8A the university daily kansan
sports
tuesday december 2, 2003
Volleyball preparing for tournament
By Mike Norris
mnorris@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
At 4 p.m. Thursday in Malibu, Calif., Kansas athletic history will be made.
The Kansas volleyball team will play in its first NCAA Tournament match.
"It's indescribable," junior middle blocker Ashley Michaels said. "No one will ever do this again."
In 1997 it looked like it would be a long time before the Jayhawks would earn that elusive first berth. The team went 9-24 overall, and 2-18 in the Big 12 Conference.
Enter coach Ray Bechard. In his first season at Kansas the team went 15-17. As his career went on, the team's record only got better. Last season after finishing 19-10, it looked as if it would be heading to the postseason for the
"It's amazing. I can't explain it, I don't know what to say."
Sarah Rome
Sarah Rome senior outside hitter on playing in Malibu, Calif.
first time.
But that invitation never came and the season ended in disappointment.
When it was announced the Jayhawks would be playing Thursday in Malibu, senior outside hitter Sarah Rome was at a loss for words.
"It's amazing," she said. "I can't even explain it, I don't know what to say."
That was about the same attitude the rest of the team had after the announcement. None of the players knew much about
their opponent, the Long Beach State 49ers, but they didn't care. They were heading to the tournament.
Beachard does know the volleyball history Long Beach State carries.
"Anytime you think Long Beach State, you think of two or three other programs maybe," he said.
Bechard said that Long Beach State played a demanding schedule and defeated No. 8 Georgia Tech, which led the nation in kills and assists. But he also said that while the 49ers had a history winning, their talent was not as strong as in the past.
"It's not a team from a talent standpoint that will overwhelm us," Bechard said. "It's not something we haven't seen before."
However, a postseason match is something the Jayhawks haven't seen before. Long Beach
State is in the tournament year after year, and will be playing in its home state.
"They have a lot less demanding travel," Bechard said. "It will be a quick turnaround, but this team is up for it."
Sophomore Josi Lima said the team's preparation would be no different than during the season.
"We're doing our routine every day, and we're ready to play who-ever."
It was easy to tell that the team would be ready to play after the joyous reaction on Sunday. But when practice started at 4 p.m. yesterday, the excitement of going to Malibu was gone. The team's attention was turned to Long Beach State.
If the Jayhawks are victorious Thursday they will play at 4 p.m. Friday against the winner of the game between Pepperdine and Manhattan.
Edited Andy Marso
Warrick's big game saves Syracuse, defeats poor-shooting Rhode Island
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim breathed a sigh of relief after his defending national champion Orangemen narrowly averted a second straight loss to start the season.
The Associated Press
"To get a win in these two games, the way we played, was good," Boeheim said Sunday after No. 7 Syracuse rallied for a 69-65 victory over Rhode Island.
"Now we have December to try and get ourselves better," he said. "I felt after preseason practice that we were a team that was going to struggle for a while."
And the Orangemen certainly did against Rhode Island (3-2).
Rhode Island was 1-for-24 from 3-point range, shot only 32.9 percent overall, and lost despite taking 25 more shots than Syracuse.
They won despite shooting just 39.2 percent and being outrebounded 55-41. If the Rams, who scored 44 points in the paint, hit a couple of outside shots, Syracuse might have started 0-2 for the first time since the 1968-69 team lost its first five.
"We knew we were not going to make a lot of shots from outside," Rhode Island coach Jim Baron said. "So we had to be aggressive going to the glass, and we were able to do that."
In the only other Top 25 games Sunday, No. 3 Michigan State beat DePaul 89-81, and No. 20 Stanford defeated Rice 60-56.
Hakim Warrick scored a career-high 30 points—11 during a decisive second-half spurt —to lead Syracuse.
"This is only our second game," said Warrick, who was 18-for-22 from the foul line to match the school record set two years ago by Allen Griffin. "Just having a new lineup in there and losing leadership like Kueth Duany and Carmelo Anthony, it's going to be really tough at first."
Last season, the Orangemen won 15 games — including three in the NCAA tournament — after trailing in the second half. They nearly overcame a 23-point deficit before losing to Charlotte 96-92 on Wednesday night and trailed Rhode Island by 11 in the first half.
"I think we came out a little too shaky," Warrick said. "But I think we did a good job of turning it around at the end."
Syracuse trailed 45-41 with 12:39 left after Dustin Hellenga stole the ball from Gerry McNamara and converted a three-point play. Boehme then kept signaling for Warrick to get the ball in the lane, and he took over, sparking the Orangemen on a 19-5 run.
"I knew it was coming to me," said Warrick, who also led the
team with nine rebounds.
"There was one time I got elbowed in the nose, didn't know where I was, and he was still calling my play."
Syracuse won despite a subpar performance from McNamara. He's one of the main keys to the offense and scored a career-high 34 points, including eight 3s, against Charlotte. But against the Rams he was 1-for-9 from the field, missed all six of his 3-point attempts and finished with seven points.
