Nelson Records Career-High Kills in Win over Iowa State

Sunday, November 1

Ames, Iowa

12 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

16-5,9-2Big 12

Iowa State

13-9,7-4Big 12

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Kansas	25	23	25	25	3
Iowa St.	19	25	17	23	1

Nelson Records Career-High Kills in Win over Iowa State Image

Photo by: Kansas Athletics

11/1/2026 2:35:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

AMES, Iowa — The No. 15 Kansas volleyball team defeated Iowa State 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-17, 25-23) on Sunday afternoon in Hilton Coliseum.

Grace Nelson led the offense with a career-high 18 kills on a .438 clip, while Reese Ptacek added 16 and Taylor Stanley chipped in 11. Reese Messer tallied a season-high 54 assists.

Defensively, Ptacek and Aisha Aiono each recorded seven blocks, and Stanley added four. Olivia Hasbrook anchored the back-row defense with 22 digs, and Nelson added 11.

After a back-and-forth start, the Jayhawks slowly took control of the first set. Nelson tooled the Iowa State block for a 7-6 advantage, and a kill by Aiono extended the lead to 11-9. Ptacek earned a kill on the slide to give the Jayhawks a 15-12 lead at the media timeout.

Out of the timeout, [First name] Dean tallied a pair of kills on the left side and Ptacek added another to build an 18-14 advantage, forcing a quick Iowa State timeout. Stanley found the floor out of the back row, and a setter dump by Messer pushed the lead to 21-17. The Jayhawks maintained control, and a block by Aiono and Stanley forced another Cyclone timeout. A quick kill by Aiono and an Iowa State error secured the set, 25-19.

Iowa State took an early 2-0 lead in the second set before Aiono tallied back-to-back points to tie it. Aiono came up big on the block, and Ptacek went down the line to extend the lead to 7-5. Messer found the floor for a 12-9 lead before Iowa State went on a 3-0 run to tie it 14-14.

The Jayhawks tallied back-to-back kills out of the break, and Ptacek's block forced an Iowa State timeout. The Cyclones answered with a 3-0 run to tie it 18-18. Ptacek put down a kill on the slide, but ISU countered with another 3-0 run to take a 21-19 lead. Messer won the joust at the net to cut the deficit, but Iowa State took the second set, 25-23.

The third set opened back and forth before Stanley tallied a kill and Dean found the floor from the left side for a 10-7 lead. Ptacek added a kill on the slide and tacked on an ace from the service line to make it 14-11, and an ISU service error gave KU a 15-11 lead at the media timeout.

KU's offense found its stride in the second half of the set, with a back-row attack from [First name] Bell and a kill by Stanley down the middle building a 19-13 advantage. Ptacek tallied her 10th kill of the day to force an Iowa State timeout at 21-15. The junior middle blocker converted on the slide for set point before Nelson's overhand kill put the set away, 25-17.

The Cyclones jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the fourth set before a pair of kills by Ptacek cut the deficit to 5-4, and an ISU attack error tied it 6-6. The teams battled back and forth, and Stanley's 10th kill of the afternoon tied the set again at 10-10. Ptacek and Dean held strong on the block, and a Cyclone service error gave KU a 15-13 lead at the media timeout.

Nelson matched her career high with her 17th kill to keep KU ahead by two before the Cyclones rallied to tie it 19-19. Heidi Devers recorded her first ace of the season, and Dean added a cross-court kill as KU rebuilt a 23-20 lead. Iowa State battled back once more to tie it 23-23 before Nelson closed out the set, 25-23, and the match with a career-high 18th kill.

The Jayhawks return home to host No. 24 Baylor at 6 p.m. CT Thursday in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena.