Kansas Closes Out Jayhawk Classic with Sweep of Grand Canyon

Sunday, September 20

Lawrence, Kan.

2 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

7-3,0-0Big 12

Grand Canyon

6-5,0-0Mountain West

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Grand Canyon	21	21	15	0
Kansas	25	25	25	3

Kansas Closes Out Jayhawk Classic with Sweep of Grand Canyon

9/20/2026 4:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Kansas closed out the Jayhawk Classic with its sixth straight sweep, defeating the Grand Canyon Lopes 25-21, 25-21 and 25-15.

The Jayhawks finished the match with 48 kills, led by Taylor Stanley with 15. Aisha Aiono added a career-best 10 kills while hitting .600 on the night. Logan Bell also made an impact offensively, tying her career high with seven kills. Reese Ptacek was strong at the service line, recording three aces, while sophomore setter Reese Messer ran the KU offense with 37 assists.

Aiono got the Jayhawks off to a strong start, with a kill from the middle to give Kansas an early 1-0 advantage. Both teams went back and forth early before a cross-court kill by Stanley took the lead for good at 9-8. Stanley then recorded back-to-back kills to extend the Jayhawks' lead to 14-11. Out of the break, Ptacek sparked the Jayhawks' offense with an ace. Grand Canyon kept the pressure on Kansas, tallying three straight points before Aiono broke through the block to make it 17-14. The Lopes battled back to tie the set at 19-19, forcing a Kansas timeout. Ptacek responded with a kill out of the break, followed by a block alongside Messer, pushing the lead to 21-19. Ptacek made another block before Grace Nelson swung for a kill down the line to earn the 25-21 set win.

Kansas and Grand Canyon went back and forth to start the set before Bell tallied a kill off a Ptacek assist for a 5-4 Jayhawk lead. Kansas went on a 3-0 run led by Bell at the service line, but the Lopes continued to battle back, tying the game at 7-7. Aiono found the gap in the middle to push the Jayhawks ahead, 13-11. The Jayhawks extended their lead with a 4-0 run led by Olivia Hasbrook at the service line to earn a 16-12 advantage. Grand Canyon cut the lead, but Ptacek answered with a kill from the right side to keep Kansas ahead, 19-17. A block from Stanley and Aiono pushed Kansas' lead to 21-18 and forced a Grand Canyon timeout. Bell's block gave the Jayhawks a 24-20 lead before Stanley closed out the set, 25-21, with a cross-court kill.

Stanley gave the Jayhawks a 1-0 lead to start the set, but once again the teams went back and forth, and Grand Canyon responded with a kill to tie it at 3-3. Bell recorded a back-row kill, her seventh of the match to tie her career high, and followed it with an ace to push the Jayhawks' lead to 6-3. Stanley came up with a big back-row attack to extend Kansas' lead to 8-4 and force a Lopes timeout. Messer kept the pressure on at the service line, sparking a 3-0 run to extend Kansas' lead to 13-6 and force a second Lopes timeout. A tip by Stanley gave Kansas a 15-9 advantage at the media timeout. Aiono made a solo block before teaming with Stanley on another, extending Kansas' lead to 21-13. Kansas stayed the course, and Aiono's career-best 10th kill made it 23-14 before Ptacek closed out the match, 25-15.

Kansas opens Big 12 Conference play against Houston at 6 p.m. CT Friday at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena.