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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2011
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
CLUB SPORTS
Quidditch team falls in Sweet 16 at World Cup
HANNAH WISE
hwise@kansan.com
Chaser Jodi Murphy struggles to break free from Utah players Saturday. Kansas won the match 80-60.
NEW YORK — Close to 100 teams and 2,000 athletes battled on broomsticks for two days, all wanting to be crowned the International Quidditch Association World Cup champion.
Kansas quidditch players started the weekend wanting to prove they deserved their No. 2 ranking in the world. Instead, they fell in the Sweet 16 to Minnesota with a score of 70-40.
"Other teams they watched us, they see our talent, they see what we have going on at Kansas", captain Doug Whiston said. "People recognize that we are a good team and we collapsed in one game."
Kansas started the weekend by going 3-1 in pool play. The team defeated Vermont 170-0 in Kansas' World Cup debut. The game was highlighted by the snitch runner (a player that must be caught to end the game) stealing Kansas' seeker's (the player that must catch the snitch-runner) broom.
DAY 1
Next, the Jayhawks played Utah, a team they perceived to be their toughest opponent in pool play. Kansas defeated Utah 80-60. The Kansas players said that after a Utah player was injured with what appeared to be a dislocated shoulder, the Utah team lost focus and simply became too aggressive.
In Kansas' third pool play match against Ringling College from Sarasota, Fla., the Jayhawks appeared to have let the 40-degree New York weather get to them, but they still pulled out the win, 60-50.
The Jayhawks headed into their final match in pool play against Hofstra. Whiston explained after the game that the Kansas players just could not click on offense and dropped the match 40-30 after Hofstra snatched the snatch and was awarded 30 points.
DAY 2
MIKE GUNNOE/KANSAN
Kansas did not play until Sunday afternoon when bracket play started. The team was seeded eleventh and played against Virginia Commonwealth University.
Kansas basketball fans will remember that VCU defeated the men's basketball team in the Elite Eight during last year's tournament.
The Kansas quidditch team used the energy from knowing they couldn't let VCU beat another Kansas team in another tournament. From singing the "Rock Chalk Chant" before the match to the final moments, the quidditch team looked unstoppable against the Rams.
The offense moved swiftly, taking advantage of fast breaks to run down to the hoops and, in a sense, dunk the quaffle (a volleyball). VCU put points up on the board toward the end of the match, but by then it was much too late. Kansas was up 100-20 when the snitch runner returned to the pitch after being released to run and hide from the Kansas and VCU seekers.
Kansas pulled out a 100-50 victory.
The Jayhawks continued to try to stay warm before they faced Minnesota in their Sweet 16 game. Kansas captains Nicole Denney and Whiston were confident in their team's ability to play their game and stay focused.
However, when the announcer yelled, "Brooms up!" Minnesota proved more than Kansas could handle.
"We play against ourselves, which means we play really spread out," beater Kate Cooley said. "We need
The Kansas chasers (offensive players) took off down the field with the speed and agility that they have become famous for in the quidditch world, but they ran into a wall of Minnesota defenders, a style of play Kansas has not faced before.
to learn how to play on a packed defense. We need to learn how to play other teams that aren't just like us"
Minnesota played relentlessly. The Minnesota offense did to Kansas what the Jayhawks had done to VCU only a match before. The Kansas beaters (defenders) fell flat and lost control of the midfield, allowing the Minnesota chasers free reign at the Kansas hoops. One chaser had the entire Kansas half of the field open at one point when he scored.
Almost immediately after the
MIKE GUNNODE/KANSAN
Chaser Hai Nguyen sits on the playing field in disappointment after being defeated by the University of Minnesota on Sunday. Kansas made it to the final 16 teams but was eliminated with the loss.
This was Kansas' first World Cup appearance. This season, the Jayhawks took the quidditch world by storm, going undefeated in the Midwest Cup. Kansas came from obscurity into the limelight.
snitch returned, the Kansas seeker snatched it, but the 30 points awarded were not enough to topple Minnesota. Kansas lost 70-40.
THE EXPERIENCE
"We are playing quidditch here on the biggest stage," Whiston said. "We are in New York City. There is nothing like it. You step out onto Times Square, you see all the lights and you know you're here."
"It was an interesting first World Cup I suppose," Cooley said. "The losses are so poignant right now, but looking back on it, I think we will be glad we came."
Edited by Jayson Jenks
The future is uncertain for the team now that winter is here. The World Cup showed the Jayhawks a new level of quidditch they must prepare for. Finding comparable teams to prepare with is Kansas' biggest challenge now.
well...we are glad they are playing quidditch, but our team could run circles around them now"
"We love seeing Mizzou, but the problem is, in the Midwest we are all spread apart," Whiston said. "There are teams in Oklahoma, but
The team is headed back to Lawrence now to regroup and reflect on their time in New York, the good and the bad.
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