THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
WWW.KANSAN.COM
SOCCER
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2005
Jayhawks hope to blunt Razorbacks
Francis said he didn't feel the need to keep his players out for a long practice in yesterday's heat and instead watched video and addressed issues from the Missouri State game.
"It's more important for these girls to try and recover to get some of the soreness out," Francis said.
Shutting out the Missouri State Bears on Wednesday created a sigh of relief for the soccer team.
BY ALISSA BAUER
abauer@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
With its first victory of the season, Kansas, 1-1-1, will take on Arkansas, 1-1-0, at 5 p.m. at the Jawhaw Soccer Complex.
The Jayhawks have not gotten much rest; this will mark their fourth game in the past seven days.
"Winning is a habit, just like losing is a habit." Kansas soccer coach Mark Francis said. "We need to get in the habit of winning."
They finished up a weekend opener last Sunday with a loss at Oklahoma. Arkansas opened its season with a 5-1 victory against Tulsa last Friday.
The Razorbacks, on the other hand, are well-rested.
In three prior meetings, Kansas holds a 1-1-1 all-time record versus Arkansas, with a loss in 1996, a tie in 1997 and a victory in 2002.
The 2002 match up starred senior forward Caroline Smith.
Smith, who has a goal in each game played this season, dropped two goals on Arkansas in the last meeting, including the game winner.
Sophomore midfielder Alison Harter led the Arkansas offensive charge last weekend, tallying two goals and an assist.
Arkansas soccer coach Gordon Henderson, now in his second year, will look to break the tie the two teams have accumulated.
With three goals this season, Smith already holds the KU all-time scoring record. Now, she is just an assist away from being second on that all-time list.
"Caroline's always going to be a danger when she gets around the goal," Francis said. "She's taking the chances that she has."
Senior forward Jessica Smith will likely be in the starting lineup after an apparent hamstring problem that sidelined her for most of the Missouri State game.
"She had a little injury that wasn't worth risking," Francis said.
"We know what we have to do on Friday," Bush said. "We'll be ready."
Freshman forward Jessica Bush knocked in her career first against Missouri State on Wednesday. Francis noted that all of his freshmen were only getting better.
Kansas is 8-5-1 against the SEC Conference.
- Edited by Patrick Ross
Rvlan Howe/KANSAN
Junior midfielder Michelle Rasmussen fights past Missouri State senior midfielder Jackie Hood during the game Wednesday. The Jayhawks, with a 1-1 record, take on the Arkansas Razorbacks this evening at 5 at Jayhawk Soccer Complex.
Frankenstein inspires teammates
SOFTBALL
The Jayhawk softball team will look to senior infielder Destiny Frankenstein for her leadership skills this season.
BY SAM CARLSON
scarlson@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Frankenstein, a Broken Arrow, Okla., native, was the cocaptain of last year's team. She said she would be looked upon this year as a leader.
"It's a hard position to be in, but at the same time, I just love my teammates so much because they put that much trust in me," Frankenstein said. "It's a good feeling."
As she enters her final season in a Jayhawk uniform, Frankenstein is expected to contribute to the team more than ever.
"You can set records all day long and you can be all that you think you can be, but being a good person and leaving behind an example is what I would really like to do," Frankenstein said.
Iared Soares/KANSAN
As the softball season approaches, most of the talk has been about senior shortstop Destiny Frankenstein. Frankenstein has been named to numerous all-conference and all-region teams, and has put together impressive stats in previous seasons.
Frankenstein said her presence as a teammate was what was truly important.
"Her bat is amazing and it gets better every year," senior infielder Nettie Fierros said.
Frankenstein's appreciation for strong team unity was the reason she picked the Kansas in the first place.
Frankenstein was a first team, all-region selection last season, as well as an All-Big 12 First Team selection.
"Kansas seemed to be a good fit with me," she said. "I like the
atmosphere and the team is really more of a family. It's not like a bunch of girls that just get together to plav."
Frankenstein led the Jayhawks last year in batting average and her 14 home runs broke the previous Kansas single-season record of 12.
The Jayhawks finished last season with a 31-24 record, and made their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1999.
"As long as the team moves forward," she said. "Just as long as the team learns something and next year they're better than they were this year."
She did her work and helped others. She helped the team relax, to where the focus isn't just on winning, Fierros said.
Fierros said Frankenstein was vocal and led by example.
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Frankenstein said the lessons learned on the softball field have helped her in other aspects of life.
"Softball has made me more mentally tough," Frankenstein said. "There's stuff you have to make yourself do on a daily basis even though you don't necessarily want to do it."
The Jayhawks hope that returning seven starters from last season will bring success to the team.
Frankenstein said after the season ended and she walked off the field, she hoped people would remember her as a team player.
