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4B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
嘿
SPORTS
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15,2004
'Hawks lose match, player against 'Huskers
By BILL CROSS
bcross@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWEEPER
The Kansas volleyball team held undefeated and No. 3 Nebraska to its second-lowest hitting percentage of the season, but couldn't find a way to win a game. The Huskers swept the Jayhawks Friday in Lincoln, Neb. 30-27, 30-24 and 30-26.
the Huskers had 23 blocks during the match, holding the Jayhawks to a 056 hitting percentage, indicating that they
scarcely had more kills than attack errors.
K an s a s coach Ray Bechard said he was excited about his team's defense, but its attacking was not as good as it needed to be.
"We could've had smarter
DORSEY
shots," he said. "They got in front of us at the net quite a bit."
Offense was not a problem early in game one, as the Jayhawks jumped out to a 10-6 lead. After a timeout, Nebraska slowly fought back and went ahead, 21-20. With a 28-27 lead, two Cornhuskers landed kills to end the game.
In the second game, Kansas rallied from a five-point deficit to tie the set, 10-10. In the middle of the set, senior libero Jill Dorsey exited the court after colliding with a teammate. She did not return, and sophomore defensive specialist Dani
Wittman took over Dorsey's libero duties.
Kansas again kept it close in the third game, trailing just 26-25 late in the set, but Nebraska middle blocker Traci Stalls ended the match with a block assist and a kill.
Kansas junior middle blocker Josi Lima had a match-high 11 kills, while three Cornhuskers led their team with nine apiece.
The Jayhawks had a season high nine service aces, including five by junior setter Andi Rozum.
"We served very well and got them out of their system," Bechard said.
Bechard said the Jayhawks could be successful if they continue to defend well. The Cornhuskers hit just .184 Friday night.
"I told the team we can't let this affect our next match," Bechard said. "We just have to keep on playing hard."
The jayhawks now will face more stiff competition, taking on the No. 9 Texas Longhorns at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Austin.
Earlier this season, Texas dominated Kansas in a sweep that started the Jayhawks' potentially fatal five-game losing streak.
Mostly because of that streak, the Jayhawks find themselves struggling to make the NCAA tournament. Ranked sixth in the Big 12 with four matches remaining, Kansas may have to pull an upset against Texas or No. 13 Texas A&M to catch the eye of the tournament selection committee.
FRUSTRATION: Another victory slips away from Kansas
— Edited by Ryan Greene
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
Gordon said that Brown got his hands on him, and he simply tried to move them off.
"I just ran the route, and I felt like I swam him," Gordon said. "I guess the refs thought I did something wrong."
While Gordon was hesitant to say whether his play merited a penalty, Mangino implied that something was amiss. Even at the risk of receiving a fine — likely $10,000 — Mangino went out of his way to defend Gordon's play and to offer up his version of the events which caused the penalty.
"Ten-thousand bucks, tenthousand bucks," Mangino said. "I've got a team to fight for, I've got a football team to fight for and I'm not going to be pushed around or this University pushed around because we're not the big spenders, because we're not the big BCS team in the league."
Mangino said that the official who flagged Gordon, Dallas native Freeman Johns, was the same official who issued Kansas an unsponsmanlike conduct penalty at Oklahoma. Mangino said that penalty came because his body was "gyrating."
"I had to give up talking to those guys because the game was on national TV, and I didn't want to make it seem like I'm more worried about the officials then coaching the game," Mangino said.
Late Saturday night, however,
Mangino issued a statement
backing away from some of his
comments.
"After an emotional loss, in
our seniors' last home game, I made remarks that I regret," Mangino said in a statement. "Any implications that BCS standings played a role in Saturday afternoons game was inappropriate. I have always supported the BCS system and will continue to do so."
Kansas athletics director Lew Perkins lent Mangino his support, while also emphasizing his respect for the BCS in comments in the same statement.
When Texas coach Mack Brown was told of Mangino's comments, he refused to directly comment on Mangino's argument.
