His wish was granted Monday in Kansas’ third game against Missouri-Kansas City, but it took KU more than an hour to get going.

The Jayhawks jumped to an 18-8 lead and cleared their bench en route to a 30-18, match-sealing victory in Game No. 3 — which gave Kansas the 3-0 (30-22, 30-26, 30-18) sweep at Horejsi Center.

“As much as you preach and lecture about respecting your opponent and being ready to play, it was tough for us to jump out on them after an extremely important conference match,” Bechard said of the Jayhawks (9-4 overall, 1-1 Big 12 Conference), who swept Colorado Saturday but seemed flat at the start of Monday’s match.

The Jayhawks didn’t want the 2-13 Kangaroos to improve their 1-23 all-time record against KU, but a smooth start in Game 1 turned into sluggishness in the second game as the Kangaroos snagged a 22-19 lead.

Jared Soares/Journal-World Photo

That quickly subsided when senior Sarah Rome, who led the Jayhawks with 16 kills, hit a slicing ball that tied the game and propelled KU to an 8-4 spurt.

By the third game, any Kansas kinks had been corrected.

“That was so much fun, we really started to get going in that third game,” said junior setter Ashley Bechard, who along with most of KU’s starters enjoyed the scene from the bench.

Senior Jordan Garrison and sophomore Renita Davidson, along with freshmen Megan Hill, Jamie Mathewson, and Dani Wittman, each took turns in Game 3.

“They’re so great on the bench,” Ashley Bechard said. “To see the girls that work so hard in practice come in and contribute is so much fun.”

Sophomore setter Andi Rozum, who set a KU freshman record with 1,179 assists last year, saw her most extensive court time this season. Rozum, who missed the first four weeks of the season because of an injury, recorded 26 assists.

Junior Ashley Michaels recorded 12 kills, plus the game-winning block in the first contest, while freshman Janaina Correa tallied 11 kills — including the game-winner in No. 2.

Unlike Saturday, when the Jayhawks were strong with their serves, KU mixed eight aces with 14 service errors.

Ray Bechard said despite certain flaws, a convincing victory was a good way to conclude a formidable nonconference schedule.

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“I have to believe we’re in much better shape after an 8-3 record with the schedule that we played than we were at 9-0 last year,” he said.

“I think as we get deeper into the season and the NCAA Tournament opportunity is presented, they’re really going to look at Kansas and say, ‘They made a change and played some very good people.’ Obviously we’ll get some attention from that.”