Jayhawks Fall to #20 Wildcats, 3-0

Oct. 5, 2005

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LAWRENCE, Kan. –

Kansas volleyball’s 14-match win streak ended Wednesday night with a 30-25, 30-24, 30-23, loss to #20 Kansas State at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. With the loss, the Jayhawks moved to 12-4 overall and 4-3 in Big 12 Conference play while the Wildcats improved to 13-3 and 4-2 in league action.

KU was without junior Jana Correa, who averages 3.60 kills per game, for the majority of the match. At the 21-15 mark in game one (KSU leading), Correa came down hard after a kill and was unable to return to the match. KU head coach Ray Bechard called the injury “very serious.” The 6-0 outside hitter suffered a season-ending injury her freshman season.

“When you get a thunderbolt like we got in game one, it’s very difficult to replace a kid like Correa [Jana],” Bechard said. I’m not taking anything away from Kansas State, but that was a difficult time for us to persevere. I thought this team was as ready to play as I have ever seen them. They’re just heartbroken right now and extremely disappointed. They know they’re capable of a much better effort than that. When you lose someone like that [Correa], you have to draw your circle a little tighter together, and the Jayhawk family has to get a little closer and everybody has to do a little more. We were unable to do that tonight, but that is what our focus is going to be tomorrow.”

Seniors Paula Caten and Josi Lima led KU with nine kills apiece. Caten also led the defense with 11 digs and Lima added seven digs and two aces. Freshman Savannah Noyes chipped in eight kills on a team-best .400 hitting efficiency and senior Andi Rozum tied a match-high with 36 assists.

Sophomore Emily Brown added nine digs, six kills and tied a career high with three solo blocks. Junior Megan Hill, playing for the injured Correa, had four kills.

KSU was led by Agata Rezende, who paced all hitters with 14 kills. Wildcat libero Angie Lastra was impressive, posting a match-high 14 digs. Setter Stacey Speigelberg had 36 assists and 10 kills on an .833 attack percentage.

The Wildcats outblocked KU 17.0 to 7.0 and hit .246 to the Jayhawks’ .098.

“You’ve got to take your hats off to K-State,” Bechard said. “I thought they played really well. They didn’t have a lot of hitting errors, they served and passed well, and they seemed to have a lead in all of the games to where they could play pretty relaxed.”

To hear Coach Bechard’s postgame message, call 785-864-7023.

KU will host #1 Nebraska (14-0, 6-0 Big 12) Saturday night at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. First serve is set for 7 p.m.