Inside Sports
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Sports
Monday September 29,1997
The Kansas softball team won five games at the Jayhawk Classic in Lawrence this weekend. See Page 3B
Section:
College Football
长篇杂文少
The Big 12 Conference proved it is a conference to reckon with during the weekend.
SEE PAGE 6B
B
Pro Football
Page 1
The Kansas City Chiefs needed overtime to down the Seattle Seahawks yesterday 20-17.
SEE PAGE 4B
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Nebraska blocks Kansas from win
Volleyball team peaks too early
By Matt Gardner
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas volleyball team learned some important things from this weekend's matches.
After losing to Nebraska 12-15, 15-12, 2-15,
2-15 Friday and to Colorado 7-15, 7-15, 10-15
on Saturday, the Jayhawks found some
answers.
Kansas junior Laura Sophomore Amanda Reves and junior Leslie Purkeyplekie block a Nebraska spike. The Cornhushens defeated the Jayhawks Friday night at Allen Field House. The Jayhawks play Kansas State at 7:30 p.m. during at Allen Field House. Photo by Dan Elvansky / KANSAN
Kansas exerted a lot of energy during the early portions of its match against Nebraska. The high-intensity effort enabled Kansas to take a game away from the Cornhuskers but exhausted the Jayhawks, and they were too tired to play well in games three and four.
"We played exceptionally well in the first two games," Kansas volleyball coach Karen Schonewise said. "It was definitely our best defensive effort of the year, and we had a high level of consistency in the beginning."
Nebraska volleyball coach Terry Pettit realized Kansas was running out of steam and advised the fifth-ranked Cornhuskers to take advantage of it.
"I think that if a team plays hard, they gain a level of play," Pettit said. "But it's a normally a question of how long you can play at that level. For the first two games, Kansas played really well at that higher level."
Pettit, who coached Schonewise in her days as a Cornhuskers star, said his former student was putting together a solid core of players for Kansas.
"I think this is the most athletic team
Kansas has ever had," Pettit said. "This is truly Karen's first year to really have a solid group, and she's doing a good job. I thought they played hard, followed the game plan but just ran out of energy in the end."
Kansas' lack of energy against Nebraska seemed to follow the Jayhawks right into Saturday's game against Colorado. The Jayhawks lost in a three-game sweep to the Buffaloes, extending the team's losing streak against Colorado. Kansas has not beaten Colorado since Oct. 17, 1989.
Schonewise said, "You could just tell watching the team walk on the court in the third game that the intensity level just wasn't there. We showed a great deal of trust out there, and that just needs to continue throughout the entire match."
Senior right-side hitter Kendra Kahler put together a good weekend with the team's high of 25 kills.
Kahler was happy to take a game from Nebraska but has more in mind for the next time the teams play.
"Now our goal is to beat them," Kahler said. "We've come close to winning a game before, but that was incredible."
Kansas (7-8 overall, 0-2 in the Big 12 Conference) has been just a few steps away from victories in several matches this year, and the team would like to fit all the pieces together and grab a few more wins in conference play.
"We're not where we need to be, but we're making big steps toward getting there," outside hitter Mary Beth Albrecht said. "What we showed against Nebraska is nothing new. We know we can do that, and we just have to go out there and prove it."
The Jayhawks have a home match against Kansas State on Wednesday before leaving for Norman, Okla., to challenge the Sooners on Friday.
Women rise out of soccer slump
By Jason Franchuk sports@kansan.com Kansan sportwriter
The Kansas women's soccer team, which had been the purveyor of a seven-game losing skid, bared an offensive attack that earned some positive recognition from the crowd in a 4-3 victory against Colorado yesterday at Super Target Field.
The win was as important psychologically for the struggling Jayhawks as it was in the Big 12 Conference standings.
"We're a good team," freshman midfielder Katie Lentz said. "And we got our confidence back today."
Lentz had two goals against the Buffalooes.
Junior midfielder Erin Hon and senior defenseman Jackie Dowell tallied the other scores. Dowell, who also added an assist, leads the team with three goals.
The win marked the third time in Kansas' three-year history that the team had tallied four goals in a game. The Jayhawks last accomplished the feat Oct. 18, 1996 against Iowa State.
"We played terrific on offense," Kansas soccer coach Dan Magner said. "We attacked,
and we took what Colorado was giving us."
Kansas scored six goals this weekend (it lost 3-2 against nonconference opponent Tulsa on Friday), and Magner is pleased that he finally can breathe a sigh of relief that his squad won a conference game.
"It's nice to get the first (conference) win out of the way," Magner said about his team, which is 3-7 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12. "It's a wide-open field in the Big 12 besides Texas A&M, and we still are on the path to San Antonio."
San Antonio is the site of the Big 12 annual soccer tournament, which is open only to the top six finishers in the conference standings.
