8B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY HARRY KANSAN
VOLLEYBALL
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2008
Team rides winning streak into Oklahoma match
Two players earn individual Big 12 honors last week; coach savs awards reflect whole team's performance
BY JOSH BOWE
jbowe@kansan.com
Coming off a week of consecutive sweeps, it could be difficult for volleyball coach Ray Bechard to find negatives for Kansas to address this week.
But he said that wasn't the case.
"We found plenty of things today," Bechard said. "You're going to run out of days in a season before
you can get everything how you want it."
Regardless, Kansas (12-12, 6-9) will be riding its first winning streak in Big 12 Conference play into Norman, Okla., tonight when it faces off against Oklahoma (10-14, 6-10) at 7 p.m. The Sooners are also on a two-match streak of their own, albeit a losing one.
It will be an important match for Kansas, because the Big 12 standings still haven't settled yet. The breadth of talent in the conference has led to a muddled middle of teams. Iowa State stands at fourth
place, and five teams, including Kansas and Oklahoma, are either one or two matches behind.
The Jayhawks were able to beat the Sooners at home earlier in October. Bechard said his team had watched a lot of tape as he tried
to plan around a Sooner squad that recently traveled to Austin, Texas, and beat the then-No. 3 Longhorns.
"We all know what they are capable of doing," Bechard said, "So we expect to see Oklahoma's best effort."
- Sophomore outside hitter Karina Garlington echoed Bechard's concerns and said she hoped Kansas could continue the momentum it had corralled. The Jayhawks haven't had a winning streak since nonconference play, and it has been hard for them to string together consecutive good matches until now.
Bechard said he would like to see Kansas' dig effort improve against the Sooners. The Jayhawks had only 32 digs against the Red Raiders last week, a low number for a three-set match. In Kansas' last three three-set matches, the average number of digs was 47.
"There are still some missed defensive coverages that we talk about," Bechard said. "You need to be real clean in that because they know what we're doing, and we kind of know what they're doing."
"Any time you get awards like that, people are paying attention to what you're doing."
"We have a good game plan on Oklahoma so we're really going to focus" on the KU side of the net again, Garlington said. "Get off to a good start and staying consistent."
Garlington, along with freshman setter Nicole Tate, award a big 12 won last week. Garlington was Offensive Player of the Week, and Tate was Rookie of the Week.
RAY BECHARD Volleyball coach
Tate said she was humbled by the award and said her only concern was continuing this winning
streak and making the NCAA Tournament.
"It's awesome that I got them but I just kind of put them to the side till the end of the season, because we still got a lot of work to do." Tate said.
Bechard said he was proud of both Garlington and Tate for their achievements, but also of his team in general. Bechard said they won the awards because the team performed so well last week.
"Any time you get awards like that, people are paying attention to what you're doing," he said. "It means you had a good week, so I'll be more happy if we have some more honors at the end of this week."
Edited by Brenna Hawley
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Junior defensive specialist Melissa Grieb and sophomore libero Melissa Team up to dig a Colorado kill attempt during match point play for Kansas. Grieb came up with the dig and Kansas got the kill it needed to sweep the Buffalo team.
keys to the game
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
ON THE ROAD AGAIN It can't be ignored — Kansas has only one Big 12 victory on the road, and that came more than a month ago to Texas Tech, who is still winless in conference. Whether it be the long road trips, the hostile crowds, or playing in a different gym that holds them back, the Jayhawks need to overcome their road woes. Perhaps riding the coattails of a two-match winning streak will be enough of an edge, and Kansas seems committed this week to a sense of urgency as the season winds down.
earlier this week. A team like the Sooners fights for extra kill attempts, gets extra offensive possessions, and takes advantage of free balls. Kansas will have to improve its dig efforts, as Bechard said, and control the pace and tempo.
EXTRA EFFORT
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Kansas: Karina Garlington — The reigning big 12 Offensive Player of the Week is going to have to keep that same level of play for Kansas to close out Oklahoma tonight. The sophomore outside hitter averaged five kills per set last week while hitting more than .300. The Sooners will try to take her out of the game with their defensive sets, but if Garlington wants to
Oklahoma is a "scrappy" team, as freshman Nicole Tate said
stay at a high level, she must be able to fight through that and still carry the load when things get tight.
Oklahoma: Caitlin Higgins — The freshman outside hitter has been impressive this season. She is second on the team in kills per set with a 2.52 average. The Arlington, Texas, native also leads the team in aces with 26. Higgins has also shown the ability to step up in crucial moments. She had a team-high 18 kills when the Sooners shocked the Longhorns. So if things get close for Oklahoma, expect to see Higgins try to shoulder the burden for her team.
Josh Bowe