Jayhawks Fall to No. 13 Oregon in Three Sets

LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 13 Oregon (4-1) powered its way past the University of Kansas (2-2) volleyball team in three sets Friday night at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. The loss evened KU’s Jayhawk Invitational record at 1-1, while Oregon is the only team to make it through Friday’s play unscathed at 2-0. The Ducks swept the Jayhawks by scores of 25-13, 25-21 and 25-17.

KU was once again led by sophomore Karina Garlington who led all players with 12 kills, her third straight contest with double digit kills. Freshman Allison Mayfiled added nine on a team-high .304 hitting percentage.

On defense, the Ducks tallied 10.0 team blocks compared to just 5.0 for the Jayhawks. UO also out-dug Kansas 44-27.

Oregon opened the match with a strong first set performance by Gorana Maricic, who led the Ducks with four kills and an .800 attack percentage. Seven first set errors plagued the Jayhawks.

The second set began with each team exchanging points, but Oregon went on a 10-4 run to gain a 22-16 lead. Garlington’s seven kills helped lead a mild Jayhawk comeback, but were not enough to catch the Ducks.

Oregon scored the third set’s first eight points. Kansas rallied to close within one at 14-13, but UO responded with a 6-1 run to regain control of the set.

“We had too many hitting errors and we got a little too disconnected at times. We didn’t play with the intensity we needed to,” said Kansas head coach Ray Bechard. “We fought back but were a little tentative at times. Obviously Oregon is a very good team.”

Kansas will wrap-up the Jayhawk Invitational Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. when it battles the Central Florida Knights inside Horejsi Family Athletics Center.