Kansas Drops Four Set Match to No. 5 Stanford

Sunday, August 30

Pittsburgh, Pa.

1:30 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

0-2,0-0Big 12

Stanford

2-0,0-0ACC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Kansas	25	22	25	21	1
Stanford	27	25	14	25	3

Kansas Drops Four Set Match to No. 5 Stanford

8/30/2026 3:38:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

PITTSBURGH, Penn. — Kansas fell to No. 5 Stanford on Sunday in a hard-fought four-set match.

Taylor Stanley recorded a career 21 kills, adding two aces and five blocks, while Reese Ptacek notched 12 kills and a match-high five aces. Grace Nelson chipped in seven kills, and setter Reese Messer ran the Kansas offense to the tune of 38 assists and a team-high 14 digs. Logan Bell paced the KU defense with 12 digs.

Kansas opened the match with a back-row kill from Stanley to trim an early Stanford lead, but the Cardinal built the score to 5-4 before a triple block from Stanley, Ptacek and Kenzie Dean tied it at 6-6. The Jayhawks grabbed their first lead of the match at 8-7, and after Stanford answered to tie it at 9-9, three straight kills from Stanley, Nelson and Ptacek pushed Kansas out to its largest lead of the set, 14-10. Stanford responded with five in a row to level the set at 14-14, then took the lead with an ace, 15-14, kicking off a tight back-and-forth finish. A Nelson kill off a Messer assist made it 20-18, and back-to-back Stanford net violations pushed Kansas ahead 22-20. A Stanley ace made it 23-20, but the Cardinal rallied to tie it at 23-23. A Ptacek kill knotted the set again at 25-25 before Stanford closed it out, 27-25.

The second set followed a similar script. A Stanley kill opened Kansas with a 1-0 lead, and after a stretch of back-and-forth play, consecutive Stanford net violations put the Jayhawks up 5-3. Back-to-back Ptacek aces stretched the lead to 8-5, and three straight Stanley kills built the advantage to 13-9. Stanford answered out of a timeout to tie it at 13-13, and a long-rally Ptacek kill trimmed a Stanford lead to 16-15 before a Dean kill tied it again at 17-17. The Cardinal pulled ahead late, 22-19, and a Stanley kill out of a Kansas timeout cut the deficit to 22-21, but Stanford closed out the set, 25-22.

Kansas found its rhythm in the third. After trading the first points, the Jayhawks took control and built a 6-3 edge, then extended it to 9-5. Back-to-back Ptacek aces made it 11-5, and Stanley's 13th kill of the match pushed the lead to 12-5 and forced a Stanford timeout. The Kansas offense kept rolling, building a 15-7 advantage at the media timeout before a Stanley kill made it 17-7. Messer secured the 25-14 set four win with an ace..

Kansas pushed Stanford again in the fourth, with the set tied 1-1 early. Stanley's 17th kill of the night kept Kansas even before Stanford edged ahead 4-2. Back-to-back Ptacek kills made it 5-4 Stanford, and a big swing by Dean tied it at 6-6. A cross-court kill from Nelson trimmed the deficit to 8-9, and a Stanford hitting error tied it at 11-11. The set stayed tight into the media timeout, where a Taylor Stanley block gave Kansas a 15-14 edge. Stanford answered with a 3-0 run to force a Kansas timeout at 19-16, and a Stanley kill out of the break cut it to 17-19. The Jayhawks pulled within one, but Stanford scored twice more out of a timeout to go up 22-19 and closed out the match, 25-21.