KU Sweeps Texas Tech, Extends Win Streak To Three
Nov. 12, 2005
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
The University of Kansas volleyball team extended its win streak to three and improved its home record to 10-5 Saturday night with a sweep of Texas Tech (30-26, 30-25, 30-22) at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. Sophomore Emily Brown led KU with 14 kills as the Jayhawks improved to 15-11 overall and 7-10 in the Big 12 Conference.
With the loss, the Red Raiders fell to 11-16 overall and 4-12 in league action. With just three regular-season matches remaining, KU moved into sixth place in the Big 12 standings.
“We had to adapt to their style of play, which is faster than most teams, and they were playing some personnel that we hadn’t seen on film before,” head coach Ray Bechard said. “So for the first game, we had to settle in and do what we do best, and I thought we were able to do that in games two and three. I thought Philister Sang [Texas Tech] had a great match — we tried to concentrate on her a little bit more. Our passing and serving was very good, and we had a lot of digs and outblocked them — and those were the keys to winning tonight.”
In addition to her team-best 14 kills, Brown added a career-high five aces. Senior Josi Lima notched 11 kills on a team-high .348 attack percentage and had five digs and three blocks. Senior Paula Caten added eight digs and junior Megan Hill had seven to round out KU’s offensive leaders.
Junior Jamie Mathewson led the defense with 11 digs with four Jayhawks adding five or more in the win. Senior Andi Rozum dished a match-high 38 assists and added six digs and two solo blocks. KU hit .218 and recorded nine service aces, tying the Jayhawks’ season-high for a three-game match.
Sang led all players with 21 kills on an impressive .442 hitting efficiency and added 10 digs for the Red Raiders.
Tech never led in game one but used a 7-2 run to catch up, 12-11. KU pulled away, 25-19, behind Lima’ three kills and Brown’s three aces in the stanza, and won despite hitting .162. Sang posted nine of her 21 kills in the first game.
After a 6-0 KU run, the Jayhawks took a 15-8 lead in game two. Junior Dani Wittman served up three aces to help the Jayhawks jump to a 24-18 lead as KU recorded its best hitting percentage of the match (.286). KU held the Red Raiders to a .135 hitting efficiency in the final game and led by as many as eight, holding on for the sweep.
The Jayhawks will look for their fourth straight victory Wednesday at Texas A&M (12-12, 5-11 Big 12). First serve in College Station is set for 6:30 p.m.
– KU –
