🏐 Kansas Falls To Texas In Opening Match

AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 9 Kansas Jayhawks (1-2) dropped their opening match against the No. 1 Texas Longhorns (3-0) in three sets in their first road match of the season at the Frank C. Erwin, Jr., Special Events Center.

The Kansas offense was led by Jenny Mosser, who has finished with double-digit kills in each match of her KU career, and logged a season-high 15 kills on 42 attempts. Sara Nielsen earned a double-double, finishing with 15 assists and 11 digs, while Elise McGhie tallied 11 assists, breaking double figures for the first time in her career.

Kansas opened the first set trading points with Texas before eventually earning its first lead on a Ayah Elnady kill to make it 6-5. The Longhorns attempted to pull away, but Kansas was within one after a four-point run made it 19-18. UT called a timeout to stop the KU momentum and captured the first set, 25-22.

Much like the first set, the Jayhawks and Longhorns traded points, leading to a tie at nine after another Mosser kill. Texas found its rhythm and started to put space between itself and KU. After UT pushed its lead to as high as eight, KU battled back to four following an ace by Molly Schultz, but Texas snagged the last three points to take a two-set lead.

In the final set, Kansas again found itself tied with the number one team in the national at 14-all before tying it up again at 17. Texas tallied three points after the tie and held onto the lead to earn the three-set match win.

BECHARD QUOTE

There was a moment in each set where we let them get a three-or-four point run and that ended up being the difference. If you are going to play a high-level opponent, and this team is as good as anybody in the country, you can not allow those runs. Our goal tomorrow night is to come back steadier. It is important for our newcomers to experience this environment and at one point in the third set we had five freshmen and one senior on the floor. We will respond better tomorrow and there is a lot we can take from this match and transition it into tomorrow.

UP NEXT

Kansas plays its second match against Texas Friday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. in the Frank C. Erwin, Jr., Special Events Center on the Longhorn Network.