8B SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2007
VOLLEYBALL
Kansas loss to K-State drops team to 5-13 in Big 12
BY RUSTIN DODD
rdodd@kansan.com
Kansas sent Kansas State an early message on Wednesday night, and the No. 12 team in the country responded. With Kansas holding a one game to none lead, and leading 26-25 in game two, K-State was four points away from trailing Kansas 2-0 on its home floor. But K-State rallied to take the next five points, won game two 30-26, and parlayed that momentum into a 3-1 (21-30, 30-26, 30-14, 30-26) victory.
"Obviously a 2-0 game at the break would have been a lot better than a 1-1," Kansas coach Ray Bechard said. "But for two hours we
really competed. We didn't always execute at the best time, but we competed hard and had some really good efforts out of some players."
But the Wildcats storned to a 7-1 lead in game two and tied the match at 1-1 with a 30-26 victory. K-State performed better in game three, dominating Kansas 30-14 to take a 2-1 lead.
Beachard was probably thinking of junior middle blocker Savannah Noyes, who led Kansas with 14 kills and a .400 hitting percentage. Noyes did most of her damage in Kansas' game one victory.
K-State continued its torrid pace in game four as the Wildcats built a 6-2 lead.
A kill from freshman outside hitter Jenna Raiser cut the lead to 12-9, but K-State won the next two points and pushed the lead back to five points. A kill from senior middle blocker Natalie Uhart cut K-State's lead to 19-13, but K-State cruised from there, winning game four 30-26 and clinching the match 3-1.
"They lead the Big 12 in aces and they had 12 tonight," Bechard said. "We didn't see that much short serve on tape. They would drive us back and then short serve us, and they really took us out our offensive rhythm. Even after game four we were convinced we could get it to a game five, but they just made a few
more plays in the end then we did."
Kansas dropped to 12-16 and 5-13 in the Big 12 Conference, while K-State improved to 21-7 and 13-5 in the Big 12.
Freshmen outside hitters Karina Garlington and Jenna Kaiser also put up good offensive numbers for Kansas. Garlington had 11 kills and Kaiser had 12 in the loss.
The loss was the third in a row for Kansas against K-State, and the second this season. Kansas fell 3-0 to K-State at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center on Sept. 12. The Jayhawks dropped to 34-55 all-time against the Wildcats.
Edited by Meghan Murphy
STATE BRAGGING RIGHTS
The state of Kansas was well-represented in the volleyball version of the Sunflower Showdown. A combined 14 players - seven from each school - hailed from the state of Kansas.
UP NEXT: SENIOR DAY
Kansas returns home for its last home match of the season against Iowa State at 11 a.m. at the Harelsi Family Athletics Center. Kansas will honor its
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