THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2006
SPORTS
11A
VOLLEYBALL 0-3
Cyclones breeze by Jayhawks
BY JEFF DETERS
Winning at home is vital to any team's success. But on Saturday night it looked like the Iowa State Cyclones were right at home in the Horeisi Family Athletics Center as they swept the Kansas Jayhawks 3-0.
The Jayhawks (8-7, 1 Big 12 Conference) never really got into rhythm, and the Cyclones (11-4, 3-2) had little trouble defeating the Jayhawks, 30-28, 30-22, 30-24. The Jayhawks have gone just 1-6 since their big win against nationally ranked Brigham Young University, and two of those six loses have come on the Jayhawks' home court.
Defending the home court is something Kansas coach Ray Bechard has often talked about this season.
"It is more difficult to win on the road, obviously," he said. "And we want to play well every time out. But you've got to make every team uncomfortable, and we failed to do that tonight."
In the first game Iowa State middle blocker Erin Boeve had six kills and finished the match with 17, which led all players.
Senior outside hitter Jana Correa led the Jayhawks with 14 kills and
also contributed nine digs during the game. Junior right side hitter/setter Emily Brown added eight kills and seven digs. Brown said she and Correa have been talking recently about what they could do to get the Jayhawks jump started again.
"I'm the type of person who likes to lead by example on the court," Brown said. "But if I'm not having a solid game it's kind of hard for me to find the words to say, and that's what we're going to work on going into practice."
And Bechard thinks practice is where the Jayhawks will recover from a three-game losing streak.
"Wednesday we had a disappointing night at Lubbock, and Thursday we really had a good practice," Bechard said. "Our kids came back, and if we continue to do that we'll win our share."
Bechard spoke from experience. His recent Jayhawk teams have rebounded after setbacks during the season and made the NCAA tournament. Bechard was confident this year's team could do so as well.
"We've been to the NCAA tournament three years in a row, but every year we've had a stretch that's been rough." Bechard said. "If you move
on, continue to train, and cut down on some of those unforced errors, you got a chance."
The Jayhawks committed nine serving errors in the game, and serving has been a problem for this year's squad. But Bechard felt confident his team could resolve its deficiencies through hard work at practice.
"The teams that tend to cave are the teams that don't bounce back after practice, and we've done that," Bechard said. "So that will pay off."
"Oh it's coming Wednesday," Brown said. "For sure Wednesday."
Bechard and the Jayhawks hope their efforts in practice will help them find that spark the team played with against BYU. The Jayhawks have been searching for it for a couple weeks, but it seems Brown knows just when and where it will return.
On that day the Jayhawks will play No.19 Missouri at 6:30 p.m. in Columbia, Mo.
Kansan sportswriter Jeff Deters can be contacted at jdeters@kansan. com.
- Edited by Kristen Jarboe
Amanda Sellers/KANSAN
Savannah Noyes, sophomore middle blocker, tips the ball at Iowa State's Jessica Klein, middle blocker and Kaylee Manns, setter. Noyes had eight kills and a team-high four blocks. The Jayhawks lost to the Cyclones 0-3
SOCCER 1-0
Freshman leads Kansas to historic victory against Huskers
BY MARK DENT
LINCOLN, Neb. — The normally calm and collected Mark Francis jumped out of his seat with a cry of celebration Sunday as time expired in Kansas' victory against Nebraska.
"It was huge, especially coming here,"Franzis said. "Nebraska is one of the toughest teams to play in the Big 12."
Kansas (7-4-0, 2-1-0) defeated Nebraska (6-3-3, 1-2-1) 1.0. It was only the Jayhawks' second victory against the Huskers in soccer, moving the all-time record to 2-11-2.
"Ive never played at Nebraska before, but I could feel the energy from the girls before the game," freshman forward Shannon
The victory also meant revenge: the Huskers eliminated the Jayhawks from the Big 12 Tournament last season and the NCAA tournament in 2004.
McCabe said, "It was just great to beat them."
