Kansas Brings First Top-10 Ranking to Texas Tech on Wednesday

Kansas at Texas Tech
Lubbock, Texas
United Supermarkets Arena
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015
6 p.m. CT

Maggie Anderson
Match Coverage
TV FOX Sports Southwest
FOX Sports Midwest
FOX Sports Kansas City
Radio KLWN-AM 1320
Audio KUAthletics.com/radio
Stats TexasTech.com
Social Twitter | Instagram | #kuvball

Notes Link Kansas Notes

No. 10 Kansas (15-0, 3-0 Big 12) plays its first match as a top-10 team during a mid-week contest at Texas Tech (12-5, 1-2) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT. The match will be televised on FOX Sports Southwest and will also be available on most FOX Sports regional channels, including FOX Sports Midwest and FOX Sports Kansas City; check local listings.

QUICK HITS
TOP 10: Kansas entered the top-10 of the AVCA Coaches Poll for the first time in program history on Monday.
UNDEFEATED: The Jayhawks are one of three remaining undefeated teams at the NCAA Division I level (Arizona State, USC).
UNPRECEDENTED: KU’s 15-match winning streak is the best start to a season in program history and the longest winning streak in program history.
NCAA-LEADING OFFENSE: KU leads the nation in kills (15.5) and assists (14.5), while ranking second in hitting percentage (.322). Sophomore setter Ainise Havili leads the nation in assists per set (12.6).
WVU HIGHLIGHT: KU recorded a season-high .597 team hitting percentage on the way to a 3-0 victory over West Virginia on Saturday. The Jayhawks recorded 41 kills on 62 swings with just four attacking errors. 
• RIGDON EARNS BIG 12 WEEKLY HONOR: Sophomore outside hitter Madison Rigdon was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after recording 11 kills on 15 error-less swings in the victory over West Virginia. The Pflugerville, Texas, native recorded a .733 hitting percentage, good for a career high and a team high this season (10 kill minimum). Rigdon’s attack percentage led the Big 12 for the week, while her 3.7 kills per set ranked tied for third.

HIGHEST RANKING
• Kansas continued its historic progression in the AVCA Coaches Poll this week with its first top-10 ranking. KU moved up two spots to No. 10 in the latest poll released on Monday. For the third consecutive week, it is the highest ranking in program history for KU.
• The Jayhawks have been ranked in the top-25 for five consecutive weeks and have at least received votes in all seven of the AVCA’s weekly polls this season.
• Kansas was ranked for a program-record nine consecutive weeks during the 2012 season, finishing No. 25.

SERIES HISTORY: KU-Texas Tech
Overall Series: KU leads, 23-16
Streak: W9
In Lubbock: KU leads, 10-9
• Kansas leads the all-time series with Texas Tech, 23-16, including a 10-9 mark in Lubbock.
• The Jayhawks enter Wednesday’s match with a nine-match winning streak against the Lady Raiders.
• The series dates back to a straight-set neutral site Kansas loss in 1982. It WAS the lone meeting between the teams outside of Big 12 Conference play.

LONE STAR(S)
• Five Jayhawks will return to their home state for Wednesday’s match in Lubbock, Texas — Claire Carpenter (Rockwall), Tiana Dockery (Richmond), Ainise Havili (Fort Worth), Kelsie Payne (Austin), and Madison Rigdon (Pflugerville).

PACKED HOME CROWDS
• Fans are lining up around the corner to witness KU’s unprecedented season. The Jayhawks’ Horejsi Family Athletics Center (1,300 capacity) has packed in 1,500 fans or more in the last three matches against Missouri State (1,508), Kansas State (1,565), and West Virginia (1,555).
• All of KU’s night or weekend matches have drawn 1,300 fans or more with an average of 1,470.

UP NEXT
• Kansas returns home to face Iowa State on Saturday, Oct. 10 at Horejsi Family Athletics Center. First serve against the Cyclones is 4 p.m. CT.

UNDEFEATED
• KU’s current 15-match winning streak is the best start to a season in program history.
• Saturday’s win over West Virginia tied the longest overall winning streak in program history (W15), originally set in 1991.
• The Jayhawks are one of three remaining undefeated teams at the NCAA Division I level (USC, Arizona State).
• With a win over Gonzaga on Friday, Sept. 18, the Jayhawks set the record for the best start in program history at 11-0, passing 2001’s mark of 10-0.

LONGEST KU WINNING STREAKS
2015 – W15
1991 – W15
1992 – W11
2011 – W10

SET DOMINANCE
• During KU’s 15-match winning streak, the Jayhawks hold a Big 12-leading 45-4 (.918) set record.
• Kansas has swept 11-of-15 opponents, including three teams receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll on the date of the match (Duke, Wyoming, Marquette). 
• The Jayhawks have yet to play a five-set match this season.

KU’s BIG 12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Madison Rigdon – Offensive (10/5): Recorded a career-best .733 (11-0-15) hitting percentage against West Virginia.
Ainise Havili – Offensive (9/22): Guided KU to a .396 team hitting percentage with 12.7 assists per set in wins over South Dakota State, Gonzaga and Missouri State. Recorded 51 assists against Gonzaga.
Kelsie Payne – Offensive (9/7): Combined for 37 kills and a .464 hitting percentage in three 3-set wins over Western Illinois, Duke, and UMKC. Posted 13 kills on 26 errorless swings against UMKC.

