KU volleyball surges to 11-0

By Gary Bedore     Sep 19, 2015

John Young
Kansas junior Tayler Soucie (10) gets up high to hit a kill shot between South Dakota State blockers Mikala Hora (14) and Kacey Herrmann (3) during their volleyball match in the first round of the Jayhawk Classic Friday afternoon at the Horejsi Center.

At 11-0, Kansas University’s volleyball team is off to the best start in school history.

The No. 17-ranked Jayhawks followed Friday afternoon’s 3-0 victory over South Dakota State with a 3-1 decision over Gonzaga on Friday night at sold-out Horejsi Center and overtook the 2001 KU team that opened the season with a 10-0 mark.

“Everybody is talking about it. Now we’re going to keep talking about it for a long time, hopefully,” KU sophomore setter Ainise Havili said after KU’s 25-18, 23-25, 25-20, 25-8 victory over the Zags (7-4).

Havili, who leads the country in assists, dished 51 versus Gonzaga, just six off her personal record of 57.

She found aggressive targets in Kelsie Payne, Madison Rigdon and Tiana Dockery, who had 17, 15 and 13 kills respectively.

John Young
Kansas junior Tayler Soucie (10) gets up high to hit a kill shot between South Dakota State blockers Mikala Hora (14) and Kacey Herrmann (3) during their volleyball match in the first round of the Jayhawk Classic Friday afternoon at the Horejsi Center.

“She runs the show. She was very good,” KU coach Ray Bechard said of Havili, 5-foot-10 from Fort Worth, Texas. “She distributes the ball to people. We passed well. We served well. We attacked well. You don’t beat a real good team 25-8 without being good in all phases.”

Of her nation’s-best assist mark, Havili said: “I feel I don’t belong. I feel I’m not good enough. My team is great. They support me and put balls away for me, so that’s the only reason I get assists.”

KU, which has won an amazing 33 of 36 sets this season, saw a 17-14 lead in the second set turn into a 22-17 deficit. The Zags finished a 25-23 win and entered the locker room tied with KU, 1-all.

“You might think there would be disappointment in the locker room between sets two and three. They (Jayhawks) were very enthused because they felt the level of energy and execution and came out in the third and fourth set and played, had a great time, executed at a high level, hit .480 in the last set,” Bechard said.

KU dominated the final set in thrilling a crowd that included NBA player Ben McLemore of the Sacramento Kings.

John Young
Kansas junior Cassie Wait flashes a smile as she prepares to serve while her teammates watch from the sidelines during the Jayhawks' volleyball match against South Dakota State in the first round of the Jayhawk Classic Friday afternoon at the Horejsi Center.

“We came out with a lot of fire. Everybody came out and said, ‘This is our court, and you guys aren’t going to come and beat us here,'” Havili said. “That showed definitely in that fourth set. That was really fun.”

Cassie Wait had 25 digs vs. Gonzaga, while Rigdon and Havili had 11 apiece. Against South Dakota State, Rigdon had 16 kills and Payne 10. Havili had 32 assists and Maggie Anderson 10. Wait had 15 digs.

KU will meet Missouri State (8-3) at 7 p.m. today in Horejsi to conclude the nonconference season.

“It’s great to be 11-0 just because we beat a good team to do that,” Bechard said. “The pride comes in watching that (KU) team compete in the third and fourth set, sitting there and not having to say a word and those kids managing the match. You can tell they are loving playing with each other and enjoying that whole situation, so, yes, it’s obviously a good start. We have a chance to go (finish) a clean slate tomorrow, but we’re going to have to be right back into it against a team that plays their butt off.”

PREV POST

Local Joe: Free State grad Dineen aims to rebuild tradition

NEXT POST

47268KU volleyball surges to 11-0