SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1994
SECTION B
Tennis duo advances to Championships
GERRY FEY
Mason's offense is pitiful
Early losses let pair focus on doubles play
By Jenni Carlson Kansan sportswriter
Juniors Michael Isroff and Reid Slattery advanced to the Rolex National Indoor Championship, Feb. 2-5 in Dallas with a victory yesterday. The doubles team of Isroff and Slattery advanced by winning the Rolex Region V Championship in Wichita.
"They deserved to win." Kansas men's tennis coach Michael Center said. "They played the best in the tournament."
In the Monday morning finals, the Kansas team faced Tom Janda and Paval Jurorsky of Oklahoma State. Isroff and Slattery defeated
the pair, 10, 8, 7.
"We played two good players, and it was a good match," Isroff said. "Reid and I both have a lot of fun playing doubles."
Playing in a single elimination tournament, the doubles team did not lose a match. However, Matt Knoll, Kansas men's assistant tennis coach, said it was not an easy draw.
the pair, 7-6, 6-3.
"There are a number of quality doubles teams in our region," he said.
Iroff said he and Slattery were motivated early in the tournament when they both lost their opening singles matches.
"That kind of gave us a wake-up call for the doubles," he said.
Center said he was not sure how Isroff and Slattery would react to their early exits from the singles competition. They rebounded well and actually benefited from just playing doubles.
will travel to the Rolex National Indoor Championships. They will be joined by seven other automatic regional qualifiers and eight nationally ranked doubles teams in the February tournament.
With their championship, Isroff and Slattery
Also competing for the Jayhawks in the regional doubles competition were junior J.P. Vissepo and sophomore Tim Radogna, who lost in the first round to the tournament's fourth seed. Junior Victor Fimbres and senior Manny Ortiz won their first-round doubles match before falling in the second round.
"Our doubles teams' personalities seem to mesh really well," Center said. "There's a lot of unity on our doubles teams."
Another Kansas participant in the singles competition was senior Martin Eriksson.
Eriksson faced his fellow teammate Fimbres in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Eriksson advanced in straight sets, 7-6, 7-6.
"Martin and Victor had just a tremendous match in the quarters," Knoll said. "Victor was striking the ball as well as he has this fall."
"We felt like his opponent was getting a little fatigued, too." he said.
In the semifinals, Eriksson faced Jeromsky of Oklahoma State. After an intense three-hour match against Fimbres, Knoll said Eriksson was worn down in the semifinal match.
However, Joromsky proved to be too much for Eriksson, defeating him in straight sets, 7-5, 7-6. Eriksson was on the court for five hours with only a one-hour break.
Knoll said he and Center were content with the team's performance after the weekend tournament.
"Overall, we're pleased with the direction we're headed," he said.
The team's next competition is at the Region V Team Playoffs in Des Moines, Iowa.
As with any heated argument, it's good to sleep on it and look at the problem one more time when tempers aren't flared. And so it goes with the Kansas football team and its 4-3 record after losing to Oklahoma 20-17 Saturday.
Unfortunately, not much has changed after two days of pondering the plight of the Jayhawks. I still think Kansas coach Glen Mason allowed the Jayhawks to blow what should have been a secure 17-7 lead late in the game.
In all likelihood, the Jayhawks lost a bowl invitation with the defeat.
This is not the first time Mason's conservative play-calling has cost Kansas the game. Earlier this season against Texas Christian, the Jayhawks let a 21-14 lead slip away, only to lose 31-21.
Is there a pattern here?
In each case Kansas was unable to put more points on the board after developing a lead.
In the loss to Oklahoma however, the offense's predictability was more apparent and much more costly.
It comes down to this: Kansas does have a strong rushing team, but if even the fans in the stands know that, don't think for a minute that opponents are ignorant of Kansas' strength.
Freshman calls shots for Kansas
In many situations, particularly on first downs, Oklahoma could put eight players on the line of scrimmage. On first downs, Kansas called a pass play only five times, compared to 18 rushes. After Kansas' first drive, which was very successful and ended in a touchdown, the Jayhawks gained a total of only 60 yards rushing on first downs the rest of the way.
The run continuously can be successful against a lesser defense, but the Jayhawks could not continue to run against the Sooners' front line. A team in the Big Eight Conference obviously is going to be strong against the run because it sees it more often in conference play.
On first down opportunities against the Horned Frogs, Kansas ran the ball 23 times and only passed six times. Early on, the Jayhawks' rushing attack was successful. However, it doesn't take a defense long to adjust to play calling, while it takes an eternity for Mason to deviate from his offensive game plan.
Even after the game, Oklahoma coach Gary Gibbs said he had expected Kansas to run a lot.
"Stopping the run on first and second down was very important to us," he said. "The fact that they were in third and long a lot, we were able to play more zone coverage."
This was supposed to be the seniors' true year to shine with good players returning at many positions after devastating injuries last year. But Mason has run out of excuses this year. The Jayhawks' offensive play book very well could be straight out of the 1930s. Too bad our opponents aren't wearing leather helmets.
Even the running plays themselves were not imaginative. Rarely did Kansas go around the ends with an option attack, and Kansas quarterback Asheli Preston rarely left the pocket for roll-outs.
Preston has speed, and he can better utilize it on the outside. With the running backs Kansas has, the option play can be very effective. But that part of the jayhawks' arsenal was not used much Saturday. In fact, you might as well put that play on the rack. Shelve it, because Mason won't use it.
