Kansas Volleyball Upsets No. 10 Iowa State
LAWRENCE, Kan. – For the first time in program history, the University of Kansas volleyball team recorded a win over a top 10 opponent as the Jayhawks upended No. 10 Iowa State 3-1 Saturday evening at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. KU won by scores of 25-14, 25-23, 20-25 and 25-17.
The 10th-ranked Cyclones marked the highest opponent beaten by KU since Kansas overcame No. 13 Texas A&M in three sets back on Nov. 20, 2004.
The Jayhawks improved to 12-6 overall with the win, including 3-4 in the Big 12, and have now won four-straight home matches. ISU fell to 11-4 on the season and 4-3 in conference play.
Senior Melissa Manda recorded a career-high 32 digs in the contest, which also ties for the most digs by a Big 12 player so far this season. She was aided in the back court by junior setter Nicole Tate, who tallied 14 digs to go along with 48 assists for her fourth consecutive double-double and fifth this season.
KU used a match-best .353 attack percentage in the opening frame to open the match with a 25-14 win. Manda collected nine of her digs in the first set to help limit the Cyclones to a .105 clip. The Jayhawks got off to a strong start picking up an early lead and slowly built up its advantage with the help of five kills from senior Karina Garlington.
Garlington finished the match with a team-high 18 kills. Two more players joined her in double-digits including senior Jenna Kaiser and sophomore Tayler Tolefree who tallied 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Tolefree collected her 11 kills on a team-best .667 attack percentage and has hit at a .411 efficiency over her last four matches.
Manda was again solid in the second set digging up 11 balls en route to the Jayhawks’ 25-23 win. She also added two service aces in the frame to account for the final two points. Tolefree got the offense rolling with six kills in the set and no errors in eight attacks for a .750 clip.
Kansas was behind early but managed to come back halfway through the second set. Finally, after the 13th tie of the frame at 23-23 following a kill from Tolefree, the Jayhawks recorded the final two points on back-to-back aces by Manda.
The Cyclones bounced back after the break to steal a 25-20 win in the third set off a match-high .333 attack percentage and limited KU to just 11 kills, including six from Garlington, and a .103 clip.
Kansas wasted no time answering back though, putting ISU away 25-17 in the final set. Iowa State came within one point of KU several times near the halfway point but the Jayhawks’ early 5-0 lead held through the set.
The Jayhawks next travel to Baylor on Wednesday, Oct. 13 for a 7 p.m. match versus the Bears.
