TENNIS Check out tomorrow's Kansan for a preview of the women's tennis team.
SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15,2004
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Jayhawk soccer falls to Illini, 1-0
www.kansan.com
BY JASON ELMOUIST
jelmquist@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
The No. 8 Kansas women's soccer team suffered its first defeat of the season yesterday at the hands of No.11 Illinois.
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The Jayhawks lost 1-0 in a game that featured two high-performing defenses.
After the Jayhawks broke into the top 10 of all four major polls and senior goalkeeper Meghan Miller received her second Big 12 Player of the Week award this season, Kansas went into Champaign, Ill., with high expectations. But the Jayhawks were unable to attain an offensive rhythm.
Kansas Coach Mark Francis. "But we just made a mental mistake, and one of their girls got loose and was able to score."
rhythm.
Illinois scored the only goal of the game in the 26th minute of the first period. The Fighting Illini's Tara Hurlless knocked in the score off a rebound that followed a save by Miller.
allowed a save by mine.
"I though that we played okay," said
girls got loose and was killed. Despite the one goal, Miller had a season-high eight saves in the match. It was the defense of Illinois, however, that suffocated the Kansas offense and held them scoreless. The Illini led the Jayhawks to just eight shots, while attempting 14 of their own. Junior forward Caroline Smith led the Jayhawks in shots with two. Hurlless led the Illini with four.
"It was a tough game," Francis said. "I thought they played really tight on defense, especially in the second half, and we were not able to get any offensive pressure. We will just have to see how we respond after this."
Kansas will face Mississippi, which is 4-2 after a victory over Arkansas-Little Rock, at 5 p.m. this Friday at the Jayhawk Sports Complex.
Like father, like son, like brother
— Edited by Paige Worthy
BY BJ RAINS editor@kansan.com KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Getting a chance to play in the major leagues is every baseball player's dream. Kansas junior outfielder A.J. Van Slyke might be just a few months away from seeing that dream start to become reality.
Van Slyke recently finished his best season on a baseball diamond. He played in a wooden bat league in Illinois over the summer and led the league in seven offensive categories. He hit .400 with nine home runs and was voted the league's most valuable player. He was also named to the summer all-America team by Baseball America.
America team by Baskin. Van Slyke played his first season at Kansas last year. He graduated in 2002 from John Burroughs High School in St. Louis, but spent his first year of college baseball at Liberty College, a small division I school in Virginia.
"I had a few other choices coming out of high school, but I was worried that I would go into a program where I would have to wait a year or two to play," Van Slyke said. "I wanted to play right away, and with Liberty, I got to do that."
calls to schools in the Midwest. Among those he called were Missouri, Kansas State and Kansas.
Van Slyke started 30 games as a freshman in spring 2003, but he became unhappy with the situation in Virginia and began exploring his options of transferring.
"I had some disagreements with the head coach, and I really wanted a chance to come home and play closer to home so my dad would get to see me play," he said. "I also wanted the chance to play in a better conference like the Big 12, and I felt like I was ready to make that jump."
"I called and said, 'Hi my name is A.J., and I'm just looking for a place to play baseball. I'm a sophomore. Here's my transcripts. I'm not looking for anything. I just want the chance to walk on.'" he said.
Van Slyke returned to St. Louis last December and began making phone
Kansas Head Coach Ritch Price was the only coach to show any interest in the outfielder. After a few conversations, Van Slyke was headed for Lawrence.
"What impressed me was that he called himself," Price said. "If his dad would have called, or a scout, I don't think I would have taken him. The fact that he did everything himself really impressed me."
Unlike other college athletes, baseball players don't necessarily have to sit out a year when they transfer to another school. College baseball has a one-time transfer rule that a player can transfer to another college and be immediately eligible to play as long as the two schools are not in the same conference.
That rule allowed Van Slyke to play last season with the Jayhawks. He had to sit out the first 10 games before his transfer became official, but he worked his way into the starting lineup by the end of the year. As a walk-on, he hit .360 with three doubles and two home runs. He struck out only seven times in 75 at-bats.
Price said that allowing Van Slyke to join the team was the best decision he had made while coaching the jayhawks.
"From January to May, he made more improvements than any kid I have ever coached." Price said. "By the end
SEE VAN SLYKE ON 3B
A. I Van Slvke swings at a pitch during practice vesterdav.
Tony Stubbs breaks up a pass during the Jayhawks game against Tulsa on Sept. 4. Kansas is gearing up for an away game at Evanston, Ill., against Big 10 foe Northwestern.
Strong safety Stubbs holds lead in tackles
BY JONATHAN KEALING
jkealing@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRIVER
Only one football player in the Big 12 has recorded 21 tackles during two games this season.
this season.
That man, senior strong safety Tony Stubbs, plays football for Kansas. In addition to the tackles, he has one interception.
Stubbs, recruited out of Lake Worth, Fla., is in his second season as a starter with the Kansas defense. The only returning member of the secondary, he now leads a group that has helped push Kansas' defense to number two in the Big 12.
While some would think that a safety leading a team and a conference in tackles was indicative of a weak defensive line, coach Mark Mangino said this was not the case.
Stubbs has taken a surreptitious route to his current position as the starting strong safety.
Mangino said, "If our strong safety is making tackles, it's because he has a gap responsibility in our defense," Mangino said.
back there.
