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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2011
VOLLEYBALL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Senior outside hitter Allison Mayfield hits the ball to Baylor during the game Saturday night against Baylor. Sophomore defensive specialist Brianne Riley led in digs, senior setter Nicole Tate led in assists, Mayfield led in kills, and sophomore middle blocker Caroline Jarmoc led in blocks on senior night.
JESSICA JANASZ/KANSAN
Mayfield breaks record, Jayhawks defeat Bears
JESSICA JANASZ/KANSAN
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MATT GALLOWAY
mgalloway@kansan.com
The players on the Kansas volleyball team do not usually pay attention to individual records. The team's overall record, they often say, is the only record that matters.
But on Saturday night against Baylor in the final game of her career, senior outside hitter Allison Mayfield made an exception. She said she was well aware of the history she was about to make.
Senior setter Nicole Tate and junior middle blocker Taylor Tolefree try to block a hit from Baylor senior outside hitter Qian Zhang during the game Saturday night. The Jayhawks won three out of four sets against the Bears Saturday night, increasing their Big 12 record to 3-13.
Mayfield broke the school record for kills in a single season early in the third set and the Jayhawks (15-14, 3-13) defeated the Baylor Bears (18-14, 5-11) in four sets, 24-26, 25-23, 25-18. 25-9. The win secured the Jayhawks' third consecutive winning season.
Needing 13 kills to set the mark, Mayfield finished with 17, giving her 462 for the season. Her final kill was an emphatic game-winning shot that gave Kansas the win on senior night.
"My family and I talked about it on Thanksgiving," Mayfield said. "They jokingly said if I didn't get
the kills, they were going to kill me."
Beyond the kills, Mayfield made her presence felt in virtually every facet of the game. She finished with nine digs and an ace. She was also serving during a 7-0 run for the Jayhawks in the decisive fourth set.
"She was typical Mayfield," coach Ray Bechard said. "I thought she gained energy late. She served eight straight jump serves, and that is not an easy thing to do."
Junior middle blocker Tayler
Tolefle came out of the break on a tear, notching seven kills in the third set alone. She finished with 14 kills and only one attack error, good for a .565 attack percentage.
"It feels really good to be able to get that winning feeling back, especially at home, in front of all of our fans who have seen us struggling." Tolefire said. "It was just one of those feelings that makes you think, 'Man, I miss this.'"
The teams traded blows in the first two sets, each winning by the slimmed margin possible. In fact, each set was tied at 22 late. After dropping the first set, it was a different senior who stepped up for the jayhawks to secure the win in the second.
Senior setter Nicole Tate made the most of a bad pass, jousting the ball over the net to take the Bears off-guard for a rare setter kill. Bechard said the ball did not go to Tate by design.
"She was over-matched in size but she pushed the ball down," Bechard said. "I thought that play changed all the momentum."
Senior right-side hitter Lauren Hagan saw the court for the first time this season in the first set and recorded a kill before she was subbed out. Hagan was held out of the lineup all season because of a serious shoulder injury suffered last season.
The fourth set was a dominant romp on the part of the Jayhawks. In fact, it was the first time a team has held Baylor under 10 points in a set since the NCAA changed to 25-point sets.
"Her shoulder, you could tell, was a little bit loose tonight," Bechard said. "But she took a couple of good swings and I was happy to see one hit the floor."
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Bechard said that despite the team's struggles in the stacked Big 12, ending the regular season on a winning note at home is something the team can build on.
"It feels good to play some of our best volleyball of the year in our last match of the year," Bechard said. "That's what we've liked about this group all along. In the last month, regardless of the result, they came and worked extremely hard, got better and obviously some things came together tonight."
Edited by Josh Kantor
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