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KANSAN.COM
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DAILY DEBATE
Will Ainise Havili be a First Team All-American this year?
Ainsie Havili defends her side against South Dakota Stake.
GRIFFIN HUGHES
@GriffinJHughes
"AROLINE FISS/KANSAN
NO
The unfortunate reality of subjective voting, especially in All-American voting, is that more than just a player's talent gets taken into account. In every sport, the All-American voting is also about where the players come from, how their teams did and what big-name teams they beat.
Sophomore setter Ainse Havili tore up her competition freshman year. She demonstrated how versatile and athletic she is. Her vision on the court is world class; she can spot out a pass from a mile away and make it perfectly. Her 11.31 assists per set was in the top 20 in the country, and her 1,332 assist total obliterated the Kansas freshman record.
As a freshman, Havili played in every set of every match. She made the ACVA All-Midwest First Team while leading the Big 12 in assists/set. She also recorded 14 double-doubles, tied for 10th most in a single season. She capped it all off with an invitation to the U.S. national camp in Colorado Springs, Colo.
And last year, the AVCA named her an All-American honorable mention.
Clearly, Havili has the skillset to be one of the top players in the country. She's already one of the best three or four players in the Big 12, a conference that, according to coach Ray Bechard, has a few teams that could compete for a national title.
But that's exactly the problem for Havili's All-American campaign this year.
The big name teams — Texas, Stanford and UCLA — will have their players recognized all over the country by any number of coaches and, of course, by the AVCA. In fact, every one of those teams had a First Team All-American this past year. Those three schools alone made up nearly half of the All-American first team.
Simply put: Their players automatically have the national spotlight by virtue of them playing for those schools.
Kansas just doesn't have that national spotlight in volleyball yet. Ainise Havili is one of the most talented players in the country. Despite the fact she keeps getting better, this year she won't make the First Team All-American squad. Just four sophomores made it last year, and only one of them was a setter. They were all from those big-name volleyball schools.
There's no doubt Havili has everything it takes to be a
First Team All-American, she just won't garner the national spotlight necessary to do it as a sophomore. But with Kansas on pace to make their fourth
straight NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, the Jayhawks and Havili could grab that spotlight very soon. — Edited by Maddie Farber
SHELBY DUFOUR
@shelbsdu456
YES
Ainise Havili is a player who Kansas volleyball fans will always remember. Her superior skills show she has what it takes to potentially join the ranks of the truly great.
Last season, Havili — along with her teammate, senior Chelsea Albers — was named to the AVCA All-Midwest First Team. They accounted for two of 20 members in the Big 12 who received this recognition. Because of this nomination, it seems the next step is a First Team All-American nomination.
However, since there is no true scoring system to determine who becomes an All-American, the best way to predict future success would be to highlight key points of her freshman season.
As a freshman, Havili started and played in every match. This gave her the opportunity to improve her game play and allowed her the ability
to break the Kansas all-time freshman assist record with 1.332 for the season.
Havili continued to impress in her first NCAA Tournament where she recorded a double-double with 54 assists and 13 digs. She had more double-doubles than any other rookie in the Big 12 for 2014.
Havliw won Big 12 Freshman of the Week three times during her first season. During her freshman year she also showed great leadership within the team, which is something that is not easy for all rookies to do.
Havili finished up her season with an average of 11.31 assists per set, which was a top 10 mark in the country. And, so far in this season, Havili has shown no signs of a sophomore slump.
In the Arkansas Invitational she had a hitting percentage of .330 and was named tournament MVP. If Havili continues to have a season like she played last year there is no reason she shouldn't be an All-American, and there's a good chance she'll end up on the first team.
Column: Zusi's fresh legs are an asset for Sporting
CHRISTIAN HARDY
@ByHardy
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Graham Zusi dribbles the ball toward goal in a match against FC Dallas on Sept. 20, 2015.
In the box score of Sporting Kansas City's 3-1 win, Graham Zusi was an afterthought.
CAROLINE FISS/KANSAN
But, in reality, it was Zusi's performance on the field that will prove far more important as the team's season winds down.
benny Fellhaker scored his ninth and 10th goals of the season to put Kansas City up 2-0. Dom Dwyer continued to be Dom Dwyer — he scored the third and final goal.
