Kansas completes series sweep over UNCG

LAWRENCE, Kan. — For the second-straight night, Kansas volleyball notched a sweep over UNC Greensboro, closing out the impromptu two-match series with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-17) victory over the Spartans inside Horejsi Family Athletics Center.

The Jayhawks (6-4) found their groove offensively as freshman setter Camryn Ennis guided KU’s hitters to a season-best .344 attack percentage while registering her sixth double-double of the season with 25 assists and a team-high 14 digs.

Kansas held UNC Greensboro (6-6) to a .106 hitting percentage while maintaining a season-high 76 percent side-out rate — nary allowing the Spartans to go on any substantial scoring run for the entire night.

KU’s defense threw a block party of double-digit rejections (10) for the fourth-straight match, led by six block-assists by junior Mmachi Nwoke.

Junior outside hitter Jada Burse led KU’s offensive resurgence with a match-high 11 kills on .526 hitting clip. Senior Gabby Simpson (eight kills), junior Ashley Smith (seven) and Nwoke (six) combined for 19 kills.

QUOTES
On KU football’s victory before the match …
“We are excited about how (today’s football game) went. I thought that carried a momentum into the crowd tonight and definitely got our gals excited. I’m excited for Coach Beaty and his players. I know all the hard work they have put in and they are starting to see some dividends — it’s really cool.”

On KU’s performance tonight …
“Defensively we were good tonight, but we were so much better offensively tonight compared to yesterday. Our goal for side-out percentage is 60 and tonight’s 76 percent is a really good number. Nine errors on 93 swings — a 10 percent attacking error percentage is really good. Jada (Burse) took some really good swings out of system. We had pretty good balance, too. Camryn (Ennis) had another double-double with 25 assists and 14 digs.

On defeating UNC Greensboro in back-to-back nights …
“To sweep a team that is really competitive in back-to-back nights is not an easy thing to do. I was proud of the way our players responded to this second match as if it is a new team we were playing — a new challenge tonight.”

On how Hurricane Florence effected KU’s schedule this week …
“When it was pretty obvious that we weren’t going to go to (North Carolina due to Hurricane Florence), we reached out to see if any of those teams could come here. High Point went to another tournament. Elon decided they were going to vacate their campus. Talking to UNC Greensboro, their coaches really wanted an opportunity to play. Our administration stepped up big-time and made some decisions that created opportunities for them to come here and help them out.”

UP NEXT
Kansas returns to Horejsi Family Athletics Center on Tuesday to conclude its nonconference portion of the season against Drake at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+. Next Saturday, Sept. 22, the Jayhawks begin Big 12 Conference play against TCU in Lawrence at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.  KU’s Big 12 opener next week against the Horned Frogs will be the last of a seven-match home stand.

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