Ready to kill after last heartbreak

By Josh Bowe

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Volleyball coach Ray Bechard has been through his fair share of battles. And although he knows tonight’s match is not technically different from any other match, no one can deny the importance of the Border Showdown.

Kansas travels to Columbia, Mo., to tackle Missouri at 6:30 tonight. Because both teams have identical Big 12 records at 2-5, Bechard conveyed the importance of the rivalry at practice Monday.

“I tried to explain to them what Kansas-Missouri means to not only people within our program but all Jayhawk fans,” he said. “But the most important thing is that we’re tied in the standings.”

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Photo by Weston White

Senior middle blocker Natalie Uhart kills a shot past two Texas A&M blockers. Uhart had 11 kills and aced two serves Wednesday night at the Horejsi Center. Kansas fell just short of a victory, losing 3-2 to the Aggies.

It will be an interesting matchup because Kansas has not played a match since last Wednesday’s heartbreaking loss to Texas A&M. How much rust the Jayhawks still have will be critical at the start of the match. But Bechard rested the team over the weekend because he thought it was important for the players to have time away from volleyball.

“There’s a 100 things you’d like to work on Saturday,” Bechard said. “But if you don’t take care of the other side of it, three weeks from now it’ll be a little more difficult.”

Senior middle blocker Natalie Uhart said she welcomed the break and took the time to focus on the personal side of her life.

“We rested our legs and got to spend our own personal time,” she said. “Now we’re just back in with fresh mind, fresh start.”

Of the “100 things” the Jayhawks need to work on, a better start is near the top of Bechard’s list. But aside from the starts of matches, Bechard also focused on how to finish matches. Kansas’ last two fifth sets have been anything but smooth. The Jayhawks have complied 11 errors in those past two set fives. With the fifth set going to only 15 points, errors are costly.

“We were a little disappointed in set five,” Bechard said of the Texas A&M match. “It’s important that we stay aggressive the whole time.”

As for playing on the road for the Border Showdown, Bechard said he knew it was a hostile environment but was not too worried about that affecting his team’s play.

“I don’t think they care for us that much,” Bechard said of Missouri fans. “But we’ll have the same size court and net as we do here, and we just got to get as comfortable as we can as soon as we can.”

Uhart will be traveling to Tiger territory for the last time in her career, but she said she was pretty confident in the team’s chances on the road. Kansas beat Missouri last year in Columbia in five sets.

“We need to remember what that feels like,” Uhart said. “It’s an away game, but if we can come back with a victory, then we’ll grow as a team.”

The growing needs to take place sooner rather than later because the Jayhawks are running out of time to bulk up their NCAA tournament bid resume. Kansas will face off against perennial powers, such as Texas, Nebraska and Kansas State, and cannot afford to fall back any further in the standings before the rough stretch begins again.

Bechard said the team was absolutely feeling an urgency to win.

“We know that the next three matches are matches we have to win to have some success before the next round,” Bechard said.

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