SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
9
COLLEGE FOOTBALL KICKS OFF AROUND THE COUNTRY THIS WEEKEND
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 3B
FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 2007 PAGE 1B
SOCCER
FOOTBALL
Women kick off season in Hawaii
BY ALISON CUMBOW cumbow@kansan.com
The KU women's soccer team, en route to the Ohana Hotels & Resorts No Ka Oi Tournament, will open its season this weekend in Hawaii.
It will mark the fifth time in 13 years that Kansas will have opened a season on the road.
Today the team will play against Hawaii and on Saturday it will face off against Auburn.
Eighteen letter winners and nine starters return to the KU women's soccer team this season and 10 new players have been added to the roster as well. The Web maga-
Francis
The Jayhawks were also picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 by the league's coaches in the annual preseason poll. Texas A&M was picked to finish first, its in-state rival, Texas, following at second, Colorado at third, and Oklahoma State at fourth. Nebraska, Oklahoma, Missouri, Baylor
zine Soccer Buzz ranked Kansas No. 26 this season and ranked Kansas' incoming class as the fifth best in the Central Region and the third best in the Big 12.
Texas Tech and Iowa State, respectively,
"we were picked to follow Kansas.
This season is the third time that Kansas has been anticipated to finish fourth or lower in conference, but the team hasn't placed lower than fourth since 2002.
Last season, the Jayhawks finished 11-7
1-7 overall and 6-4 in the Big 12.
This weekend's first opponent, Hawaii finished 8-11-2 in 2006, and placed sixth in the Western Athletic Conference. Hawaii has 17 letter winners and 10 starters returning, while five new additions will complete the roster.
Today's game will be Kansas' first time playing against Hawaii and its first time playing against a Western Athletic Conference school.
The Jayhawks' second opponent of the weekend, Auburn, won the Western Division in the Southeastern Conference last season. The Tigers finished 11-6-3 overall, and also made an NCAA tournament appearance. They have 17 returning letter winners and seven starters.
Both games will kick off at midnight CST, which is 7 p.m. in Hawaii.
— Edited by Amelia Freidline
coaching stats
School Record Coach Season at school Kansas Mark Francis 97-60-9 9 Hawaii Pinsoom Tenzing 109-120-20 14 Auburn Karen Hoppa 146-190-24 9
New season brings change
Man courtesy of Kansas Athletic
Fans will see differences in tailgating, parking lots
BY THOR NYSTROM
tnystrom@kansan.com
The Athletics Department hopes that educating fans in advance about changes to the landscape surrounding Memorial Stadium will help them navigate the area on Saturday at Kansas' season opener.
Athletics Director Lew Perkins sent an estimated 100,000 e-mails to football fans Wednesday, describing changes to normal game day routine.
"I think by Saturday fans will already know where to go," Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director, said. "They know now where they will park, so I don't think there will be any surprises. I would encourage folks to come early for the first game because it will be different from what they remember in the past."
Tailgating will continue on Campanile Hill despite construction in the surrounding area. A boundary line to indicate where tailgating is allowed has been established.
Athletes ready to display preparation on opening weekend
SEE PARKING ON PAGE 4B
Parking previously located on the south side of the stadium has been removed. Parking has been added on the west side of the stadium. The University has increased from 12 to 18 free shuttle buses that will go to the sta-
BY ASHER FUSCO afusco@kansan.com
The first thing KU fans will notice when they arrive at Memorial Stadium on Saturday is the construction on Campanile
Hill. The new football facility may not be complete, but Kansas is hoping that once the game starts the fans will see a finished product on the football field.
"We've had a good preseason and practices have been good since
Mangino
school started, so I'm pleased with the direction we're going," coach Mark Mangino said. "Based on what I see on the practice field, I think we're about where we should be."
Kansas starts the season against Central Michigan at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The Jayhawks have made some major adjustments since last season's disappointing 6-6 finish in hopes of returning to the postseason.
Cramming all of the necessary preparation into one month of preseason practice
is not easy for any team, let alone one that has made as many offseason adjustments as Kansas. The team made personnel changes in the winter, tweaked some things in the spring, worked on conditioning through the summer and attempted to put all the pieces in place this August.
The most important change happened near the top of the program. After five-year veteran Nick Quartaro resigned as offensive coordinator in December, Kansas hired Ed Warinner away from the University of Illinois to fill the void. Warinner has brought a strong running game to most of the teams he has coached, but he could bring Kansas
versatility in the passing game and simplification on the sideline.
"We wanted to make it user-friendly," Warinner said. "Once the players learn the base concepts, we are able to adjust off of it. It's different in some ways, but we think it's
Reesina
Players said the new offense Warinner designed was up-tempo and would stretch the field. Mangino said the team's passing
pretty user-friendly for the players."
game would open up the field for the running game.
New players will be executing Warinner's offense, most notably sophomore quarterback Todd Reeing. He played in parts of three games last season with mixed results, and will make his first start this weekend. In his limited action, Reeing has been exciting but inconsistent.
