THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2008
SPORTS
3B
》 TENNIS
Jayhawks defeat Wildcats after four-year drought
BY ALEX DUFEK
adufek@kansan.com
Senior Lauren Hommell won the decisive match in Wednesday's Sunflower Showdown to lead the Kansas tennis team past the 67th ranked Kansas State Wildcats.
After dropping the first set, Hommell fought back to win the next two and defeat the Wildcats' Olga Klimova 5-7,6-4,6-2. Hommell said that her experience, along with the support of her team, helped her fight off nerves down the stretch.
"I think it definitely does have to do with experience. My freshman year I played in the same position and I kind of went back on that and just tried to make balls," Hommell said. "I had my whole team yell for me after every point and the support from them really helped too."
The 4-3 victory against the Wildcats is the Jayhawks' first against Kansas State since March 17, 2004. Along with their first victory in a Big 12 opener, Wednesday's game marks Kansas' first dual match victory against a ranked opponent this season since the 2003-2004 campaign.
"Ever since I have been here we
haven't beaten K-State so beating them my senior year is pretty big," Hommell said. "Now we're 1-0 in the Big 12 so hopefully we can take it from there."
The Jayhawks fell behind early, dropping two out of the three doubles matches. Junior Yuliana Swistun and freshman Magdalena Tokarczyk
defeated the Kansas State tandem of Vanessa Cottin and Pauline Gueras 8-3, to give Kansas its lone doubles victory.
whole team stepped up. Not only the ones that were playing, but also the ones who were off to the side cheering them on."
In need of a comeback, the jayhawks didn't crack under pressure. Kansas' upperclass-
"I had my whole team yell for me after every point and the support from them really helped."
All of the layhawks' losses this season, except for Illinois, have been to ranked competition. Coach Hall Holt believes getting this first victory over a ranked opponent could push
LAUREN HOMMELL senior
men leadership shone as the team received victories from two seniors and two juniors in singles play. Senior Elizaveta Avdeeva, junior Edina Horvath and junior Yuliana Svistun all won in straight sets to help lift the Jayhawks.
"I felt like the girls really came out with a lot of energy in singles," Coach Amy Hall-Holt said. "The
Kansas over the hill they have been struggling to climb.
"What I've told the girls is that we've been there, we're almost there, we're getting there and this is the edge that we needed to take us that next
step," Hall-Holt said. "Pulling this one out tonight I think it's just going to create a great atmosphere in a positive way for all the girls."
The Jayhawks look to keep rolling in Sunday's game against the University of New Mexico. The match is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
—Edited by Madeline Hyden
NBA
Celtics beat Pistons 90-78 secure spot in playoffs
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON — Kevin Garnett scored a season-high 31 points to lead Boston to a bruising 90-78 victory over Detroit on Wednesday night as the Celtics became the first team in the NBA to clinch a playoff berth and also earned the home-court tie-breaker over their closest competitor.
Boston won its sixth consecutive game and took a four-game lead over Detroit in the Eastern Conference standings. Should the Pistons catch the Celtics in the standings and meet them in the playoffs, Boston would have the home-court advantage by virtue of a 2-1 edge in the season series.
Kendrick Perkins had a career-high 20 rebounds to go with his 10 points for the Celtics.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Boston Celtics' Kevin Garnett goes up for a shot against Detroit Pistons' Rasheed Wallace during the second quarter of their NBA basketball game in Boston, Wednesday.
Chauncey Billups scored 23 points, making 14-of-15 foul shots in the game, and Rasheed Wallace also scored 23 for Detroit.
The Pistons never led, falling behind 17-3 off the opening tip and working their way back to a 69-69 tie on Tayshaun Prince's putback for the first basket of the fourth quarter. But Garnett scored the next five points and, after Detroit cut it to 78-77, the Celtics scored 12 of the last 13 points.
