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Show 5 Friday, February 1,2008 COMING UP SPORTS www.dailyutahchronicle.com Gymnastics Track Skiing Men's Hoops Women's Hoops Men's Tennis Minnesota (2-3) @ Utah (3-0) Utah@ Bronco Indoor Invite Utah (1-1) @ Western State Invite Utah (11-8) @ Colorado State (6-14) Colorado State (2-17) @ Utah (17-3) Utah (2-0) @ No. 25 Boise St (5-1) Feb. 1, 7 p.m. Feb. 1,2008. All Day pNampa, Idaho Feb. 1, All Day & Crested Butte, Colo. April 20. All Day i? Provo, Utah Feb. 2. 3 p.m. @ Huntsman Center April 20 All Day Bo lie, Idaho @> Huntsman Center Team needs tune-up Tony Pizza SPORTS EDITOR L E N NIE MA H L E R/1 t-t Ovd, iiteh (bto-wit Lawrence Borha takes a hard foul on a fast break to the basket in the second half of the Utes' loss against Wyoming at the Huntsman Center on Wednesday night. The Utes trailed Wyoming by a small margin for most of the game. Ferris doesn't take days off Cody Brunner ASST. SPORTS EDITOR Confidence is a strange thing. When you don't have it, a reachable feat suddenly becomes unattainable. When you do have it, you can do the unimaginable. Take, for example, Utah women's tennis star Liz Ferris. Last October, Ferris was facing a monumental task in the main draw quarterfinals of the Central Regional Tournament in Tulsa, Okla. Her mission: to beat—or somehow find a way to compete against—national powerhouse Aurelija Miseviciute from Arkansas. Going into the match, Ferris figured she was in over her head. "I heard all of this stuff about her, and I looked up her record on the Internet and saw all of the good players she had beaten, and I kind of didn't think I had a chance," Ferris said. "I was just kind of overwhelmed." Needless to say, the result wasn't pretty Miseviciute routed Ferris to the tune of 6-2, . 6-O. ;' The senior didn't hang her • head, though. She knew she • "would see Miseviciute again on - Jan. 20 and it would be different. • * "I knew I would get to play her on our home court at Eccles Tennis Center at high altitude, and I just felt like I had a better chance to beat her," Ferris said. "I just thought if I went out . there and played my own game, I.could do it." When No i Miseviciute and the Razorbacks came to Salt Lake City a week and a half ago, the story line was a bit different from the first meeting between the two. Ferris kept Miseviciute off balance early and took the first set 6-2, but the Razorback responded with a 6-3 win in the second set. Thefinalset saw the two fight back and forth, but in the end, Ferris fired a serve past Miseviciute, and the Ute pulled out a 7-5 win for the upset. "I came in with the belief that I was going to win," Ferris said. "I came in focused and just planned on playing my own game instead of thinking about other things. It's probably the best win I've ever had." It's weird what a little confidence can do for an individual. The win took everybody in the collegiate tennis world by surprise. After all, it's not often that an unranked athlete from the U knocks off the No.-i player in the nation. The one person it didn't surprise though was Ferris' coach, Mat Iandolo. "It doesn't surprise me at ah1 when Liz beats a big-time player, because she's capable of competing at a very high level," Iandolo said. Having inherited the majority of the athletes on the team when he was hired in the offseason, Iandolo was pleased to find an athlete of Ferris' unique talent on the roster. "She's got a great all-court game," Iandolo said. "Probably ¥her biggest strength is that she doesn't have a weakness. She can also play a lot of different styles. She can play aggressive, and she can also play defense." Ferris' unique skill set will be vital to the Anaheim, Calif., native as she tries to pursue a professional career next year. The senior is aware of how difficult the jump to the professional level is, but with a little bit of the aforementioned confidence, anything is possible. "If she wants to, she can do it," Iandolo said. "She's got the kind of game that would give her a chance if she wants to pursue it." c.brunner@ chronicle.utah.edu .A'.. When Jim Boylen took the reins of the Runnin' Utes' program, it was much like getting the keys to a used Corvette. For someone like Boylen, the Corvette symbolized potential. With enough wrenchturning and elbow grease, that Corvette could run like new. As it stands, that Corvette is running better now than it has in a while, but like any used car, it still has a tendency to break down once in a while. Wednesday night against Wyoming, the engine— better known as Luke Nevill—was hitting on all cylinders. With Wyoming opting not to doubleteam the Aussie center, Nevill scored a season-high 25 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had three blocks, including a crucial stuff of Wyoming guard Brad Jones with less than a minute left to play. "I thought Luke was pretty good offensively," Boylen said. "They stayed home on our shooters and played Luke one-on-one down there, and that's what he should do. He should get 25 (points) and 9 (rebounds) when they play him one-on-one and he did it." Unfortunately for Boylen and the Utes, little else ran smoothly on the refurbished Corvette. Senior captain Johnnie Bryant had his worst offensive performance of the season as he scored six points on 2-of-i5 shooting. Emerging contributor Luka Drca played nine minutes before fouling out and had three turnovers to go with his three assists. Worst of all, Utah held the Cowboys to 38.6 percent shooting but did not lead after the 3:58 mark in the first half. "We have to shoot the bah1 to be good," Boylen said. "Obviously, we can't have the shooting we had at home and hold a team to 38.6 (percent shooting) on our home floor and we don't win. It's disappointing." Whether it was because Wyoming had won one