TENNIS Freshman Lauren Hommell arrives at Kansas with goals of returning the team to the national spotlight. PAGE 4C
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2004
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Soccer shines in Big 12
With third place conference standing, visions of titles dance in their heads
Rvlan Howe/KANSAN
BY KELLI ROBINETT
krobinett@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
After losing to Nebraska for its Big 12 Conference opener, the Kansas soccer team has bounced back with three straight victories and is in position to make a run at its first conference title.
"You look at the conference right now, and there are a lot of teams in the running, and we're one of them," said coach Mark Francis. "We just have to make sure we show up every day. With the competition we play against, you can lose a game if you let down even a little bit. We've just got to keep being consistent."
It won't be hard for Kansas to maintain that consistency if junior forward Caroline Smith continues the level of play she displayed last weekend. Smith earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors with eight points and three goals in games against Baylor and Texas Tech.
Kansas hasn't started conference play with a 3-1 record since 2001, and the team is currently third in the Big 12 standings behind Texas A&M, 5-0, and Nebraska, 3-0.
www.kansan.com
"Caroline is getting back into her groove a little bit," Francis said. "This year she has a lot of assists and she's helping other people score. She's
also burying the chances she gets to score."
Smith's award is the fourth weekly Big 12 honor for Kansas. If the team expects to earn more accolades, and gain ground on Texas A&M and Nebraska, it will need to continue its stellar play on five upcoming game road trips.
Kansas will be challenged from the start, with the first game in the road trip against rival Missouri. The matchup will be the first game in this year's newly re-named Border Showdown series.
Nicole Cauzillo, sophomore midfielder, battles Maddy Minnis, Colorado sophomore midfielder, and Laura Munnelly, Colorado sophomore defender, for a loose ball. The Jayhawks defeated the Buffaloes 2-1 Sunday afternoon at Jayhawk Soccer Complex.
Plus, the Jayhawks will be facing an angry opponent — the Jayhawks ended the Tiger's season in Columbia, Mo., last year in the NCAA tournament.
"Momentum is not going to mean a darn thing when we go to Missouri," said senior goalie Meghan Miller. "I mean they're Missouri, and that's all I can say without getting in trouble."
After Friday's 7 p.m. contest with Missouri, Kansas will have a week off before traveling to Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. The team will then finish its string of road games the following weekend at Texas A&M and Texas.
The soccer team realizes the magnitude of the game and expects to get all it can handle from the Tigers.
— Edited by Janette Crawford
Wildcats win by a whisker
BY BILL CROSS
bcross@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRIETER
The Kansas volleyball team played its first five-game match of the season last night, but the outcome wasn't what it wanted.
Kansas State defeated Kansas 30-19,
23-30, 30-25, 22-30, 15-12.
"The volleyball gods went their way tonight," said senior middle blocker Ashley Michaels.
Game one looked menacingly familiar, coach Ray Bechard said, as the Wildcats outhit the Jayhawks .500 to 194. Kansas had hit just .078 in the previous three matches.
But in game two, the Jayhawks hit .289. Michaels had five kills in each of the first two sets.
the first two sets. The Jayhawks trailed 20-21 in the second game but reeled off rallies of four and five points to seal the game. Junior setter Andi Rozum led the charge on the game-winning rally with her reintroduced jump serve, which she had not used since the beginning of the season.
"She's getting more comfortable," Bechard said. "I think it's a great weapon."
Rozum's serves kept the Wildcats off balance as she scored two aces in the match. Sophomore outside hitter Jana Correa added two aces for the night.
Correia audited the scene. In the third set, the Jayhawks had more kills than their feline counterparts, but 10 attack errors put them at a dangerous 2-1 disadvantage.
Ginny Weatherman/Kansai
balance, because the deciding game, Michaela and junior middle blocker Josi Lima embraced on the court in anticipation. Kansas has not defeated Kansas State since 1994.
"We had some players run some different patterns to keep that defense off balance." Bechard said.