McCabe fed off that energy and wasted little time before scoring the eventual game winner.
On a corner kick less than a minute into the match, freshman forward Monica Dolinsky passed the ball to sophomore midfielder Jessica Bush, who was standing a few feet in front of her. Bush quickly returned the ball to Dolinsky, who crossed the ball to the left side of the box to McCabe.
McCabe received the pass at the top of the box, dribbled and fired it toward the upper left corner. The ball bounced on the post but skipped in, ending a run of bad bounces from Friday's 1-0 loss to Creighton. It was her second game-winning goal of the season.
"It was good to get one early and set the tone for the game." McCabe said. "It was about time we scored
a goal."
McCabe's early score was enough for Kansas because of standout play by the defense and sophomore goalkeeper Julie Hanley. The defense allowed only two shots in the second half. Hanley saved a season-high four shots and recorded her fourth shutout of the season. Hanley had three shutouts in Kansas' last five games. In the other two games, she allowed only one goal in each game.
"Anytime they got a sniff on offense she was in there," Francis said. "She's starting to come around, and I think it's helping us win games."
Hanley's help was not enough Friday against Creighton in a 1-0 loss. Kansas' three shots on goal all hit the post and bounced wide. Francis said he thought the team came out flat and didn't play well.
Jayhawks go four-for-four in weekend home series
Pitcher Kassie Humphreys started the game, pitching for four innings and giving up no hits or runs. She finished the game with eight strikeouts. Sophomore pitcher Valerie George finished the game, pitching three innings.
BY BETTY KASPAR
SOFTBALL
Fall softball is a chance to help players improve before going into spring play and Coach Tracy Bunge had plenty to watch this weekend, as the team won four games in Lawrence.
Emporia State struck early against Kansas, scoring a run in the first inning. Kansas did not answer until the fourth inning, when Stephanie McCaulley hit a lead-off double and was hit in by middle infielder Stevie Crisosto's double.
Kansas 1, UMKC 0
Kansas B, Johnson County B On Sunday, the Jayhawks started the day with strong bats against Johnson County Community College. The game was highlighted by Val Chapple's two home runs.
Kansas 3, Emporia State 1
Kansas ended the tournament in the championship game, facing ESU a second time. Humphreys pitched a complete game, throwing a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts.
Kansas 4, Emporia State 0
Kansan sportswriter Mark Dent can be contacted at mdent@kansan.com.
Kansan sportswriter Betty Kaspar can be contacted at bkaspar@ kansan.com.
— Edited by Catherine Odson
Kansas 8, Johnson County 0
Edited by Kate Shipley
CALL FOR SPECIALS 785-841-8400 www.sunriseapartments.com
Kansas will play Texas and Texas A&M this weekend at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex in the team's first home games in three weeks.
Wednesday, October 4 7:30 p.m.
Rocks the house in this Spectacular Show!" LONDON PRESS
BLUE COLLAR MONDAY
TONIGHT: IT'S
$1 KEYSTONE LIGHT BOTTLES
$1 NATURAL LIGHT BOTTLES
Enjoy some free chili while watching
Monday Night Football
THE BOOM-BOOM ROOM.
THE MARTINI ROOM.
THE PATIO.
THE PINE ROOM.
87 YEARS OF TRADITION ONLY AT THE HAWK.
athletics calendar TODAY
Woman's golf, Marilynn Smith Sunflower Invitational, all day, Lawrence
TUESDAY
Women's golf, Marilynn
Smith Sunflower Invitational,
all day, Lawrence
WEDNESDAY
Volleyball at Missouri, 6:30
p.m., Columbia, Mo.
FRIDAY
Soccer vs. Texas, 4 p.m.
Jayhawk Soccer Complex
FRIDAY Women's swimming,
Intrasquad, 4 p.m., Robinson
Center
Women's tennis, Indiana Tournament, all day, Bloomington, Ind.
SATURDAY
Football vs. Texas A&M, 11
a.m., Memorial Stadium
2 for 1 Burgers
$2.75 Gustos