KU Loses Battle to BYU, 3-1
Sept. 2, 2005
PROVO, Utah – The University of Kansas volleyball team suffered its first loss of the season Friday night, a 3-1 setback to BYU at Smith Fieldhouse in its final match of the BYU/UVSC Challenge. The Jayhawks (4-1) lost the battle to the Cougars (3-0) by scores of 27-30, 30-28, 22-30 and 28-30.
Three Jayhawks contributed double-digit kills in the effort. Junior Jana Correa led KU with 14 kills and added eight digs while senior Josi Lima (seven digs, five blocks) and sophomore Emily Brown (seven digs, career-high eight blocks) each chipped in 11 kills.
Freshman Savannah Noyes had nine kills on a .353 attack percentage and senior Paula Caten added eight kills. Senior Andi Rozum ran the offense with 47 assists and led the defense with 13 digs.
KU committed 13 service errors but recorded a season-high 13.0 blocks in the effort.
BYU’s Lindsey Hartsock led all hitter with 20 kills and added six blocks in the win.
Despite a .343 attack percentage, the KU offense could not overcome serving (six) and reception errors (four) in the first game. The Cougars took the lead at the 17-16 mark and kept it for the remainder of the game. The Jayhawks fought through long rallies and stayed within a few points, but BYU held on, 30-27.
The teams exchanged leads in game two and were tied at 23-all. Down two, KU called a timeout and rallied to a 27-26 lead. Correa knocked in three straight kills to give the Jayhawks the 30-28 decision and the teams went into the break, tied 1-1.
BYU jumped to a 13-7 lead in game three behind heavy hitting and solid blocking. KU continued to struggle with its serving, missing four in the third game alone. The Cougars took a 25-19 lead and fought off the Jayhawks, who hit just .139 in the game, en route to a 30-22 win.
KU fell behind in game four, 20-16, but came roaring back to tie the stanza at 24-24. After a BYU timeout, the Cougars responded with three kills to take the game, 30-28 and match.
“We took away some good things from tonight, but our pass and serve really needs to improve,” head coach Ray Bechard said. “BYU is a nice team and they did a good job of pressuring us with their serve and taking us out of our system.”
KU will next be in action at 7 p.m. Tuesday when it hosts Saint Louis at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
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