He looked like the Zusi who signed a contract to become the highest paid player on the team's attacking front last July. The Zusi who has notched 32 caps with the national team.
"He's getting to a place where he's starting to feel closer to 100 percent in regards to his physical capacity," said manager Peter Vermes. "People don't realize he's played a lot of games injured, or not even close to being 90 percent."
For the first time in over a year, Zusi looked fresh. He was all over the field, and he looked healthy doing it. He was more of an attacking presence than he's been in quite some time.
After the win, Zusi sat in
front of his locker and answered questions tactically and quietly. But as Zusi answered those questions, it was nearly impossible to guess that Sporting KC had just won its first game in six tries.
"I'm not tracking back 80 yards to defend," Zusi said. "I had more energy tonight going forward than I have, probably all season. That's a testament to how we were defensively, not just the back four, but really all of us."
With Zusi in form, and the defense behind him in top shape, the Sporting Kansas City front three played in almost perfect harmony. The trio of Zusi, Dwyer and Krisztian Nemeth played to their upside while defensive midfielder Soni Mustivar played a nearly spotless game.
That allowed Zusi to get out and run, and attack the goal. Zusi recorded three shots for the first time in a single game since Oct.10,2014,in a game where he scored and assisted a goal.
"I'm just glad he's on our team," said captain and defend.
Zusi didn't attribute his performance to his health but to the back line and defense behind him.
or Matt Besler. "Sometimes you take him for granted, because you're around him every single day and you know what he can do because you see him at practice and trainings. But when you take a step back and realize how much he brings to our team, that's when you
really appreciate him."
Kansas City is already tied for fifth in goals and fourth in assists in MLS. With a fresh-looking Zusi added to the already strong attacking front, Kansas City is going to be an incredible force to be reckoned with going forward
maybe even the best offensive side in the league.
"I've been here for three years, and I can tell you this is easily the best offensive team that we've had in the last three years, and there's no doubt about that in my mind." Feilhaber said, before complimenting the front three. "This team is different than the last two years, and I think we're better off as a team, there's no doubt about it."
- Edited by Leah Sitz
Volleyball: Rigdon is kev
In 2014, Rigdon posted a total 170 kills, fourth most for the team, and 96 digs, sixth most on the team. Spectators may have thought this was phenomenal for a freshman to record such impressive stats. But she's looking to do even better in her sophomore season.
"Sara gave me a lot of pointers, as she left, to step into her shoes," Rigdon said. "She told me I could do it."
Rigdon had to fill the starting position after the departure of now-graduated outside hitter Sara McClinton, and those were big shoes to fill.
JOSHUA MCQUADE
@LOneW0lfMcQuade
As a freshman, Madison Rigdon had 11 starts and 78 set appearances in the 2014 season. Now Rigdon is in her sophomore season and seems destined for great things.
Chelsea Albers also left plenty of the steals on the table for Rig-
don to claim; she too is a former player that Rigdon looks up to. She still helps Rigdon whenever she goes to watch her old team play by giving Rigdon feedback in order to help her understand what she did right and wrong.
"The expectation is that she plays six rotations," Coach Ray Bechard said. "Defensively in the back, her serving, her passing, her digging has allowed us to play her all the way around and not specialize her."
"(Dockery) helps me out a lot on defense," Rigdon said, "At first, when I got here, I was really nervous to go for a ball, but I think as we went through spring and starting pre-season, she told me to go full out for everything." Outside hitter is a position that racks up the most kills, but is also the last line of defense.
Currently Rigdon has posted
Senior outside hitter Tiana Dockery also helped coach her teammate Rigdon into assimilating well into the open outside hitter starting spot.
Ridgon was even recognized as tournament MVP at Pistol Pete's Showdown this past weekend receiving her first career MVP award for her outstanding performance and effort to reach the level she is at.
totals of 98 kills and 74 digs both numbers being the third highest for the team. She has almost passed both of her 2014 season totals in 32 sets, compared to the 78 sets she set her 2014 stats in.
The Jayhawks have 10 straight wins since the start of their season, tied with Coach Bechard's 2001 team for longest season starting winning streak. If the Jayhawks stay at the intensity they have been playing at, they may not ever lose.
"We're gonna do our best," said Rigdon, "we've been training at practice and we're really looking forward to the season, but we just have to come one step at a time and work hard at it."
— Edited by Miranda Davis
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