6B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DARY KANSAN
》 TENNIS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2007
Hawks head to Hoosier Classic Doubles play pairs freshmen with upper-classmen
BY PAT TEFFT ptefft@kansan.com
After playing the first tournament of the year at the Cissie Leary event
in Philadelphia, the Kansas tennis team wants to improve its performance as it travels to Bloomington, Ind., this weekend for the Hoosier Classic.
Svistun
The team will send junior Yuliana Svistun, sophomore Kunigunda Dorn, freshmen Maria Martinez and Mymee Tokuda to the tournament. The Jayhawks compete against players from top-ranked squads Georgia, Indiana, Iowa and Western Michigan. Kansas State and Illinois will also compete.
Kansas has been working hard the past few weeks and have set high goals for the tournament. Dorn, who won flight B in singles play at last year's tournament, wants to duplicate that success this year, and Swistun wants to build off a 3-1 performance in singles play at the Cissie Leary Tournament two weeks ago. Swistun reached last year's semifinals.
"I want to get at least that far this year" Swistun said.
Dorn and Svistun will also compete in doubles. Dorn will be paired with Martinez, and Svistun will team up with Tokuda. The freshmen players do not have as much experience as their teammates, but both Dorn and Svistun said they were doing everything they could to help their younger doubles partners.
"For doubles I just want to win as many matches as we can," Svistun said. "I am with a freshman, so I am just trying to help her out as much as possible."
Dorn and Svistun said they
Dorn and thought the hard work they have put in as a team, on the court and in the weight room, would pay off this weekend.
"We have
tennisinfo
**Who:** Kansas tennis team
**What:** Hoosier Classic
**Where:** Bloomington, Ind.
**When:** Oct. 5-7
we have been lifting weights hard just trying to get physically stronger so we can play three sets," Svistun said. "We have been focusing on playing a lot of sets in practice also."
"For doubles I just want to win as many matches as possible."
have been focusing on.
For Dorn, who battled injuries in the early part of the season, this has not been easy.
"I have had some injuries, like my ankle and my elbow, but I have
Aside from lifting and conditioning, Dorn and Svistun have been working to improve certain areas of their game. Dorn said that she wanted to play more offensively. Svistun said she had been working on going to the net more. Both cite serving as one of the key areas they
YULIANA SVISTUN
Junior
been able to serve so it's getting better." Dorn said.
Senior Elizaveta Avdeeva and junior Edina Horvath will not travel to Bloomington this weekend because they just finished play at the ITA
All-American Championships in California. Avdevea lost a pre-qualifying match Sept. 28 to Auburn's Alexandra Haney 6-4, 7-6 (5). Avdevea and Horvath were eliminated from the doubles qualifying draw on Tuesday by the 59th nationally ranked duo Marshall's Kellie Schmitt and Karolina Soor 8-4.
Edited by Ashlee Kieler
NHL
Professional hockey goalie spends 40th birthday in prison
The worst goailie in the history of professional hockey is spending his 40th birthday in prison.
Not for atrocious goaltending, mind you — though Attila Ambrus once gave up 23 goals in a game, and 88 in a memorable five-game stretch — but for robbing banks during a post-Iron Curtain crime
spree that became the stuff of legend. Seven years into a 17-year sentence, one of his few regrets is that it's become harder than ever to follow the just-launched NHL season.
"The only time I can see clips," Ambrus said, "is through the state-owned Hungarian television channel."
At the time of his capture in 1999, Ambrus' popular support among his adopted countrymen
was at 80 percent. As recently as two years ago, supporters in a dozen cities around the world toasted his 38th birthday. Ambrus still gets hundreds of letters, inquiries and flirty proposals on his Myspace page, but he's urging friends to mark his birthday Sunday as quietly as possible.
"I had a big problem out of this" Ambrus told Rubinstein during the prison interview. It turns out Oct. 6 also is Hungary's national day of mourning, so Ambrus caught plenty of heat for past birthday bashes. "The whole thing came back to haunt me."
The same can't be said for his time between the posts for the UTE hockey club, where Ambrus was the backup goalkeeper, janitor and drove the Zamboni.
These days, though, most of what little satisfaction Ambrus derives from all that notoriety comes in the form of notes admirers leave on his MySpace page. They barely get him through the day.
