It was almost perfect for Molly LaMere.
Kansas dropped the first volleyball game against Texas, uncharacteristically bounced back to win the next two and was four points away from taking a third game.
These were the Longhorns, too, a team Kansas hadn’t beat in 14 previous chances.
It was senior night, and LaMere, whose name is etched at or near the top of every assists record in KU volleyball history, is the only senior on the team.
And with the Jayhawks leading 26-23 in the fourth game, the ball was in LaMere’s hands. She stood a few feet behind the service line, tossed the ball into the air, wound up and served straight into the net.
“I said some things I probably shouldn’t have after that,” LaMere said with a sly smile after the match.
No matter.
LaMere’s teammates picked her up, and Kansas (16-14 overall, 6-13 Big 12) finished off the Longhorns (14-12 overall, 8-10 Big 12) in four games, 20-30, 30-27, 30-27 and 30-25, Saturday night at the Horejsi Center
Against Texas, Kansas did something it has done just once before this season: lose the first game and win the next three to claim a victory. The Jayhawks were balanced, too. It wasn’t one person getting all the kills or digging every ball, and KU also contained one the best hitters in the Big 12 Conference, Mira Topic.
“It was a tremendous team effort,” KU coach Ray Bechard said. “We spread it around a little bit. Abbie (Jacobson) had 18 kills and her and (Sarah) Rome kept our left side afloat. Then Thomas had some real timely kills, I thought, in the last two games.”
Topic also had some kills at crucial moments. Heck, with 32 kills it’s hard not to have more than a few kills that mattered.
“She brings it,” Bechard said. “We talked about not stopping her, but slowing her down a bit.”
It’s hard to imagine just how many kills Topic might have had if the Jayhawks hadn’t contained her. But they did and answered with some offense of their own, collecting 70 kills to the Longhorns’ 66.
Rome led Kansas with 21 kills, and Jacobson and junior Molly Scavuzzo (14 kills) helped out, too. Even freshman Ashley Michaels came through with some big kills and blocks. She ended the match by tapping the ball over a pair of Longhorns who were expecting her to pound it like she did a few points earlier.
Freshman Jill Dorsey had 10 digs, third best on the team, despite playing just half the match because she rotates in and out. Junior Kylie Thomas had seven kills and led Kansas with four assisted blocks.
And then there’s LaMere. She’s the one that makes the Jayhawks go. She set up Kansas’ hitters and led the Jayhawks in assists with 55, just like she has in just about every game over the last three years.
“We’ve got three straight winning years and LaMere’s been our setter for three straight years,” Bechard said.
This match, win or lose, was for LaMere. Yes, she was the only senior and the only player honored after the game, but she means more to Kansas than that. She’s been a constant for three years, but you wouldn’t know it by talking to her. Ask her how it felt to win her last match at the Horejsi Center and she’ll tell you about how good the Jayhawks will be next year.
“It just felt awesome,” she said. “I’m just so happy, especially for these girls. When you’re young and come into this conference, it’s hard. Not many people outside your teammates believe in you and when you can pull off something like this it will help them in the future.”
Kansas will travel to Colorado for its final match of the year at 1 p.m. Saturday.
It was almost perfect for Molly LaMere.
Kansas dropped the first volleyball game against Texas, uncharacteristically bounced back to win the next two and was four points away from taking a third game.
These were the Longhorns, too, a team Kansas hadn’t beat in 14 previous chances.
It was senior night, and LaMere, whose name is etched at or near the top of every assists record in KU volleyball history, is the only senior on the team.
And with the Jayhawks leading 26-23 in the fourth game, the ball was in LaMere’s hands. She stood a few feet behind the service line, tossed the ball into the air, wound up and served straight into the net.
“I said some things I probably shouldn’t have after that,” LaMere said with a sly smile after the match.
No matter.
LaMere’s teammates picked her up, and Kansas (16-14 overall, 6-13 Big 12) finished off the Longhorns (14-12 overall, 8-10 Big 12) in four games, 20-30, 30-27, 30-27 and 30-25, Saturday night at the Horejsi Center
Against Texas, Kansas did something it has done just once before this season: lose the first game and win the next three to claim a victory. The Jayhawks were balanced, too. It wasn’t one person getting all the kills or digging every ball, and KU also contained one the best hitters in the Big 12 Conference, Mira Topic.
