The 15th-ranked Kansas volleyball team extended its win streak to four matches with a road sweep of Houston, 25-14, 25-23, 25-16, on Thursday night at the Fertitta Center.
The Jayhawks scored the first eight points of the match and overcame a 15-10 deficit in the second set on their way to the decisive victory.
“When we are having fun on the court, that is when we play our best,” KU coach Matt Ulmer said in a press release. “We have been really disciplined, and it is showing; our energy and focus are translating into wins.”
Grace Nelson led the way with 12 kills, Jovana Zelenović added 11 on .529 hitting and Rhian Swanson had 10. Katie Dalton dished out 30 assists, and Ryan White finished with 13 digs.
Alyssa Gonzales recorded 10 kills for Houston, which fell to 8-10 overall and 1-6 in the Big 12, while KU advanced to 14-7 and 5-2 ahead of a big week that features home matches against TCU on Wednesday and Kansas State at Allen Fieldhouse on Oct. 24.
KU’s opening run occurred with Logan Bell serving, and the freshman had two service aces as part of the dominant stretch. Avery Shimaitis’ kill for Houston broke the shutout, but the Cougars did not make meaningful traction until the score was 15-4. At that point, UH got seven in a row of its own, aided by several blocks and kills by Bre Reid and Tara Greenberry.
The momentum swings continued with an 8-1 stretch in favor of the Jayhawks, and at that point a pair of late kills by Zelenović were enough to decide the result.
Service errors by the Jayhawks and kills by Gonzales, Shimaitis and Barakat Rahmon contributed to Houston’s lead midway through the second game. A kill by the setter Dalton got the Jayhawks going, though, and Swanson and Nelson followed suit. Trailing 18-17, KU surged ahead on back-to-back blocks of Shimaitis by Nelson and Reese Ptacek. The teams went back and forth down the stretch, but a key service error by Tenesyn Frye with the Cougars ahead 21-20 set the stage for KU’s late charge.
The Jayhawks got three more points on two kills by Swanson and a block by Dalton and Ptacek. Houston staved off a pair of set points, but KU avoided a deuce set thanks to another service error, this time by Gonzales after Swanson had just committed an attack error.
In the third and eventually final set, KU took a 6-1 lead on consecutive aces by Ryan White. Houston did not get particularly close after that, as the Cougars hit .000 for the set with seven kills to seven errors, while KU was hitting .310. Kellen Morin made an impact on the block and got UH’s deficit to 19-14, but the Jayhawks’ offense carried them through to complete the sweep.
First serve against No. 11 TCU, which previously beat KU 3-1 at Schollmaier Arena on Oct. 1, is set for 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena.
Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World
