🏐 Jayhawks Dominate Bears in 3-0 Win

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas volleyball used a dominant performance and never trailed in defeating Missouri State 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-18) in the second round of the Jayhawk Classic at the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena Friday evening.

Kansas picked up its fifth-straight victory, improving to 7-3, while Missouri State saw its six-match winning streak end as the Bears fell to 8-2. The previous night KU ended Kansas City’s eight-match win streak with a 3-1 victory in the opening round of the Jayhawk Classic.

“We’re beating good teams when they are on a hot streak, I think there is a lot to be said about that,” KU head coach Ray Bechard said. “We were aware of how Kansas City and Missouri State were playing. We scouted well and executed well.”

For the match, Kansas hit .330 to Missouri State’s .068. Freshman Caroline Bien led KU with 10 kills, while super-senior Jenny Mosser had nine, sophomore Caroline Crawford and freshman London Davis eight each, and redshirt-senior Anezka Szabo seven. Sophomore setter Elise McGhie recorded 22 assists, while freshman Camryn Turner had 19 assists. Szabo and senior Rachel Langs each posted four blocks in the victory.

“We were at .330 hitting efficiency tonight, which was good,” Bechard said. “Our biggest problem tonight was serving the ball inbounds. You take that out and it was a pretty dominant performance.”

Kansas won the opening set 25-22 behind four kills from Mosser and Crawford. KU hit .351 for the set posting 19 kills with six errors in 37 attacks, while holding Missouri State to a .182 hitting percentage. Kansas led 19-14 on a Turner kill but the Bears clawed back to make the score 22-20 in favor of KU. Davis then hit a booming kill and Crawford and Mosser each posted kills to end the set.

Langs scored three of Kansas’ first five points in the second set with two kills and a block solo. Mosser added two kills as the Jayhawks led 5-1. KU kept Missouri State at bay which later included four straight points via blocks by Langs, Szabo, Crawford, Bien and Mosser, to make score 19-13. A pair of Davis kills and another by Mosser put Kansas up 22-15 en route to the 25-16 set win. For the set, KU was once again efficient hitting .329 to Missouri State’s .078.

Kansas did not let up in the third set scoring the first eight points. Included in the run were kills by Langs, Bien, Szabo, blocks by Langs and Szabo and an ace by Mosser. The Jayhawks would lead by nine points midway through the set which led to the 25-18 victory margin that ended the match.

Kansas will conclude the Jayhawk Classic when it hosts Albany Saturday morning at 11 a.m. at the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena. This match will not be televised. Fans can follow live stats at KUAthletics.com.