KU Drops Match To Colorado, 3-1
Nov. 2, 2005
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LAWRENCE, Kan. –
The University of Kansas volleyball team dropped a tough four-game match to visiting Colorado, 30-26, 30-32, 27-30, 21-30, Wednesday night at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. The Jayhawks dropped to 12-11 overall and 4-10 in the Big 12 Conference while the Buffs (12-7, 8-6) extended their win streak to six.
“It was a great effort, but I wish we could have been a little cleaner at the end of games two and three,” head coach Ray Bechard said. “We had some unfortunate things happen but I thought we played a team that played very, very well. I thought the game was evenly matched. They [Colorado] had a little more urgency on the court than we did. I saw a lot of great things. I think the team realizes that we had two close games with a chance to close and we didn’t — that was the difference in the match.”
Senior Paula Caten paced KU with 17 kills and added 13 digs in the effort. Sophomore Emily Brown had 16 kills on a team-high .279 attack percentage and added 10 digs and four blocks. Senior Josi Lima, who was limited to just the front row, added 12 kills and four aces, just one shy of her career high.
Junior Dani Wittman served up a career-high four aces, bringing the Jayhawks’ match total to 10, to go with her career-best 11 digs. Senior Andi Rozum tied a match best with 52 assists and junior Jamie Mathewson was solid on defense with a match-high 14 digs.
CU was led by senior Allie Griffin, who had 20 kills on a .350 hitting efficiency. Two other Buffs added double-digit kills and two tallied double-digit digs.
After winning game one behind Brown’s five kills, KU fell behind, 10-4 to open the second stanza. Two straight aces by Lima brought KU to within four points, and the Jayhawks eventually tied the match at 29-all. The Jayhawks led for the first time in game two at the 30-29 mark, but the Buffs used a consecutive block and kill to tie the match at one game apiece.
KU again jumped out to a large lead in the game three until CU rallied back to the 17-16 mark. The Jayhawks used a timeout with the game tied, 22-all, and the Buffs took their first lead of the game, 25-24. After a `delay of serve’ call on the Jayhawks, CU tallied two straight service aces and went on to win.
The Jayhawks could not gain momentum on offense in the final game, allowing CU a seven-point run and 25-10 lead. KU hit .000 in game four (11 kills, 11 errors, 44 attempts) but made solid defensive plays.
“We had some really good efforts,” Bechard added. “I thought Emily Brown was excellent. Josi [Lima] did well tonight. I also thought we were better defensively tonight than we have been.”
To hear Coach Bechard’s postgame message, call 785-864-7023.
The Jayhawks will try to stop their eight-match skid Saturday when they face #24 Kansas State in Manhattan. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Ahearn Fieldhouse.
– KU –
