Jayhawks Fall to 20th-Ranked Sooners, 3-1
Oct. 25, 2006
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
Despite a career-high 20 kills from freshman Brittany Williams, the University of Kansas volleyball team fell in four games to No. 20 Oklahoma, 23-30, 19-30, 30-27 and 25-30, Wednesday night at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. A total of four Jayhawks totaled 10 or more kills in the effort as KU moved to 10-11 overall and 3-9 in Big 12 Conference play.
“I think we saw an Oklahoma team that is very deserving of being 18-4, and 10-2, and second in the Big 12,” KU head coach Ray Bechard said. “They made very few mistakes. We had seven ball-handling and blocking errors and they had one. They have five seniors running around out there that know what they are doing. I think they took our best shot tonight. In game four, I thought they just made some plays in the end when we really needed to step up. But I was pleased with our response after the break. I thought Brittany Williams was great after the break, especially.”
Williams hit at a team-best .452 attack percentage, committing just six errors in 31 attempts, and led KU with three blocks. Junior Emily Brown chipped in 12 kills, eight digs and three assists and senior Jana Correa had a team-high 16 digs to go with her 11 kills for her 11th double-double of the season.
Sophomore Savannah Noyes rounded out the top KU hitters with 10 kills while redshirt freshman Katie Martincich tied for the match-high in assists (53) and added 11 digs on the night. Senior Jamie Mathewson had 14 digs for her ninth time this year.
Four Sooners totaled 11 or more kills as Oklahoma improved to 18-4 overall and 10-2 in league action.
The Sooners took a 15-9 lead in Game One following a 5-2 run. The Jayhawks tied the game at 20-all but could not capture another advantage. Brown and Williams combined for eight kills but KU hit just .149 as a squad with 16 kills and nine errors on 47 attempts.
Three Jayhawks added four kills in Game Two, but another nine hitting errors and strong Sooner blocking plagued KU. OU jumped to a 13-5 lead and led by as many as 10, compiling a .412 hitting efficiency — 14 kills and no errors on 34 attempts.
Despite coming out of the break with an 0-2 deficit, the Jayhawks appeared energized in the third game and rallied to a 15-10 lead. KU held the Sooner hitters to a match-low .163 clip in Game Three and held off a late OU rally at the 23-22 mark. Up 28-27, a Correa kill and hitting error by OU sealed the Jayhawks’ game win. Williams totaled five kills and KU recorded three of its six blocks in the third game.
Wednesday’s match will air Thursday, Oct. 26, at noon on Metro Sports in the Kansas City area.
The Jayhawks host Texas Tech (10-11, 3-9) Saturday at 7 p.m. The Jayhawks will also help the fight against breast cancer in a “Dig for the Cure” match, raising money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation through pledges for digs and other donations. For more information, click here.
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