SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1994
U.S. Open serves up second-round action
SECTION B
Kansas' Jensen and Koves lose in two straight sets
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The women's doubles team of Rebecca Jensen and Nora Koves were defeated in the second round of the U.S. Open on Saturday.
Jensen and Koves lost in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, to Nicole Arendt, Gainesville, Fla., and Kristine Radford of Australia. Arendt and Radford were the 13th-seeded doubles team in the tournament. The loss put Jensen and Koves out of the tournament.
Jensen and Koves have played the last three
years at Kansas and won the NCAA Division I Women's Doubles Championship last year. The team received their invitation to the U.S. Open by winning the collegiate title.
Koves is returning to Kansas for her senior year, while Jensen will pass up her final year of eligibility at Kansas to play on the professional tennis tour.
In other U.S. Open matches yesterday, Steffi Graf was in high gear and Zina Garrison Jackson just happened to be in the way.
Graf, her game primed for the year's final Grand Slam tournament, buried Jackson under a barrage of winners 6-1, 6-2 and grabbed her expected spot in the quarterfinals.
The top-seeded Graf is seeking her second
straight U.S. Open her singles title and her fourth overall. She also won in 1988-89.
Graf, who needed just 52 minutes to dispatch the 10th-seeded Jackson, still hasn't played an hour-long match in this year's Open. She beat Anne Mall in 45 minutes, Sandra Cacic in 55 and Radka Bobkova in 52.
There was nothing Jackson could do to disturb Graf's relentless march on the hard courts at the National Tennis Center. The Houston native's best move was staying out of the way of Graf's ferocious forehand.
On Sunday night, conversely, Stefan Edberg had only himself to blame.
For years, Swedish tennis players took their lead from Bjorn Borg, roaming the baseline and depending on heavy topspin to pull the
ball down into the court. Then along came Edberg and his serve-and-volley game, which helped him to No. 1 in the world and six Grand Slam titles, including two U.S. Opens.
Now, perhaps, Edberg has set the Swedish lead, and in the third round he more than met his match in the form of Jonas Bjorkman.
It wasn't even close. Bjorkman had the bigger serves, the crisper volleys and the more penetrating groundstrokes. And when it was over, he had a shocking 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 victory over the fifth-seeded Edberg — and a fourth-round berth.
In other third-round matches involving seeded players Sunday, top-seeded Pete Sampras overtook Roger Smith of the Bahamas 4-6, 2-4, 6-2; 4-3; and No. 4 Michael Stich defeat-
by Edyon Black of Zimbabwe 7-5, 7-5, 6-2, 6-1.
Sampras, seeking his third Grand Slam title of the year — his only loss was in the French Open — had a tough match.
Smith, the second qualifier Sampras has played in his three matches so far, gave the world's No. 1 player problems with his slice backhand, taking all of the pace off the ball.
"When I started, I didn't have the timing." Sampras said. "I felt a bit sluggish. I managed to get through somehow."
Smith fought back from 5-0 in the fourth set, winning three straight games before Sampras closed it out.
Kansan sportswriter Jenni Carlson contributed information to this story.
Strong first week for Big Eight, Jayhawks
Tigers, Cyclones keep Big Eight from 8-0 record
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — To relax or not to relax was the question in the Carriedome.
Oklahoma squandered a 24-0 half-time lead and blamed its troubles on too much relaxation.
Whatever the cause, it was one of the most memorable, pulsating dramas this or any other season-opening weekend ever saw.
Getting a last-second field goal from Scott Blanton to win 30-29 just seconds after a horrified Syracuse kicker missed an extra point, the Sooners moved up from No. 16 to 15.
"At halftime, we had that feeling that they couldn't with us," said Oklahoma's Darrius Johnson. "We just relaxed, we didn't have the spark in the second half."
Syracuse played one of its worst first halves and went to intermission with all the earmarks of a team getting routed. Quarterback Kevin Mason was 2-for-11 for 13 yards and two interceptions as the Orangemen managed just 68 yards.
"It was nerves," Mason said. "I told myself I needed to relax, to calm down and relax."
Oklahoma's miracle win allowed the Big Eight to post a 6-2 record in college football's first go-round of 1994, a week of huge highs and
pitiable lows for the conference.
The high point was Nebraska, which sat idle but moved from No. 2 to No. 1 in The Associated Press poll. The low points were Iowa State and Missouri.
The Tigers, in the first Saturday night game in Faurot Field history, disappointed a crowd of 55,263 bylosing to Tulsa 20-17 in Larry Smith's coaching debut.
