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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Kansas limits Baylor's potent offense, wins 3-0
ANNA WENNER/KANSAN
Junior outside hitter Tiana Dockery watches to see if the ball will go over after attempting a save. Dockery led the Jayhawks with 12 kills against the Baylor Bears to complete the season sweep on Wednesday night in Lawrence.
In the 10 previous meetings between Kansas and Baylor dating back to 2009, only once has a team been swept by the other, and that came last season.
MATT CORTE
@Corte_UDK
On Wednesday, the Jayhawks swept the Bears for the second consecutive year and twice in the last three contests as they won all three sets against Baylor, winning 25-10, 25-14, 25-23.
Coming into the match, both teams possessed potent offenses. The Bears led the Big 12 in kills per set, including non-conference matches, averaging 13.82, while Kansas ranked right behind Baylor with 13.77 kills per set.
Through two sets, Baylor was only able to muster up a total of
Not only was Kansas able to stop Baylor from reaching its kills average in two out of three sets, it nearly stopped them from getting 14 kills in the entire match.
nine team kills, while committing 11 hitting errors during that span.
The Bears didn't record the teams 14th kill until it was 8-8 in the third set, ultimately ending the match with 24. Kansas held Baylor to about 18 below its season average for a match.
A key contribution to limiting Baylor from getting hitting opportunities was not the Jayhawks' blocking, which was also effective, but rather, the team's aggressive serving.
"We had a good game plan, but I thought the first line of defense is your serving," coach Ray Bechard said. "And even though we missed a couple serves after timeouts, and we missed set point, we served tough. And six aces and nine errors is a good ratio, so we got them out of system a little bit."
After cruising to a 2-0 set lead in the match, Kansas finally found themselves in a tight battle during the third set.
The Jawhawks went up 4-1 to start the set, and it looked as if another quick blowout was imminent.
However, that three-point gap was the most separation Kansas would find, as the teams traded momentum swings until the Jayhawks led 24-23.
Up one but still being threatened by a fourth set, Kansas turned in perhaps its best overall team play of the day, which included countless dives and even digging one ball with a shoulder, eventually leading to a Sara McClinton match-winning kill.
Kansas was paced offensively by junior outside hitter Tiana Dockery, who finished the match with 12 kills on 29 attacks and was all smiles on the team's result after the match.
"I thought it was good." Dockery said. "After the TCU match, coach Bechard said we have to do something about this. So practices have been really good, the focus has changed a little bit, and this is how we play."
Swimming and diving face Illinois on three-dual win streak
Edited by Emma Seiwert
AMIE JUST
@Amie Just
The Kansas swimming and diving team (4-1) is on a three-dual win streak coming into this weekend's faceoff against Illinois. (2-1)
Last weekend, the Jayhawks stomped North Dakota 217-79 and handedly flew past TCU 172-124. Kansas athletes won all but three events that afternoon.
The Fighting Illini suffered a close loss against Northwestern (160-140) in their season opener, but bounced back with a pair of wins against Illinois State (197-102) and Southern Illinois (207.5-91.5).
Last season, Illinois defeated Kansas 186-114 in Champaign. The Jayhawks last won against the Fighting Illini in 2011 when Kansas won 174.5-118.5. The last time
The last three times the schools have competed, there weren't any blowouts. This time around it looks as if it's going to be a close one again.
the two schools competed before that was back in 2004, when Kansas won 185-115.
Illinois' Gabbie Stecker is comparable to Kansas' junior Chelsie Miller. Both swimmers swim two of the same events. Miller's 200-yard butterfly time was a 2:03.06 last week. Stecker's was a 2:05.21. Stecker's 500-yard freestyle time last week was a 4:55.81. Miller's was 4:57.45.
Aside from Stecker and Miller, the team is pretty comparable in other facets.
comparable in other lacets.
Kansas freshman Hannah
Driscol swam a 24.39 in the
50-yard freestyle last week.
Illinois' Gabrielle Bethke
posted a time of 24.16 last
week.
Bethke swam a 52.53 in the
100-yard freestyle last week, whereas Kansas freshman Haley Molden hit the wall in 52.22 seconds.
Stecker isn't comparable to only Miller, she's similar to Molden, too. The two swim times within .3 seconds of each other in the 200-yard freestyle.
An even closer comparison would be Illinois' Alison Meng and Kansas' Yulya Kuchkarova. Last week, Meng swam 2:03.95 in the 200-yard backstroke and Kuchkarova swam 2:03.91. Just .04 of a second separated their respective swims just a week ago.
Kansas hosts Illinois on Nov. 8 in the Robinson Natorium starting at 1 p.m. This is the last meet in Lawrence for the Jayhawks until Dec. 6.
Edited by Logan Schlossberg
GEORGE MULLINIX /KANSAN
Senior Deanna Marks swims the 100-meter breast stroke during Kansas' meet against Denver and Missouri State on Oct. 24. The swimming and diving team will face Illinois this weekend.
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Men's golf team heads to Hawaii
@coberkro
CONNOR OBERKROM
The Jayhawks men's golf team concludes their fall season this weekend in the Ka'anapali Collegeiate Classic at Lahaina, Hawaii.
Abnormally late in the season for college golf, playing in Hawaii has given Kansas an added luxury of getting a sense of where the team is at heading into the winter season.
"Playing late in the season, this is kind of a reward for all of their hard work. It is a big sacrifice for the guys, because we are missing a lot of class and playing in a state of where very few of them have played in," Kansas coach Jamie Bermel said. "For us it is the same agenda, we want to go over there and compete at the highest level. It will be a different type of grass and climate than we are used to."
Kansas has cruised to two top-5 finishes in its last two meetings and is fresh off a third-place finish in the Price's Give 'Em Five Invitational.
"I have had some great tournaments and a few disappointing ones this season, but I feel I am becoming more consistent and I am at
Sophomore Chase Hanna features Kansas' lowest scoring average with a 71.71.
the top of my game," Hanna said. "We have progressed and become better as a team throughout the season. We were young last year and have grown and matured since then."
The Jayhawks golfers in Hawaii will be comprised of senior Logan Phille, junior Connor Peck and Ben Welle, sophomore Hannah and freshmen Brock Drogosch and Gary Daoust.
The tournament will be played on a 6,700-yard, part-71 course at the Ka'anapali Golf Courses, and one round will be played each day from Nov. 7-9. Kansas will be one of 15 teams competing.
Bermel hopes that this can alter some of the team's bad habits and shape itself heading into the more crucial spring season.
"I hope the guys understand the trip they are getting into, going to Maui and playing golf, this is a once in a lifetime trip," Bermel said. "Hopefully when we come back it is mission accomplished. It will be a good test of golf and a good way to see where we stand."
Kansas is one of 14 teams competing.The Jayhawks are the only Big 12 team in the competition.
Edited by Brian Hillix
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