Jayhawks Drop Five Set Heartbreaker At Colorado

BOULDER, Colo. – Despite four players recording double digit kills, including a career-best 24 from sophomore Karina Garlington, the Kansas volleyball team dropped a heartbreaking five set match to Colorado (25-18, 26-28, 15-25, 26-24, 15-12) in both teams’ conference opener.

With the loss, KU drops to 6-4 overall and 0-1 in the Big 12. CU improves to 7-3 and 1-0 in conference play.

Joining Garlington in double figures were junior Brittany Williams and freshman Allison Mayfield who each had 11, and senior Savannah Noyes who added 10 on a team-high .409 hitting.

Sophomore Melissa Manda recorded a season-best 27 digs in the contest, while junior Melissa Grieb also finished with a season high tallying 13 digs.

Colorado used a scorching .591 attack percentage in the opening stanza to take a 25-18 victory. The Jayhawks, who hit just .167, could not string together enough points to catch up with an early lead by the Buffaloes. Williams tallied five of her 11 kills in set one.

The Jayhawks picked up their defense in set two as they bounced back with a 28-26 win. The hitting errors that eluded Colorado in the opening set doomed the Buffs in the second as three of KU’s last five points came on CU miscues. Down 19-14, KU used four straight kills and a CU attack error to tie the score at 19-19. The teams traded points until Kansas, down 25-26, earned three unanswered points to close the set.

Melissa Manda was a big reason for CU’s .085 hitting percentage as she dug up nine balls in set two.

Kansas took control early in the third set and never looked back as it held at least a three point lead for the entire set. The Jayhawks’ offense posted a match-high .414 hitting efficiency behind five kills from Garlington and Mayfield, while Colorado’s offense petered out to a .000.

After holding a slight lead for the majority of set four, Kansas fell behind as Colorado rallied back to take a 19-18 lead, its first lead since 2-1. Kansas struggled to catch up tying the game at 23 and again at 24, but couldn’t mount the Buffaloes’ lead falling 26-24.

Both teams stayed neck and neck through the first half of the final set until CU tallied six of the game’s last seven points to close out the match with a 15-12 win.

Kansas will take the court again this Saturday when it hosts Iowa State in its conference home opener. The contest is set for 1 p.m. Free live stats will be available at www.kuathletics.com. Live video will also be available for a subscription fee.