"I always have to think of the distance and the years I have to face," Ambrus said, "which can be a big obstacle."
Associated Press
Team enters vital part of schedule
》VOLLEYBALL
BY RUSTIN DODD
rdodd@kansan.com
Three weeks into the Big-12 volleyball season and the standings already show a trend. A large gap is forming between the haves and have-nots, and Kansas's upcoming two-game home stretch will be crucial in determining which group the layhawks fall into.
"It's a big stretch for us," coach Ray Bechard said. "We have Texas A&M and Colorado and we'll be at home."
Nebraska has shown it is once again the class of the conference with a 6-0 league mark. Oklahoma, Texas and Iowa State are tied for second with 5-1 records, while Kansas State follows right behind at 5-2.
Kansas, 9-7 and 2-4 in the Big 12, takes on Texas A&M, 12-5 and 2-5, at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. The team plays Colorado at home this Wednesday in another crucial match.
Then comes Kansas, tied with Missouri in sixth place at 2-4, followed by Texas A&M and Baylor at 2-5.
Victories against Texas A&M and Colorado would solidify Kansas as sixth in the Big 12 and inch the Jayhawks closer to the top five. But a couple of home losses in a row might derail the Jayhawks NCAA tournament hopes before the halfway point of the conference schedule.
Kansas is coming off consecutive losses against No. 1 Nebraska last Wednesday and at Iowa State this Wednesday, but Bechard said his team was going to take a simple approach going into the two-game stretch.
"We'll look at some tape of Texas A&M, and we'll game plan a little bit. But we just have to get consistent and more comfortable with our side of the net," Bechard said.
ABOUT THE AGGIES
Sophomore Sarah Ammerman leads Texas A&M offensively. She ranks seventh in the Big 12 with 3,98 kills per game.
Saturday's opponent, Texas A&M, is coming off a loss at home against No. 7 Texas, but Bechard said he knew Texas A&M would pose a tough test for Kansas. The Aggies started the year off 10-0 during their non-conference season but have stumbled in the Big 12. Their 2-5 conference record might be misleading though. All of Texas A&M's conference losses have come against one of the Big 12 top five teams.
OFFENSIVE WOES
Kansas needs a strong all-around effort against Texas A&M but an improved offense would be a good place to start. Kansas is last in the Big 12 in three offensive categories: hitting percentage, assists and kills. Bechard said he wanted his team's
hitting percentage in the .220 to .240 range. The Jayhawks are hitting a combined.178 going into this weekend.
Edited by Jeff Briscoe
ku vs. texas a&m
7 p.m. Saturday Horejsi Family Athletics Center
Players To Watch
Manda is the only Jayhawk to be in the
Kansas — Melissa Manda, freshman libero
top 10 in the conference in a statistical category. The Wichita native is averaging 3.71 digs per game
Manda
- good enough for ninth in the Big 12.
Texas A&M — Jillian Phillips, junior middle blocker
junior middle blocker Phillips is hitting a team-high .390 with 2.36 kills per game. The junior is also leading the Aggies in blocks with 1.40 per game.
SOFTBALL
BY BRITT BEASLEY bbeasley@kansan.com
Women wind up fall season
the Kansas softball team wants to finish its fall schedule on a strong
note this weekend in the Jayhawk Classic.
The team will take on Johnson County Community College at 2 p.m. Saturday. It will then play
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
The Kansas softball team has outscored its opponents 51-5 during the fall. The team faces Johnson County Community College, Central Missouri State and UMKC in the Jayhawk Classic this weekend.
Central Missouri State at 4 p.m. Saturday. On Sunday the Jayhawks play their last game of the fall at noon against UMKC. All games are played at Arrocha Ballpark, adjant to Allen Fieldhouse.
The team has outscored its opponents this fall 51-5.
"We have scoring coming out of every part of the lineup," coach Tracy Bunge said.
The pitching staff is helped out most by the ability to score runs.
"If we can continue to keep scoring runs like we have what it does for us is it takes the pressure off of the pitching staff," Bunge said.
The pitching staff is led by junior Val George, who already in this short fall schedule has compiled 13 innings of work while only allowing six hits and one run. She also has struck out 20 batters while walking just one.
Edited by Amelia Freidline
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