SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1994
SECTION E
Complete game eluding volleyball team
By Chesley Dohl
Kansas sportswriter
The Kansas volleyball may be experiencing growing pains.
But Kansas coach Karen Schonewild said she wouldn't accept that as an excuse to justify the Jayhawks' 3-9 non conference record.
The Kansas starting lineup, consisting of four freshman, a sophomore and a junior, testifies the need for experience and maturity, she said.
"Everyone is using youth as an excuse," she said. "But that's not it. We haven't been disciplined, and we haven't fought yet. We're expecting other teams to give us things."
"We're not quite where I wanted to be, but we're getting close," she said. "I wanted to be more consistent at this time in the season."
Chonewise planned a full schedule of preseason tournaments to get the Jayhawks prepared for higher levels of competition. Though preseason losses have come to regionally- and nationally-ranked programs such as Southwestern Missouri and Northern Arizona, Chonewise said the team hadn't progressed to her satisfaction.
Aperfect example of inconsistency, Schonewise said, was the match Tuesday night against Wichita State. Kansas started the match with a dismal, unconcentrated 2-15 game. But the Jayhawks made a turnaround and came back to challenge the Shockers in the second game, 13-15.
But with one weekend tournament remaining before the Big Eight season, Kansas is running out of time. A Sept. 28 match at Iowa State marks the conference opener.
Kansas coaches and coaches from opposing teams have agreed that time was the cure for inexperience and development of team chemistry
Schonewise said the Jayhawks would start treating practices as high-intensity game situations.
"Time is not going to get the job done for us," she said. "We need to simulate game experiences in practice."
Julianne Peter / KANSAN
This weekend, Kansas will travel to Lincoln, Neb., for the Arby's Classic, where Kansas will compete against 17th-ranked New Mexico and a strong Pittsburgh volleyball team.
Schonewise said the Jayhawks' goal this weekend would be to the combine all of the basics for a complete match.
"In one game we'll serve well, in one game we'll block well, another match we'll hit the ball well — it's a matter of putting it all together," she said. "With each match we're making improvements in one area. But we haven't been able to put together one solid match yet."
Junior outside hitter Jenny Larson said the team was not disappointed with its performance this year.
"Of course we're frustrated," she said. "But I think we're keeping a pretty good attitude. We'd like to do well this weekend since the Big Eight season is coming up. We want to start things off right."
Freshman outside hitter Jill Pfannenstiel attempts to dig a spike during practice yesterday at Robinson Center. The Jayhawks are preparing for the Arby's Classic tournament this weekend in Lincoln, Neb., where they will face nationally-ranked competition.
Quarterback tackles a new job
Jav Thornton / KANSAN
JuCo transfer Williams ready to lead Kansas
Kansas junior quarterback Mark Williams talks to the media in the Parrot Athletic Center yesterday.
By Matt Irwin Kansas sportswriter
Mark Williams is a healthy quarterback.
But the Kansas football team's new starting quarterback hasn't always been that way.
Williams, a junior who will start in place of injured senior quarterback Ashelik Preston Saturday against Alabama-Birmingham, knows how Preston feels — except Williams' injury was much worse.
Kansas sophomore will be running back June Henley jumps over the goalline stack for a touchdown against Texas Christian. The Jayhawks' offense will be led by junior quarterback Mark Williams, who will make his first start for Kansas Saturday.
Paul Kotz / KANSAN
As a senior in high school, Williams broke his left arm, dislocating the elbow and shattering bone when he tried to run after a bad snap on a point-after attempt.
Just as Preston's injury occurred before he played a conference game, Williams said his injury occurred before his team got into its conference schedule.
Although Williams injured his nthrowning arm, the injury was so bad that he could not play football for a year after his senior season.
But the comparisons end there. Unlike Preston, who is out indefinitely but expected to return for one of the first three Big Eight games, Williams said he was not expected to return that season.
Williams also said colleges that had been looking at him immediately lost interest.
Along, thick scar runs down his left forearm, serving as a reminder of the plate and screws that were placed there to put his arm back together. Six months after the injury, the plate and the screws were taken out. A year later, the arm healed. Williams said.
Williams spent the year after his senior year working at a grocery store
and rehabilitating his arm.
He then decided to attend Diablo Community College in Concord, Calif., 20 minutes away from his house, and try to play football.
Williams succeeded and became the starting quarterback in a run-and-shoot offense.
In passing for 4,491 yards and 32 touchdowns with a completion percentage of 51 percent during his two years there, Williams drew attention from Kansas and UCLA. While at Diablo, Williams said that he did not have full range of motion in his left arm until his second season.
Now Williams is the starting quarterback for a team that lost its senior quarterback before its conference season. He is the healthy quarterback, and he is ready to play.
"Being on the sideline, it was frustrating watching them play," Williams said about the first three games.
Williams said he expected to be redshirted this season unless Preston suffered an injury like this. He said that he had learned the offense by watching the Jayhawks from the sideline.
Kansas coach Glen Mason said that he was impressed with Williams and how much he learned since he transferred to Kansas last spring.
"We knew he was a good passer from the junior college film that we had on him," Mason said.
Mason said Williams picked things up faster than he expected in his first spring practice. Mason also thought Williams was tougher and a better athlete then he expected.
The toughness factor was something Mason said he admired in both Williams and Preston.
"You take a lot of hits in scrimmage," Mason said about quarterbacks who worked with the second team in spring practice. "I thought Williams hung in there really well and competed really well."
