Friday, November 14, 2008
Ray Bechard has said all he can.
With a team that continues to flounder on the road and play inconsistently all season, the Kansas volleyball coach is ready for his team to speak up.
“It’d be my hope that they tell me what they want to get done over the next two and a half weeks,” he said. “If you’re really true blue about loving the program and loving the school, which we believe these kids do, then they’ll have some answers to those questions.”
Those questions involve how a team will stay motivated. Only four matches remain in the season and they are against four of the top five teams in the conference. Two of them, Nebraska and Texas, are the No. 3 and 4 teams in the country, respectively.
Kansas (12-13, 6-10) now stands in sole possession of 10th place. Their NCAA Tournament bid relies on winning out. It’s a tall order, and first up for the gauntlet is Nebraska (24-1, 15-1) tomorrow at 7 p.m. The good news is that the match will be in Lawrence.
“We’ve got a team that Kansas hasn’t beaten in a long, long time in Nebraska,” Bechard said. “Hopefully we can get back together and put an effort out there to give us an opportunity to be competitive and have some success.”
Success against Nebraska is something Kansas hasn’t had since 1975. It’s been decades of dominance for the Cornhuskers, with no end in sight. And that victory back in 1975 was the very first match between the programs. The Jayhawks’ record since that match against the Cornhuskers is 0-79-1.
“Against Nebraska, your margin of error is quite a bit smaller against a great team,” Bechard said. “If you don’t pass and serve efficiently, the whole match gets muddied up.”
At least instead of playing in the intimidating Nebraska Coliseum in Lincoln, one of the tougher venues in all of volleyball, the Jayhawks will return to the Horejsi Family Athletic Center. Kansas has picked up five of its six Big 12 victories on its home floor. Combine that with the Jayhawks actually taking a set from the Cornhuskers back in late September, and there is some reason for optimism. “Obviously it would take a collective group; we can’t have one or two kids having career nights,” Bechard said of what would have to happen in addition to playing at home. “Everybody has got to have a pretty productive evening to make it a competitive match.”
Perhaps Kansas can look at Colorado’s monumental upset over Nebraska just a few weeks ago for inspiration. The Buffaloes were calm, cool and collected as they played stifling defense to hold Nebraska to a .153 hitting percentage. Kansas has shown the ability to play that level of defense at times, and will need to bring it out again in front of the second sellout crowd of the season.
But more importantly, Kansas needs to keep its spirits up. One of the leaders on the team, senior middle blocker Natalie Uhart, is looking for a positive response from her teammates.
“We need to realize it is not the season and value each practice and stay positive, that’s what I’m looking forward to.”
— — Edited by Kelsey Hayes
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