SPORTS
38
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WWW.KANSAN.COM WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5,2007
ROYALS FALL TO RANGERS PAGE 6B
VOLLEYBALL
Brown gives team extra spark
Senior setter helps the Hawks to a 3-0 victory against UMKC with 27 assists,8 digs
Caitlin Mahoney, senior middle blocker, and Karina Garlington, freshman outside hitter, go up for a block during the match against UMKC Tuesday night at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. Mahoney led the team with one solo block and six assist. Garlington led the team with a 462 hitting percentage.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
BY RUSTIN DODD
rdodd@kansan.com
Natalie Uhart, junior middle blocker, saw no court time because of an undisclosed injury. Senior setter Emily Brown stepped up to be the catalyst to a balanced Kansas attack. Kansas
to a balanced Kansas
defeated University of
Missouri-Kansas City
3-0 (30-26, 30-17,
30-28) Tuesday night
at the Horesji Family
Athletics Center.
Brown showcased her versatility with 27 assists, eight digs, five blocks and helped Kansas to a 7-0 run in the second game. The run put Kansas up 18-11 firmly in the Jayhawks' control.
"She didn't have one of her better attacking nights," coach Ray Bechard said, "but she helps the team in many ways. She's not really one we can have out of the lineup."
"...she helps the team in many ways. She's not really one we can have out of the lineup."
injury because of NCAA rules. Bechard said there was no time-table for Uhart's return.
Uhart suffered an injury in the fourth game against Michigan State Friday night. Bechard couldn't disclose the
Senior Caitlin Mahoney saw time at middle blocker in Uhart's absence. Bechard said Uhart's injury had taken a toll on the team emotionally more
"She's day-to-day," Bechard said.
RAY BECHARD
Head Coach about senior setter
Emily Brown
than physically. Uhart missed all of last season with a knee injury that she suffered in the preseason. Uhart was granted a medical redshirt and is still classified as a junior by the NCAA.
Freshman Karina Garlington provided energy for Kansas in the third and final game. Garlington had
seven kills in 11 attempts and helped Kansas clinch the match with a 30-28 victory. Kansas rallied twice in the final game, coming back from 16-10 and 25-20 deficits.
Kansas jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the match after winning the first
SEE VOLLEYBALL ON PAGE 3A
Ray Bechard earns 151st victory after 'falling into' volleyball career
BY RUSTIN DODD
rdodd@kansan.com
Ray Bechard can still remember the phone call 27 years later.
The voice on the other end of the line belonged to Terry Marshall, the superintendent of Lewis High School. Marshall had a question for his newly-hired men's basketball coach.
"Ray, would you ever consider helping out the volleyball program?" Marshall asked.
"Umm, probably not." Bechard remembers saying.
"Well, hey think about it," Marshall said.
Not to be deterred, Marshall called Bechard back a week later.
"Ray," Marshall said, "I really need you to do this."
"Well." Bechard remembers saying, "What do you mean by help out?"
"I need you to be the head coach," Marshall said.
"You know you're talking to a guy with no experience in volleyball." Beachard said.
"I understand," Marshall said.
That's how Ray Bechard became Coach Ray Bechard in the fall of 1980. Fast-forward through three coaching jobs, a bevy of accolades and 868 career wins, and it's beginning to look like Bechard made the right decision.
SEE BECHARD ON PAGE 3A
Ray Bechard earns his 151st victory as Kansas coach against Missouri State in East Eslam, Mich., on Saturday. Bechard passed former coach Frankie Albitz as KU's most winning coach. Bechard notched another victory Tuesday night after the team beat UMKC 3-0.
GIRL POWER
No bats, no balls, no contact; cheerleaders get no respect
"You are such an airhead. You must be a cheerleader." This is a stereotype that
This is a stereotype that today's cheerleaders face because some of our society has portrayed cheerleading as a nonsport that doesn't take much to be successful. They write cheerleading off because it doesn't involve a ball or brutal physical contact.
If an average person went through a cheerleader's practice, they would realize that it takes a lot of athleticism, skill and determination to be a cheerleader.
Cheerleading first began in the late 1800s at a Princeton University football game. Now, cheerleaders can be found at many other sporting events including basketball and volleyball. There are also cheerleading competitions that are shown on sports television networks including ESPN.
Many television shows feature cheerleaders and the work that goes along with their sport. "Cheerleading U" is one of them. It features the University of Kentucky cheer squad and its 2006 season. A few episodes
Movies such as "Bring It On" and "Sugar and Spice" give us a sense that cheerleading shouldn't be taken seriously. They give the impression that all cheerleaders do is yell and do some sort of arm motions. Some people in the media have always made it seem as if cheerleaders are non-athletes who are out there to look cute in their skirts.
of "MADE" even featured some girls who wanted to be made into cheerleaders for their school.
Many people who do not know much about cheerleading think that it does not take much skill to be a cheerleader. But
cheerleading consists of many difficult components including tumbling, stunting and, of course, cheering.
Senior cheerleader Lacey Baxter will be one of the first to tell you that it takes a lot of hard work to do all the things involved in being a Division I cheerleader.
"You have to be in top shape to do all the baskets, tumbling and stunting," Baxter said. "It's complicated stuff."
All these different areas of cheerleading take hours of practice to perfect, just as any other sport does. The KU Cheerleading squad typically practices a couple days a week for two hours. Each practice consists of standing and passing tumbling, stunting, pyramids, and basket tosses.
Cheerleading is also dangerous. In 2006, the NCAA made a rule stating that no pyramids can be higher then two and a half body lengths, and there cannot be any tosses without mats below the cheerleaders. This is now a rule because in 2006, at a
Anna Faltermieer/KANSAN
SEE JOHNSON ON PAGE 3B
Freshman cheerleader Leslie Carter Mills, center, is supported during the football game against Central Michigan Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. Despite rigorous work, cheerleaders have been considered nonathletic by some.