Thursday, August 20, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 3
Commentary
Western background of coach looks ideal for volleyball team
Why?
Bump your way to Allen Field House, set yourself in a seat and spike the Kansas women's volleyball team with your support.
Because a new coach has ridden into Lawrence fresh out of a Western Kansas sunset.
Ray Bechard, the Kansas volleyball coach, is no gunslinger shooting from the hip. He is a focused, competitive individual with a record of success in head-to-head competition.
He grew up in Grinnell, a small town on the plains between Hays and Colby.
If you've never been west of Topeka, you might not understand a horizon that stretches for miles or a sunset that seems to last for hours when you're sitting in the bleachers at a high school football game or riding a bus to or from a competition in your biggest rival's gymnasium.
The new Kansas coach, however, has seen the glorious fire at the day's end on the prairie.
And that fire burns in him—a
competitive flame fanned by boyhood tussles with his brothers, by two years on the Barton County Community College basketball team, by three years coaching at Lewis High School and by
Matthew Friedrichs
more than a decade coaching volleyball at Barton County.
Ray Bechard and his brothers grew up playing basketball in their back yard under the expanse of Kansas sky. They listened to KU football and basketball.
They cheered for the Jayhawks in an area where fashion doesn't matter, but it is fashionable to bleed purple and cheer for the Kansas State Wildcats.
One brother now coaches basketball in Gardner, another brother writes about sports in Salina and a
third brother is the athletics director at Holton High School.
It was only natural, competing with brothers such as this day in and day out that Bechard developed a nose for winning and a desire to earn his living from sports.
Now the only iron he plays basketball during noon pick-up games at Allen Field House is that he's on the court as a volleyball coach, not assisting or coaching the basketball program.
Of course, Bechard isn't the only addition to this season's team.
The team also has new players, a new attitude, and by the end of the season, a new practice and competition facility ready to use.
Come watch the new Kansas women's volleyball team during its last few months playing in the field house.
Cheer for the Hawks when they take on rivals such as K-State and Missouri.
Rest assured that Ray Bechard is preparing his team for their enemies — he knows about small-town
rivalships and Jayhawk Conference blood feuds.
And growing up in K-State territory, he's been on the right side all along.
Don't worry about the team's previous record.
He's come from the setting sun in the West to the East where the sun rises.
Beachard knows about winning—his Barton County Cougars lost fewer than 10 percent of their matches.
In the morning, the light grows instead of dimming, but the dawning colors are the same as those of dusk.
Glorious hues of gold, orange,
pink and crimson paint the sky
until it turns a deep blue over the
fully illuminated land.
A new season is dawning for the KU volleyball team, led by a Kansas boy who has the fire and color of a wide-open horizon and who will blaze a new tradition of winning.
Friedrichs is a Bremen, Kan., graduate student in journalism.
No.2 quarterback still not chosen
Two freshmen junior considered for backup spot
by Jodi M. Smith Kansan sportswriter
Jim Kelly had Frank Reich; Phil Simms had Jeff Hostetler and Joe Montana had Steve Young. All were supported by a competent backup quarterback who pushed them through their seasons and provided them relief when necessary.
But Kansas quarterback Zac Wegner is not in the same boat as those NFL legends.
Right now, he lacks a backup for his position, but according to coach Terry Allen, it won't be long.
With the close of two-a-day practices and a morning scrimmage yesterday, Allen and his supporting staff have not yet made a decision about the No.2 quarterback position.
the competition remains between freshman Jonas Weatherbie, freshman walk-on Jake Letourneau and junior walk-on Jay Alexander.
Allen said on a scale of one to 10, the three prospects are at two and a half.
"Zac has had a very good preseason, but we still don't have a backup that we feel comfortable with," he said.
The lack of a backup only poses a problem if Wegner, who has one year of varsity experience under
"Zac has had a very good preseason, but we still don't have a backup that we feel comfortable with. If Zac doesn't get hurt, it's not a problem. But if he gets hurt, it's a huge problem."
his belt, gets injured.
Terry Allen Kansas head football coach
"If Zac doesn't get hurt, it's not a problem," Allen said. "But if he gets hurt, it's a huge problem. If we did have an injury, we could get through that game, but then we'd have to change up the offense."
Allen said that the physical aspect of the game had not been difficult for the three inexperienced players to deal with but that the mental work had caused them problems.
Allen said that a decision should be reached in the next couple of days.
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