Jayhawks fall in straight sets at Baylor

WACO, Texas – The Kansas volleyball team fell in its third-straight match Saturday afternoon when the Baylor Bears defeated the Jayhawks, 3-0, inside the Ferrell Center.
 
Kansas (13-7, 6-3 Big 12) couldn’t find an answer for a potent Baylor (14-7, 6-4 Big 12) offense that swung .296 on the day. The Bears won the battle at the net in kills (43) and blocks (6.0), and out-dug the Jayhawks 43-39.
 
Junior outside hitter Ashley Smith led KU with a 13-kill effort and a .346 hitting percentage. Classmate Jada Burse also turned in a double-digit kill performance (12), while freshman defensive specialist Audri Suter led both teams with a career-high 14 digs.
 
NOTES

  • Kansas lost its third-straight match for the first time since falling short in three in a row in 2014 (Sept. 27 – Oct. 4; at Oklahoma, Kansas State and then-No. 2 Texas).
  • The Jayhawks have now been swept in two-straight contests, a first since the 2017 campaign when they lost in straight sets against then-No. 23 Baylor (Nov. 11) and at then-No. 2 Texas (Nov. 15).
  • The Jayhawks fall to 6-3 in conference play and stand alone in second place in the league standings.
  • Baylor recorded 6.0 blocks compared to Kansas’ 4.0 – that is the second-straight match the Jayhawks were out-blocked by its opponent, something that hadn’t previously happened since Sep. 1 at then-No. 16 Kentucky (12.5 – 9.0).
  • Kansas’ 4.0 blocks were the fewest by a KU team since Nov. 15, 2017 at Texas, when it recorded 3.0.
  • Freshman defensive specialist Audri Suter recorded a career-high 14 digs.

 
QUOTES
Head coach Ray Bechard on the team’s performance…
“I thought we tried pretty hard in the first two sets, but then I thought we let go there in the third. There are some little things. We can’t confuse effort and execution. Those two have to go hand and hand. We have some kids trying hard but still at the same time effort and execution have to go together. We were out of sorts a lot today.”
 
Bechard on message after the match…
“Audri had some good numbers with 14 digs. Even there, though, we got out-dug, out-blocked – there wasn’t a phase of the game we didn’t struggle at. After the match in the locker room, we put it on everybody. Everyone has a responsibility to create a little better opportunity for our team to be successful.”
 
UP NEXT
The Kansas volleyball team continues its road swing when the Jayhawks travel to West Virginia on Wednesday, Oct. 31 for a 5 p.m. first serve.
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