THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2007
SPORTS
3B
TENNIS (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
"It was definitely a heartbreaker," said junior Lauren Hornell.
It's rare that a team with a 4-16 record, playing at the 11th seed has such a favorable match up. However, that is exactly what the fayhawks have.
The improved play hasn't translated to wins, but the team's weakness — its doubles play — has steadily improved over the last three weeks.
Oklahoma finished at sixth in the Big 12 with a 5-6 conference record, but struggled overall 8-12. Kansas, on the other hand, has been playing better lately.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
"Number two doubles the last three or four matches have just come up a different level." Hall-Holt said. "I'm really proud of how they've come together."
The No. 2 doubles duo of Hornell and freshman Kunigunda Dorn has won three out of their last four matches, including a victory over the nation's 39th ranked doubles team from Texas A&M.
The Kansas tennis team will travel to Kansas City, Mo., for the Big 12 Tournament today. The 11-seeded Jayhawks are looking to redeem themselves from a 4-16 season by defeating the six-seeded Sooners.
Add in the consistent play from Avdeeva and Horvath at No.1 doubles and the team-leading 13 wins from Swistun at No.5 singles and the Jayhawks have the necessary ingredients to score an upset at the Big 12 championships.
Hall-Holt also said that the team benefits from playing so close to home in Kansas City, Mo.
If Kansas wins, it will play No. 3 seed Texas A&M at 6 p.m on Friday.
"Being down in our territory in Kansas City, and having our fans around, I think it's going to be big boost," she said.
Kansan sportswriter Rustin Dodd can be contacted at rdodd@kansan.com.
Edited by Mark Vierthaler
what to do between matches
THE SHARPER IMAGE,
333 W. 47TH STREET
Has anyone actually bought something from this store? I doubt it, but it has enough cool gadgets to play around with for an hour. Be sure to sit on the Stretching Human Touch Robotic Massage Recliner with Calf and Foot Massage.
SEGWAY TOUR, STARTS AT THE MARRIOT
Admit it, you've always wanted to try riding one. Each person gets a Segway scooter for this guided tour that features stories
of the Plaza's art and architecture. Bring your wallet for this one though - it costs $50 for an hour.
810 SPORTS ZONE, 4686
BROADWAY
Apparently, Kansas Citizens don't watch enough TV. 810 Sports have fixed this problem by putting mini-flat-screen TV's in each booth and in the bathrooms. If you get tired of tennis, you can watch endless coverage of the NFL Draft in here.
Mark Dent
three minute guide to the kansas tennis team
Haven't been following the Kansas tennis team? Don't sweat it. Here's a three-minute crash course to help you follow the team at the Big 12 Championships in Kansas City, Mo.
ELIZAVETA AVDEEVA, JUNIOR, OBNINSK, RUSSIA
Breakdown — Last year's team MVP mixes textbook groundstrokes with surprising quickness. Struggled at times this year in her move from No. 2 to No. 1 singles, but excelled with a 7-4 conference record at No. 1 doubles with sophomore Edina Horvath
Plays Like — Elena Dementieva
ous net player when paired with Avdeeva at No. 1 doubles. Horvath made the jump from playing No. 5 singles last year to seeing time at the No. 2 spot this year.
Plays Like - Monica Seles
EDINA HORVATH, SOPHOMORE, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
Breakdown - A danger-
KUNIGUNDA DORN,
FRESHMAN, SOPRON, HUN-
GARY
Breakdown — A talented freshman with a bright future that came on strong late with Lauren Hommell at No. 2 doubles.
Plays Like — Lindsay Davenport
LAUREN HOMMELL, JUNIOR, ROSWELL, GA.
Breakdown — A fiery south-paw with a big forehand. Hommell is the vocal leader, and save
for Avdeeva, nobody is more fun to watch.
Plays Like — John McEnroe
YULIANA SVISTUN, SOPHOMORE, UFA, RUSSIA
Breakdown — The surprise of year was Svistun's singles play. Stoic and soft spoken, Svistun has been dominating at times at No. 5 singles, registering a 8-3 league record.
Plays Like Mary Pierce
STEPHANIE SMITH, JUNIOR
SALINA
Breakdown — A gitty player with a huge topspin forehand. This Kansas native has battled injuries all season.
Plays Like — Justine Henin Hardenne
- Rustin Dodd
Big 12 South favored to dominate championship
BY RUSTIN DODD
Kansas plays host to the 2007 Big 12 Tennis Championships at the Plaza Tennis Center in Kansas City, Mo. Starting today, 12 women's tennis teams hit the court in a single elimination team tournament to decide the Big 12 women's tennis champ. Here is a closer look at two teams that could win, and one team that most definitely will not.
