THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2006
SPORTS
3B
VOLLEYBALL
3 straight losses don't faze volleyball team
BY DREW DAVISON
The Kansas volleyball team has a shot at redemption tonight against Texas A&M after the team was crushed by Nebraska and Texas to open Big 12 play.
The Jayhawks will take on the Aggies at 7 p.m. at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. Coach Ray Bechard said the team needed to move on after being defeated by the No. 1-ranked Cornhuskers and the No. 5-ranked Longhorns.
"We will wipe the slate clean and get ready for A&M," he said.
The Jayhawks (7-4, 0-2 Big 12) have defeated the Aggies (7-3, 0-2) the last three seasons in Lawrence. TAMU leads the all-time series 18-3, but A&M's last victory at KU was in 2002.
"This conference is tough," Emily Brown, junior opposite hitter/setter, said. "It's going to be tough every night out."
Tonight's game will feature two of the top setters in the conference. Kansas freshman Katie Martinicch leads KU averaging 11 assists per game, and Texas A&M's junior Meghan Kainz leads her team with 11.47 per game.
Kansas' Jana Correa, senior outside hitter, has been playing well lately and has become a leader of the team. In eight of eleven matches, she had at least 14 kills.
A&M comes in after losing the first two conference games, being swept by Oklahoma and losing in five games to No.17 Missouri.
TAMU freshman outside hitter Mary Batis leads the team with 4.19 kills per game. She had a season-high 21 kills against No. 22 Minnesota in non-conference play.
The Aggies rank third in the conference in hitting percentage at 266.
Even though the Jayhawks have lost three straight, they still have high hopes for tonight.
"We're a good team, we just need to figure out where we are," Correa said.
Admission is free for students with a valid KUID and fans in attendance will receive a Jayhawk T-shirt.
Kansan sportswriter Drew Davison can be contacted at ddavison@kansan.com.
- Edited by Natalie Johnson
Vanessa Pearson/KANSAN
Home against Texas we played on Saturday. #7 Emily Brown junior setter and #10 Brit-
tany Williams freshman middle blocker .
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Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel runs 8 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of a football game against New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M. on Saturday. Irving to stop him is New Mexico's Quincy Black (11).
6TH & WAKARUSA
10 am - 6 pm M - F • 10 am - 2 pm Sat
SERENITY NOW
Weekend teaches football lessons
BY FRED A. DAVIS III
KANSAN COLUMNIST
FDAVIS@KANSAN.COM
I learned a few things after watching college football for nearly 12 hours this weekend during what was dubbed "Separation Saturday."
For starters, we all found out that Notre Dame and Brady Quinn are wildly overrated; surprise, surprise. We found that USC is going to be a contender again despite losing one of the best backfields in college history, PAC-10 officiating is the worst in the country and the SEC is the best conference in college football.
Perhaps most intriguing is Separation Saturday did not apply only to the 14 ranked teams hyped by every media outlet in America, but to the Big 12 North as well.
Though folks are barking about Kerry Meier's four interceptions Friday night and fumbled handoff to Jon Cornish, the freshman quarterback is just fine. Take away Toledo's two fourth—down touchdowns and the game isn't even close. I know Kansas needs a road win, and they need one badly. But I'll continue to beat this drum all season: this is a young team with a freshman at the most important position. I can live with Meier making mistakes like the ones he made against Toledo because it's part of the learning curve for a new quarterback.
having at 0-3.
Besides, I'm not all that impressed
than two weeks.
by what I've seen from the other quarterbacks in the division. Nebraska is still waiting for Zac Taylor to evolve into a quarterback, and from what I saw in the USC—Nebraska game, that's not going to happen anytime soon. Taylor has shown that he's easily rattled, and that will be the key to upsetting the Cornhuskers when Kansas and Nebraska meet in less
with all that said, if Kansas is going to have a chance to win the North, its going to have to come down to Kerry Meier.
As for Kansas State, let's just say we got the better Meier at quarterback in that deal. He may have thrown for 256 yards against Marshall, but after eight or nine or however many years he's been at K-State, he bound to put up a decent game eventually. And Colorado? Quarterback play is one of about 50 problems the Bucks are
Kansan sportswriter Fred A. Davis Ill is a Topeka senior in journalism.
Edited by Brett Bolton
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