"We just need to win every game we have left," Lentz said. "It's definitely not impossible. We just need to put forth the kind of effort like we had today."
Kansas is still in last place in the Big 12 despite the conference win yesterday, and Magner said the team must win four out of its last five Big 12 games to challenge for a berth.
The Jayhawks travel to Iowa State on Friday and to Nebraska on Sunday.
Kansas freshman midfielder Colleen Colvin protects herself as Colorado midfielder Allison Gaussman jumps for a ball. Kansas beat the Buffaloes 4-3 yesterday at Super Target Field. Photo by Geoff Krierman/KANSAN
"We're hanging by a thread," might be one that spurs our Magner said. "But this win team."
All rest, no play allows football team to reflect
By Kelly Cannon
By Kelly Cannon
kcannon@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas football team spent its idle week being just that.
The players had Friday and Saturday off and watched films yesterday. Kansas' next opponent is Oklahoma this Saturday.
During the free weekend, the Jayhawks concerned themselves with their offensive woes.
"I think that we've tried to take some confusion out," Kansas football coach Terry Allen said. "We're just trying to do what we are capable of doing."
In the past, particular positions have been problems for the Jayhawks, Allen said. Against Cincinnati, the wide receivers proved the biggest weakness.
"It's been how well our offensive line comes along." Allen said. "But then last week was a snowball effect of some of our injuries at the receiver position. The worst case nightmare is that you don't have fast enough receivers to run away from the single coverage, and they bring the house at you, and you turn the ball over."
Allen stressed the importance of playing assignment football the last two games — something that didn't happen against Cincinnati.
"That was a lack of assignment and just an abandonment of it," he said.
The Jayhawks' inability to run the
football was also a concern, Allen said.
"We've tried to come back and take a good, strong look at the different things that Oklahoma does to limit our running game," he said. "Oklahoma is not going to change a lot. They'll be a lot more like Missouri than Cincinnati. scheme-wise."
Allen said he didn't think Kansas attempted to rush the football against Cincinnati more than 10 times.
"Do we want to do that every weekend?" Allen said. "Absolutely not."
Running back Eric Vann said if every team Kansas faces puts up a defense like Cincinnati's, then the Jayhawks will have problems.
"Well, if every team puts nine in the box, and we can't execute the passing game better than that, then no, we're not going to be a better running team," Vann said.
Offensive guard Justin Glasgow said Cincinnati was prepared.
"I think we're improving game to game," Glasgow said. "Cincinnati did their homework, and they attacked us. We were rushed into it, and we probably weren't as prepared as we would have liked."
Despite the problems, Glasgow said he thought the offense was improving.
"I didn't set my expectations high," he said. "I went in with an open mind. Looking back, I think we're doing a good job and getting some things accomplished."
Men's tennis team meets its match in Baltimore
Players lose singles and doubles matches
Kansan staff report
Kansas tennis players Enrique Abaroa and Xavier Avila failed to make it to the quarterfinals at the T. Rowe Price National Clay Court Championships in Baltimore this weekend.
Abaroa and Avila, both juniors, were eliminated from doubles competition on Friday when they lost in the round of 16 against Tim Crichton and Tom Hamilton of Arkansas, 6-2, 6-3. Crichton and Hamilton were the tournament's top doubles team and are ranked No. 2 in the country by the ITA/Role rankings.
Earlier in the day, Abaroa and Avila had defeated a team from Purdue ranked No. 13 in the country, 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 6-1. The Kansas tandem is ranked No. 12.
In singles play, Abaroa and Avilla both won their first-round matches Thursday before losing in the second round.
Piotr Baranowski of Winthrop defeated Abaroa, now 1-1 this season, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. The loss was Abaroa's first against an unranked opponent since March 9.
When Abaroa entered the tournament, he was ranked No.18 in the nation in singles.
Dmitri Lorin of Southwest Louisiana defeated Avila, also 1-1 this season, 6-2, 6-1. Lorin qualified for the main draw by defeating Kansas' Luis Uribe earlier in the week.
Next weekend, the Kansas men's tennis team will travel to Tulsa, Okla. for the Tulsa Invitational. The event runs Friday through Sunday.
The program allowed letter-winners to buy one ticket at the discount to sporting events. Last year, 287 people purchased discounted football tickets, and 189 bought men's basketball tickets.
In response to an Internal Revenue Service audit, the Kansas Athletic Department dropped a program allowing former letterwinners to purchase tickets at a 50 percent discount.
A person attending Kansas football and men's basketball games exclusively would have saved up to $300 this year.
Discounted ticket program cut
"It was a difficult decision for us," said Bob Frederick, Kansas athletic director.
Jan Kozma, University of Kansas Athletic Corporation chairwoman said, "When dealing with the IRS, whether I think it was a good idea or not is quite beside the point."