Boechem is counting on everybody to help fill the void created by the departures of Duany, the lone senior on the championship team, and Anthony, who jumped to the NBA after his stellar freshman season.
On Sunday, Billy Edelin helped pick up the slack with 16 points, but he was the only other Syracuse player in double figures.
Josh Pace had only four points, two assists and one steal despite playing all but two minutes. Backup center Jeremy McNeil had only one rebound and failed to score in 10 minutes, and starting center Craig Forth scored just four points, although he had five blocks and five rebounds.
"I don't think we're smooth or comfortable in what we're doing," said Boeheim, who lamented not scheduling more games earlier. "Charlotte and
knode Island had played four games and it helped them. They are veteran teams that know what they're doing."
Hellenga led Rhode Island with 16 points, and Terrence Mack had 10. Dawan Robinson, who entered averaging 15.5 points, was 1-for-15 shooting and finished with six points, all in the final 2:52.
"We see this as a big loss because we thought we could beat this team," said Robinson, who was 0-for-6 on 3-pointers. "They stayed in their zone and we just missed shots. They didn't pressure us. We just missed open shots."
No. 3 Michigan St.89, DePaul 81
At East Lansing, Mich., Kelvin Torbert scored 19 points and Chris Hill added 15 points and a career-high 11 assists for Michigan State in the championship game of the Spartan Classic.
Alan Anderson scored all 17 of his points in the second half to help the Spartans (3-1) hold off the Blue Demons (3-1).
Delonte Holland scored 27 points for DePaul.
No.20 Stanford 60, Rice 56
At Houston, Rob Little and Chris Hernandez each scored 17 points for Stanford (3-0). Jason McKrieth led Rice (3-1) with 14 points.
Solich firing upsets Cornhusker players
By Vince Kuppig Daily Nebraska via U-Wire University of Nebraska
LINCOLN, Neb. — Jammal Lord stood with his head down and a baseball cap covering his eyes.
"You've got so many emotions running through your head right now. It's hard to hold them back," said senior fullback DeAntae
On more than one occasion, Demorrio Williams shook his head in disgust.
Simultaneously, Nebraska Athletics Director Steve Pederson stood behind a podium explaining his reasoning for firing Frank Solich during Sunday's press conference at Memorial Hospital.
One player, Benard Thomas, even went as far as to interrupt the first-year NU athletics director to ask two of his own questions.
Grixby, one of about 10 players attending Sunday's press conference where Pederson announced the firing of Frank Solich as Nebraska's football coach.
"It hurts. It hurts a lot. But at the same time, we've got to move forward," he said.
Thomas, a junior defensive end, and some of the other players who stood toward the back of the room on the sixth floor of Memorial Stadium as Pederson spoke didn't appear ready to move forward just yet.
Within 25 minutes of the start of the press conference, all the players had left the room where Pederson was talking. Bo Pelini, NU's defensive coordinator, who was named the interim head coach, gathered his players.
By the time Pelini took the podium, most of the players had returned to the room.
RIVERS: QB challenges teams with strong arm, not feet
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12A
years at North Carolina State, Rivers has been known to take off on his feet a few times a game but has never been known as an elusive runner. However, his fullback-like frame makes him dangerous inside the opponents' 5-yard line, hence his 17 touchdown runs.
Keeping Things Close — North Carolina State's 7-5 record jibe with the preseason ranking of 14th in the nation, but don't think the Wolfpack hasn't been consistently competitive. Its five defeats have come by an
average margin of 4.7 points, which has never been larger than eight. The typical North Carolina State game is an offensive shootout, including a 50- 44 overtime loss at Florida State and a 44-38 early season overtime loss at then third-ranked Ohio State. Rivers has thrown for an average of 358 yards in the team's five losses, and five of his seven interceptions this season have come in those games. So don't let the record fool you. Rivers will keep things close at all costs.
Compiled by Ryan Greene. Edited by Cate Batchelder.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12A
WHITTEMORE: Quarterback's mobility will be key for Jayhawks
To go along with the 6-2 record when Whittemore played start to finish, in those eight games, the Jayhawks average 36.8 points per game compared to 15.8 when he's not there.
for some reason, the Jayhawks are a different team when Whittemore is there. That could be the most important intangible of all come Tangerine Bowl time.
Leaping To The Second Dimension
— Neither defense in this game is necessarily dominant. Kansas ranks 75th in Division I-A in total defense, but North Carolina State ranks 90th. Both teams give up
roughly 400 yards and an average of four touchdowns per game. While Rivers will try to torture the Kansas secondary with his arm, Whittimore will try to spice things up with his feet. Both defenses have struggled against the pass this year, but North Carolina State ranks 33rd against the run. Whittimore's mobility could throw the Wolfpack for a loop as a complement to the bruising Clark Green and the elusive John Randle. Kansas' game plan on offense hinges on the quarterback having at least a little success on the ground.
— Compiled by Ryan Greene. Edited by Cate Batchelder.
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