HIGH-OCTANE OFFENSE
• Kansas has made its way to an undefeated record behind the most productive offense in the nation. The Jayhawks lead the nation in kills (15.5) and assists (14.5), while ranking second in hitting percentage (.322).
• Sophomore setter Ainise Havili leads the nation in assists per set (12.6).
• Kansas leads the Big 12 in attack percentage, kills, assists, aces, and opponent attack percentage.
• KU has recorded a higher hitting percentage than its opponent in every match this season.
• Three Jayhawks rank top-10 in hitting percentage among Big 12 student-athletes — Kelsie Payne (3rd), Janae Hall (5th), and Tayler Soucie (9th).
• Kansas has recorded 50+ kills in a three-set match five times this season.
• KU has recorded 19 or more kills in a set six times this season, including twice during a four-set win over K-State in the Big 12 opener (9/23).

NCAA KILLS PER SET (TOP 5)
1. KANSAS – 15.47
2. Boise State – 14.71
3. USC – 14.64
4. Temple – 14.61
5. Arizona – 14.53

FIRST-CLASS SERVE/RECEIVE
• The first step to a high-octane offensive is a solid foundation of passing and serving. The Jayhawks are on the way to an unprecedented season with a solid foundation in both categories.
• Kansas leads the Big 12 in aces per set (1.7), having reached double-figure aces in a match twice this season — at Arkansas (10) and against Western Illinois (12).
• On the defensive side, Kansas is putting up quality receiving numbers as well. The Jayhawks have committed just 21 reception errors, while forcing their opponent to commit 84 reception errors.
• KU’s defense ranks ninth in the nation in opponent hitting percentage (.140) and has held opponents to a sub-.200 hitting percentage in all but one match this season.
• Junior libero Cassie Wait features a .992 reception percentage — just two reception errors on 236 attempts.

FOUR MVPs
• In the four non-conference tournaments KU has won this season, there have been four tournament MVPs.

WAIT REACHES 1,000 DIGS
• On Sept. 23, junior libero Cassie Wait became the 11th Jayhawk to reach 1,000 career digs.
• Wait became the third-fastest Jayhawk to reach the century mark (77 matches; 282 sets) with a career-high 27 digs against K-State (9/23). She passed the 1,000 career digs threshold with nine digs in the third set against the Wildcats.
• The only other Jayhawks to reach 1,000 digs quicker were Melissa Manda (2007-10) and all-time digs leader Brianne Riley (2010-13).
• Wait reaches the prestigious mark having been KU’s primary libero for just two seasons.
• Wait ranks second in the Big 12 in digs per set this season (5.1) and has 20+ digs in four matches this season. She also ranks third in career digs per set at KU (3.6).

HAVILI SETTING THE TONE
• Sophomore setter Ainise Havili is at the heart of KU’s NCAA-leading team numbers, including kills and assists.
• Havili’s steady hands lead all NCAA Division I players in assists per set (12.6).
• Havili also ranks second in the Big 12 in aces per set (0.4) while boasting 36 kills on a .329 attack percentage.
• Havili has reached at least 40 assists in eight of the last 10 matches, including a season-high 54 assists against K-State (9/23).
• The Fort Worth, Texas, native posted 46 assists against Marquette (9/12), setting her career high for a three-set match. 
• Havili has five double-doubles on the season — at Arkansas (48 assists, 14 digs), against UMKC (44a, 14d), against Northern Colorado (43a, 10d), against Gonzaga (51a, 11d), and against K-State (54a, 13d).
• She earned AVCA All-America honorable Mention Honors last season and entered 2015 as a Preseason All-Big 12 selection.

PAYNE, DOCKERY LEADING OFFENSIVE PRODUCTION
• Sophomore right-side hitter Kelsie Payne and senior outside hitter Tiana Dockery both rank top-5 in the Big 12 in kills per set.
• Payne ranks second in the Big 12 with 4.0 kills per set on the third-best attack percentage in the league (.411). The Austin, Texas, native recently set a career high in kills with 20 against K-State (9/23). Payne has double-figure kills in all but one match this season.
• Dockery ranks fifth in the Big 12 with 3.4 kills per set. Dockery earned MVP honors at the Jayhawk Classic.

RIGDON PUTTING UP BALANCED NUMBERS
• Sophomore outside hitter Madison Rigdon ranks third on the team in both kills (3.2 kps) and digs (2.4 dps).
• The six-rotation player earned MVP honors at Pistol Pete’s Showdown (Sept 11-12) with 3.7 kills and 2.7 digs per set during the event. She was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week after recording a career-high .733 hitting percentage against West Virginia (10/3).
• The Pflugerville, Texas, native totals four double-doubles this season. She recorded KU’s first kill-dig double-double of the season against Northern Colorado (9/11) with 12 kills and 15 digs.
• Rigdon has reached double-figure kills in eight of the last nine matches.

NON-CONFERENCE PERFECTION
• KU finished non-conference regular season play undefeated for the third time under head coach Ray Bechard.
• The other two Kansas teams under Bechard to complete the non-conference regular season undefeated was in 2004 (9-0) and 2000 (9-0).
• Kansas holds a 169-29 (.854) non-conference regular season record under Coach Bechard, including a 60-8 (.882) mark since 2011.