KU Swept By #5 Longhorns

Sept. 16, 2006

Box Score |

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

Senior Jana Correa led the Kansas volleyball team with a match-best 14 kills as the Jayhawks lost to No. 5 Texas, 3-0, in Big 12 Conference action Saturday night. The Longhorns (7-2, 2-0 Big 12) swept KU (7-4, 0-2), 30-18, 30-18 and 30-18, in front of a sellout crowd of 1,300 at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center.

“Nine hitting errors for Texas, that’s hard to beat,” KU head coach Ray Bechard said after the losing effort. “I think we would have liked to have been better defensively, but they had a great offensive rhythm. I can’t imagine a team much better than Texas anywhere. They have a lot of weapons and used them well. Right now we need to review and make some adjustments. The important thing to remember is that we can’t let what we did this week affect us next week.”

Correa’s performance marked her eighth double-digit kill outing of the season. The 6-0 outside hitter also added six digs and three assists while junior Emily Brown added seven kills, seven digs and six assists. Sophomore Savannah Noyes had six kills on 15 attempts for a .333 hitting percentage and redshirt freshman Katie Martincich dished a team-high 23 assists to go with her nine digs and four kills.

Four Longhorns tallied double-digit kills with sophomore Lauren Paolini leading the way with 13 and five blocks. Junior Michelle Moriarty totaled a match-high 43 assists for a Texas offense that hit .458 on the night and added nine digs.

Tied at 11-all, the Longhorns used a 7-0 run behind the serving of senior Dariam Acevedo to take a 18-11 lead in Game One. KU used its second timeout of the stanza, but could not break down the UT offense, which posted a .459 hitting efficiency in the game. Correa totaled six of her 14 kills in the first game, committing no errors on nine attempts for a .667 clip.

A balanced offensive attack by the Longhorns continued to test the Jayhawk defense in Game Two. UT came up with five blocks and led 19-11, forcing another KU timeout. The `Horns led by as many as 14 in the stanza and committed just three errors in 20 attempts.

UT opened the final stanza with six unanswered points and went on to outhit KU at the net .517 to .147 in Game Three. Paolini added five kills and freshman Ashley Engle dished five assists to close the match for Texas.

The Jayhawks continue the short homestand Wednesday when they host Texas A&M (7-3, 0-2) at 7 p.m.

-KU-