Game four was an offensive fireworks show, as each team hit better than 350.
The teams began the set by trading kills. The usually reserved Correa jumped into Lima's arms after her third kill of the match gave Kansas a 5-4 advantage.
advantage.
But two kills by Wildcat outside hitter Agata Rezende forced Bechard to take a time out. An attack error by Lima made the deficit three points. Michaels then responded with two kills and a block to tie the game at 10. But a Michaels attack error and kills by four Wildcat players, including honorable
Kansas junior outside hitter Paula Caten spike mention All-American setter Gabby Guerre, ended the match.
"Before, we knew what the mission was, but we weren't all together to get there," said sophomore defensive specialist Dani Wittman, who worked with starting rotation for the first time this
"You've got two hitters, and you've got that other one to worry about." Bechard said. "She's the best setter in the league as far as offense goes."
a ball over the net. The Jayhawks batted the V- season. "Our team's been struggling, but it wasn't with the fight we had tonight."
Bechard said in recent matches, the team had failed to pass the ball to Michaels often enough. Last night, there was no such problem as she led the team in kills with a career-high 24 and attempts with 45.
"We need to stop those runs," Michaels said of the Wildcats' scoring rallies. "But tonight we didn't fold, and
She said there would be no emotional hangover from tonight's loss.
"There was energy in the locker room, and we're going to build on that," Michaels said. "It was just different tonight."
we fought back."
Kansas will play next at 7 p.m. Saturday at Colorado.
Edited by Steve Schmidt
GOING DEEP
SHANE KUCERA
skucera@kansan.com
Track star has losses on mind
Editor's note: Athletes at the University of Kansas are more than just victories and statistics — they are real people with opinions on sports, life and love. Each Thursday, Kansan sportwriter Shane Kucera sits with a student-athlete and discusses issues beyond the playing field.
Some athletes, like women's track member Brooklyn Hann, dwell on the losses and forget about the victories. That's unfortunate for Hann because she's arguably one of the best triple jumpers in Kansas' history: The 2002 Big 12 Championship, the USA Juniors triple jump and the Pre-World Meet triple jump are all titles under her belt, but those don't stick out in her mind. Instead, what she remembers is losing the Big 12 Championship in 2003.
Q. Do you get special treatment because you're a student athlete?
The Dig 12 Jackals Hann is the Jayhawks' record holder for the triple jump (42' 11") The record holder gives us an idea of what she's like off the track:
Q: Which triple jump victory was most important for you?
A: 1 don't know, it depends on the sports you do. We get to enroll early, but that's because our schedules are already made. Because of practice you have to have a time set out, but other than that not really.
Oh yeah! I won the USA Junior Championships, I forgot about that. That was pretty big just because I got to go to Jamaica.
A: (Big 12) Conference my freshman year. It has just kind of sucked because I haven't won again since. This year I'll be able to at least fight for it. The losses stay in my memory more than the wins.
Q: Is your 21st birthday next month?
A: Yeah, but I don't drink or anything, so hey, it's just another day. But it's exciting to be able to do more stuff I guess.
C: What's your reason for not drinking?
SEE LOSSES ON 8C
KU-KSU tickets less for students
Students looking to attend the Kansas versus Kansas State football game on Saturday don't have to pay a fortune for a ticket. Students who bring their KUID to the ticket office in Allen Fieldhouse can purchase a ticket for $10.
Students can also purchase additional tickets for $45. The normal price for game tickets is $65, which is the most expensive ticket price for a home game in Kansas football history, but students and faculty can purchase tickets at the reduced price for people coming to the game.
"If students have family members or friends coming into town for the game, they can buy tickets for them for $20 off," said Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director.
Athletics Department officials said the tickets would be located as close to the student section as possible.
As of yesterday, Kansas officials said they had sold about 40,000 tickets for Saturday's game. They said that about 10,000 tickets remained. Marchiony said he expected a lot of people will come out for the game.
"Ticket sales have been steady, so we are expecting a good crowd," he said.
Miranda Lenning
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