No. 19 Jayhawks Extend Win Streak with Sweep of No. 23 Utah

Thursday, October 1

Lawrence, Kan.

6 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

10-3,3-0Big 12

Utah

10-4,2-1Big 12

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Utah	30	20	24	0
Kansas	32	25	26	3

No. 19 Jayhawks Extend Win Streak with Sweep of No. 23 Utah

10/1/2026 8:21:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The No. 19 Kansas volleyball team swept No. 23 Utah, winning 30-32, 25-20, 26-24, on Thursday night in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena.

Taylor Stanley led the Jayhawks with 13 kills and two blocks in addition to 11 kills and five blocks by Aisha Aiono. Reese Messer anchored the offence with 36 assists alongside five kills and 11 digs. Grace Nelson led the back row defense with 12 digs and Olivia Hasbrook added 11.

After Stanley tied it at 1-1, the Jayhawks struggled to piece together offense and fell into an early 8-4 deficit. Messer spurred the defense with a solo block to make it 6-9, but service errors plagued the Jayhawks' momentum and Utah led 15-10 at the technical timeout.

Avery Poulton responded out of the timeout to make it 11-15. Kansas found its momentum with Ptacek at the service line and tied it 17-17 off a block by Nelson and a kill from Aiono. Stanley notched a kill out of the back row for an 18-17 lead, but Utah retook a 21-19 lead late. Another kill from Stanley tied it 21-21 and spurred the Jayhawks to a 23-21 lead. Both teams traded points into extra points before back-to-back kills from Stanley secured the 32-30 set one win.

The Jayhawks took an early 3-0 lead and maintained the advantage for the remainder of the set. Utah briefly tied it 3-3, but a Messer setter dump retook a 5-4 lead. Poulton tacked on her second kill of the night, and a Messer ace extended the lead to 10-7. A big block by Aiono out of the middle made it 12-7 and forced a Utah timeout. The Jayhawks carried a 15-11 lead into the technical timeout and continued to roll offensively for the remainder of the set.

Aiono tallied a big kill to make it 19-16, followed by a 3-0 run by the Jayhawks to push the late advantage to 22-18. Ptacek closed out the set a few points later with back-to-back kills and a 25-20 win.

Kansas jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the third set with Messer at the service line. Utah battled back with a 3-0 run to tie it 9-9 before the Jayhawks retook an 11-9 lead. The Utes continued to rally and held a narrow 15-14 advantage at the timeout.

Utah extended its lead out of the break to 18-15 to force a KU timeout. Stanley responded with a quick kill, and the two teams continued to battle back and forth. Aiono found the gap in the middle to tie the set, but Utah responded before Ptacek found the gap to secure the 26-24 win.

The Jayhawks return to action tomorrow night at 6 p.m. CT to host No. 18 BYU.