SPORTS 7B
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2008
DODD
(CONTINUED FROM 1B)
sance.
The North was back, they said.
And that's what made Saturday so frustrating. And that's why we wanted to scratch our head.
Oklahoma and Texas aren't just better. They're faster and stronger and bigger and they're more disciplined and they have all-American talent all over the field and quarterbacks taller than six-feet, and well, it all just seems a little unfair
College football's a curious institution. More than any other sport -- college or pro -- tradition matters. It all seems to easy for the Oklahoma's and the Texas's and the USC's. They play in palaces with massive video boards with goofy names like gorilla-tron. And they recruit studs, and they outspend people, and year after year the vicious cycle continues. The rich become richer.
But the advantage goes beyond the field. College football is the only sport where polls are actually used to help determine who will play for the national title. And a lot of poll voters can't help themselves. They look at the program's name and they think about history.
Oh. This team's not a traditional power. Better slide them down a few spots.
Not following? Let's look at the past 20 National Champions.
1988 - Notre Dame
1989 - Miami, Fla.
1990 - Colorado (AP), Georgia Tech (UPI)
1991-Miami,Fla.(AP),
Washington (Coaches)
1992 - Alabama
1993 - Florida State
1994 - Nebraska
1995 - Nebraska
1996 - Florida
1997 - Michigan (AP)
1998 - Tennessee
1999 - Florida State
2000 - Oklahoma
2001 - Miami, Fla.
2002 - Ohio State
2003 - USC (AP), LSU
National Champs
2004 - USC
2005 - Texas
2006 - Florida
2007 - LSU
Notice a trend? Aside from the bizarre Colorado/Georgia Tech split title in 1990, and Tennessee's breakthrough in 1998, the last 20 years have been thoroughly owned by college football's good ol' boys.
And that's precisely why 2007 had so many fans giddy. We were one week away from a Missouri — West Virginia National Championship. The peasants were finally sticking it to college football's nobility. Maybe we finally have parity, we thought.
And then comes a day like Saturday. Oklahoma and Texas showed that speed still kill — and thrills — and talents still trumps everything else. And you look at the top six teams in the Associated Press Poll:
1. Texas
2. Alabama
3. Penn State
4. Oklahoma
5. Florida
6. USC
And you realize nothing has changed. The nobles still rule. Parity is a dirty little myth.
Edited by Ramsey Cox
VOLLEYBALL
Bring in the Noyes, bring in the funk
Savannah Noyes aids Jayhawks in at home victory against Sooners
BY JOSH BOWE
jbowe1@kansan.com
Contradicting her own last name, senior Savannah Noyes has quietly been the Jayhawks most consistent player since Big 12 play started.
But after last night, the middle blocker could not have been louder.
Noyes and the rest of her Kansas teammates picked up a critical win last night at the Horesji Family Athletic Center against Oklahoma, winning in four sets (27-25, 17-25, 26-24, 25-22).
"Obviously excited about beating a real quality team," coach Ray Bechard said.
Noyes, who has led the
Jayhawks in hitting efficiency since Big 12 matches have started, posted a season high 17 kills at a .577 clip. Noyes also threw in six
digs and three block assists for good measure.
"I was just hitting the ball that Nicole [Tate] gave me." Noyes said, attributing her success to the freshman setter. "We we're passing well and in system."
It was not a picture perfect match for Kansas, who crept close to its season high in errors with 29. And after Noyes' .577 hitting percentage, the only other Jayhawk to hit above .200 was the setter Tate. To add on even further, Kansas failed to be the first team to reach 20 points in every set except for the fourth and deciding one.
"I told the team after Missouri, we're not losing again at home."
The Jayhawks had to rally when most of their players were not playing up to par, which makes Noyes' game ever more important.
"She was bouncing some balls tonight," Bechard said of Noyes with a smile. "One of the better nights I've seen her have."
Bechard was pleased to see some of his players excel at places they are normally not accustomed too. For example, junior defensive specialist Katie Martinicich recorded her first block assist of the season, having to play some
key minutes at the front line after Kansas only had one substitution left during the important third set.
The victory gave Kansas its third in the conference, tying Missouri for seventh place. However four teams ahead of Kansas have four wins, while fourth place Baylor sits with five. The home victory kept the Jayhawks in the hunt for climbing out of the Big 12 cellar and with two straight road matches coming up, Bechard knew the importance of winning on their home court.
"Everybody was trying to do something, maybe if it wasn't their best skill," Beard said. "They tried to help the team somehow."
RAY BECHARD Volleyball coach
"I told the team after Missouri, we're not losing again at home," Bechard said. "That's the attitude we got to have."
though the starts were not as crisp as Bechard would have liked to see, he could not have been happier with the finishes. Kansas played well from point 20 to finish in every set except for set two, the set Kansas lost. Once the Jayhawks reached point 20 in sets one, three, and four they out scored the Sooners 17-10.
E ve n
"We were good in end game, from point 20 on." Bechard said. "We could have had a little more urgency in the other five point segments."
Besides Noyes' production, two other Jayhawks finished with double-digit kills. Sophomore outside hitters Karina Garlington and Jenna Kaiser finished with 17 and 10 as Garlingen's total tied Noyes for match high honors.
For senior middle blocker Natalie Uhart, she was just relieved the Jayhawks did not drop another match in a row. Uhart now wants to put together consecutive successful matches
"We simply need momentum," Uhart said. "This is really important that we go to Baylor and get a victory out of it."
—Edited by Ramsey Cox
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Ryan McGeehany/KRNASN Senior middle blocker Savannah Noyes jumps for a spike against Oklahoma during Saturday night's 3-1 victory in the Horese Family Athletic Centers.
notes
— The match was Kansas' third annual Dig for the Cure match.
Right before the start of Fall Break, Kansas fell in four sets to Missouri last Wednesday (25-20, 25-19, 21-25, 25-19). Kansas was led by Karina Garlickton's 17 kills and 12 digs for her third double-double of the season. Missouri only had 14 errors for the entire match, playing a clean match the whole way.
Nicole Tate finished with 51 assists and 12 digs, her sixth double-double of the season. Garlington followed with her fourth double-double adding 11 digs with her match high tying 17 kills.
Fans showed their support by wearing pink t-shirts. Kansas had 75 digs for the match to help out the cause for Breast Cancer.
Four Kansas players finished with double digit digs with sophomore libero Melissa Manda leading the way with 16. Kansas also ended with three solo blocks and 14 block assists. Junior middle blocker led the team in block assists with four, while senior middle blocker Natalie Uhart took charge with two of the three solo blocks.
Josh Bowe
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