KU Sweeps VCU, Michigan State
Sept. 9, 2005
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
The University of Kansas volleyball team improved its record to 7-1 with sweeps of Virginia Commonwealth and Michigan State Friday in the opening day of the Pizza Hut Jayhawk Invitational at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
Senior Josi Lima led KU with 13 kills and added five blocks and five kills against the Spartans (5-1). Senior Paula Caten contributed 10 kills and four digs in the win on Parent Night — 30-24, 30-23, 32-30.
Junior Jana Correa and sophomore Emily Brown, who also had four blocks, each contributed nine kills and seven digs in the nightcap. Senior Andi Rozum had 37 assists and ran an offense that hit .250 against MSU. Junior Jamie Mathewson led an impressive defense (12.0 blocks) with eight digs.
MSU’s Katie Johnson led all hitters with 20 kills, but had 17 errors in 51 attempts for a .059 attack percentage. Libero Nicole Colaluca was the defensive leader with a match-best 19 digs for the Spartans.
“That was our best effort of the year from start to finish,” head coach Ray Bechard said. “We had an uneven spot in game three, but we really rallied back. Our hitting efficiency was good and we had great balance. We beat a quality Big Ten opponent and that’s closer to the level we’ll need to get to reach to have success in the Big 12 Conference. Now we’ve put ourselves in position to win the tournament tomorrow with a match against Temple.”
Three Jayhawks notched double-digit kills as KU swept Virginia Commonwealth, 30-28, 30-26 and 30-26, Friday afternoon. Caten led all hitters with 19 kills on a match-best .700 attack percentage and added five digs in the win.
Lima added 13 kills and had a match-high 13 digs while Correa rounded out the top scorers with 11 kills (.346 attack percentage) and eight digs. Rozum dished 47 assists as the offense hit .257 and served up nine aces in the match.
VCU (6-2) was led by freshman Elisa Kuhnel, who posted 10 kills on a .500 attack percentage.
“I think they [Virginia Commonwealth] are going to do extremely well in their conference,” Bechard said. “We finished games well. It seemed like it was 25-all in every game, but we finished pretty strong. The serving and attacking was uneven, but thank goodness for Paula [Caten]. She had a great match.”
KU continues its six-match home stand and wraps up the Pizza Hut Jayhawk Invitational Saturday against Temple at 1 p.m.
Results from the Pizza Hut Jayhawk Invitational
Session One:
Michigan State 3, Temple 1
Kansas 3, VCU 0
Session Two:
VCU 3, Temple 1
Kansas 3, Michigan State 0
Session Three (Saturday):
11 a.m. – VCU vs. Michigan State
1 p.m. – Kansas vs. Temple
– KU –