"I won't make any comments on the other coach's comments, because his team did play really well, and I know he's really proud of them, and I also know he's very frustrated in his third year as head coach." Brown said. "The other thing I would say is I think we had 100 yards of more penalties than he did."
The pass interference call and Mangino's implications of impropriety overshadowed an impressive game from both Kansas' offense and defense. Kansas held leads of 3-0, 9-7, 16-13 and 23-13 before allowing Texas to score two straight touchdowns.
On the day, Kansas had three penalties for 23 yards, while Texas had 10 for 103 yards.
week. Kansas had to go to a backup quarterback midway through the game.
Kansas was led on the field by both senior quarterback John Nielsen and junior Brian Luke. Nielsen was the starter, but left with 8:06 in the second quarter with an apparent leg injury. For the third straight
Mangino said that had Luke been injured, Nielsen could have gone back in to hand the ball off, and maybe to throw from a three-step drop, but he had no mobility.
Luke had a rough outing against Iowa State on Oct. 30, causing a fumble and being pulled in favor of junior Jason Swanson for the second half. Mangino said that Luke had been looking forward to possibly playing this week.
"He did an excellent job." Mangino said. "The guy barely got any practice time because all the snaps went to John Nielsen. He wanted redemption, and he got it."
Mangino said that Luke took only about 12 snaps a day in practices this week, the norm for a backun.
Overall, Nielsen and Luke were a combined 23-40, throwing for a 308 yards and a touchdown.
Neither threw an interception. Gordon did throw one pick, however, on a side-line bomb intended for KU wide receiver Brandon Rideau that was snagged by Texas' Michael Huff.
Junior Mark Simmons led Kansas in receptions, with eight catches for 135 yards, including a long reception of 73 yards. On that play, Simmons was able to "stick his defender" (in his words) and break open. After escaping a tackle, he was headed for the end zone. He came up just short.
Ryan Howe/KANSAN
"I got tired and he got me
Marcus Henry, Kansas freshman wide receiver, fights off Texas senior safety Phillip Geiggar. Henry caught one pass for 21 yards.
from behind." Simmons said. "I saw they were in man coverage, and I told Luke to check me, because we had a better angle on the corner."
With the ball on the one-yard line, Kansas went to senior tight end Lyonel Anderson, who made a one-yard reception. That play put Kansas ahead 23-13. It appeared to many that the game was over.
Texas went on a 14-0 run, however, and was able to leave Memorial Stadium with a victory.
On Texas' last drive, it seemed to be in bad situations continually, but it did get good field position. A high, short punt by KU freshman punter Kyle Tucker gave Texas the ball at the KU 47.
On the very first play of the drive, Texas' quarterback Vince Young was sacked for a loss of eight yards by KU junior defensive ends Charlton Keith and Iermial Ashley.
Two incomplete passes followed the sack, putting Texas in the unenviable position of needing 18 yards for a first down and another chance at a touchdown with less than a minute to go.
Kansas picked up the kickoff at the 30, giving Luke two chances at a game-winning touchdown. His first pass came
Young then scrambled 22 yards to get the first down and push deep into KU territory. Four plays later, Young hooked up with wider receiver Tony Jeffery in the end-zone for a touchdown, giving Texas a 27-23 lead, after the PAT, with just 11 seconds on the clock.
up short to Mark Simmons, leaving Kansas 53 yards short of the end-zone with a second to play.
this next pass came up short of the end zone and was deflected away by a pack of Texas receivers.
Football notes
The official announced attendance was 38,714.
Senior kicker Johnny Beck went 3-for-4 in field goals. His longest was from 39 yards out in the first quarter.
Kansas has outscored its opponents 66-16 in the first quarter of games. Its defense
has not allowed a single touchdown in that time with the only TD resulting from a Colorado fumble-return on Nov.6.
Kansas last beat Texas in 1938 when as a member of the Big Six Conference, Kansas snuck away with a 19-18 victory over the Longhorns, then members of the Southwest Conference.
Rideau had 58 yards inceptions today, enough to propel him to second place on the KU all-time yardage list with 1536 for his career.
Edited by Steve Schmidt