Jayhawks Earn Second-Straight Road Sweep at Texas Tech
LUBBOCK, Texas – Junior Melissa Manda dug up a team-best 20 digs while senior Melissa Grieb added a season-high 14 as the University of Kansas volleyball team swept its second-straight opponent at Texas Tech Wednesday night. KU won 25-17, 25-17 and 25-20 as it improved to 11-8 overall and 4-6 in the Big 12.
Texas Tech remains winless in the conference falling to 0-9 in the league and 2-16 overall.
The Red Raiders struggled against an efficient Kansas defense as the Jayhawks out-dug TTU 57-48 and held the team to a .050 attack percentage. KU’s front row also provided a solid line of defense as senior Paige Mazour led the team with five block assists. Sophomores Allison Mayfield and Lauren Hagan also had multiple blocks with three and two, respectively.
Mayfield led the Jayhawks on offense for the fifth time in the last six outings collecting 15 kills. Senior Brittany Williams and junior Karina Garlington followed with eight more a piece.
In set one, Kansas had trouble out of the gates and found itself down 8-2. The Jayhawks quickly found their rhythm however as the team went on a 13-3 run to take the lead at 15-11. KU was consistent for the rest of the set keeping the Red Raiders four to five points away.
Kansas won the set 25-17 behind four kills each from Garlington and Mazour. Six different Jayhawks recorded at least one kill in the frame. Grieb recorded eight digs to anchor the defense and limit Texas Tech to a .000 attack percentage.
The Jayhawks got right down to business in the second set opening the frame with five straight points from a trio of kills and a pair of blocks. Leading 14-10, KU scored another string of five unanswered points to expand its lead yet again. Kansas tallied six kills down the stretch, including three from Mayfield, to win the set 25-17. Mayfield had eight kills in the second set.
Set three opened with a lot of point trading as there were eight ties. With the score knotted at 8-8, Mayfield rattled off two kills while a TTU attack error pushed KU ahead 11-8. Kansas never lost its lead for the remainder of the match and took advantage of six attack errors and five service errors by the Red Raiders. With the score 24-17, Texas Tech held off match point three times before junior Jenna Kaiser put the match away with her second kill of the set.
The Jayhawks return home to the Horejsi Family Athletics Center Saturday, Oct. 24 for the Lawrence edition of the Border Showdown versus Missouri. Match time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Fans who bring their ticket stub from Saturday’s KU-Oklahoma football game will be admitted to the volleyball match for $3.
