Chicago ? Kansas University’s volleyball team just keeps winning tournaments.
The Jayhawks swept DePaul on Saturday to win their third tournament of the season before Big 12 Conference play starts. KU won, 25-18, 25-12, 25-23, behind stellar play from tournament MVP/senior outside hitter Allison Mayfield.
KU also defeated Valparaiso earlier Saturday, 25-18, 27-29, 21-25, 25-16, 15-10, en route to the title.
The DePaul Invitational marked the 10th pre-conference tournament title for KU coach Ray Bechard.
At 11-1, Kansas stands one victory shy of the program’s best start under Bechard (12-1, 2002). The school’s best-ever start was a 15-1 mark to begin the season in 1991.
“We didn’t start game one great and didn’t end game three great,” Bechard said. “But in four pre-conference tournaments, we’ve won three championships. We know the areas we need to work on, and I feel like we’ve positioned ourselves pretty well to get started in Big 12 play.”
Mayfield paced the Jayhawk offense — she had a nine-kill, .818 attack percentage effort in set two — en route to 17 total kills. The senior averaged nearly five kills per set over the weekend and took home her third tournament MVP this season.
Third-year sophomore middle blocker Caroline Jarmoc collected her fourth straight all-tournament-team award. Jarmoc swung for a team-best .424 attack percentage while racking up 14 blocks. Against DePaul, Jarmoc connected on eight kills and four blocks.
Kansas will begin Big 12 play with a trip to face No. 8 Texas on Saturday in Austin, Texas. The match is set for 4 p.m.