6B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2008
VOLLEYBALL
Jayhawks fall to Sooners in four sets
BY JOSH BOWE
jbowe1@kansan.com
Momentum is a fickle thing in sports. It can appear and disappear in an instant. And for Kansas it did not take long for its momentum to vanish on Wednesday night.
The Jayhawks road woes continued as Kansas (12-13) fell to
in four sets (13-25, 13-25, 25-22, 20-25). After a week in which Kansas had consecutive sweeps for the first time in conference play, Oklahoma put the Jayhawks' streak to an abrupt halt.
tive.066.
Sophomore outside hitters Karina Garlington and Jenna Kaiser combined for 19 kills as Kaiser led the team with 11 kills. Unfortunately, they also combined for 14 errors.
"We tried some different combinations," coach Ray Bechard said, "Everything we tried to do seemed to be a little bit of a struggle."
"We need to stay positive and realize it's not the end of the season.Value every day and every team."
Kansas as a team had 31 hitting errors, tying its season high for errors.
It was the same story for the Jayhawks again: poor offense. Kansas failed to hit .200 in any of its sets.
Normally reliable senior middle blocker Savannah Noyes hit for her worst efficiency all season, a nega-
NATALIE UHART
Senior middle blocker
"T he y (Oklahoma) blocked a few balls," Beard said. "It was mostly our act being out of sync."
Another fami iar folly was the Jay hawks abysmal start. Back-to-back
13-point sets led to a not so surprising 0-2 hole for Kansas.
Kansas had 10 kills with nine errors in set one, then flip-flipped the numbers for an even worse-looking nine kills with 10 errors. On the road especially, Kansas cannot afford to fall behind more than one set.
"You got to show up to work for the first two sets," Beard said. "It
was good volleyball after the break, but you can't put yourself in the situation of down 0-2 on the road"
Kansas won the third set, and held a 15-11 lead in set four before a strong Sooner rally squashed any hopes of a Jayhawk miracle.
The Sooner lead was tough to swallow, but Bechard knows it could have been different with a better start
The only jayhawk to put a respectable match together on the offensive side of the net was senior middle blocker Natalie Uhart. She had 10 kills hitting at a .286 clip, a team high for the match.
"It hurts to lose a lead in set four," Bechard said. "But it was a match mostly decided by getting down 0-2."
Meanwhile the Sooners had several contributors. Junior outside hitter Bridget Laplante led three Sooners who had double-digit kills. Oklahoma did not dominate the match offensively however, hitting just .198 percent.
But the Kansas offense did not bail its defense with a .081 percentage. Uhart will be the first to say, not many teams win matches hitting below. 100.
"Hitting balls out, getting blocked, and hitting too low," Uhart
said of why the offense struggled.
The loss crippled the layhawks hopes for a quick bump in the Big 12 standings before a tough stretch of matches.
Up next is Nebraska and the team will not have time to mull over this ugly loss. The team will have to keep its spirits up in what will be the biggest home match of the year.
"We need to stay positive and realize it's not the end of the season," Uhart said. "Value every day and value every team."
GARLINGTON NAMED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Before the Jayhawks packed their bags for Norman, Okla, they got to take along one more award.
Sophomore outside hitter Karina Garlington was chosen as the Sports Imports/American Volleyball Coaches Association Division 1 National Player of the Week.
A pair of sweeps by Kansas was fueled by Garlington's stellar playing in last week's matches against Colorado and Texas Tech. She hit .354 while averaging 5.0 kills per set.
The Denver native is only the second athlete from Kansas to achieve the honor.
NFL
Edited by Jennifer Torline
BY DOUG TUCKER ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chiefs sign new LB Shotwell, DE Babir
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs signed a new defensive end and a new linebacker on Wednesday while taking stock of an increasingly injury-wracked roster.
Defensive end Jason Babin was added and will probably see action on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. Added to the practice squad was linebacker Kyle Shotwell.
Defensive end Brian Johnston, a rookie who had been playing in place of injured starters, was placed on injured reserve and is gone for the year.
The Chiefs (1-8) expect several others starters to be out for Sunday as well. Unable to practice on Wednesday were cornerback Brandon Flowers, defensive end Tamba Hali, linebackers Derrick Johnson and Pat Thomas and right guard Adrian Jones.
"We've got some new Chiefs, some new guys out there," said coach Herm Edwards.
Several others were not at full speed, including running back Jamaal Charles and safety Jarrad Page.
The defense has been particularly hard hit during this rash of injuries. Had the Chiefs taken on the Saints' top-ranked offense Wednesday, the starting linebackers would have been veteran Donnie Edwards, free agent rookie Weston Dacus and Rocky Boiman, who was released before the season by Indianapolis and signed by Kansas City on Oct. 15. Dacus and Boiman both played in Sunday's 20-19 loss to San Diego.
Last week, the Chiefs brought in cornerback Ricardo Colclough and David Macklin and defensive end Wallace Gilberry, who all played against the Chargers. Edwards said the 6-foot-3, 260-pound Babin, a first-foot pick of Houston in 2004, could play against the Saints. He played in two games for Seattle this season.
Page agreed that all the coming and going was taking a toll.
"Itit just forces people to have to step up," he said. "But once somebody shows you they know what to do, then you trust them. That's the big part. When you're not sure if people know what to do, it kind of messes up the defense because then guys try to do two jobs instead of the one job they're supposed to do."