#24 KU Looks to Extend Win Streak at #23 Texas
Sept. 19, 2005
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
The 24th-ranked Jayhawks will look to extend their six-match win streak Wednesday when they take on #23 Texas in their first Big 12 road trip of the season. Kansas (10-1, 2-0 Big 12) earned its first national ranking of the 2005 season Monday, coming in at #24, right behind the Longhorns (6-2, 1-1 Big 12).
Match time at the Gregory Gym in Austin is set for 6:30 p.m. Livestats and post-match results are available on kuathletics.com.
KANSAS BACK IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Jayhawks return to the Top 25 this week after being ranked as high as 21st in the 2004 national poll. KU came in at 24th in Monday’s CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll with 154 points. The Jayhawks received their first-ever national ranking (24th) on Sept. 13, 2004, and stayed in the Top 25 for three weeks last season.
KU PREVIEW
The Jayhawks, 10-1 overall, return nine letterwinners and five starters in 2005. KU started the season 4-0 before falling at BYU, 3-1, and is riding a six-match win streak dating back to Sept. 6.
Senior middle blocker Josi Lima, a three-time All-Big 12 First Team selection, is the top KU returner and reigning Big 12 Player of the Week. Postseason awards candidates Paula Caten (senior), Jana Correa (junior) and Emily Brown (sophomore) are also in the starting six.
Lima leads the KU hitters with 4.11 kills and adds 2.55 digs and 1.11 blocks per game. Correa, a 6-0 outside hitter, is close behind with 3.71 kills per game on a .304 attack percentage while freshman Savannah Noyes, a 6-3 middle blocker, adds 1.79 kills per game at a .295 clip.
Caten, a 6-3 outside hitter, adds 3.08 kills per game and Brown, a 6-2 right side hitter, chips in 2.71 kills and 2.26 digs per game. Junior libero Jamie Mathewson paces the defense with 2.97 digs per game.
TEXAS PREVIEW
The Longhorns (6-2, 1-1) fell from #18 to #23 in this week’s CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Poll after losing to un-ranked Iowa State, 3-1, Saturday. With the loss, Texas saw its five-match win streak snapped. UT has played just one match at home this season, a 3-1 win over Colorado on Sept. 14.
UT is led by middle blockers Leticia Armstrong (3.10 kpg/1.31 bpg/.465 attack percentage) and Brandy Magee (3.77 kpg/.424). Freshman outside hitter Lauren Paolini adds 3.38 kills per game and leads the team with 124.5 points on the season.
In the loss at ISU, Armstrong and Magee combined for 40 or more kills while the UT outside hitters struggled at the net. Four players who rotated through the outside combined for a total of 19 kills, but they also had a collective 25 errors on 94 attacks (-.007 attack percentage). UT, which was ranked seventh nationally in team hitting percentage in last week’s NCAA statistics with a .305 mark, was held to a .146 average for the match.
THE KU/UT SERIES
Texas leads the all-time series 17-5 and has claimed the teams’ last two meetings. KU last defeated the Longhorns on Nov. 8, 2003 (3-2) in Austin.
LAST MEETING — TEXAS 3, KANSAS 1
Josi Lima and Jana Correa notched double-digit kills as Kansas fell to then-ranked No. 11 Texas, 3-1, at Gregory Gym on Nov. 17, 2004. The Jayhawks took game one, 30-23, but the Longhorns won the next three, 30-16, 30-11 and 30-25.
Lima led KU with 12 digs and added seven digs and five block assists. Correa had 10 kills, five digs and two block assists in the loss. Emily Brown and Paula Caten also contributed eight kills apiece while Ashley Michaels rounded of the offense with six kills.
Dani Wittman led the Jayhawk defense with a career-best nine digs while Jamie Mathewson added four digs. Andi Rozum dished 34 assists to go with her six digs and two block assists.
KU dominated game one, hitting at an impressive .457 clip while holding UT to just .178. Lima tallied six kills on seven attempts (no errors) for a sizzling .857 attack percentage.
UT picked up its blocking and stifled the KU offense, posting seven total blocks and hitting better than .433 in games two and three. The Jayhawks fought back in game four but UT senior Mira Topic had eight kills to the Jayhawks’ 11 total in the final stanza to give the Longhorns the win.
The Jayhawks were out-hit .328 to .132 and out-blocked 12.0 to 7.0. Topic had a match-high 23 kills and in the process broke the Longhorns’ all-time career kills record (2,026).
ROZUM REACHES 4,000-ASSIST MARK, CLOSING IN ON ALL-TIME RECORD
Senior Andi Rozum has been running the Jayhawk offense for the past four seasons and as a result, will leave KU as one of the most successful setters in program history. The 5-10 native of Loveland, Colo., has 4,020 career assists and is just 189 away from the all-time mark set by Julie Woodruff (1988-91).
Despite missing 11 matches to start the 2003 season, Rozum became just the third Jayhawk ever to eclipse the 4,000-assist mark when she totaled 56 against Oklahoma on September 17. In addition, Rozum is averaging 12.15 assists per game, which currently tops the all-time career chart.
LIMA KILLS COUNTDOWN — 32 TO GO
Josi Lima will leave KU as one of the most prolific players in the program’s history — regardless of what records she takes with her. A four-year starter and Big 12 standout, Lima ranks second on the all-time kills list with 1,274 kills and is just 32 away from the career record (1,306) set by Sarah Rome (2000-03). In addition, Lima could finish her career on top of many blocking charts and in the top five for attack percentage, kills per game and digs.
Match Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
