No. 22 Kansas Keeps Breaking Records, Tops TCU, 3-0
Nov. 17, 2012
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FORT WORTH, Texas- Nine different Jayhawks recorded a kill, constructing a team effort that broke a team record as Kansas swept TCU for its 23rd win of the season, the most by a KU team in the Big 12 era, inside the University Recreation Center (URC) Saturday afternoon, 25-18, 25-14, 25-17.
No. 22 Kansas (23-6, 11-4) made quick work of Big 12 newcomer TCU (14-13, 3-11) to record its highest win total not only in the Big 12 era, but since the 1991 season (25). “It’s a good number and the 23rd win came on the road in pretty decisive fashion,” head coach Ray Bechard said. “I was pretty pleased with our sideout being over 70 percent and the fact that we held a pretty good hitting efficiency team to under .150. You remember where you were and how well your team played more than how many wins you have.”
The URC, a volleyball-only facility similar in setup to KU’s own Horejsi Family Athletics Center, was packed and awaiting the Jayhawks for their first trip to TCU. The standing-room only crowd lined the back wall of the gym, but Kansas focused through the noise to finish the match hitting .305 while holding the home team to a .143 attack percentage.
Redshirt junior Caroline Jarmoc led the Jayhawks with 11 kills, two blocks and a .429 attack. Making her first start in the month of November, freshman outside hitter Tiana Dockery ran with the opportunity. She racked up 10 kills, for her sixth double-digit kill performance of the season.
Junior setter Erin McNorton tied her career highs in kills (4) and aces (2) and dished out 34 assists. Fellow juniors Brianne Riley and Jaime Mathieu led the back with 14 and 13 digs, respectively.
In the first set, KU used a pair of kills from Jarmoc, sophomore outside hitter Chelsea Albers and Dockery to climb to a 13-7 lead in the first set.
Dockery connected on another and sophomore outside hitter Sara McClinton added back-to-back kills as Kansas surged ahead. When Jarmoc notched an ace – her ninth-straight match with at least one – the Jayhawks were out of reach. Senior middle blocker Tayler Tolefree’s kill forced a TCU timeout with KU leading, 20-9. The sizable lead would help KU fend off a late 9-4 run from the Horned Frogs and take the first set, 25-18.
Dockery led the Jayhawks with four kills in the first set, while Mathieu led with seven digs.
TCU came back stronger in the second set, building an early 8-5 lead. A kill from Tolefree followed by two attack errors from TCU handed the lead back to KU, 9-8. The Horned Frogs stayed close, led by Holland’s ninth kill of the match not quite a set and a half in, but it was her last of the afternoon. Dockery and Jarmoc connected on back-to-back kills to strengthen the KU lead, 15-10.
From there, Kansas would only allow four more points to the home team. Two aces from McNorton combined with two more kills from McClinton wrapped up the 25-14 win, and KU went to the break ahead, 2-0.
A long rally that included Dockery charging into the scorer’s table to keep the ball alive, resulted in KU’s first block of the day, powering the Jayhawks to a 5-0 start to start the third set. The Horned Frogs came back with three-straight points, but the momentum was determined early and KU quickly returned its lead to five, 11-6.
In the hunt for its 11th sweep of the season, the Jayhawks never let up as Albers cranked out two more kills to push the lead into double-digits. KU’s bench took over to seal the deal as junior middle blocker Jessie Allen brought the Jayhawks to match point and fellow junior Marianne Beal completed the sweep with a kill, 25-17.
McNorton’s 34 assists shot her up to fifth all-time at Kansas for assists in a single season (1,296) and improves her career total to 1,425, which ranks ninth all-time among Jayhawks. Riley’s 14 digs makes her 28 shy of breaking KU’s all-time digs record as a junior, bringing her career total to 1,430. The Naperville, Ill., native needs just five more to break the program’s single-season record, which stands at 549.
UP NEXT
The No. 22 Jayhawks come back home for a non-conference midweek match with Saint Louis on Wednesday, Nov. 21. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m.
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