conference game in five tries before Wednesday night, or whether Boylen just wanted a change of pace, Thursday's practice start time was moved from 3:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. Boylen has made a habit of changing afternoon practices to the early morning following a lackluster performance. The change could also have to do with how crucial the Utes' upcoming trip to Forth Collins, Colo., has become. Utah sits just 2-4 in the conference standings and will play six of its remaining 10 regular season games on the road. At this point, picking up a few road wins has become crucial to Utah's hopes for playing a factor at the MWC Championships in mid-March. Depending on the outcome, tomorrow's matchup See UTES Page 6 Utes defy low expectations Natalie Dicou the Utes. It's quite a remarkable run considering that the program seemed to be in shambles following last season when one third of the team abruptly quit. Looking back, the-mass exodus was a blessing in disguise. This year's team is devoid of internal strife. "It's sad because they were our friends and everything, but if they didn't want to be here, then we didn't want them here either," Warburton said. Last season, jealousies and bad feelings hurt the Utes, and they finished the year at 19-14. Although the Utes suit up nine healthy players a game this season, the team is more positive and, as their record indicates, a lot better. "We're a stronger group," Utah head coach Elaine Elliott said. "There's no doubt about that. (We're) tighter, a little bit STAFF WRITER Preseason predictions are notoriously inaccurate, but the coaches who forecast that the U women's basketball team would finish in the lower half of the Mountain West Conference standings must be turning a deep crimson by now. Prior to the basketball season, the nine MWC women's hoops coaches predicted that the Utes would finish at No. 5 in the conference. That's not quite how it's gone. The Utes (18-3, 6-0 in MWC) are first place in the MWC and on the verge of making their Top-25 debut after pulling off a thrilling one-point win at Wyoming on Wednesday night. "I actually couldn't get to bed until three in the morning," said Morgan Warburton, who buried a 3-point shot with three seconds left to seal the win for See WORK Page 6 WOMEN'S HOOPS Saturday, Feb. 2 • HUNTSMAN CENTER • 3 p.m. Colorado State s\f] = Rams ^ ^° (2-17,0-6) Rams notes: Colorado State is the worst team in the MWC in the following categories: scoring defence [66,2 points), scoring offense (49.3 points), free throw percentage (53 percent), field goal percentage (34 percent), assists per game, steals per game, margin of defeat, and turnover margin. Only one CSU player—Sara Hunter—averages in double figures at 10,1 points per game.The Rams have not won a game since Dec. 4.Their two wins on the season came against Colrado State-Pueblo and Pacific. Enough said. • i • .< i ; i A \ \ r- ; • • • ( ; Utah Utes (17-3,6-0) Ute notes: The Utes couldn't be in a more different situation from the Rams.The' Utes lead the MWC in field goal percentage (47 percent), and free throw percentage (76 percent).The Utes have the fourth longest winning streak in the nation with 12 straight victories.The Utes have the second largest scoring margin in MWC games at plus-11.2 pointes per game. Only Wyoming is beating MWC foes by more points per game (16.4 points). > \ 11 K ' I ; I . r u u i t , , - . Food for thought: Utah holds a 52-13 all-time series record against CSU.The Utes have won the last eight contests.The last time the Rams beat the Utes in Salt lake City was Jan. 12,2002 in overtime. Red Rocks ready for Gophers Marsden tweaks the gymnasts' routines, lineup Jon Cilbert STAFF WRITER The U gymnastics team is all about progression. That's why it spent this week working on upgrades in its routines. No. 2 Utah hosts Minnesota tonight at the Huntsman Center. Minnesota is Utah's first unranked opponent of the season and tonight serves as a prime opportunity for Utah to test out more difficult maneuvers. Senior Ashley Postell plans to implement a double Arabian on the first pass of her floor routine, replacing her triple twist. She plans to eventually move the triple twist to her final pass. The double Arabian doesn't exactly add difficulty to Postell's routine, but it adds variety. "It's something that at nationals might be used to help judges separate me from other people," Postell said. She's been working on upgrades in her bars routine as well, but is focusing on her floor routine right now. Annie DiLuzio is also dabbling with a double Arabian in her floor routine. Nina Kim has been working on improving her floor routine, which has head coach Greg Marsden planning to include her as an all-around performer tonight. Kim hasn't performed in the allaround competition yet this season and hasn't since the 2006 NCAA Championships. "She kind of lost focus last year and 1 think lost her love for the sport for a while," Marsden said. "I think she's recaptured that." Marsden attributes the change to Kim's ability to straighten out some career goals that were distracting her. Kim will most likely perform the allaround tonight, but that decision depends on her performance in warmups. "If she feels she's ready, she'll do a good job," Marsden said. He doesn't want to push her in when she's not ready, as was evidenced last AARON SCHWEND\tAPiH/nfDiityVtai)OifWi(lt The U gymnastics team prepares to host Minnesota tonight at the Huntsman Center. Many of the gymnasts have been adding more difficult maneuvers to their routines for the competition. week when Kim turned down the opportunity to perform all four events. With Kim competing' in the allaround, Utah, would feature three all- around performers including Postell and Kristina Baskett. Daria Bijak par- See GYMNASTICS Page 6 |