In high school, Stubbs spent time as
"Tony transformed himself from a running back player to a safety," Mangino said. "He truly is a leader back there."
SEE SAFETY ON 3B
Volleyball plays it close
BY BILL CROSS
bcross@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTSWRIVER
The Kangaroos' finesse style provided the aggressive Jayhawks with a steep challenge, but senior libero Jill Dorsey said the level of competition didn't surprise her.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The No. 24 Kansas volleyball team swept the unranked UMKC last night, but it wasn't quite what the Jayhawks had in mind.
UMKC always gives us their best effort," Dorsey said. "They're always going to play their best when the Jayhawks come to town."
In the opener, Kansas started slowly, trailing 16-17 just past the game's midpoint. Junior middle blocker Josi Lima took control with a kill and two consecutive block assists to give the Jayhawks a 20-17 advantage. Freshman opposite hitter Emily Brown ended the set with an ace that grazed the net and dropped over.
Despite the challenge, the Jayhawks won 30-22, 30-19, 34-32.
In game two, the Jayhawks' strength and athleticism took over.
"The first ball we hit, I think we kind of got their attention, then they were kind of on their heels," said Kansas coach Ray Bechard.
The Jayhawks attacked with a .533 percentage in the game. Bechard said the team's goal was to hit .270 every match; they would finish the night at .333.
Hitting percentage is the difference between kills and attack errors divided by total attempts.
--game at 30. The teams again traded points until the score was tied at 32. Then senior middle blocker Ashley Michaels stepped up for Kansas and ended the match with two consecutive kills.
For the first two sets, neither team performed well defensively. UMKC had only 20 team digs during the span and Kansas had 24.
In the final game, the defenses awoke as rallies lasted minutes at a time. The Jayhawks had 22 digs in game three alone while the Kangaroos had 31.
Bechard said he knew UMKC would play better after losing the first two games.
The Kangaroos fell behind early in the third game, trailing 11-15 at one point, but fought back with some help from outside hitter Vanessa Portella's jump serve. They led 19-17.
UMKC had 20 kills in the finale, compared to 22 in the first two sets combined.
Jayhawk outside hitter Lindsey Morris had two kills to tie the game 20-20. The teams continued to trade blows and were far from finished when the Jayhawks led 29-27.
Jaynawks led 29-7. UMKC responded with a couple good serves; Kangaroos middle blocker Sarah Johnson reeled off three straight points, giving her team the advantage. She hit her next serve just a little too far. It went out of bounds and tied the game at 30.
SEVENTH INNING STRETCH
"When we had an opportunity to go away and maybe just move to game four, we made some big plays and
SEE VOLLEYBALL ON 2B
ALISSA BAUER
abauer@kansan.com
Resisting the tech temptation
It's easy to get behind technological advances when it comes to medicines, transportation and other modern conveniences. But as a sports fan, I'd like to see sports take the less-is-more approach when it comes to technology.
Sports fans got an earful about HDTV when ESPN was promoting its arrival. All of a sudden, it became "the way" to watch sports.
technology Standing in a crowd of at least 40,000 in Memorial Stadium last Saturday, I wondered if this environment could ever be replaced by technological "improvements" like highdefinition television (HDTV) and online game coverage.
"the way" to watch sports.
According to ESPN.com, HDTV "closely resembles the human field of vision." Because of this, viewers are able to see more of the action. The cost of becoming HDTV-compatible can surge to more than a few thousand dollars, but the advantage of simply turning on the TV and being surrounded by the essence of Yankee Stadium or Arrowhead may just be worth it to some.
worth it to someone.
Going the Internet route can be easier and cheaper. Whether your favorite sport is horse racing or baseball, 24/7 online coverage of the event is at your fingertips. Nearly every league, sport and team has its own Web site, each containing updates, analysis and video coverage.
Even Jayhawk fans can get in on the action without going to the game. Jayhawk Total Access, part of www.kuathletics.com, is an online subscription service that gives fans exactly what they'd expect complete access to all Kansas sports through an archive of broadcasts.
All these technologies present appealing alternatives to actually attending games, but I would like to think that there is no comparison between being at the game and watching it on TV.
watching it on TV. The sad truth, however, is that HDTV and Internet coverage may be the only way fans can afford to be fans.
Although our Kansas City Royals are on the bottom side of terrible, game tickets still cost between $7 and $25, not to mention parking, food and transportation costs.
Single ticket Even at Kansas, the $125 All Sports Combo ticket package is quite a deal for students to attend games, but not quite as good as $6.95 a month to catch the events online.
and transportation.
It's the same story with the Chiefs,
albeit an even more expensive one.
Single tickets range from $59 to $80.
I am not an advocate for fans staying at home to catch the game. I believe in the magic that going to the ballpark entails, but traveling to games will probably become more of a hassle and expense than simply watching high-tech, lifelike broadcasts.
The smells, sounds and energy of the real deal simply cannot be duplicated. But enjoying what used to be a magical experience may soon be a thing of the past. Unless you live close to the venue or are on the "fans with luck and money" list, these advances in technology may end up being your lifeline as a sports fan.
being your inimitable to make every game. It's impossible to make finances just won't permit it. But what I would like to see is a few more people opting to buy a few tickets rather than enjoy the game by the solitary glow of their computer screens. It may not attract a crowd to your living rooms like a killer HDTV system, but being with the crowd in the stadium will be worth it.
Bauer is a Winfield junior in journalism