WEDNESDAY,SEPT.26,2001
SPORTS
Cornerback conundrum good for'Hawks
Three experienced backs find helping each other benefits football team
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 9A
By Jeff Denton Kansan sportswriter
After a spring practice session April 16, new defensive coordinator Tom Hayes marveled at the play of his three experienced cornerbacks — seniors Andrew Davison and Quincy Roe and sohomore Carl Ivey.
But he knew that he had a dilemma. His system required only two starters. One of the three would have to spend the start of the season watching and waiting on the sidelines.
"They are athletic and work extremely hard," Hayes said. "I don't think there's any doubt that Davison, Roe and Carl Ivey can cover a No. 1 guy. What we have is three starting corner-
backs for two spots."
Five months later, Kansas has gone 1-2 in its first three games. Davison has
started each contest at right cornerback. Ivey has started each contest at left cornerback. Roe, with 19 career starts, four interceptions and 63 career tackles, was the outnumbered defensive back.
Roe: proved his skill as cornerback in Colorado game.
Roe was shaken by not starting.
"It's been rough, I'll be honest with you," he said. "I've just been telling myself that whenever I go out there I need to try to make plays."
Early in the fourth quarter Saturday against Colorado, Roe did just that.
With his team trailing 16-13, Colorado sophomore quarterback Craig Ochs dropped back to pass, looked to his left, and lobbed a high spiral intended for senior wide receiver Cedric Cormier inches in front of the goal line.
The Colorado wide out was in a one-on-one battle with Roe.
Cormier had a few steps on the Jayhawk senior, but at the last second, Roe made up ground. He positioned himself in front of Cormier, leapt up two feet, and swatted the ball away with his right hand.
"Coach Hayes has put us in that mind frame — you just got to play," Roe said. "I think for me personally, I am just trying to get along with coach Hayes' defense. It's going to make me a better all-around player."
Roe has used his new role to help mentor Ivey. He saw similarities to himself in the 5-foot-11, 180-pound sophomore from Killeen. Texas. Helping him could only help the team, Roe said
"I think that Carl is doing a pretty good job," Roe said. "When I was starting as a sophomore, I had to learn just as he has to. We all work off each other — me, him and Drew — we all pick up things from each other."
human leaves Lawrence to be with ill mother
Senior defensive tackle Ervin Holloman left Lawrence yesterday morning to be with with his mother, who was in critical condition at a Wichita hospital after suffering a heart attack Monday night. She was in serious condition and in intensive care yesterday, coach Terry Allen said.
There was no indication of when Holloman, the youngest of 11 sons, would return to the University.
Contact Denton at 864-4858
K-State, Kansas golfers set for Sunflower Cup
Tournament a friendly practice for October's Big 12 Invitational; game discussed as a tradition
By John Domoney
Kansan sportswriter
When the Kansas women's golf team competes against Kansas State today at Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manhattan, there will be hardware on the line.
The Jayhawks are playing for the right to claim the winner's cup, which was purchased by Kansas State coach Kristi Knight to add a little fuel to the fire between the Sunflower state rivals.
between the start of today's inaugural Sunflower Cup Tournament, which was scheduled to make up for the cancellation of the Mary Fossum Intercollegiate on Sept. 15 to 16 in the wake of the terrorist attacks.
Kansas views today's 18-hole tournament as an opportunity to play a competitive round before the Jayhawks head to Stillwater, Okla., Oct. 1 and 2 for the Big 12 Invitational. The Jayhawks also will get a chance to play at Colbert Hills, which plays host to this year's Big 12 Championship on April 19 to 21.
"It helps us to play Colbert Hills an extra time.
Women's golf outlook
The Kansas women's golf team will play three more tournaments this fall after today's match at Kansas State;
Oct. 1 to 2: Big 12 Invitational (Oklahoma State), Karsten Creek Golf Club, Stillwater, Okla.
Oct. 8 to 9: Women's Collegiate Shootout, The Legends of Indiana Golf Course, Franklin, Ind.
Oct. 15 to 16: Marilynn Smith/Sunflower Invitational (Kansas), Alvamar Golf Club, Lawrence
before we play it in the spring," said Nicole Hollingsworth, Kansas women's coach. "It's also a nice thing for us to take eight players over to play."
Kansas will have a squad of five players led by juniors Tiffany Kruggel, Jill MacDonald, Heather Rose, Kristy Straub and sophomore Jennifer Bawanan. Kansas junior Jennifer Cassell and freshmen Laura Phlegar and Meredith Winklemann will compete individually — their scores will not be counted toward Kansas' team score.
The Jayhawks will face a stiff challenge from the Wildcats, who are ranked No. 54 in this week's
Golfweek magazine rankings. Kansas is No. 70.
Nonetheless, many of the players said they were excited about the tournament and a chance to compete with rival Kansas State.
"There's a lot of girls on the team that know players on the Kansas State team," Kruggel said. "It's always fun to have friendships and rivals with the other team."
Kansas team members said they hoped today's tournament would be the beginning of a tradition in which the Jayhawks and Wildcats could meet every year to compete for the Sunflower Cun
"The coaches are really excited about it and the players are starting to figure it out how important it is to us," Hollingsworth said. "Maybe 30 years down the line you can look back and it could become a tradition."
For now, however, Kansas' only focus is bringing the cup back from the Flint Hills to Lawrence.
"This is something we haven't done before," Kruggel said. "It will be good for us because we'll be focused from the time we get up to the time we play."
