TALLAHASSEE, FLA. ? Amanda Jobe and Stevie Crisosto each homered, backing a strong performance by Kassie Humphreys in the circle, as the Kansas University softball team knocked off Memphis, 5-2, on Saturday night to win the 2007 Sunshine State Tournament.
The victory gave KU (5-3-1) a 3-1 mark in the tournament, good enough for the title as the Jayhawks won the tiebreaker courtesy of their 1-0 victory Friday against host Florida State.
Jobe’s two-run homer in the top of the second gave KU an early 2-0 lead, and Crisosto added a three-run blast in the third to push the advantage to 5-0.
Humphreys was named the tournament MVP, while Jobe and Crisosto joined her on the all-tournament team.
Earlier Saturday, the Jayhawks claimed a 10-2 rout against Jacksonville.
KU will return to action Friday at the Red and Black Tournament in Louisville, Ky.
Philadelphia ? The Kansas University volleyball team won the Temple Classic tournament Saturday with victories against Maine and Rutgers.
Savannah Noyes led the Jayhawk offense with 13 kills in the first match, and Caitlin Mahoney set a career best with 10.
In the final match, junior Emily Brown led all players with 22 kills, while senior and fellow outside hitter Jana Correa added 18 and matched that with a career-best 18 digs.
Brown and Correa were named to the all-tournament team. Correa was tapped MVP.
“We don’t want to discount winning three matches and a tournament here,” KU coach Ray Bechard said, “but we know there were too many times during games that the execution wasn’t as good as it should have been.”
Kansas is on a roll right now, off to its best volleyball start ever.
Molly LaMere can’t explain why.
Could it be Nancy Bell’s ability to always to find the open spot on the floor for her kills? Sarah Rome’s ability to get an ace? Amy Myatt’s quiet-but-effective kills? Danielle Geronymo’s tall presence in the middle?
“Um, I’m trying to think,” LaMere said after the question, figuring there were a plethora of possibilities behind KU’s success.
LaMere needed a second to contemplate, so let Bell tell why – without hesitation.
“So much of the credit has to go to Molly,” Bell said after Kansas defeated Ole Miss 15-9, 13-15, 15-2, 15-11 on Saturday to win all four matches in the Jayhawk Classic this weekend at Horejsi Athletic Center. KU defeated Furman 15-12, 15-8, 15-7 earlier in the day.
Kansas is 8-0, which ties best start in school history. A big part of that is KU’s efficiency in ending rallies with strong kills.
“Molly puts the ball where I need it,” Bell said after recording 19 kills before being named tournament MVP.
Myatt added 24 kills and Rome also had 19. After breezing in the first game, Ole Miss managed to take a 13-9 lead in Game Two before the Jayhawks mustered to tie the game at 13 on an Ole Miss carry. But the Jayhawks struggled to take the offensive, and Ole Miss won the second game.
“In volleyball you only get so many chances,” KU coach Ray Bechard said. “We call it the volleyball gods. You never know when you’re going to get a bad bounce.”
In the third game, the Jayhawks jumped to a 9-2 lead early, thanks in part to a couple Bell kills. She had four putaways for points in the game.
“I have to give credit to the middles,” Bell said. “When they’re doing my job, I can see the lanes and the court looks wide open.”
So another non-conference mission was accomplished. Unlike last year, Kansas is not letting winnable games outside the Big 12 slip away. Bechard feels like the schedule Kansas has played so far has allowed its record to be legitimate.
“I think we’ve played some good teams,” Bechard said. “We went out and scheduled some tough games. This match against Ole Miss would have been a typical match last year, but last year we would have let it get away.”
Not this year. This year there’s a killer instinct at Kansas.
LaMere said afterward she was tired. She wanted to go home and find her bed. It had been a long, two days and four matches.
Just before that confession, she made sure her Jayhawks would get home at a decent time. The fourth set was tied at 11 when Kansas’ hitters went wild with a Myatt kill two kills by Bell, and an Ole Miss error. Then Kansas celebrated.
“A lot of people on this team are very, very intense,” Bell said.
Lucinda Mason, East Carolina
Lisa Donovan, East Carolina
Danielle Geronymo, Kansas
Jaime Burns, Ole Miss
Kira Zschau, Ole Miss
Amy Myatt, Kansas
MVP Nancy Bell, Kansas