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SPORTS
KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | MONDAY, AUG. 24, 2015
Volleyball notebook: Strong schedule, transfers and outside hitters
HOYT/KANSAN
Senior Tiana Dockery attempts to score over the heads of alumnae Sarah McClinton and Tayler Tolefree on Saturday, Aug. 22.
AMIE JUST
@amieljust
The unprecedented streak continues for Kansas volleyball as it serves up the 2015 season. Kansas has qualified for the NCAA tournament in the last three seasons. If the jayhawks qualify again this season, it will be the first time in team history that they will advance to the tournament four years in a row.
The women spent their summer training, learning and forming chemistry as a team to prepare for the upcoming season.
SUMMER TRAINING
The team spent two weeks in Europe, spending their time training and learning about the international culture of volleyball.
"We got to play everybody all the time," Coach Ray Bechard said during media day. "There were matches against the Italian National Team, which that's one of the top 10 teams in the world, and all the way down to a couple other club teams."
Aside from training in Europe, senior outside hitter Tiana Dockery, sophomore setter Ainise Havili and sophomore outside hitter Kelsie Payne were invited to train at the United States Collegiate National Team program in New Orleans.
"They invited 36 collegiate kids to train with great coaches and three of those happen to be from Kansas," Bechard said. "They represented us in a great way. Any time you get 10 days of training, you play against high-level competition, the expectation is that you conduct yourself, you play hard
and play with some purpose, it's going to do nothing but help them and their personal brand, but also help the brand that is Kansas volleyball."
TEACHING POINTS
Last season ended abruptly after Kansas lost to Arkansas-Little Rock in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Bechard said he has mentioned the loss a couple times as a teaching point.
"Some things broke down in
that match," Bechard said. "[It was] one and done. The mentality of how that feels [isn't fun]."
"There were opportunities to go up 1-0 in that match and we didn't take advantage of it," Bechard added. "The longer you let a team hang around in that scenario and the longer they feel they have life, they start to build another life of their own and the confidence begins to build."
LOSS OF ALBERS AND MCGLINTON
LOSS OF ALBERS AND MUCINITON Chelsea Albers and Sara McClinton were integral for Kansas volleyball for the last four seasons. Filling their shoes isn't going to be an easy task. "They both had big numbers over their career," Bechard said. "If you look at big wins last year, a lot of times McClinton was getting big numbers. Albens was getting a big defensive play. From a physicality standpoint, they were huge.
That's going to force us to play at a little different tempo, a little quicker. We have enough volleyball talent to do what we want to do, but certain it would be remiss if we didn't appreciate the efforts they've given us the last four years."
INCOMING TRANSFERS
Ashlynn Driskill and Anna Church are two incoming transfers that bring a lot to the table for the team. They both have three years of starting
experience playing Division I volleyball. Bechard said he was excited to see what they can do while wearing the Jayhawk uniform.
“[Driskill] was actually on that team that beat us in Allen Fieldhouse in 2012,” Bechard said. “She's played high-level volleyball for three years. She understands that. We didn't know what we were getting in a teammate and work ethic. She's been an outstanding addition in those two areas too… She's going to be somebody that can add depth to a lot of positions and probably go out and get a lot of big numbers for us.
"Anna Church is the same thing. We were able to get her this spring and have her on the foreign trip. She's been in that mix before. She actually played in the Fieldhouse in 2012 for Saint Louis and saw the other side of it."
SCHEDULE STRENGTH
Not only does the men's basketball team boast a strong nonconference schedule; the volleyball team will take on a tough slate as well.
Bechard said he felt that Arkansas would be a top 25 team at some point this season, along with Duke, and he mentioned that the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Northern Colorado, Gonzaga and Missouri State all have a chance to win their respective conferences.
Overall, Kansas faces seven teams that played in the NCAA tournament last season (Marquette, Texas, Iowa State, Kansas State, Duke, Oklahoma and Northern Colorado).
- Edited by Christian Hardy
As football fall camp wraps up, receiving corps come into focus
Quarterback Monteil Cozart makes his read before he passes against Iowa State on Nov. 7, 2014. Cozart did not start for much of last season, but has landed the job in the absence of senior Michael Cummings.
CHRISTIAN HARDY
@hardynf
Kansas football wrapped up the portion of fall camp that is open to the media on Friday. The hour-and-a-half practice that head coach David Beaty gave access to churned out some interesting nuggets.
