WACO, Texas – Super-senior Rachel Langs recorded her 500th career block in a 3-0 loss (25-21, 25-21, 25-19) against the No. 11 Baylor Bears on Saturday afternoon at the Ferrell Center.
Kansas dropped to a record of 16-8 (6-6 Big 12) while Baylor advanced to 21-4 (10-2 Big 12).
Redshirt freshman Ayah Elnady led the Kansas offense with nine kills followed by super-senior Anezka Szabo contributing eight.
The Jayhawks defense was led by Langs with five total blocks. Sophomore Camryn Turner earned her 13thdouble-double with 26 assists and 11 digs.
Set One
The Baylor Bears kicked off the match with a 2-0 run before Szabo tallied a kill for the Jayhawks to put Kansas on the board 2-1.
Baylor was able to extend its lead before Szabo responded with her second kill of the set to make it 4-2. A bad set by Baylor and a solo block by Langs put Kansas within two, 6-4.
The Bears went on a 2-0 scoring run before sophomore Camryn Turner collected the Jayhawks first service ace of the match, making it 9-7.
It was back and forth, but KU would go on a 5-0 run to lead the set 13-12. The run was highlighted by a reversed call, a double block by Szabo and Langs followed by kill from Elnady. Back-to-back attack errors by Baylor advanced Kansas to a 15-14 lead heading into a media timeout.
The Bears were able to make a comeback 19-18 before graduate transfer Lauren Dooley recorded her first kill of the match, making it 19-19. Baylor was able to regain the lead and maintained it until the very end 25-21.
Set Two
The Jayhawks began set two with a kill by Elnady, 1-0. Baylor was able to tie the score 1-1 before Langs contributed a kill of her own to regain the lead.
Elnady added another kill for herself to continue the lead for Kansas 3-2. Not long after, Baylor was able to come back and tie the score at five. A 4-0 run highlight a kill by sophomore Caroline Bien and a block by Dooley and Szabo brought Kansas back on top 9-5.
Baylor would go on a 2-0 scoring run, but a kill by Dooley halted Baylor’s attempt to gain the lead, 11-9. An ace and a block by the Bears allowed Baylor to take the lead 14-12. The set was extended to 18-15 in favor of Baylor, but Bien brought Kansas back with a kill, 18-16.
Elnady and Langs teamed up for a block to stop the Bears offense, 19-18. After a Kansas timeout, Langs tallied a kill followed by a block between Langs and Turner to put KU within one, 22-21. The Bears would go on a 3-0 run to close out set two 25-21.
Set Three
Set three started off with a kill by Elnady to take an early Kansas lead 1-0. Baylor was able to come back and lead 2-1.
Bien helped the Kansas offense and added a kill of her own to tie the score at two. The Bears went on a 3-0 run until an attack error brought the ball back to Kansas at 5-3.
Back-to-back kills for the Jayhawks by Szabo and Elnady kept the score close 7-6. A solo block by Langs allowed Kansas to be within one point 9-8.
Turner earned her first kill of the match during a Kansas 3-0 run to tie up set three 13-13, forcing a Baylor timeout. Two more points were awarded to Kansas coming out of the timeout, highlighted by an ace from Turner, making it 15-13.
The Bears found their momentum to take the lead from the Jayhawks with a 3-0 run of their own, leading 18-16. Freshman Rhian Swanson entered the match and recorded her first kill of the match, 19-17. Baylor’s rhythm continued and finished out the set 25-19.
Up Next
Kansas will return to Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena on November 12 to take on West Virginia. First serve will take place at 2 p.m. CT and the match will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
