6B SPORTS
2014.11.17
SOFTBALL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2009
Softball coach brings new direction
Meagan Smith has brought high expectations and discipline in her first season at Kansas
BY HALLIE MANN
hmann@kansan.com
Follow Kansan writer Hallie Mann at twitter.com/ halliemann11.
Last season left Kansas softball fans not knowing where the team was heading. The team's future was questionable until coach Megan Smith showed up with answers.
UP NEXT FOR THE JAYHAWKS
KU Fall Invitational Oct. 10-11 Arrochoa Ballpark, Lawrence
Softball coach Megan Smith is raising the level of performance for Kansas softball during her first season here. Smith is pushing the Jayhawks to work hard and push themselves to achieve their full potential as players so the team can garner more respect from its opponents. Smith said the team is working hard to prepare for this weekend's tournament.
Johnson County CC 2 p.m., Oct.10
Butler County CC 4 p.m., Oct. 10
Johnson County CC 11 a.m., Oct. 11
Smith filled the head coaching position after Tracy Bunge, 13-year head coach for Kansas softball, left this summer. Smith was a coach at North Carolina and an assistant at LSU before she came to Kansas. She has played softball since she was seven years old, so softball has always been a part of her life. She said her goal was to coach at the highest level possible and when the job for Kansas came along she took it.
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN
Cowley County CC 1 p.m., Oct.11
"Kansas really spoke to me because it's the kind of school that really fits me," Smith said. "It's strong academically and athletically."
But even Smith didn't know when she was in school that coaching was what she would be doing as her career. Smith gave pitching lessons in high school and helped with softball clinics in college, which gave her the idea that coaching might be something she was good at. Although she was originally a nutrition major in college, she knew that coaching was where she belonged after watching her college coach.
Smith coached for "some of the best in the business" at LSU and she helped develop the softball programs at Western Carolina, Charlotte and her alma mater, North Carolina. Her winning résumé as a coach, including three NCAA tournament appearances at LSU, brings experience and knowledge to Kansas.
Smith also brought high expectations for her new players both on and off the field. Junior pitcher Allie Clark said that Smith's coaching philosophy and style were working well with the team thus far. Clark described Smith as a hands-on coach who gets into
drills and makes sure every player is doing them right. It's a learning process right now for the team, but Clark said everyone is on the same page.
Clark said Smith has raised the level of performance for Kansas ranging from where team members put their bags to making sure their shoes are cleaned on game day. Clark said the team has become more disciplined in every aspect of practice and they are ready to get out and play.
"We expect more from ourselves," Clark said. "We believe we can win the Big 12 and possibly go further than that."
Coach Smith's high standards and discipline answered the softball team's coaching dilemma but there are still questions about how they will do in an actual game. Smith and the coaching staff have stepped in to answer those questions. Assistant coach Christi Musser said that the coaching staff was looking for a theme to
motivate the players during fall practice and that the questions everyone was asking were themselves the answer.
The Kansas dugout is filled with
The Kansas dugout question marks, one for each player and the team as whole, that are waiting to be erased. Each player has the opportunity through hard work during practice and pushing themselves — to earn the right to cover their
question mark. Musser said that the coaching staff and returning players were not sure how Smith would run the team and how they
would do this season so they used the question mark as a symbol of what they were working toward as a program.
"We believe we can win the Big 12 and possibly go further than that."
"Bringing in someone new just
ALLIE CLARK Junior pitcher
With Smith at the helm, the players training hard and the rest of the coaching staff motivating and
guiding the team, Kansas played in its first tournament last weekend. The layhawks answered the doubts that opponents and fans
may have had by beating Central Missouri 7-6 and Washburn 7-0. Three players had home runs, including a grand slam from senior Amanda Jobe.