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN but has landed
The wide receiver corps is coming into shape. Beaty named three players when asked who had separated themselves in fall camp at the receiver position: transfer junior Joshua Stanford, freshman Steven Sims, Jr., and senior Tre' Parmalee. Those three were also on the first team offense and will likely be the receivers when the Jayhawks go with three-wide receiver sets to start the season
— Stanford and Sims outside, with Parmalee slotted inside. Freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Booker might be able to get into the mix soon too, but he's sidelined for now with a cracked collarbone. Beaty is hoping to have him back in a few weeks.
Beaty loves Sims. He's been playing the outside, but at 5-foot-10, 165 pounds, the freshman can step into the slot as well. Three times during practice on Friday, Beaty pulled Sims aside and talked to him one-on-one. That teaching style is definitely Beaty's thing, but to pull Sims aside that often says something about his relationship with him. "There's just a lot of things he doesn't know, a lot of little technique things that we're giving him right now that I'm seeing him just digest every day," Beaty said after practice. He's very smooth and methodic in his route running, and has had a very good camp. Don't be surprised if you see
Sims start a lot of games this year as a true freshman.
Kent Taylor is a monster. The 6-foot-5 tight end sat out last year because of transfer rules after following Charlie Weis to Kansas. Now the redshirt sophomore is expected to get snaps, and he was showcased a bit with the first team on Friday with the starting tight end Ben Johnson resting during 7-on-7. Towering over defenders, Taylor was a consistent target for quarterback Montell Cozart. He's going to be an asset for the jayhawks going across the middle and up the seam, but he won't stay inline to block that often, so he'll lose snaps that way. Taylor was on the list that Beaty named of players who have stood out through camp.
Montell Cozart is "the guy" at quarterback for Kansas. Beaty said after practice that this offense lends itself to having a quarterback take the keys to the offense and run with the job with confidence that it is theirs. That quarterback looks like it will be Cozart, although Beaty hasn't announced that yet. "We have to give that guy some rope to be able to toss him the keys and let him play a little bit," Beaty said. "We don't want robots at that position." We know how robots at the quarterbacks position ends — look at Cozart in Charlie Weis' system last year. If Cozart wants any chance of being a Big 12-caliber starter, he's going to have to be able to run with the job, and it looks like that's Beaty's plan.
David Beaty said these players have stood out in camp on the defensive, then offensive sides: S Tevin Shaw, DE T.J. Smoke, CB Brandon Stewart, CB Tyrone Miller, LB Keith Loneker, Jr., LB Macquis
Roberts, QB Montell Cozart,
WR Tre' Parmalee, OT Jordan
Shelley-Smith, OG D'Andre
Banks, TE Kent Taylor, RB
DeAndre Mann.
Quick Beaty presser notes: Defensive backs coach Kenny Perry took wide receiver Eric Rivers and moved him to cornerbacks over the last few days. Perry coached Rivers in high school at Bowie High School, so he knows what he can do. He logged eight tackles in his first day at corner this week. ... Defensive end Dorance Armstrong is expected to feature as a third-down rusher this year. ... Beaty has had to make do with the tackle depth he has, as it's one of the weakest positions on the roster when it comes to depth. Offensive guard Jayson Rhodes has played some tackle, and so has freshman Clyde McCauley III, who Beaty says has improved by getting "bodied" by
defensive end Damani Mosby.
... Beaty moved up practice from the evening to 10 a.m.
to prepare for the team's first game against South Dakota State, which has an 11 a.m. kick time. The scrimmage on Saturday was at 10 a.m., too.
Quick practice notes: Cozart is the starting quarterback, but transfer Deondre Ford is right behind him. Ford took all the second team reps on Friday, with Ryan Willis and Carter Stanley running 7-on-7 on the other half of the field. This was the first time I've seen Cozart with some designated runs, including the read option. That's probably his strength. ... Bobby Hartzog, Jr. dropped five balls in the 90 minutes of practice which was open to media. It wasn't pretty, but he hasn't been running with the first team since spring anyways. ... Freshman Taylor Martin was running
as the second team running back, while Ke'Aun Kinner was with the No. 1s. Some vets were getting rest during 7-on-
7, so that's probably why Martin was so high, but it doesn't mean he won't see some reps at running back this season.
AMIE JUST/KANSAN
Linebackers coach Kevin Kane discusses the upcoming practice with his players on Aug. 13.