Oklahoma Spoils KU Volleyball Home Win Streak

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas volleyball was unable to match Oklahoma’s high hitting percentage as the Jayhawks lost in three sets (25-22, 25-12, 25-20) here Saturday night.

The loss spoils KU’s four-match home win streak as the Jayhawks fell to 13-7 overall, including 4-5 in the Big 12 Conference. Oklahoma, meanwhile, improved its mark to 14-6 on the season and 6-3 in the conference.

“Number one, our first contact was not up to Big 12 standards. We struggled passing the ball,” said head coach Ray Bechard. “Our defense was not as organized as it should have been and we needed to do more things offensively. But we need to commend Oklahoma for playing a near flawless match. They had two unforced hitting errors in three sets, which is unheard of.”

Oklahoma hit at a .390 clip for the match, the highest hitting percentage of a KU opponent this season. Coming into the match, the Jayhawks ranked second in the conference limiting foes to a .164 attack percentage.

KU hit .130 for the contest led by senior Karina Garlington and junior Allison Mayfield, who each finished with 10 kills. Senior Jenna Kaiser followed with six.

In set one, the Jayhawks opened the match with an early lead but it wasn’t long before Oklahoma battled back to knot the score at 13-13. From that point, the Sooners took over the lead for good though they were never ahead by more than four points. Kansas came within one point at 23-22 after a Garlington kill but Oklahoma tallied the next two points to end the threat.

Kansas struggled to match Oklahoma’s offensive attack in the second set as the Sooners hit a match-best .464 and committed just two attack errors. KU suffered from a -.032 hitting percentage. An early 7-0 run by the Sooners put OU out of reach at 14-4 as Kansas was never able to recover.

Set three was evenly matched as the teams remained close until the final stretch when Oklahoma ended the frame on a 5-0 run to win 25-20. KU tied the score 10 times but was unable to find an answer to overcome OU’s attack.

Kansas stays at home for its next match as it welcomes nationally-ranked Texas on Wednesday, Oct. 20 for a 6:30 p.m. match.