Kansas Falls in Five Sets to Mountaineers

MORGANTOWN, W.VA. – In its final match of the season, Kansas fell to the West Virginia Mountaineers in five sets. The Jayhawks captured the first two sets, but were unable to close the match on WVU’s Senior Day.

The Jayhawks opened up the first set on fire and held a 10-5 advantage early after an ace by Sara Nielsen and a kill by Camyrn Ennis. West Virginia called a timeout to break the KU momentum, but the Jayhawks were able to keep the Mountaineers at a distance.

Kansas closed out the set holding a five-point advantage and sealed the set victory on a Morgan Christon kill.

The second set was very similar to the first, and Kansas again held an advantage early. KU extended its lead to seven points, holding a 17-10 edge over the Mountaineers.

WVU mounted a late comeback and narrowed the lead down to four, but the Jayhawks closed out the set with help from West Virginia attack errors. A service error by WVU sealed the set victory for KU, earning a two-set advantage after the 25-19 win.

The next set proved to be a much different test for Kansas, which found itself on the other end of the score early. WVU boasted a 10-5 edge, but KU battled back to narrow the West Virginia lead to two at 22-20. The Mountaineers were able to earn the set victory 25-23.

Still up two sets to one, Kansas looked to get momentum back on its side. After fighting to get the score tied at 12-all, WVU jumped out to a four-point edge and never relinquished the lead. The Mountaineers earned the 25-22 set victory.

In the fifth set, WVU jumped out to a four-point lead, but Kansas again fought back within two. The Mountaineers with momentum on their side pushed through to a fifth-set victory.

The Kansas offense was led by Christon, who finished with 19 kills to tie her career-high she set in KU’s last match against Iowa State. Christon earned her first career double-double at Kansas, adding 13 digs. Sara Nielsen tallied her eighth double-double of the season with 40 assists and 14 digs, while Kennedy Farris earned a career-high 16 digs.