“It was a tremendous team effort,” KU coach Ray Bechard said. “We spread it around a little bit. Abbie (Jacobson) had 18 kills and her and (Sarah) Rome kept our left side afloat. Then Thomas had some real timely kills, I thought, in the last two games.”
Topic also had some kills at crucial moments. Heck, with 32 kills it’s hard not to have more than a few kills that mattered.
“She brings it,” Bechard said. “We talked about not stopping her, but slowing her down a bit.”
It’s hard to imagine just how many kills Topic might have had if the Jayhawks hadn’t contained her. But they did and answered with some offense of their own, collecting 70 kills to the Longhorns’ 66.
Rome led Kansas with 21 kills, and Jacobson and junior Molly Scavuzzo (14 kills) helped out, too. Even freshman Ashley Michaels came through with some big kills and blocks. She ended the match by tapping the ball over a pair of Longhorns who were expecting her to pound it like she did a few points earlier.
Freshman Jill Dorsey had 10 digs, third best on the team, despite playing just half the match because she rotates in and out. Junior Kylie Thomas had seven kills and led Kansas with four assisted blocks.
And then there’s LaMere. She’s the one that makes the Jayhawks go. She set up Kansas’ hitters and led the Jayhawks in assists with 55, just like she has in just about every game over the last three years.
“We’ve got three straight winning years and LaMere’s been our setter for three straight years,” Bechard said.
This match, win or lose, was for LaMere. Yes, she was the only senior and the only player honored after the game, but she means more to Kansas than that. She’s been a constant for three years, but you wouldn’t know it by talking to her. Ask her how it felt to win her last match at the Horejsi Center and she’ll tell you about how good the Jayhawks will be next year.
“It just felt awesome,” she said. “I’m just so happy, especially for these girls. When you’re young and come into this conference, it’s hard. Not many people outside your teammates believe in you and when you can pull off something like this it will help them in the future.”
Kansas will travel to Colorado for its final match of the year at 1 p.m. Saturday.
It was almost perfect for Molly LaMere.
Kansas dropped the first volleyball game against Texas, uncharacteristically bounced back to win the next two and was four points away from taking a third game.
These were the Longhorns, too, a team Kansas hadn’t beat in 14 previous chances.
It was senior night, and LaMere, whose name is etched at or near the top of every assists record in KU volleyball history, is the only senior on the team.
And with the Jayhawks leading 26-23 in the fourth game, the ball was in LaMere’s hands. She stood a few feet behind the service line, tossed the ball into the air, wound up and served straight into the net.
“I said some things I probably shouldn’t have after that,” LaMere said with a sly smile after the match.
No matter.
LaMere’s teammates picked her up, and Kansas (16-14 overall, 6-13 Big 12) finished off the Longhorns (14-12 overall, 8-10 Big 12) in four games, 20-30, 30-27, 30-27 and 30-25, Saturday night at the Horejsi Center
Against Texas, Kansas did something it has done just once before this season: lose the first game and win the next three to claim a victory. The Jayhawks were balanced, too. It wasn’t one person getting all the kills or digging every ball, and KU also contained one the best hitters in the Big 12 Conference, Mira Topic.
“It was a tremendous team effort,” KU coach Ray Bechard said. “We spread it around a little bit. Abbie (Jacobson) had 18 kills and her and (Sarah) Rome kept our left side afloat. Then Thomas had some real timely kills, I thought, in the last two games.”
Topic also had some kills at crucial moments. Heck, with 32 kills it’s hard not to have more than a few kills that mattered.
“She brings it,” Bechard said. “We talked about not stopping her, but slowing her down a bit.”
It’s hard to imagine just how many kills Topic might have had if the Jayhawks hadn’t contained her. But they did and answered with some offense of their own, collecting 70 kills to the Longhorns’ 66.
Rome led Kansas with 21 kills, and Jacobson and junior Molly Scavuzzo (14 kills) helped out, too. Even freshman Ashley Michaels came through with some big kills and blocks. She ended the match by tapping the ball over a pair of Longhorns who were expecting her to pound it like she did a few points earlier.