Contact Domoney at 864-4858
Jayhawks put loss behind them focus on game-plan execution and keeping confidence high
Volleyball team ready to take on Longhorns tonight
By Steve Laurenzo
Kansan sportswriter
The 10-1 Kansas volleyball team will tackle a tough task tonight in Austin, Texas. The Jayhawks must try to erase the memory of an unexpected loss to 2-9 Oklahoma last weekend, and focus on one of their toughest Big 12 Conference opponents: the 7-2 Texas Longhorns. Kansas takes them on at 7 tonight at the Gregory Gymnasium in Austin.
Coach Ray Bechard said the loss to Oklahoma was a direct result of the Jayhawks making errors that allowed the Sooners to use their home-court advantage.
tage. "I don't think it was a lack of confidence,it was just a lack of execution at key times." Bechard said. "Oklahoma gained confidence as the night went on. On their court, they got more comfortable."
Bechard said that although he didn't think it was the difference in the outcome, maintaining the Jayhawks' perfect record was definitely a goal of the match.
atten.
"Sometimes when you're trying to protect a record
you end up trying to keep from losing instead of trying to go out and beat somebody," Bechard said. "We just have to make sure we don't have a carryover from that match into Wednesday night, because Texas is going to be very good."
Bechard said the Longhorns and their fans might be a little overwhelming for some of his athletes.
"This will be a new environment for some of our freshmen," Bechard said. "There will be a couple thousand people there. They'll see banners up there where they've won national championships before. For the first time we won't be the favorite. Hopefully that will take a little pressure off of us and we'll relax."
Texas is coming off a loss at home to the No. 9 Florida Gators. The loss was their second of the season. The other came at the hands of the Stanford Cardinals. Bechard said the Longhorns would be anxious to get back out and defend their court.
"I think they are going to be a little angry and upset," Bechard said. "They got beat pretty soundly in three games, so they're liable to be very focused on this game."
Senior setter Molly LaMere said the Jayhawks would stick with their game plan and not bow down.
"We're doing the same key things that we do before every game," LaMere said. "We just know that for this game we have to worry about our game and our execution a little more. You might expect us to come in kind of afraid or intimidated, but we're looking at it as we don't have anything to lose. This is a great opportunity for us to get better."
"We just know that for this game we have to worry about our game and our execution a little more. You might expect us to come in kind of afraid or intimidated, but we're looking at it as we don't have anything to lose."
Molly LaMere Senior setter
Kansas' match against Baylor, which was postponed because of the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, has been rescheduled for 5 p.m. on Oct. 28 in Waco, Texas.
Contact Laurenzo at 864-4858
Fedorov was stopped early Sunday in this Detroit suburb after he was seen driving through a red light at a high speed, according to a police statement.
After failing a field sobriety test, Fedorov was arrested and agreed to a breath test, which revealed he had a .09 percent blood alcohol content, slightly under the state's limit of.10.
ROYAL OAK, Mich. — Detroit Red Wings star Sergei Fedorov has been arrested for driving while impaired.
Fedorov was released on bond, but must appear in 44th District Court no later than Oct. 3.
HOCKEY Red Wings star arrested for driving while impaired
AUTO RACING Seat belt partially torn in NASCAR racing accident
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The seat belt in Jeremy Mayfield's car was partially torn during an accident that injured the driver at Dover Downs International Speedway.
NASCAR officials found a tear in the left lap belt while inspecting Mayfield's car following his accident Sunday. The belt was made by Simpson Performance Products, the same company that manufactured the torn belt found in Dale Earnhardt's car following his fatal accident.
NASCAR said Mayfield's belt was only partially torn. Earnhardt's was completely separated.
BASEBALL Mets win coin flips for home advantage if tiebraker occurs
NEW YORK — The New York Mets won a pair of coin flips yesterday and would be host if involved in a tiebreaker playoff for the NL East title.
The Mets began yesterday four games behind both Atlanta and Philadelphia, who were tied for first place with 12 games remaining.
games remaining:
In a coin flip last week, Philadelphia beat Atlanta for the right to play the tiebreaker at home if the Braves and Philies tie.
A tiebreaker playoff would be played Oct. 8, the day after the regular season is scheduled to end.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL Defense gives Baylor Bears a reason to growl for football
Baylor coach Kevin Steele is careful not to crow too loudly about wins over Arkansas State and New Mexico, but he hopes the victories are a sign of things to come for the downtrodden program.
WACO, Texas — Don't get too excited.
Baylor is 2-0 for the first time since 1996 but hasn't looked too good while getting there.
"All we do is count the wins and losses," Steele said. "You can find something bad in anything if you want to. In this business, you learn to come to work on Monday and forget about the past."
That's because at Baylor, the past usually holds little hope for the future: After Baylor jumped out to a 3-0 start in 1996, they lost seven of their last eight games to finish 4-7.
Under Steele, the Bears have gone 5-19 overall and 0-16 in the Big 12 Conference.
So, he wasn't surprised when tails stormed the field after Daniel Andino's 29-yard field goal clinched Baylor's 16-13 overtime win over New Mexico.
"There was a lot of emotion hanging over that game," Steele said. "The way we won that game released all that emotion."
The way Baylor has won is with a defense that ranks sixth nationally in scoring defense (8 points a game) and 18th in total defense (266 yards a game). Last season, the Bears allowed 36 points and 441 yards a game.
The Associated Press