"I want people not to remember my name, but just the kind of person I was — that I was a true teammate," she said.
Edited by Jayme Wiley
Jayhawks bury Wolverines in first game of Challenge
VOLLEYBALL
BY MATT WILSON
mwilson@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
Kansas had to work harder than it anticipated to dispatch Utah Valley State last night in the opening match of the Brigham Young/UVSC Challenge.
After winning game one 30-20, Kansas got off to a good start in game two. From there, the Jayhawks struggled to finish. With the game at 29,
The Jayhawks beat the Wol-
verines 3-1.
The jayhaws bounced back in a big way in game three. Kansas beat UVSC 30-19 to go up 2-1, and quickly turned them aside in game four 30-
Kansas volleyball coach Ray Bechard said he was disappointed in the Jayhawks' inability to close out game two.
"I don't know why we relaxed," he said. "We didn't need to be out there for those extra 25 minutes or so."
Bechard said he was happy with the team's overall performance. One problem for the Jayhawks early in the season was serving, but with the exception of game two, the squad was better.
Kansas missed a serve and UVSC took advantage and won 31-29.
"For 70 percent of the match, we were really good," he said. "We served really well, and I thought we responded nicely after the second game."
18. This victory improves the Jayhawks' record to 3-0 on the season.
Junior outside hitter Jana Cor
The Jayhawks will play in two matches today in Utah, to continue the Brigham Young/UVSC Challenge.
"We let down a little bit in that game," she said. "We missed some serves that we couldn't miss. But overall, it was a good job."
rea paced the Jayhawks with 15 kills on the night. She said she was pleased with the way her team played, despite the disappointing loss in game two.
Bechard expressed concern with the second game slip because tonight's opponent, BYU. only has one match on its plate. Kansas will play Montana State in the afternoon before its tilt with BYU, which could cause some fatigue issues.
Correa said she wasn't worried about being tired.
Kansas will face Montana State at 1 p.m. today. The match against BYU will start at 8 p.m.
"I don't think it will hurt us," she said. "We will be ready for BYU."
— Edited by Patrick Ross
KELLIS ROBINETT
KROBINETT@KANSAN.COM
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Kansas' schedule light
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Kansas football coach Mark Mangino couldn't ask for a better non-conference schedule than the one his team faces this year.
The early season home games against Florida Atlantic, Appalachian State and Louisiana Tech are just challenging enough to test Kansas, but also easy enough for fans to expect three victories.
"It's just the way we want it," Mangino said. "We want to have a chance to play teams that, if we play smart and hard football, we'll have an opportunity to play and do well."
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Florida Atlantic transitions to Division I football this year, but has won 20 games during the last two seasons, including road victories against bowl teams Hawaii and North Texas. So, although the Owls probably can't keep up with the Jayhawks for four quarters, they won't be intimidated.
The same is true with Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs, of the Western Athletic Conference, have knocked off their share of big conference teams in the past—Fresno State last year and Michigan State two years ago — but with the game being played in Lawrence, the Jayhawks should cruise to victory.
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Division I-AA Appalachian State is the only true automatic victory.
Some will argue that scheduling these three relative "no name" teams suggests weakness and doesn't prepare a team for conference play. That may be the case for a program with legitimate Bowl Championship Series hopes, but right now the Jayhawks need victories more than they need stiff competition.
If you'll remember the non-conference games of Kansas' recent past, it's easy to see why scheduling tougher opponents is a bad idea. Even when the Jayhawks have been the least bit bold, they've been burned.
Northwestern, traditionally the worst football team in the Big 10 Conference, defeated Kansas during both of the last two seasons. Three years ago, Kansas lost to UNLV and Bowling Green.
Kansas State, where Mangino once coached as an assistant, used the formula of scheduling weak non-conference opponents to climb out of the national cellar in the 1980s and '90s. Each year, the Wildcats secured three victories going into conference play and eventually improved enough to consistently win the number of games required for bowl eligibility.
"Right now I think our program is going at the pace where it needs to be," Mangino said. "We're not in a position here where we need to bring in three BCS teams and play them."
Going back even further, UCLA crushed Kansas by 24 in 2001, and the year before, SMU embarrassed Kansas 31-17.
The problem with the Wildcats scheduling was that, once they became good, they continued playing patsies before conference play.
If the same scheduling system works at Kansas, and the Jayhawks turn into a national power, don't expect Mangino to keep avoiding highly ranked opponents.
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"We won't sit in this position forever," Mangino said. "For our program to keep getting better and better, there are steps that need to be taken. When we get to a point where we feel comfortable to take that next step, we will, and we'll play another BCS team."
◆ Robinett is an Austin, Texas, senior in journalism. He is Kansan sports editor.