Freshman Jill Dorsey had 10 digs, third best on the team, despite playing just half the match because she rotates in and out. Junior Kylie Thomas had seven kills and led Kansas with four assisted blocks.
And then there’s LaMere. She’s the one that makes the Jayhawks go. She set up Kansas’ hitters and led the Jayhawks in assists with 55, just like she has in just about every game over the last three years.
“We’ve got three straight winning years and LaMere’s been our setter for three straight years,” Bechard said.
This match, win or lose, was for LaMere. Yes, she was the only senior and the only player honored after the game, but she means more to Kansas than that. She’s been a constant for three years, but you wouldn’t know it by talking to her. Ask her how it felt to win her last match at the Horejsi Center and she’ll tell you about how good the Jayhawks will be next year.
“It just felt awesome,” she said. “I’m just so happy, especially for these girls. When you’re young and come into this conference, it’s hard. Not many people outside your teammates believe in you and when you can pull off something like this it will help them in the future.”
Kansas will travel to Colorado for its final match of the year at 1 p.m. Saturday.
It was almost perfect for Molly LaMere.
Kansas dropped the first volleyball game against Texas, uncharacteristically bounced back to win the next two and was four points away from taking a third game.
These were the Longhorns, too, a team Kansas hadn’t beat in 14 previous chances.
It was senior night, and LaMere, whose name is etched at or near the top of every assists record in KU volleyball history, is the only senior on the team.
And with the Jayhawks leading 26-23 in the fourth game, the ball was in LaMere’s hands. She stood a few feet behind the service line, tossed the ball into the air, wound up and served straight into the net.
“I said some things I probably shouldn’t have after that,” LaMere said with a sly smile after the match.
No matter.
LaMere’s teammates picked her up, and Kansas (16-14 overall, 6-13 Big 12) finished off the Longhorns (14-12 overall, 8-10 Big 12) in four games, 20-30, 30-27, 30-27 and 30-25, Saturday night at the Horejsi Center
Against Texas, Kansas did something it has done just once before this season: lose the first game and win the next three to claim a victory. The Jayhawks were balanced, too. It wasn’t one person getting all the kills or digging every ball, and KU also contained one the best hitters in the Big 12 Conference, Mira Topic.
“It was a tremendous team effort,” KU coach Ray Bechard said. “We spread it around a little bit. Abbie (Jacobson) had 18 kills and her and (Sarah) Rome kept our left side afloat. Then Thomas had some real timely kills, I thought, in the last two games.”
Topic also had some kills at crucial moments. Heck, with 32 kills it’s hard not to have more than a few kills that mattered.
“She brings it,” Bechard said. “We talked about not stopping her, but slowing her down a bit.”
It’s hard to imagine just how many kills Topic might have had if the Jayhawks hadn’t contained her. But they did and answered with some offense of their own, collecting 70 kills to the Longhorns’ 66.
Rome led Kansas with 21 kills, and Jacobson and junior Molly Scavuzzo (14 kills) helped out, too. Even freshman Ashley Michaels came through with some big kills and blocks. She ended the match by tapping the ball over a pair of Longhorns who were expecting her to pound it like she did a few points earlier.
Freshman Jill Dorsey had 10 digs, third best on the team, despite playing just half the match because she rotates in and out. Junior Kylie Thomas had seven kills and led Kansas with four assisted blocks.
And then there’s LaMere. She’s the one that makes the Jayhawks go. She set up Kansas’ hitters and led the Jayhawks in assists with 55, just like she has in just about every game over the last three years.
“We’ve got three straight winning years and LaMere’s been our setter for three straight years,” Bechard said.
This match, win or lose, was for LaMere. Yes, she was the only senior and the only player honored after the game, but she means more to Kansas than that. She’s been a constant for three years, but you wouldn’t know it by talking to her. Ask her how it felt to win her last match at the Horejsi Center and she’ll tell you about how good the Jayhawks will be next year.
“It just felt awesome,” she said. “I’m just so happy, especially for these girls. When you’re young and come into this conference, it’s hard. Not many people outside your teammates believe in you and when you can pull off something like this it will help them in the future.”
Kansas will travel to Colorado for its final match of the year at 1 p.m. Saturday.
