only pound themselves in practice for awhile.
Some players are itching to play again, ready for redemption. Others want the extra time for planning. Allen is giving the players time off from practice today
"I want to play again," said junior cornerback Andrew Davison said. "But at the same time, I'm pretty sore, I don't know if I am physically ready to. That's why the week off can help."
The question now is whether the Jayhawks can rebound. It remains to be seen if Kansas can keep fans' attention spans by playing two weaker opponents, UAB and Southern Illinois, after losing to SMU.
See SCHEDULE on page 48
Soccer team to heat up West Coast
By Yoshitaka Ebisawa
sports@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Warning to Californians: a heat wave from Kansas may strike Irvine this weekend.
The Jayhawks (2-2) are on the west coast this weekend to participate in the California-Irvine Tournament in Irvine, Calf; playing against UC-Irvine today and Cal State-Fullerton Sunday.
No, the wave isn't the triple-digit one that recently exhausted Lawrence residents. It's the much-improved Kansas women's soccer team that beat Creighton 4-1 Monday.
"We've changed the defense a little bit because there was a little bit of problem," coach Mark Francis said. "I think since we changed it, it's been good."
Kansas was at its lowest when it lost to Illinois 4-0 Aug. 27. As players have learned new formations and connected with each other both on and off the field, the Jayhawks have begun to show their potential.
CALIFORNIA-IRVINE
TOURNAMENT
"Monday's game really helped us because I think everyone started to understand how to be better, and we got the result we wanted," said junior forward Natalie Hoogleveld, who had a goal and two assists in the Creighton game. "So-we are staying positive, willing to learn."
Teams involved: Kansas, UC-Irvine, Cal-Foothill
And that allowed them to destroy Creighton Monday.
Teams involved: Kansas, UC-Irvine,
State Fullerton.
When: Today through Sunday.
Where: Irvine, Calif.
Despite the improvement, Francis doesn't think the team is in its best shape vet.
"Some of them still need to be fitter," he said. "Some of them still can't play for 90 minutes if we need them to."
This could be a reasonable concern because the Jayhawks will face two talented teams this weekend.
UC-Irvine (2-1), a nationally-recognized team, will begin the tournament on the heels of a victory in last weekend's FILA Women's Soccer Classic at Cal State-Fullerton.
"UC-Irvine is a very physical, athletic team," Francis said. "The biggest thing is to stay organized and communicate better at the back and in the midfield. Offensively, we are doing a great job pushing forward and we need to continue to do that this weekend."
Sunday's opponent, Cal State Fullerton (2-2), which played host to the FILA classic last weekend, beat Louisville 3-1 but lost 3-1 to Toledo at the tournament.
"I only know a little bit about them, but I think the game Friday is going to be a little tougher than Sunday," Francis said. "Fullerton is very physical team also, but Irvine is more athletic than Fullerton."
No matter how physical the opponents will be, Francis said he expected the team to win the tournament.
"We are going in there with that goal," he said.
Kansas soccer coach Mark Francis speaks to his team during halftime of the Baker scrimmage Aug. 19. The Jayhawks will take on UC-Irvine today in Irvine, Calif. Photo by Aaron Lindberg/KANSAN
— Edited by John Audlehelm
Games offer alternative to boredom, math class
Reason No. 2 why Kansas volleyball is better than math class: Few students who are sitting in math class are at risk of getting hit with a stray volleyball. That stuff's fun to watch.
Reason No. 1 why Kansas volleyball is better than math class: Few math classes offer the excitement of bumps, spikes, kills, free T-shirts, Kansas cheerleaders, and volleyballs sailing into the crowd at ultrahigh speeds.
Those are just two of the many reasons why you should make the jaunt down to the Horejsi Family Athletic Center today at noon, when the Kansas volleyball team takes on East Carolina in its first match of the Jayhawk Classic Tournament. (The Horejsi Center is that little brick building between Allen Fieldhouse and Hoglund Ballpark).
By no means am I asking you to skip your math class, your history class or even your basket weaving class to come watch the Jayhawks play.
But I want you to know it's okay to do so.
If there is a conflict with your class schedule, though, the Jayhawks play again tonight at 7 against West Virginia, tomorrow at noon against Furman and again tomorrow at 7 p.m. against Mississippi.
I'm not pleading for you to come or anything like that. I remember an old Saturday Night Live skit in which Adam Sandler is "The Herilhy Boy." His main mission in life is to stay at your house and ease your concern while you're on vacation. He promises to water the plants, sleep in your bed and then wash your sheets afterward. He begs, he pleads and then he begs some more. That's what you call pleading. I'm not doing anything like that.
But it would be worthwhile for you to come. The Jayhawks are 4-0 this season. Already they have captured the championship at the Purdue Mortar Board Premier Tournament. They also swept Wichita State 3-0 on Wednesday night at the Horejsi Center.
The Jayhawks boast senior outside hitters Amy Myatt and Nancy Bell, who are first and second on the team in kills, and fierce-hitting senior middle blocker Danielle Geronymo. Molly LaMere continues to show why she is one of the top setters in the Big 12 Conference, and freshman Sarah Rome appears to be the real thing. She recorded nine kills and nine digs against Wichita State.
The Kansas players also throw free T-shirts into the crowd before matches, the Kansas cheerleaders are there on a regular basis and the KU band shows up sometimes, too. Then, between the second and third games of matches, fans are invited to come down from the bleachers and take part in competitions to win prizes like KU merchandise and large pizzas.
Realistically speaking, I was exaggerating a bit before. Not many spectators get hit with volleyballs, but when a volleyball sails into the crowd, it's fun to watch the reaction.
So that's why you should come at least once this weekend.
Oh, and if for some reason you're concerned about leaving the house to come and watch, give me a call. I'm sure I have the Herlihy Boy's phone number around here somewhere.
Hutchison is an Overland Park nominee in Journalism.