Houng leads is the key to a good football team, and Kansas is not a good football team. We don't deserve to go to a bowl game. But for fans to take their frustration out on the players is unfair. The 'Hawks work hard at practices and in the games. They can do only what the coaches tell them.
We would no doubt dominate in that league.
Richard Devinki / KANSAN
Kansas freshman setter Trisla Lindgren practices her setting technique during a team practice. The Jayhawks are preparing for their coming match against the Iowa State Cyclones.
By Chesley Dohl
Kansan sportswriter
"Point: Kansas. Kill: Purkeypile," the announcer says as the crowd in Allen Field House cheers loudly.
The set is high and lofty and the placement perfect.
Freshman outside hitter Leslie Purkeyple spots the volleyball as it peaks, reaches up and buries it at the feet of an Oklahoma Sooner's player.
Meanwhile, Kansas setter Trisha Lindgren enjoys more of a silent applause. "Point : Kansas. Assist: Lindgren," plays over and over in her mind.
It's a thankless job being the team's assist leader, but somebody has to do it.
Lindgren, a freshman from Brighton, Colo., is the starting setter for the Kansas volleyball team. Although she's responsible for 533 assists on 784 kills by Kansas hitters midway into the season, sometimes it's hard to join in all the celebrating after a Kansas kill, Lindgren said.
"It's hard for the crowd to tell when you've called a great play or when you're the one who called the play that got the ball past the blocker." Lindgren said.
But more important to Lindgren is the satisfaction she said she felt after a smile from a teammate or a pat on the back from Kansas coach Karen Schonewise.
Purkepyle said there was a lot more to Lindgren's job than spectators realized.
Despite her success in the position, Lindgren did not begin her career as a setter.
"She has to call plays on every service receive," Purkep罪 said. "She has to know where the blockers are, what would be the best play and who would be the best hitter to go. She has a lot to be responsible for, but she does a good job of directing us."
The 5-foot 10 setter began playing volleyball at Faith Christian Academy High School in Brighton as a leading hitter. But going into her
Calling the shots
Kansas setter Trisha Lindgren is a 5-foot-10 freshman from Brighton, Colo. Here are Lindgren's statistics at the midpoint of this season:
Richard Devinki / KANSAN
Source: Kansas sports information
KANSAN
Trisha Lindgren's responsibilities include setting the ball and calling the Jayhawks' plays.
junior year, a coach spotted her and encouraged her to switch to the setter position.
"I trained very seriously for about four months to become a setter," she said. "I have an advantage as a settter because I'm above average height. I just accepted it and thought, 'Maybe this is what it's going to be for me if I want to keep playing in college.'"
Lindgren has had to make other sacrifices to play college volleyball.
She spends one-and-a-half hours in the training room before and after practices for treatment to rehabilitate a ruptured disc and to alleviate pain from chronic brusitis, an inflammation of the joints, in her hips.
"Maybe the switch to a letter was a blessing in disguise," Lindgren said. "I doubt 'd still be playing if I was expected to go out and hit everyday."
Schonewise said Lindgren was consistent in her ability to call plays.
"She has a good feel for the game, for our players and for the competition," Schonewise said. "For the most part, she has good touch and control. She has had some injuries that might have limited her in her ability to compete.
"But she's made some sacrifices, and she's moving well getting to the balls."
Kansas tackle gets another second chance after surgery
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas offensive left tackle Rod Jones is back. Again.
The 6-foot-4, 300-pound junior had his first start of the season Saturday in Kansas' 20-17 loss to Oklahoma. Jones started the 1992 Aloha Bowl and all 12 games of the 1993 season.
Jones said he had surgery in the spring near his home in Detroit and was happy to play after watching the Jayhawks' first six games from the sideline.
"I felt kind of relieved," Jones said. "I called and told my mom, 'I'm playing! I'm playing!' It just felt good."
Jones was expected to miss at least half of the 1994 season after damaging his medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments in his right knee during spring practice in April.
But comebacks are nothing new to Jones.
Jones' first comeback occurred when he joined the Kansas football team in 1991.
Jones said he missed his senior season at Henry Ford High School in Detroit because he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his left leg.
"They just cleaned it out," he said in reference to how his first knee injury was treated. "I was too young to have reconstruction. They just
scoped it. I have to wear a knee brace from now on."
Jones said that wearing two knee braces did not limit his ability to move against the Sooners.
"I'm wearing this one more temporarily until I get used to playing again," he said of the brace on his right knee.
The biggest surprise of Jones' return might have been the number of plays he was involved in.
Jones said he had expected to be nervous in his first game of the season.
"I was surprised because I wasn't," he said. "It wasn't like a first game for me."
"It feels good that the coaches have faith in me to put me back in a situation where I could participate," Jones said. "I thought I was going to alternate more with Derrick Chandler. But as the game went on, I just kind of stayed in. I was tired. I'm a little out of shape."
Jones said that his first knee injury occurred while he was playing what he thought was the snort he would excel at.
"I did it in basketball," he said. "That was my sport. I thought it was. But I just kept getting bigger and bigger."
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
So big that on the 1994 football questionnaire, Jones said the animal he was most like was an elephant. He said this was because elephants are large, intelligent and passive.
Kansas junior offensive left tackle Rod Jones, No. 54, lines up against the Oklahoma Sooners. Jones started his first game of the season Saturday after returning from a knee injury.
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