OMAHA, Neb. – Kansas volleyball earned its second sweep in as many matches defeating Omaha 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-13) in the second round of the Omaha Invite at Baxter Arena Saturday in Omaha.
With the win, Kansas improved to 2-0 on the season, while Omaha dropped to 0-2.
It was a bit of a slow start for the Jayhawks against the Mavericks, as KU was down 0-4 right off the bat in the first set. However, big efforts from Toyosi Onabanjo and Camryn Turner, as well as Caroline Bien off the bench were crucial for bringing the Jayhawks back to life. Once Kansas finally took the lead at 11-10, back-to-back kills from London Davis forced an Omaha timeout at 13-10. This change in momentum started forcing multiple errors from the opposition. Despite UNO’s effort to close back in, Kansas kept its offense tight to take the set win with ease.
Things were even up throughout the first part of the second set, each team going point for point. Reagan Cooper was the true difference maker in this set and the rest of the match, going on a five-kill, one-block run midway through to push the Jayhawks ahead 17-13 and completely swing the momentum in Kansas’ favor. Cooper singlehandedly forced UNO into back-to-back timeouts, and from there, the Jayhawks were able to take care of the rest.
Kansas cruised to an easy 25-13 set three win with great offensive and defensive presence from everyone who checked in.
For the match, Kansas outhit Omaha .333 to .122. The Jayhawks were led by Cooper with 14 kills, while Davis tallied 10 kills. Turner led KU with 30 assists, while Raegan Burns paced KU with 13 digs, three more than Turner’s 10.
UP NEXT
Kansas will open its home portion of the 2023 regular season when it hosts the Kansas Invitational at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, Aug. 31-Sept. 2. The Jayhawks will host Big Ten foe Purdue on Aug. 31 at 6:30 p.m. Two days later, KU will host Marquette on Sept. 2 at 1 p.m. Both matches will be broadcast on Big 12 NOW via ESPN+.