THE FAVORITE — BAYLOR BEARS, OVERALL — 19-6, BIG 12 — 10-1
Tennis — like golf and baseball — is a warm weather sport. The schools in the Big 12 South have a distinct advantage when it comes to crucial things like recruiting and suitable weather for practice time. It's no coincidence that Baylor, Texas and Texas A&M finished one, two and three, respectively, during the regular season. The Baylor Bears are simply a cut above the rest of the conference. The defending
champs finished the regular season ranked 15th in the country, and boast convincing 6-1 victories over Texas and Texas A&M. The Bears have won 11 team matches in a row and have a former NCAA Singles Champion, 19th ranked Zuzana Zemenova, playing at the No. 1 singles spot. Baylor also features Zuzana Cerna and Lenka Broosova, ranked 51st and 62nd in the country in singles, respectively. You've probably never heard any of these names before, but if we were talking basketball, Zemenova, Cerna and Broosova would be Wright, Rush, and Chalmers. The Point? Baylor is scary good.
The Buffs don't quite garner the attention that the Baylor, Texas, and Texas A&M trio does. Of course, they did finish ninth in the conference last year, and Boulder, Colo. isn't exactly a tennis mecca; so maybe the disrespect is justified. With that being said, this is
THE SLEEPER — COLORADO
BUFFAOLES, OVERALL — 16-6,
BIG 12 — 9-2
a new year, and Colorado has shown that they are a new team. The Buffs are riding a six-match winning streak, and have climbed to 35th in the national rankings. More importantly, Colorado is the only Big 12 team to knock off Baylor — an impressive 5-2 victory on March 4. So, with all the praise being lavished on the teams from Texas, don't be shocked if Colorado takes the title back to the Rockies.
The Iowa State tennis program is historically and monumentally awful. In the last 10 years, the program is 4-109 in the Big 12. Let's repeat that. Four and one hundred and nine. Now, we are not here to judge the Iowa State women's tennis program, but, if Iowa State were to win the Big 12 Championship, it would be the most shocking upset since, well—ever.
THE "ONE-IN-MILLION SHOT"— IOWA STATE CYCLONES, OVERALL — 5-12, BIG 12 — 0-11
Edited by Lisa Tilson
Big 12 tennis worth seeing
》 ONE LOVE
O quick, name something exciting you can do this weekend that you can't
do in the Midwest for the rest of the year.
Let's see, you could watch the NFI. Draft and find out who your favorite team selected. Oh wait, it takes 39 hours for the first three teams to pick. You'll want to throw the TV 40 yards out of the window each time Mel Kiper Jr mentions a prospect's 40-yard-dash time.
BY MARK DENT
KANSAN SPORTS COLUMNIST
MDENT@KANSAN.COM
How about going to see "Disturbia"? Yes, Shia LeBeouf is the best young actor in America, but you can see that anywhere, anytime.
The quality of tennis matches the atmosphere. Baylor is especially a treat to watch.
Ah, I got it. Watch world-class tennis. Through Sunday, the Big 12 Tennis Championships are at the Plaza Tennis Center in Kansas City, Mo.
You can't get this kind of entertainment anywhere near Lawrence for the rest of the year. The professionals play in Cincinnati and Indianapolis later this summer, but that's a long drive. The Kansas City Explorers also play World Team Tennis, but it's not as interesting as the Big 12 Championships.
Just look at what they have to offer.
First off, the venue. The Plaza Tennis Center is almost too beautiful to be in Kansas City. Try sitting high above center court and peering at the Italian style buildings and fountains of the Plaza. You'd be lying if you said you didn't feel like you were in Florence.
basketball and football teams fit better in Letterman jokes, not a major conference. But tennis is a different story. The Bears own the Big 12.
This year Baylor won its sixth men's conference title in a row. Not an easy task considering how strong the Big 12 is. All six of the other teams that have men's tennis — Texas, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Nebraska — are ranked in the Fila Collegiate top 75. Being ranked in that poll is equal to being in the AP or USA Today basketball and football polls.
Yep, that Baylor. The Bears' men's
The Baylor women won a share of the title. The Bears are ranked 15th in the nation and join Texas A&M, Texas and Oklahoma State in the Fila Collegiate Poll.
Baylor might be the toast of the tournament in terms of team strength, but the most exciting player belongs to Oklahoma State. Oleksandr Nedovyesov could be a professional one day. The freshman has been moving up the rankings every week since January to his current spot at 25.
Nedoviesos, who is from Ukraine, plays like the person who's impossible to buy gifts for; He returns everything. Once he gets his first serve down he'll be one of
the best players in the country. What about Kansas?
What about Kansas?
The Jayhawks have had a long season. Really long. In January, they were ranked 59th in the country. Now they are 4-16 and 11th in the Big 12.
