No. 19 Jayhawks Earn Four-Set Victory over UCF

Sunday, October 11

Orlando, Fla.

12 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

11-4,4-1Big 12

UCF

8-8,0-6Big 12

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Kansas	25	19	25	25	3
UCF	13	25	15	22	1

No. 19 Jayhawks Earn Four-Set Victory over UCF

10/11/2026 2:21:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of Kansas volleyball team returned to the win column with a four-set victory over the UCF Knights on Sunday afternoon in Orlando, winning 25-13, 19-25, 25-15, 25-22.

Taylor Stanley led the Jayhawks with 21 kills on a .390 clip alongside five aces, eight digs and four blocks. Grace Nelson added 10 kills, three aces and 11 digs.

Aisha Aiono recorded five blocks and eight kills on a .538 clip, while Reese Ptacek added a pair of blocks and five kills. Reese Messer anchored the offense to a .323 hitting percentage with 40 assists in addition to 16 digs, and Olivia Hasbrook added nine assists and 10 digs as well.

After a quick 1-0 lead by UCF, the Jayhawks responded with back-to-back kills from Nelson to take a 2-1 lead. The two teams traded points back and forth before a Messer setter dump built an 8-6 Kansas lead. UCF tied it 9-9, but the Jayhawks went on a 3-0 run with Nelson at the service line to force a UCF timeout. Kansas continued its run out of the timeout to lead 15-10 at the technical timeout.

The momentum continued for the Jayhawks out of the break with Nelson's third ace of the day. Stanley recorded a pair of points on a block and kill to extend the lead to 21-12. The freshman nearly closed out the set with a 6-0 run at the service line before Bell recorded a kill off the UCF block to close out the set, 25-13.

UCF responded to start the second set. After a back-and-forth start, the Knights took an early 7-3 lead. Ptacek responded with a quick kill off the slide to cut the deficit to 8-5, but the Knights held the momentum to force a Kansas timeout. The Jayhawks continued to battle but trailed 15-6 at the media timeout.

In a set full of runs, the Jayhawks responded with three straight points to force a UCF timeout. Stanley tallied back-to-back points to cut the deficit to 12-16. The Knights responded with three straight points of their own and a Kansas timeout. Bell led the Jayhawks through another 3-0 run from the service line to bring them within five at 17-22. Kansas continued to battle with a late kill from Tessa Dodd but dropped the second set, 19-25.

Stanley led the Jayhawks to an early 4-0 lead with her 11th kill of the match, but UCF responded with a 6-0 run on three straight aces to take an 8-5 lead and force a Kansas timeout. Avery Poulton checked in and tallied her second kill of the match to bring the Jayhawks within one. Stanley led the Jayhawks on a 6-0 run at the service line to retake a 12-9 lead. Aiono took the feed from Messer and found the gap in the UCF defense to lead 15-11 at the break.

UCF earned a kill out of the technical timeout to make it 15-12. Stanley was quick to respond with a kill out of the middle. With Nelson at the service line, Kansas tallied three straight kills to extend the lead to 19-12 and force a UCF timeout. The Jayhawks showed no signs of slowing down, with a back-row attack from Stanley, a block from Ptacek and Poulton, and a UCF attack error securing the 25-15 set victory.

After a back-and-forth start, UCF took a brief 8-7 lead before a pair of attack errors and a big swing by Aiono gave the Jayhawks an 11-9 lead. The Knights responded with three straight points out of the timeout to retake a 12-11 lead, but a block by Aiono quickly retied it. UCF held on to momentum with three straight points to take a 15-12 lead into the media timeout.

The Knights held the momentum out of the timeout and extended the lead to 18-13 to force a Kansas timeout. After falling into a 20-15 deficit, a UCF service error and a block by Aiono and Nelson cut the deficit to 20-17 and forced a UCF timeout. Kansas maintained its momentum with Ptacek at the service line to tie the set 20-20. Aiono and Stanley notched a block to make it 23-21, and Stanley's 21st kill of the match sealed the set and match win.

The Jayhawks are back in action Thursday against Kansas State for the Dillons Sunflower Showdown in Manhattan.