TUESDAY,SEPT.4,2001
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN • 3B
Jayhawks win first matches
Volleyball team 4-0 after Charlotte tournament
By Steve Laurenzo Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas women's volleyball team accomplished what it had thought it could this weekend in Charlotte.
Kansas defeated Middle Tennessee State, Providence College, Virginia Commonwealth and North Carolina-Charlotte, won each match in three straight games, and improved to 4-0.
Senior setter Molly LaMere won MVP honors for the tournament. Junior middle blocker Molly Scavuzzo earned all-tournament honors.
Scavuzzo said that winning the tournament was a solid beginning to the season.
"It really gives us a lot of confidence going into our home opener against Wichita." she said.
LaMere said the tournament helped the team.
"The freshmen and second string got to play," she said. "Everybody was so excited to come out and play, and it really showed."
Kansas began the tournament Friday morning by defeating Middle Tennessee State (30-15, 31-29, 30-25). Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Rome and freshman outside hitter Danielle McHenry led the offensive attack with 12 and 10 kills. They each had 10 digs.
"We were down big in the second game," Rome said. "We came back and showed a lot of perseverance and pride."
Coach Ray Bechard said he thought the late comeback run in the second game made the difference in the match.
"We swung the match in our favor after scoring six straight points, which is hard to do in rally scoring." Bechard said.
The Jayhawks went on to sweep their afternoon match against Providence College (30-15, 30-22, 30-19). Seven players had at least three kills. Sophomore outside hitter Abbie Jacobson and outside hitter Lindsey Morris led the way
with eight kills each. LaMere led the team with 22 assists.
Bechard said that all the members played in the second match.
"That's always a big plus, when the newcomers can get their feet wet early in the season." Bechard said.
On Saturday, Kansas dominated Virginia Commonwealth (30-14,
30-14, 30-26) and won a tough match against tournament host Charlotte (30-28, 32-30, 30-21).
Scavuzzo led the scoring in the Virginia match with 11 kills.
She had nine kills in the second match. McHenry racked up 15 kills against Charlotte. Junior middle blocker Kylie Thomas matched her career-high with 12 kills in that match. LaMere contributed 38 assists in both of Saturday's matches.
Bechard said he was proud of how the team played.
The Jayhawks will play host to Wichita State at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Horesei Family Athletic Center.
Contact Laurenzo at 864-4810
Atkinson: Delivers for defense
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
Senior defensive back Andrew Davison, who had an interception and a sack, said the hit reminded him of a sack Atkinson recorded against Alabama-Birmingham last year.
"Last year when we beat UAB, he had the big sack at the end." Davison said. "Algie always comes through when he needs to come through and makes big plays."
Dwyer, a defensive tackle, knew Atkinson's time would come. Not getting the attention and publicity motivated his teammate. Dwyer said.
"He's been overlooked, and that can be good or bad," said Dwyer. "He kind of felt shunned by it, as he should, because he felt he deserved more credit for what
he did last season. But at the same time, teams might have a tendency to overlook him now, and he'll keep on making good plays for us."
On a night when the Kansas defense shined, its offense sputtered.
With a new offense game plan that showcased shotgun sets and a no-huddle offense throughout, quarterback Zach Dyer put up impressive numbers. He completed 19 of 29 passes for 231 yards. He ran the ball for 41 yards on 12 carries. But he also threw two interceptions and mishandled a handoff to running back Dan Coke, which resulted in one of Kansas' four turnovers.
Coach Terry Allen evaluated Dver's performance after the game.
and he does some not so good things," Allen said. "And I think you saw that in his performance. I would have liked to have been able to rush the football a little better to take the pressure off him."
Despite the two interceptions, Dyer looked comfortable throwing the football. He rifled a ball to Derick Mills across the middle for a 43-yard touchdown late in the second quarter.
"He does some real good things,
Dyer said his performance wasn't perfect.
Contact Denton at 864-4810
"Quite a few teams are rusty in the first game," he said. "I think we need to be a little more effective with the passing game and definitely our running game will be more of an emphasis too."
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