Kansas fell to Emporia State 6-5 over the weekend, but the team saw strong performances from freshmen such as Alex Jones, who pitched the first four innings in the victory over Central Missouri, and from returning players such as junior Liz Kocon, who had a solo home run against Emporia State. In a press release after the game, Smith said it was good to see the players get some live action against an opponent.
"We will get right back to work this week to get ready for another successful tournament
this weekend," Smith said.
Each day the softball team will have to work hard to answer the questions left after last season's roller coaster performance. Smith has brought answers for the team, but she said the players would have to make it happen themselves if they want to get rid of the doubt from opponents.
Junior shortstop Kolby Fesmire summed up what the team is hoping for from their opponents and themselves.
"Every single time that Kansas softball is brought up it should be, 'We need to watch out, they're a really good team,'" Fessmie said.
Edited by Samantha Foster
VOLLEYBALL
Kansas to face its biggest test yet this season
ABE&JAKE'S
LAUNDING
THURSDAY
$1
DRINKS
21+
TO DRINK
DANCE
18+
PARTY
BY ZACH GETZ
zgetz@kansan.com
Kansas has played Nebraska to a 0-82-1 record since 1975. This season, Kansas (9-5, 2-3) has yet to win a conference game on the road while Nebraska (10-4, 3-2) lost its last home game to No. 2 Texas.
As the Kansas volleyball team faces Nebraska tonight, it will be attempting to do something it has never accomplished: defeat Nebraska.
Follow Kansan
writer Zach Getz at
twitter.com/zgetz
Kansas can use the lopsided record as motivation to try to make history, sophomore outside hitter Allison Mayfield said.
It would also be a quality road win for Kansas' NCAA volleyball tournament résumé, coach Ray Bechard said.
"There is a reason a lot of teams haven't beat them much lately — because perennially over the last 10 to 15 years, they have been probably the best program in the country," Bechard said.
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
The team has been trying to stay focused in practice despite
Melissa Gribg digs the ball against Colorado on Sept. 30. Kansas will face Nebraska tonight.
Kansas will play well in O.R.I., an intact Nebraska.
TONIGHT
**WHAT:** Kansas at No. 9.
Nebraska
**WHEN:** 7 p.m.
**WHEN:** Lincoln, Neb.
UPCOMING GAMES
WHAT: Kansas vs. No. 14 Iowa State
WHEN: 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: Horejsi Family Athletics Center
having to face a tough team like Nebraska, Mayfield said.
"We come with our A-game at practice because practice will determine if we are ready to play," Mayfield said. "If we want to win, we have to work hard at practice."
The 4,000-plus fans who usually attend Nebraska volleyball games are very knowledgeable and get fired up for games, senior defensive specialist Katie Martinckin said.
"They love volleyball," Martinicin said. "They cheer for good plays no matter if it's for them or us."
is as important to Nebraska as basketball is to Kansas.
"You can compare them to KU basketball," Martinicinch said. "It's a tradition-rich program that has successful years that helps them get recruits year after year."
After Nebraska, the schedule doesn't get easier for Kansas. The team hosts No. 14 Iowa State on Saturday and No. 2 Texas on October 14.
five errors and a season low of five kills against Texas A&M over the weekend.
Martincich said that volleyball
Bechard said that junior outside hitter Karina Garlington, who has been nursing an injury, is expected to play. Garlington had
Edited by Samantha Foster
MLB
Worker collapses, dies in Dodger Stadium press box
LOS ANGELES — A worker has died in the press box at Dodger Stadium.
Team spokesman Josh Rawitch says the man died of apparent natural causes Tuesday, a day before the start of the NL
playoff series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Rawitch says the man was not a Dodgers employee, but he could not provide further details.
Los Angeles police Sgt. Asatur Mkrtechyan says the man, in his late 50s, was doing maintenance work on some equipment when he collapsed. Paramedics were
called, but the man died at the scene.
The Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals were working out on the field when the death occurred. The press box was cleared of working media until the Los Angeles County coroner could arrive to remove the body.
Associated Press
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