Errors and big plays were plentiful for Kansas University’s volleyball squad at the Pizza Hut Jayhawk Invitational.
But the inconsistent play produced exciting games, and KU swept both Virginia Commonwealth and Michigan State, 3-0, on Friday.
From diving saves to 89 combined kills, the small Horejsi Center crowd saw plenty of action at the noon match against VCU, and for just about every KU kill there was some type of error – 84 total.
But the Jayhawks (7-1) won thanks to their kills. Senior Paula Caten had 19, a KU season high, and the Jayhawks had 52 kills in the 30-28, 30-26, 30-26 victory.
“The serving was uneven, the attacking was uneven, and thank goodness for Paula,” KU coach Ray Bechard said. “Paula had a great match – 19 kills and only two errors – so that was good to see.”
The Rams (5-2) used four Jayhawk miscues to construct a nine-point turnaround and briefly lead in Game One. But KU’s five service aces were too much.
“Our big German kid, (Elisa) Kuehnel, she was having a monster night and just having a great time,” VCU coach James Finley said.
“The energy and enthusiasm of all that youth is really helping us be successful.”
In the marquee matchup Friday night against Michigan State, KU played a near carbon-copy of its first match. The Jayhawks swept the Spartans 30-24, 30-23, 32-30, yet had fewer kills and aces than in the VCU match. But they also had fewer errors.
Michigan State, on the other hand, could not keep the errors low and finished with 34.
The key stat in the KU victory, according to Bechard, was team blocks.
“We did a little better blocking-wise, we had 12 team blocks,” Bechard said. “In a three-game match, our goal is about three per game. And when you can get four per game, that was helpful.”
The biggest KU block came on match point when senior Josi Lima and sophomore Emily Brown denied a Spartan kill.
Despite being accountable for five errors in Game Three against MSU, Brown, a Baldwin High product, also picked up four of her nine kills in the final game.
“Just a little part of the game is serving – you have everything else to work on, too,” said Brown, who is working with a new serve this year, “so you can’t let one thing like that affect your whole game.”
Lima led KU in kills (13) against MSU. Those plus the 13 she gathered against VCU put the middle blocker 40 from second place (1,264 by Amanda Reves) on KU’s career kills list.
“I think that (was) a very good, quality win for us,” Lima said, “a Big 12 over a Big Ten team.”
KU will play Temple at 1 p.m. today at Horejsi.
