6B • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2002
Going for a loose ball, Nick Collison gets rough late in the Florida game. Collison's 13 rebounds and 16 points were crucial in the Jayhawks second half 61-59 come back but ultimately failed to put the team ahead
John Nowak/Kansan
Volleyball ends season with win
Members of the Jayhawk team celebrate a victory against Big 12 rival Colorado. The victory was not enough to secure the team a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Jared Soares/Kansas
By Jason Hwang
jhwang@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Although the Kansas volleyball team did not qualify for the NCAA tournament, the team ended its season with the most conference wins in team history and bid farewell to the 2002 seniors with a win.
The Jayhawks split two matches over break to end the regular reason. After inning in three games to No. 22 Kansas State (27-30, 27-30, 14-30) Wednesday in Manhattan, Kansas (19-10 overall, 10-10 Big 12 Conference) finished the season on Senior Night beating Colorado Saturday in four games (22-30, 30-17, 30-22, 35-33) at the Horeisi Family Athletics Center.
Coach Ray Bechard said the team knew before the Colorado game it needed a win to have a chance to qualify for the NCAA tournament.
"I didn't want to add any more pressure to them. They handled it great tonight and came through when they needed to," he said.
This is the second straight season Kansas has won on Senior
In the next game with a 17-15 lead, Kansas scored six of the next seven points to take a 23-16 advantage. Kansas finished game
The Jayhawks jumped to a 8-1 start in game two. The Jayhawks evened the match winning game two 30-17.
three by taking six of the final seven points.
Night, the final home match of the season. Kansas swept the season series from Colorado (15- 15, 9-11 Big 12) for the first time.
In the final game with the game tied at 8-8, the Buffaloes make a 5-0 run to take a 13-8 lead. Kansas survived three Colorado game points with two solo blocks by sophomore middle blocker Ashley Michaelis at 29-30 and 30-31. She saved another game point at 32-11 by registering a kill. With the Jay hawks leading 34-33, freshman setter Andi Rozum registered an ace on a jump serve
that dropped on the back line to win the match. Everyone on the Kansas bench converged on the court in jubilation.
Senior outside hitter Molly Scavuzzo led the team with 18 kills in 24 attempts and only one error for a .708 hitting percentage, the highest in a single match in her career.
"They were my first true recruiting class and now we see the selection show for a chance at the tournament," Bechard said. "They've all led in different ways. We'll miss them, but hopefully we have some more volley ball to play."
Edited by Matt Norton
"I was a little over-hyped for the game, but I try not to treat it any different from any match." Scavuzzo said. "We needed this win to get into the NCAA tournament."
"We knew we'd be a little tense with some anxiety. I asked them who all there made an error. They all raised their hands and we all let it go," Bechard said.
In game one after a 4-2 Kansas lead, Colorado scored the next seven points to capture a 9-4 lead. Colorado would not look back and won game one.
Basketball CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
Kansas pulled within two points with seven minutes remaining in the game, but Bonner and Walsh continued to hit shots on route to 22 points each. Sophomore Keith Langford, who finished with a teamhigh 17 points, said his team needed a fiercer mindset to be successful.
Collison and Simien both scored 16 points, while point guard Aaron Miles ended with 11. Senior Kirk Hinrich, who almost did not play because of back problems, finished with
"This team has to find its own identity." Langford said. "We were very capable of performing tonight. It's just a lack of mental preparation. We have to come out and attack like we did in the second half, and until we do that, we'll keep losing."
five points.
Simien said he's not worried about his team after the two quick losses this season.
"It's not going to be easy by any means, but if you ask me if I'm concerned? No, I'm not," Simien said. "We've got a good coaching staff. We got a lot of guys and we all know what we have to do, both individually and as a team. Now it's just a matter of doing it."
Langford said he was just thankful for the trip to New York because it gave his team motivation to prove its critics wrong.
"I would rather have these two losses now rather than come conference time or tournament time," he said. "Obviously, I'm sad we lost, but when it comes down to it, I think it will help us."
— Edited by Ryan Malashock
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