The Cyclones lost to Division I-AA tormentor Northern Iowa 28-14. It's the second time in three years coach Jim Walden has had to explain to Cyclone fans an upset loss to the Panthers. After the 1992 setback to Northern Iowa, Walden called it the most devastating loss of his life.
Well, in that case, what was this?
"It's not the happiest day I've had lately," Walden said. "Because ultimately, I feel responsible for it. I feel there's something I've got to do, something I need to do."
Kansas State, coming off its breakthrough 9-2-1 campaign, drew 38,216 its biggest home-opening crowd ever. They were not disappointed as the Wildcats jumped on a mistake-prone Southwestern Louisiana 34-6.
No. 7 Colorado made it Big Eight 2,
Louisiana schools 0, with a 48-13
whipping of Northeast Louisiana. The
Buffs rolled up 649 yards of total
offense.Oklahoma State and Kansas
both opened with victories on Thursday
night.
in other games this week, Kansas will play Michigan State, Iowa State go to arch-rival Iowa, Missouri travels to Illinois and Oklahoma treks to Texas &M. Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Colorado are idle.
AP Top 25
The Associated Press Top 25 as of Sept. 3. Firstplace votes are in parentheses. Big Eight Conference teams are in bold. The conference ended the week with a 6-2 record.
rank team record pts. pr
1. Nebraska (23) 1-0-0 1,465 2
2. Florida (15) 1-0-0 1,438 1
3. Notre Dame (10) 1-0-0 1,413 3
4. Florida St. (8) 1-0-0 1,412 4
5. Miami (1) 1-0-0 1,229 6
6. Michigan (1) 1-0-0 1,205 5
7. Colorado 1-0-0 1,140 8
8. Penn St. (1) 1-0-0 1,112 9
9. Arizona (2) 1-0-0 1,053 7
10. Wisconsin 0-0-0 968 10
11. Alabama (1) 1-0-0 962 11
12. Auburn 1-0-0 878 12
13. UCLA 1-0-0 846 14
14. Southern Cal 1-0-0 702 17
15. Oklahoma 1-0-0 594 16
16. Texas & AM 1-0-0 593 15
17. North Carolina 1-0-0 512 18
18. Ohio St. 1-0-0 497 20
19. Tennessee 0-1-0 482 13
20. Texas 1-0-0 426 19
21. Virginia Tech 1-0-0 352 21
22. Clemson 1-0-0 183 24
23. Georgia 1-0-0 115 —
24. Stanford 0-0-0 111 25
25. Washington 0-1-0 92 23
Others receiving votes: Brigham Young 74,
Washington State 37, Boston College 36,
Kansas 32, Kansas State 32, Michigan
State 31, California 30, Mississippi State
25, Baylor 11, Illinois 10, Kentucky 8, Syracuse 8, Arizona State 6, Arkansas 6, West Virginia 6, Georgia Tech 5, Indiana 4, Utah 4, Iowa 2, Virginia 2, Western Michigan 1.
Source: The Associated Press KANSAN
Notebook: Big Eight Conference coaches' briefing
Kansas coach Glen Mason on:
Asheikl Preston: "Asheikl's a very intelligent, very tough competitor. We like him leading our football team."
Kansas running backs: "We really consider Henley, Sanders, and Levine all starters. I told Vic Adamle (running backs coach) I really didn't care who was in there."
"We're going to try and feed them (Kansas linemen) a little more today at our Labor Davicnic."
Michigan State's offensive line and how the Jayhawks will prepare for them: "They might be the biggest offensive line in football, college or pro. We're sure outweighed.
Colorado coach Bill McCartney on
Quarterback Kordell Stewart's healed wrist. "He keeps fielding questions about whether we ran the option.
"We ran the option a lot last year. The news media must have been eating hot dogs or something. They're acting like we never ran it."
- playing 1993 Big Ten champion, Wisconsin, as well as Michigan in Ann Arbor and Texas in Austin: "It's really not 'have to' play — we get to, we want to. Our players are gearing up for those three now."
Oklahoma coach Gary Gibbs on:
the Sooners' comeback after falling behind 29-27 late in their
win over Syracuse: "When the game was on the line, I think Derrick McGee and the offensive unit showed a lot of courage. They brought us back and got us in a position to win in the last minute."
■ being ranked No. 1: "I've talked about these things lots of times. You certainly gain people's attention."
Nebraska coach Tom Osborne on:
■ his team's loss to Northern Iowa: "It was an offense screw-up day. When the plays were there, we didn't hit them. The enthusiasm turned into anxiety."