Senior offensive guard Hessley Hemmstead said Williams had the
same type of leadership presence as Preston.
"I think one of the things Williams shows intangibly is that leadership skill," Hempstead said. "When he comes in the huddle, I feel the same presence as I do with Asheki."
"Speaking for the entire line, everybody has complete confidence in him."
Roller blade hockey may be new club
By Kent Hohlfeld
Kansan sportswriter
For Kansas hockey addicts unable to get their fix of power plays and slap shots, help may soon be on the way.
Roller hockey may be coming to the University of Kansas. Bill Jensen, Boston graduate student, said that the proposed roller hockey club was approaching its last hurdle to reaching full club status.
"We have to present the club to Sport Club Council September 29th," said Jensen, who will be president of the club.
The council, made up of officials from Recreation Services and members from other University-sponsored clubs, must then approve the team for official club status. Having completed several necessary steps with Recreation Services, club members said they were optimistic about receiving the council's approval.
The idea for the club came from Jensen's desire to play ice hockey, a sport he found difficult to play in the Midwest.
"I came from Boston, where hockey is real big," Jensen said. "Here, there really isn't anywhere to play hockey."
He said that the expense and problem of finding practice space for ice hockey made roller hockey an attractive alternative. There is only one year-round ice rink in the Kansas City area.
"Ice time can cost $150 for an hour-and-a-half," Jensen said. "The headaches just aren't worth it."
Matt Shatzman, who will act as the club's vice president, agreed that finding ice time was a major obstacle that roller hockey teams avoided.
The club is working with the Lawrence community to find a place to play. Jensen said the city was hoping to schedule roller hockey clinics in November to gage community interest. Jensen said the city was also looking into turning a public tennis court into a permanent roller hockey rink.
Jensen said he wanted to keep the cost of joining the club low — at $15 — because the equipment for the sport was expensive.
Padding, helmets and sticks are necessary items for roller hockey and together would cost about $60.
In-line skates are the most expensive piece of equipment, ranging in price from $109 for used skates to $200 for new skates.
David Jewell, who will act as club treasurer, said the cost would keep people from the sport.
"Roller blade hockey is a lot cheaper than ice hockey," Jewell said. "Besides, people who want to play are willing to pay for the equipment."
Wildcats to play host for Kansas tennis opener
Jay Thornton / KANSAN
Kansa sophomore tennis player Amy Trytek returns the ball during practice at Alvamar Raquet Club.
Women's coach sees tournament as good warm-up
After winning a Big Eight championship and a first-ever doubles national championship, the Kansas women's tennis team is working to make a new name for itself.
By Jenni Carlson
Kansan sportswriter
Last year's team could have been the best team ever in Kansas history, Kansas women's tennis coach Chuck Mebzacher said. But he said he did not want to compare last year's team to this year's team.
"That's not fair," he said. "Last year's team was just last year's team. This team has to create its own identity."
Gone from last year's team, which was ranked seventh in the nation, are four of the top five singles players.
Kim Rogers, Mindy Weiner, and Abya Woods completed their careers at Kansas.
Rebecca Jensen decided to forego her final year of college eligibility to turn professional.
"We lost a ton of experience," Merzbacher said.
The Jayhawks will be looking for leadership from the only senior on the squad, Nora Koves, Merzbach said. Koves and Jensen won the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis National Championship last spring.
"Nora is going to be someone that's going to lead the team as a player," Merzbacher said.
Kim Webster, a transfer from Indiana University, is the only junior on the team. Sophomores include Jenny Atkerson, Chessa Bieri, Heather Heidel, and Amy Trytek, while the incoming freshmen are Maria Abatjoglou, Christie Sim, and Jennifer White, who Merzbacher expects to redshirt this season.
"We have a lot of depth on our team," Trytek said. "We picked up a lot of strong players."
Merzbacher said all of the players must act as leaders this season if the team wants to be successful.
Since the team started practicing earlier this month, the players have already been leaning on each other. Alkerson said.
"The whole team is going to have to be the captain," he said. "Everybody is going to have to draw on each other."
"We want to work together as a team," she said. "I think it's a lot better this year."
Kansas hopes to continue that optism when it opens the season on Saturday at the Wildcat Invitational in Manhattan.
Trytek said the tournament would also gauge how well the team was performing.
The three other teams competing will be Oral Roberts University, Oklahoma State, and the host, Kansas State.
The tournament field is divided into four "flights." Four of Kansas' singles players
"These fall tournaments are really a chance for us to see who is going to step up," he said.
"I think it's going to be a good test to see how we play as a team," she said. "It's going to be a wake-up call too, especially for the freshmen."
were placed in the A Flight, and two were placed in both the B and C flights.
All eight of the singles players will be playing doubles with another teammate competing in the invitational.
"It is going to be a good tournament, just to play some matches," Atkerson said. "It will be a good warm-up for the season."
The tournament's format may set up an interesting situation by the second round, Merzbacher said.
"There's probably a good chance we'll all play each other," he said.
Koves and White' will be the only Jayhawks not participating in this weekend's tournament.
Koves will be playing in several national tournaments this fall, Merzbacher said. Because of an NCAA limit on the number of days a tennis player can compete, Koves will not travel to Manhattan.
Merzbacher said the Jayhawks have had a good fall practice and have started to come together as a team.
"This is one of the best starts I've had as a coach," he said. "They've all risen to the occasion."