Kansas falls to Auburn in five sets

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas volleyball team played its fifth five-set match of the young season as Auburn edged the Jayhawks, 3-2 (18-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-27, 6-15), in front of a sold-out crowd at Horejsi Family Athletics Center to conclude day one of the Kansas Invitational.  

Both teams are now 4-3 on the season and 1-1 in the Kansas Invitational.

Junior outside hitter Ashley Smith led KU with 17 kills and junior middle blocker Zoe Hill totaled 16.5 points with 13 kills and seven blocks. Freshman Camryn Ennis ran a 5-1 offense as the primary setter for the first time in a Kansas jersey to record her fourth-straight double-double — 38 assists and 12 digs.

Auburn’s Taylor Rowland recorded a match-high 23 kills, including seven kills in the fourth set.

QUOTES
KU head coach Bechard
Opening statement …
“We had some people unavailable tonight, so we were in lineups that we haven’t been in yet. I think that the group that was out there did a great job. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t end this match in the fourth set — we lost a little steam in the fifth set. I was proud of how hard we played. We you get an opportunity to closeout a set at home like that is huge, but Auburn is a great team and our team fought hard tonight.”

NOTABLES

  • Freshman middle blocker Rachel Langs recorded season highs in blocks (five) and kills (seven).
  • Sophomore defensive specialist Jacqui Mostrom recorded a career-high 14 digs to pace the Jayhawks in that category for the first time in her career.
  • Freshman outside hitter/setter Camryn Ennis’ 38 assists are a season. The freshman out of San Antonio also tied her career high of digs at 12.  
  • Auburn leads the all-time series with Kansas, 3-1. Friday marked the first time the programs had met since the start of the rally-scoring era in NCAA Division I Volleyball.

UP NEXT
The Jayhawks will close out the Kansas Invitational against Loyola Marymount tomorrow at 1 p.m. inside Horejsi Family Athletics Center. The match will be televised live on ESPN+.  

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