It was an anticlimactic ending to a hard-fought game, with three technical fouls handed out along
with hard fouls that sent players to the floor, Ray Allen drew the first T with a clearing elbow to Richard Hamilton's sternum in the
first quarter; in the third, Jason Maxiell clobbered Rajon Rondo to the parquet after a breakaway layup.
www.ContinuingEd.ku.edu (keyword: testprep) 785-864-5823
Goodbye is the hardest part Kansan columnist reflects on his final game in Fieldhouse
>> COMMENTARY
I was disappointed Monday night when I was not asked to give a speech with the other seniors on Senior Night. After giving my heart and soul to the University of Kansas for four years just as Russell Robinson and the others had done, I was excited and prepared to take the microphone from Max Falkenstein and tell everyone just how proud I was to be a lavahawk
OK, so I knew I wasn't going to get to give a speech and that nobody would have listened if I did, but as I talked with friends before the Texas Tech game, it dawned on me that a special and unforgettable portion of my life was coming to an end. Even though I plan on graduating in December, Monday night was the end of an era. It was probably the last night I will cover a game in Allen Fieldhouse as a member of the media.
BY B.J. RAINS
KANSAN COLUMNIST
BJRAINS.COM
Working for the Associated Press, I had the privilege of sitting in the best seats in the house
for every home game for the past three years. My job was to give statistics and notes to my boss and then to interview the opposing team's coach and players after the game. Whether it was
little did I know that choosing Kansas over Mizzou would wind up being one of the best decisions of my life. As members of the media, we are supposed to be un-biased and not root or cheer for a certain team. And as much as I bleed crimson and blue, not cheering was harder than you might think. After a Sasha Kaun lay-up and foul against Texas last year, I pumped my fist into the air on press row out of instinct before quickly realizing it and acting as if I was scratching my head so that nobody would notice.
As I listened to the players speak about what being a student at the University of Kansas meant to them, I did what any unbiased media member would do. I shed a tear.
irritating Bobby Knight two years ago for bringing up KU's big rebounding margin, or being told by Kelvin Sampson to ask a better question, I had the thrill of interviewing some of the best sports figures of our time.
While my friends camped out for hours and hours just to see the games, I was eating free food and sitting two seats to the left of Dick Vitale. Lou Gehrig once said in his famous
As a boy growing up in St. Louis, I always knew that I wanted to be a jayhawk. But
speech that he considered himself the luckiest man on the face of the earth, but after my time here at the University of Kansas, I don't know how he could be any luckier than me.
For four years, I watched game after game and moment after moment as my team, the Kansas Jayhawks, battled in historic
There are hundreds of memories that I made during my time in Allen Fieldhouse that I will never forget, but the best may have been during the pre-game video for the Kansas State game last Saturday. As the student section jumped up and down and fans yelled and screamed, goosebumps surfaced all over my body. As the music from the movie "300" glared over the loud speakers, for one of the few times in my life, I literally had chills. At that moment, I realized that I truly was going to miss being in Allen Fieldhouse for the rest of my life. And I made a promise to myself that night, that I will come back for a game at least once every season, because the passion and tradition that was instilled in me by this town and this university is something that I just can't eliminate from my life.
Allen Fieldhouse. I try to explain to my friends and family just how amazing the passion and tradition of Kansas basketball is, but unless you see it for yourself, you don't really know.
As the final buzer sounded following KU's thrashing of Texas Tech, I realized that it was the last time I would ever be sitting in that seat again. As I listened to the players speak about what being a student at the University of Kansas meant to them, I did what any unbiased media member would do. I shed a tear.
And not because I was sad it was over, but because I was thankful that it happened. Anyone that has spent time in Allen Fieldhouse knows just how special of a place it is. It's not just a place where you go to watch a basketball game. It's a place that changes your life.
—Edited by Madeline Hyden
Become a Founding Father!
ZETA BETA TAU
FOUNDED AS THE NATION'S FIRST JEWISH FRATERNITY.
A POWERHOUSE OF EXCELLENCE.
ZBT has been invited by the University of Kansas to start a new chapter on campus. Come to our upcoming informational session to learn more.
Sunday, March 9, 2008 at 7pm Naismith Hall Movie Theatre
Contact Laurence A. Bolotin at 760-586-3434 If you have any questions.