A lot of the reason for the subpar season has to do with Ksenia Bukina. Bukina was All Big 12 last year and Kansas' first or second-best player. She got injured in her first two matches and hasn't stepped on a tennis court since.
The loss of Bukina meant the Jayhawks only had six players. It's tough to do well in team tennis when you only have six players. You see, college games consist of six singles matches and three doubles matches. That means each KU player gets tired playing a doubles match before her singles match. And if one gets injured? She has to forfeit or play through it.
That doesn't mean Kansas has no chance of advancing against Oklahoma today. The Jayhawks beat the Sooners in doubles and No. 1 singles a week ago. They had the match in the bag. Then Oklahoma came back to break the Kansas players' hearts with a 4-3 victory. Now each player wants revenge.
I'm not going to guarantee a Kansas win in the first round. But I will guarantee this: You won't regret it if you go watch tennis at the Plaza this weekend.
Dent is an Overland Park sophomore in journalism.
- Edited by Jyl Unruh
NCAA FOOTBALL
Spring practices reveal talent
DAILY COLLEGIAN
BY COREY MCLAUGHLIN
DAILY COLEGIAN
UNIVERSITY PARK. PA
- Heading into spring practices, Penn State coach Joe Paterno knew he had enough talented linebackers on the roster.
But he wasn't so sure where that talent would be best used, or what position (inside or outside) suited each player.
"One of the concerns that Joe had was let's move the linebackers, get them out there playing and whoever the best three guys are, we could adjust," Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said after Saturday's Blue-White game. "We've got some good linebackers. We have to work them in different places."
Dan Connor has moved from outside linebacker to inside to replace likely first-round NFL draft pick Paul Posusny, the most recent player to uphold Penn State's tradition as "linebacker U."
Sean Lee, who finished third in tackles last season, figures to have solidified his starting job as a strong side outside linebacker heading into his junior season.
Connor was second on the team in tackles behind Posluszny last season, and has expressed the desire to be both the leader and player that the All-American Posluszny proved to be in his final season.
But the weak side job appears to be still undecided as of now. That's the position where talent is still being moved around.
Redshirt freshman Navorro Bowman started alongside Connor and Lee for the Blue team on Saturday, but Bradley said after the game that both the 6-foot-1, 288 pound Bowman and rising junior Tyrell Sales have practiced at what the Penn State coaching staff calls the "Fritz" position.
"We've been moving them around to see what they can do at different spots." Bradley said. "From there, at least we'll have good
evaluation when the time comes."
Lee said Bowman has "that special trait," needed to play 'backer' and has impressed him all spring and continued to Saturday.
"It's been a battle all spring," Lee said. "We have a bunch of guys that have done really well, but he's definitely made himself better and he's a guy that we need to get on the field."
Sales, though, didn't hurt his case for an increased role with a game-high 11 stops for the White team.
Nor did rising sophomore Jerome Hayes, who added 10 tackles and appeared to be calling the defensive signals for the White team while playing inside.
And there's also redshirt freshman Bani Gbadyu, who teammates say is the fastest linebacker of the group.
After the game, the 6-foot, 217- pound Gbadyu said he was second on the depth chart behind Bowman at the weak side position.
NCAA FOOTBALL
Bruins' secondary shows depth in final week
BY BOBBY GORDON
DAILY BRUIN
LOS ANGELES — When freshman Alterraun Verner came into the game against Utah last season and ran an interception back for a touchdown, it signaled that the UCLA secondary had a lot more depth. In the final week of spring practice, that has only become more clear.
Redshirt junior cornerback Michael Norris is returning from injury to back up redshirt senior Trey Brown, adding even more
depth to the unit.
"He's looking pretty good," defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said of Norris. "We were thin last year at that position, (and) in the Pac-10 you need as many corners as you can get. So we're real happy that he's back, and so far so good."
The cornerbacks are led by a battle-tested pair of returning starters, with Brown holding down the left side and senior Rodney Van starting on the right. The Kansas native led the team in interceptions with four, a count good enough for seventh in the Pac-10.
Verner will be backing up Van and should get a lot of reps because of his strong 2006 campaign. The freshman garnered a lot of attention for returning both of his interceptions on the season for touchdowns and earned Freshman All-American honors.
On the other side, the familiar face of Norris gives the coaching staff even more viable options.
Norris missed the 2006 campaign because of a knee injury, but did not lose the year of eligibility. A season before going down with the injury in the preseason.
BOB'S JAYHAWK CLASSIC
OVER 30 YEARS AND STILL SMOKIN!
BUCK WILD!
32 OZ COKE WITH REFILLS HOMEMADE TATER CURL FRIES - HUGE BBQ WHEEL SANDWHICH - YOUR CHOICE SMALL SIDE YOUR CHOICE
VISA MASTERCARD AMEX DISCOVER BEAK EM BUCKS