Sports

Gary Pinkel’s memory serves him well. That’s why he isn’t sleeping well this week.

Pinkel knows all too well how easily an NCAA Division I-AA team can sneak up on a Division I team, and as he prepares for Missouri’s home opener against Eastern Illinois on Saturday, he has good reason to be nervous.

It should be closer than last year.

Tonight’s game at Rock Bridge between the Bruins and Moberly almost has to be closer than the 76-0 pounding Rock Bridge put on Moberly last year.

Rock Bridge goalkeeper Tanner Mills used more than his hands to help the Bruins earn a victory Thursday night.

High school tennis crosses borders today when two state champions meet for the fourth annual Missouri-Kansas Border War.

Rock Bridge (5-1), the defending state champion, is looking for its fourth victory against Blue Valley North High (4-1), the defending Kansas 6A champion.

As Rock Bridge prepares to host Osage, Tipton and Warrenton in its annual volleyball tournament Saturday, Bruins coach Vicki Reimler said her team will head into this weekend not quite sure what to expect.

Pleimann, a junior, helped Hickman breeze by the Jefferson City Jays 169-197 on Tuesday at L.A. Nickell Golf Course. All five Hickman golfers shot a better score than the lowest Jays round.

Tough competition awaits the Missouri women’s basketball team this season in its quest to reach the postseason for the fifth straight year.

The Tigers will face eight teams that appeared in the NCAA Tournament last year and three teams that played in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.

For most football teams, the game is fought and won along the line of scrimmage. The Hickman Kewpies’ game tonight at Park Hill South will be no exception.

The night ended much better than it began for the seniors on the Hickman volleyball team.

The Kewpies, after falling behind in both games against Jefferson City on Wednesday, rallied to defeat the Jays 25-18, 25-20 at Hickman.

Not much went right for the Cougars on Wednesday night at Southwell Arena.

In the end, though, the No. 4 Cougars overcame several miscommunications, errant passes and botched hits to hold off the upstart Missouri Valley Vikings 30-15, 25-30, 30-24, 30-25.

Brad Smith had security.

Whenever Smith was in trouble last season, Justin Gage was usually there to bail him out. This season Smith has yet to find a go-to receiver.

For the third straight year, the Missouri-Kansas matchup will end the regular season of both basketball teams, but it may not be the best matchup on Missouri’s 2003-04 schedule.

Hickman’s Stefani Worley called her pitching performance against Smith-Cotton on Wednesday her worst of the season. Fortunately for the Kewpies, her worst was still good enough to win.

“(My) pitching was weaker than usual,” she said. “We’re going to have those. My offense really came through for me today.”

The Missouri women’s soccer team entered the national ratings this week at No. 25 in the NSCAA/Adidas poll. Missouri (4-0) came close to making the SoccerTimes.com top-25 listing, ranked No. 26 with 31 votes. Missouri is the No. 5 ranked team in the NSCAA/Adidas Central Region rankings.

Kristen Heil is the Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week. Heil, a junior forward, received the accolade after winning MVP of the Tiger Invitational last weekend. Heil has three goals and six points on the year.

Pat Daly, the Maverick's general manager and vice president, resigned Tuesday. The resignation becomes effective Sept. 22.

According to Nino Williams, he should have sat out the Missouri football team’s win against Ball State on Saturday.

Although Williams, a junior free safety, led the Tigers with nine tackles, the defense forced one fumble but did not recover it.

During the summer, Hickman girls’ golf coach Doug Steinhoff asked his team if it wanted to have fun or work hard to earn a state berth. Six matches into the season, the Kewpies are proving they can have both.

The Kewpies beat the Southern Boone County Eagles 165-223 on Tuesday at L.A. Nickell.

Coach Ben Loeb got a look at his future Rock Bridge tennis team.

Four Bruins, including three freshmen, moved up from the junior varsity and helped the Bruins defeat Mexico 9-0 on Tuesday at Rock Bridge.

Hickman’s fluke goal early in the first half got the momentum going in its direction.

The rest of the game was anything but a fluke as Hickman went on to beat Smith-Cotton 5-0 at Cosmopolitan Park on Tuesday.

Sophomore quarterback Brad Smith doesn’t remember what happened in the first half of Missouri’s win against Ball State, but he might have learned an important lesson from it.

MU coach Gary Pinkel will not comment on injuries, but Smith is expected to play Saturday against Eastern Illinois in the Tigers’ home opener.