Iowa State coach Jim Walden
on:
Compiled by Kansan sportswriter Matt Irwin.
Houston freshman linebacker Mike Parker brings down Kansas sophomore running back Jen Henley as Kansas senior wide receiver Rodney Harries contains a Cougar defender. Kansas defeated Houston 35-13 last Thursday.
Jayhawks' domination lingers
By Matt Irwin
Kansan sportswriter
In Kansas' defeat of Houston on Thursday, it was clear that one team was better than the other.
"There's a lot of anxiety opening on the road," Kansas coach Glen Mason said of his team's 35-13 victory over an inexperienced Cougar team in the Astrodome. "It was obvious we were ready to play at the start. We executed on offense pretty well, and our defense was very effective."
The Jayhawks opened the game by scoring three touchdowns on their first three drives. The Cougars did not even cross the 50-yard line on offense
in the first half.
Houston coach Kim Helton was impressed by Kansas.
"Defensively, I was disappointed," Helton said. "I thought we were better prepared to go against a big, tough team like Kansas. I don't remember being dominated by any team like like this one tonight."
"I was a little surprised that he said that," Mason said, adding that he was not totally pleased with the Jayhawks' performance.
"Some things happened later in the game, when our third team was in, that we were anxious about," Mason said after the game.
their first three drives, marching a longer distance on each drive.
After driving 80 yards and scoring on their first drive, Kansas started their second drive on the 5-yard line after receiving a 5-yard illegal procedure penalty. The Jayhawks drove 95 yards for a touchdown on a drive that included a 63-yard pass to senior wide receiver Robert Reed from senior quarterback Asheli Preston.
The Jayhawks were impressive on
The Jayhawks were pinned on the one-yard line on the next drive and marched 99 yards for a touchdown.
"We sure had some very long drives," Mason said. "We had absolute horrid field position, and we were still able to move the ball."
Rugby club opens season with a no-show
By Kent Hohlfeld
Kansan sportswriter
Missouri was banned when checks written to the Union to cover dues from last season bounced. Missouri won't be able to play this season until they pay off the checks. Barnao said.
Kansas rugby players eagerly waited at 11 a.m. Saturday to play a game that would never happen.
Senior Joe Shannonhouse said Kansas was not informed of the problem because the Tigers' scheduling official was in the hospital undergoing shoulder surgery.
Missouri failed to show for the schedled match, which would have been Kansas' season opener.
Bama coach Dominic Barnao was informed by Missouri rugby officials Saturday night that the Tigers had been banned from competition by the Missouri Rugby Union, the team's governing body.
In place of the scheduled match, Kansas played an intra-squad scrimmage at the Shenk Complex, located at 23rd and Iowa streets, for two hours while still anticipating Missouri's arrival.
season.
Barnao said the game would not be made up this
Assistant coach Bill Mills said he was disappointed that the Tigers' were not able to come to Lawrence.
"We'll probably see them in a tournament somewhere, so we won't reschedule the game," he said.
At 11:30 a.m., the Kansas coaches decided to start the intra-squad scrimimage to salvage what was left of the day.
"In the time I've been here I've never seen this happen." Mills said.
"We decided that if Mizzou showed up we'd stop the scrimmae and plau them. "Mills said.
Shannonhouse said that playing a scrimmage instead of an actual game was disappointing to the team.
"We love to go out and play each other," Shannon-house said. "but that's not the primary reason we're out there."
At 2:00 p.m., more than three hours after the scheduled kickoff, the coaches gave up and told players to start taking down the goal posts.
"We got four solid quarters in, so the day wasn't a total loss," Mills said.
The missed game will not affect the teams' record. In figuring national rankings, only games called merit table matches are counted against a team's record.
There are two merit table matches during the fall season and two during the spring season.
"We're focusing on our two merit matches this fall," Barnao said. "One is at Northeast Missouri State and the other is here against Kansas State."
Shannonhouse said that the team's ultimate goal was to get to Houston for the Western Territorial Finals. Each of the four territorial champions advance to the national title tournament.
"The merit table matches are the ones we really shoot for because those are the ones that count against our record." Shannonhouse said.
Kansas' next competition will be next weekend at the Kaw Valley Cup in Topeka.
Both Barnao and Mills said that missing the game this weekend probably wouldn't hurt the team much.
"We just wanted to get the game in before next week," Barnao said. "It was also the first game of the season so we wanted to get it in."
Freshman Derek Scotttries to break freshman Adam Harris's tackle as sophomore Mike Schwartz moves in for support during a Kansas rugby scrimmage.