UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, April 29, 1996
3B
Kansas tennis wins Big Eight tourney
By Spencer Duncan
By Spencer Duncan
Kansan sportswriter
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas men and women's tennis teams won the last Big Eight Conference tournament yesterday.
The No. 18 women's team won their fifth consecutive Big Eight tournament and the No. 12 men's team won their third consecutive. Both teams also won the regular season titles.
"We were fresh and focused and playing some of our best tennis," Kansas men's tennis coach Michael Center said. "Everyone wanted to contribute, and they did."
The tournament, which began on Friday, was delayed Saturday afternoon because of rain. Play was moved from outdoors at the Plaza Tennis Center in Kansas City, Mo., to indoors. The men's championship was played at Gold's Tennis Center and the women's championship match was played at Indian Creek Racquet Club.
The women defeated Oklahoma, 4-1. It was the third consecutive year Kansas defeated Oklahoma for the title.
"We played pretty well today," Kansas women's tennis coach Chuck Merzbacher said.
The Kansas women's team lost two doubles matches and the doubles point. After the doubles competition the Jayhawks were down 1-0.
Teams were awarded one point for the entire doubles competition and one point for each singles match.
The Kansas duo of Kylie Hunt and Jenny Atker-
son, ranked No.10, lost 8-3 to Monique Malan and Karla Golfin. Kansas players Christie Sim and Bianca Kirchhof were downed by Anne Covert and Lindra Cifranic, 8-3.
The team won four singles matches to win the championship.
Hunt, ranked No. 2 in singles, won her 42nd match of the season by defeating No.91 Malan, 6-1, 6-3.
But the championship came down to the match between Kris Sell and Golfin.
Sell won, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
"Winning the match was such a rush," Sell said after the match. "I knew Oklahoma was a tough team, and I didn't want to lose my match."
Kansas' Jenny Atkerson won her three matches, and finished her Big Eight career undefeated at 29-0.
Kansas defeated Missouri 7-0 on Friday in the quarterfinals and Kansas State 4-0 in the semifinals.
In the men's championship, Kansas defeated No. 30 Colorado, 4-0.
Kansas won two of the three doubles matches to capture the doubles point.
"They are the ninth or 10th best team in the country, and they showed it today," said Colorado men's tennis coach Ron Smarr, about Kansas.
Jayhawks Enrique Abaroa and Michael Isroff, ranked No. 23, defeated Martel Bufford and Dony Papadia, 8-1. The No. 46-ranked Kansas duo of Victor Fimbres and Xavier Avilas disposed of Colorado's Artur Rusieki and Robert Paviliska, 8-2. Kansas won the first three singles matches to capture the victory.
Matt Flickner / KAMSAN
Kansas sophomore Maria Abatoglou blisters a forehand Saturday at the Big Eight Conference Championships.
Kansas' Luis Uribe defeated Mitch Robinson 6-3, 6-0, while Avila beat Padapia 6-1, 6-2.
Fimbres defeated Rusieki, 6-4, 6-3, and ended his career undefeated in the Big Eight, 19-0.
Kansas had a bye on Friday because they won the regular season title. In the semifinals Kansas downed Oklahoma 4-0.
“it's fitting for this team and program to win the last Big Eight title,” Merzbacher said. “We're getting ready for regional, and this weekend proves we're playing really well.”
Softball comes up short this weekend
Kansas loses two, wins one against Oklahoma
By Jenni Carlson Kansan sportswriter
Yesterday, the Big 12 Conference's strikeout leader fanned only two.
Oklahoma pitcher Jill Most struck out 17 Kansas batters on Saturday.
Strangely, though, the Kansas softball team lost yesterday's game, 2-1 and won Saturday's, 1-0, which was half of a doubleheader that the Jayhawks split after a 1-0 loss in the second game.
"We played great ball all weekend." Kansas softball coach Gayle Luedke said. "But it's disheartening when we're playing a great team like Oklahoma, and you're playing just as every bit as well as they are, and you just come up on the short end."
The one game that the Jayhawks did win took 10 innings with Most and Kansas pitcher Beth Robinson dueling the entire way. The Jayhawks barely posed a threat against the Sooners, going down in order in six of the first seven innings. The lone Jayhawk base runner came via a walk.
"Jill throws heat, and she's got an amazing rise ball," Kansas left fielder Katie Morgan said. "And the girls, I think, were intimidated by her record and her strikeouts. That's why we were like, 'Whoa. We can't hit this girl.'"
The Oklahoma offense was having similar trouble with Robinson, who scattered five hits in the first seven innings and stranded two Sooner runners in both the first and seventh innings.
"Hitters are having the hardest time getting good contact off of Beth," Morgan said. "All the balls are hit really dinky or straight to her."
With the game scoreless in the bottom of the eighth inning, Morgan led off and tripled over the center fielder's head, breaking up Most's no-hitter. But the Jayhawks failed to score as Most struck out the next
three.
When the game moved into the 10th inning still scoreless, the international tie-break rule went into effect, meaning a runner would automatically start the inning on second base.
The Kansas defense shut down Oklahoma after short stop Michelle Hubler gunned down a runner at home. Then, she dove for a line drive and threw out a runner at first to end the inning.
In the bottom half of the inning, Kansas third baseman Sarah McCann started at second and with one out, moved to third on a sacrifice from catcher Kristina Johnson. After Morgan walked, Kansas second baseman Heather Richins delivered the game winner and singled into the right center field gap, scoring McCann.
"It was so exciting when Heather came through with that hit," Morgan said. "That's a great moment."
In Saturday's second game, Oklahoma got on the board quickly, scoring a run in the first inning off an RBI single from catcher Melyssa Panzer. Kansas pitcher Sarah Workman allowed only two hits during the remainder of the game, but the Jayhawk offense got just four hits and could not give her any support.
Another close game was almost assured yesterday as Robinson and Most stepped on the mound again. It was also senior day, honoring Robinson and Morgan in their final regular season game at Jayhawk Field.
"It's always hard at the beginning to have senior day," Robinson said. "I think it will hit me more tomorrow or later tonight that I'll never be in uniform on this field again."
Robinson and Morgan agreed, though, that the game was business as usual, and the entire Kansas team got down to business in the first inning. McCann doubled off the base of the left field wall and scored when Johnson tripled past a diving
See SOFTBALL, Page 6.
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