Jayhawks Drop Match To #14 Texas, 3-0

Oct. 29, 2005

Box Score

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

The University of Kansas volleyball team dropped a three-game match to #14 Texas Saturday night, 30-22, 30-20, 30-21, at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. With the loss, the Jayhawks dropped to 12-10 overall and 4-9 in the Big 12 Conference while the Longhorns improved to 16-3 and 11-2 in league action.

Sophomore Emily Brown led KU with 10 kills and added four digs while senior Paula Caten had eight kills and a team-best nine digs on defense. Senior Andi Rozum dished 29 assists and seven kills on a match-high .556 attack percentage to round out the top scorers for the Jayhawks.

Junior Dariam Acevedo paced the Longhorns with 14 kills while three others added nine kills in the winning effort. Sophomore libero Alyson Jennings led all defenders with 17 digs on the night. UT outblocked the Jayhawks 16.0 to 8.0 and outhit them .310 to .128 in the match.

“Texas is really dynamic offensively and I was a little more hopeful that we could get games to 25-all to make them anxious,” head coach Ray Bechard said. “They [Texas] had a lot of weapons and we had to be a little more creative on offense. We got better offensively and played great defense in the first game with 24 digs, but were out of position in the last two games and had just 14 digs in each.”

With the loss, KU’s skid moves to seven, its longest losing streak since the 1997 season.

KU and UT were tied at 15-all and 14-all, respectively, in the first two games. Texas blocked its way to a 20-15 lead in game two and did the same to overcome a 10-8 KU advantage in the final game. The Jayhawks rallied back in the third stanza to 25-20, but UT used a 4-1 run and a KU serve sailed out or bounds to end the game and match, 30-21.

“This is the conference we chose to be in and it’s a really good one,” Bechard said. “This team will come back to practice and train hard for the next match. Last year, we were 4-9 in the conference right now and found ourselves in the fifth game of the second round of the NCAA Tournament. We are always hoping that the next day will be better and when you start winning one or two, the momentum comes back.”

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

The Jayhawks will host Colorado (10-7, 6-6 Big 12) Wednesday at Horejsi. Match time is set for 7 p.m.

– KU –