sports
monday, October 27, 2003
the university daily kansan 3B
METTLEN: Season is not over yet, don't give up hope
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1P
Despite Saturday's disaster, it's not quite time to panic yet.
There's always hope Whitteimore could be back this year. We've seen him do the improbable so many times that you can never really count him out.
If not, maybe freshman Adam Barmann has what it takes to play quarterback in the Big 12 Conference.
Even if he doesn't, the rest of the Jayhawks aren't the same group of Jimmy Olsens we saw last year.
Kansas has two quality running backs, a handful of good receivers and a linebacking crew that rivals any in the Big 12.
To be fair, Luke or Nielsen might have done better with more than a few minutes to prepare for the spotlight.
Oh, it's not time to jump off the bandwagon yet.
bandwagon yet.
It makes you wonder, though,
if a Kansas football program that looked like it was headed to Metropolis might be back to Smallville next year without Whittimore. He's not Superman,
but he's pretty damn close.
Mettlen is a Lucas senior in journalism and sports editor.
VOLLEYBALL: Kansas falls short of victory over Colorado,will aim to improve against Kansas State
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The lajawhacks (14-8 overall, 6 Big 12 Conference), outscored, out-dug and even outblocked the Buffaloes in a back-and-forth battle.
But in the most important category, the final score, KU came up just short of another Big 12 road victory.
"It was a great match to the casual observer, we had the better numbers and came out with a two-point loss," Beachard said.
Senior Sarah Rome led the Jayhawks with 20 kills and 14 digs.
Three other Jayhawks had double-digit kills, and Rozum continued to serve well, notching
"It was a great match to the casual observer, we had the better numbers and came out with a two-point loss."
Ray Bechard Kansas coach
a career high four aces in the match.
The Jayhawks will try to improve their Big 12 record as they host the Kansas State Wildcats at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Horeisi Center.
The Wildcats, who are ranked 8th in the nation, lead the alltime series 48-31.
BIG 12 VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS
Team Conf. Over.
K-State 11-1 21-3
Nebraska 10-2 18-2
Missouri 9-2 15-4
Texas A&M 8-3 16-5
Kansas 6-5 14-8
Colorado 6-5 14-7
Texas 5-6 10-9
Baylor 4-8 11-14
Iowa St. 2-9 10-12
Texas Tech 1-10 9-11
Oklahoma1-9 9-13
Oklahoma St. does not field a volleyball team.
Edited by Ashley Marriott
Lindsey Gold/Kansan
Kansas sophomore middle blocker Josi Lima tussled at the net for a block against Texas on Wednesday. Lima has a total of 75 blocks in her career.
SOCCER: Kansas advances to 14-4-1 on two victories from Friday and Sunday
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The scoring wasn't over yet. Smith put in the insurance goal, her 16th of the season, in the 29th minute of play. From the right side of the goal she put a rolling ball past Wade, which hit the left goal-nost and bounced in.
Many of Kansas' scoring opportunities originated with freshman defender Holly Gault. The Sooners allowed Gault to roam the field unchallenged and
distribute the ball in all directions for at least 70 minutes. Gault said the original plan was for her to hold her position in the Kansas backfield, but Francis changed the plan after he realized they weren't challenging her.
"They gave me so much space that Coach was like, 'Well, if they're going to give you that much space, just go ahead and attack." Gault said.
Francis made some changes with about 20 minutes remaining in the first half that allowed Kansas
to protect its lead. The Jayhawks started the game with three forwards, four midfielders and three defenders, but changed to a more defensive two forwards, four midfielders and four defenders.
The Sooners had a few scoring opportunities in the second half, but Miller maintained her strong play between the posts and the Jayhawks held the 3-1 lead until the final horn sounded. Miller had a season-high seven saves in the game. Her previous six high was against Missouri.
Kansas is a better team and is playing more consistently, Brothers said. She said the Jayhawks came away the winner because they stick to their game plan of being patient and successfully finishing scoring opportunities. The Jayhawks traveled to Ann Arbor, Mich, yesterday and defeated the Michigan Wolverines 2-1, Kansas' record sits at 14-4-1, with Friday's victory moving Kansas' Big 12 Conference record to 5-3-1.
The layhawks closeout regular season play with a 3 p.m. match
Friday against Oklahoma State at SuperTarget Field.
Notes: Friday's match with Oklahoma was the second time that Kansas forward Kimberly Karfonta, Edmond, Okla. sophomore, has played against her older sister, sooner junior Kirsten Karfonta. The two played high school and club soccer together, so playing opposite each other has been a different, but fun, experience, Kimberly said.
— Edited by Michael Owells
Yankees may clean house after World Series defeat
The Associated Press
"I don't believe we won," said Marlins catcher Ivan Rodriguez,
NEW YORK - The Florida dugout was littered with champagne bottles, beer cans, cigars and a discarded box of Kodak film. A snapshot of the winning side. for sure.
who kissed home plate when it was all over. "But we did it."
man Alfonso Soriano?
Pretty soon, look for the New York Yankees to start cleaning house.
Bench coach Don Zimmer sounds adamant that he's leaving. Hitting coach Rick Down might lose his job. General manager Brian Cashman? Pitcher Jeff Weaver? All-Star second base-
It's all possible in owner George Steinbrenner's world. Especially after such an upset, finished off by Josh Beckett and low-budget Florida 2-0 in Game 6 on Saturday night.
One thing is not likely to undergo a major shake-up: the Marlins.
When they last won the World
Series in 1997, the Marlins underwent a startling makeover, jettingion stars such as Gary Sheffield and Moises Alou. The result was an embarrassing 108 losses in 1998.
But out of that wreck, thenGM Dave Dombowski and the Marlins were already building for the future.
The terrible record left Florida with a high draft choice, and
Beckett was the overall No. 2 pick in June 1999.
First baseman Derrek Lee,
starter Brad Penny and reliever
Braden Looper also joined the
Marlins in trades for the likes of
Kevin Brown, Matt Mantei and
Edgar Renteria.
It certainly didn't look good in mid-May when manager Jeff Torborg was fired.
In the coming weeks, the 2004 season will begin to take shane
"I guess it's kind of strange to say, but I still think we got the best team in the league," said Andy Pettitte, outpitched by Beckett in Game 6. "But we didn't win. Obviously, we're not the best team because we didn't win.
"There'll be changes, I'm sure."