Burse, Hill carry Jayhawks in 3-1 win over Drake
LAWRENCE, Kan. — The Kansas volleyball team rode offensive momentum created Jada Burse and Zoe Hill to conclude nonconference play with a 3-1 (25-15, 25-22, 22-25, 25-20) victory over Drake Tuesday night inside a sold-out Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
Burse reached double figures in kills for the eighth time in nine matches as she went for a career-high 18 kills on a .444 hitting percentage against the Bulldogs. Hill added 11 kills on an errorless attacking night to report a clip of .550 along with seven blocks.
For the second-straight match, the Jayhawks (7-4) recorded a team hitting percentage above .300, notching a .320 clip behind freshman setter Camryn Ennis’ steady hands. Ennis paced KU’s offense by reaching a new season-high 39 assists with 10 digs for her third-straight double-double and seventh of the season.
The Jayhawks recorded a season-high 16.0 blocks, led by freshman Rachel Langs’ seven block-assists and one solo block. Senior Gabby Simpson added a season-high seven blocks to help hold the Bulldogs to a .166 hitting efficiency.
Drake, led by Grace Schofield’s 18 kills, falls to 11-3 on the season after one of its best starts to a season in program history.
QUOTES
Kansas head coach Bechard
Opening statement…
“We played a good team tonight and once we let them breathe a little in the third set, they got right back in it. I think that the message tonight is once we have a team on the ropes, in the league we play in, we better not let teams hang around. We need to apply a little bit more pressure. Hitting efficiency was good, led by Jada and Zoe. I like the block total and I like the dig total. There’s a lot to like, but needed to manage the third set a little better. Now we move on to the fun part — Big 12 Conference play. We did play a competitive schedule with good teams.”
On Jada Burse and Zoe Hill’s performance …
“Jada has been doing it a little bit already and it was great to get Zoe going tonight. Jada takes 36 swings and only has two errors — that’s a pretty high level. Ashley (Smith) changed the shots she was hitting in the first set and started scoring, so good adjustment there. Rachel and Camryn did a really good job, but if we could get three kids bringing it every night that’s hard to defend.”
NOTABLES
- Senior Gabby Simpson passes her previous season high of five blocks, tallying seven blocks on the night.
- With 18 kills, junior outside hitter Jada Burse goes for a new career high. Burse passed her previous career high of 16 kills, which she hit twice before and the last coming against Baylor in 2016.
- Freshman Camryn Ennis continues to lead the Jayhawks in double-doubles. In her nine matches with Kansas, Ennis has completed seven double-doubles, adding on to that tonight with 39 assists and 10 digs.
- The all-time series between Kansas and Drake is tied, 7-7-1.
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks will start Big 12 Conference play against TCU on Saturday in Lawrence at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
FOLLOW
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