Reeing, an Austin, Texas, native, showcased a strong arm and the ability to escape the pocket and gain yardage in the open field. He passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more, but also threw three interceptions. Reeing officially won the starting quarterback job nearly two weeks ago after battling sophomore Kerry Meier for playing time through the spring and preseason.
"I've been in here every day watching film on Central Michigan." Reeing said. "I'm trying to get the best edge I can to go into my first start and the best I can to prove there is a reason I won this job."
Reeing could be delivering the ball to a few new Jayhawks. Running back Carmon Boyd-Anderson and wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe, both freshmen, are listed on the depth chart and should play this weekend. Briscoe is a lanky wide-out who could return
punts and Boyd-Anderson is a balanced running back similar to former Kansas star Jon Cornish.
"I'd say as a freshman, Carmon is as good as or more talented than any guys I've seen," said senior fullback Brandon McAnderson. "He came in and had a camp that was very successful. He had some big runs, some nice runs, he's a smooth runner."
Joining the group of ready-to-play youngsters is freshman cornerback Chris Harris. Harris quickly secured the starting spot left vacant because of a preseason injury to junior cornerback Kendrick Harper. Harris is small and inexperienced, but Mangino said his confidence and attitude set him apart from most young players.
The season-opener will not only provide football-obsessed fans with plenty to digest: There will also be a treat for aesthetically inclined observers — brand new uniforms. The Jayhawks' redesigned jerseys, which feature the Trajan font, are distinctly different from last year's uniforms.
After all the waiting and work of the 2006 offseason, the real work begins Saturday.
VOLLEYBALL
—Edited by Jeff Briscoe
Women set to wage battle at Spartan Invitational
BY RUSTIN DODD
dodd@kansan.com
After finishing 2-1 last weekend in the season opening Oregon Invitational in Eugene, Ore., Kansas travels to East Lansing, Mich., to play in the Spartan Invitational. Home team Michigan State, Missouri State and Florida State await Kansas.
Don't tell coach Ray Bechard that the Kansas volleyball team is playing three tough teams this weekend. He knows it.
Bechard
Michigan State hails from the Big 10, one of the nation's pre-eminent volleyball conferences, while Florida State comes from the ACC, another top conference. Missouri State, a school from the smaller Missouri Valley conference, made the NCAA tournament last season.
Kansas suffered from 27 attacking errors and three service errors in its loss to Oregon. Bechard said the problem was a combination of freshman mistakes and first-game jitters.
"We stumbled last week against Oregon," Bechard said, referring to another opponent from a poor conference.
now point of reference
the Pac-10. "Hopefully
we have a different
result this week."
"We've got to get better at our return of serve
Another storyline to watch heading into this weekend's action is the continued devel-
and our first pass to the setter," Bechard said. "Then the setter has to make a good choice with the pass to the attacker."
"We stumbled last week against Oregon. Hopefully we have a different result this week."
In other words, Kansas must improve on the volleyball basics of bumping, setting and spiking, the volleyball equivalent of blocking and tackling in football, or defense and rebounding in basketball.
RAY BECHARD Volleyball coach
opment of the team's newcomers. Freshman outside hitter Jenna Kaiser led the team with 3.1 kills per game during the Oregon Invitational while sophomore transfer Flavia Lino outside hitter, was second, posting 2.9 kills per game. Another newcomer, freshman libero Melissa Manda, averaged 3.8 digs per team to lead
the team. Veteran senior setter Emily Brown racked up 6.5 assists per game, while sophomore setter Katie Martincich, last year's team leader in assists, had 5.1 assists per game in Oregon.
Edited by Amelia Freidline
opponents at a glance
Michigan State (0-3)
Florida State (2-0)
On the heels of a 19-2 record, the Spartans advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time since 2003. But Michigan State stumbled in its opening weekend, losing to No. 6 Southern California; 3-0, St. John's, 3-0, and Loyola Marymount, 3-1. Senior outside hitter Ashley Schatzie, an All-Big 10 performer last year, is the top returning offensive player after posting 5 kills per game and 4.36 digs per game.
Florida State is 2-0 this season after weekend opening wins against UNC Asheville, 3-0, and TCU, 3-1. Florida State finished 19-12 last year, including a 13-9 record in the ACC, but failed to make the NCAA tournament. Look out for Junior transfer outside hitter Mira Djuric. Djuric led the Seminoles with 5.43 kills per
game last weekend. Most importantly, sand volleyball superstar Gabrielle Reece is a Florida State alum. Reece played for the Seminoles from 1987 to 1990.
Missouri State (4-0)
The university formerly known as Southwest Missouri State is making a name for itself in volleyball. The Bears are 4-0 on the season, but did most of their damage playing against smaller schools UMKC, Tulane, Delaware State and Sacramento State. But while Missouri State can't claim to be from a power conference, it can claim to a power program. The Bears finished 27-9 last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament, while becoming the second program in NCAA volleyball history with 1,000 victories. Missouri State only trails UCLA on the all-time wins list.