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Wednesday, Aug. 19, 1987/University Daily Kansan
Volleyball coach unfazed by odds
By ROBERT WHITMAN Staff writer
Staff writer
Problems that might drive other coaches up the wall don't seem to faze Kansas volleyball coach Frankie Albitz.
In her third year as Kansas' first full-time volleyball coach, Albiz will face the beginning of the season without her best player from last season, no assistant coaches, a smaller team than most of the Jayhawks' opponents and a much tougher schedule than last season.
Catalina Suarez, an All-Big Eight first team selection in 1986, decided in April to transfer to the University of Missouri at Kansas City (UMKC). Suarez, who is from Bogota, Colombia, and has played on the Colombian Olympic team, led the Jayhawks in kills and service aces. Her 408 kills
were nearly one-fourth of the team total.
"Everybody thought she hit the ball hard, but her defense was the strongest part of her game," Albizt said. "To me, it seems less of a loss than what it seems like to everyone else. But when we get into a tight situation early in the season, we'll need someone like her."
The Jayhawks finished third in the Big Eight tournament last year and lost to Oklahoma in five games in the semifinals. Kansas might have had a taste of what it would be like to be without Suarez in that match against the Sooners. The Jayhawks were leading 13-8 in the fifth game, which they lost, but Suarez had injured her knee in the first game.
Filling the position of Suarez be either 5-foot-9 sophomore Jodi
Oclerschlag or 5-9 senior Shannon Ridgeway. The player not filling Suarez' spot will play on the other side of the court.
The other outside hitter position could be filled by Eileen Schwartz, a junior who was redshirted last year.
At middle blocker, Kansas returns starter Tammy Hill, a 5-11 senior. Also competing for a spot are 5-11 freshman Lisa Patterson from St. Louis, Albizt* only recruited this season, 5-11 junior Ela Woods and two walk-ons, 5-10 junior Julie Childers and 5-8 freshman Beth White.
The Jayhawks have a solid setter in 5-8 senior Monica Spencer, who was an honorable mention All-Big Ten player. She has 1,400 assists and 1,400 of the team's 1,230 assist.
Albiz is running the team without an assistant coach. Johnny Learned
is now an assistant coach at UMK and Terry Fryn accepted an assistant coach job at Southwest Missouri State University. Albitz said she hoped to pick up an assistant coach
With only one player standing 6-0,
senior outside hitter Judy Desch,
defense and finesse are the keys for
the Jahyhaws' success, Albitz said.
"We're not as tall, but we are quick," Albitz said. "We were third in the nation in defense and how we did it, I don't know."
One change Albitz has instituted is a tougher schedule. It begins immediately with the Jayhawks first tournament, Sept. 4 at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield. Kansas will face the University of Texas at Austin, which finished fourth at the national tournament last year.
Tennis team looks ahead to challenge
Bv ANNE LUSCOMBE
Associate sports editor
After last season's performances, what more could tennis coach Scott Perelman expect? Perhaps a repeat.
The men's squad captured the Big Eight title for the first time in 22 years, and Perelman is still floating on cloud nine. But he looks to this year as another challenge. Still, it's easier starting on top.
"There is a definite air of confidence after winning the championship." Perelman said Monday. "Obviously, we feel pressure to repeat. Fro speaking with the players, I've found they've gotten a taste of championship, and it's something they enjoyed and would like to do again. It's a whole new challenge being the champion.
"We've got a task ahead of us. When you're the champions you don't need to be doing that much talking. Just keep your mouth shut and do it again. They'll all be chasing us now. But everyone is eager, it's a whole new environment. It will be interesting to see how it affects the guys who played last year."
Craig Wildey came in second in the Big Eight No. 2 singles spot as a freshman. Sven Groeneveld also took a runner-up position in the No. 3 singles spot. Another second place was awarded to Larry Pascal in the No. 5 singles.
But it was Chris Walker who came home as the Big Eight No. 4 singles champion. Adding to the array of medals was a first place in the No. 3 doubles for Jim Secrest and Groeneweld.
Kansas gains its first national champion in recruit John Falbo. Falbo made the U.S. Junior Davis Cup team this summer and made it to the finals in the National Grass Court tournament.
Joining Falbo will be walk-ons Michael Bentata, of Paris, France, Jason Forbes, of Sydney, Australia, and Rafael Rangel, of Monterrey, Mexico. Redshift freshman Jeff Gross, of Lawrence, also will be a part of the new class.
"I feel we've had two outstanding back-to-back recruiting years." Perelman said.
However, there is a definite void to be filled in the No. 1 singles spot. Mike Wolf, who held that position for the past four years, is out of eligibility. Perelman had no immediate plans to fill it, but
said the spot would be filled in challenge matches among the plavers.
"You just don't replace Mike Wolf," Perelman said. "What he did for the program and at the time we needed it was something very special."
The women did not fare as well as the men in the Big Eight Championships and are returning from a rather disappointing season. The squad finished fourth in the conference overall, with No.1 singles player Tracy Treps and No.2 singles Jeanette Jonsson ending the season with second-place medals in the championship.
"Since I've been here, this is the first time we've slipped in the opposite direction," Perelman said. "But if taken in the right way, this should be motivation. We've got a challenge right in front of us. But they are a very, very solid team."
However, the Jayhawks have a large recruiting class. Michelle Bolsom, from Centerville, Ohio, Kathy Bolt, of Germantown, Tenn., Mindy Pelz, of Malibu, Calif., April Condit, of Wichita, and Stacy Stotts, of Ponca City, Okla., are expected to make an impact on the women's team.
Aerodynamics hurls pitchers from game
The Associated Press
theory behind it.
BOSTON — In physics it's called the Mangus Effect, an erratic change in a moving object's direction caused by an unnatural force. In major league baseball, it's called scuffing the ball.
Already the cause of controversy, with two pitchers suspended for scuffing balls, aerodynamics experts have long known the
"Actually, there is nothing very complicated in what happens," said Mark Drela, an assistant professor in aeronautics and astronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "It's a phenomenon, I think, that any aerodynamicist would understand."
But what about everyone else?
The explanation is still not difficult
to comprehend, Drela said Monday.
A scuffed baseball offers more resistance to the natural airflow surrounding it than an unsuled ball. Whether it's scuffed — or scarred, gouged or greased — the ball will travel erratically because the air will no longer flow uniformly over its surface.
"If the ball is spinning, you can
get a sideways force on it. That's essentially how a curve ball works." Drela said.
normally, you can get the asymmetry and the roughness if you throw a knuckleball" but scuffing "is one more bit of roughness that causes the flow to be rough. Essentially, it's like another stitch on the ball."
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