THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2011
VOLLEYBALL
PAGE 3B
Jayhawks unable to close games
HANNAH WISE/KANSAN
Sophomore defensive specialist Brianne Riley, shown digging the ball against Texas A&M on Oct. 8, led Kansas with 17 digs on Saturday in the loss to Oklahoma.
MATT GALLOWAY
mgalloway@kansan.com
The Kansas volleyball team got off to one of its best starts this season since coach Ray Bechard took over in 1998.
Now, only six games in to conference play and on the heels of a heartbreaking loss at Oklahoma, Bechard said it is fair to label this the most frustrating stretch of his career.
"You can classify it like that," Bechard said. "It would be one thing for teams to be overwhelming us, but just looking back at all the opportunities we've had, if there is a level of frustration it's
because we've been playing at a high level."
The Jayhawks (12-7, 0-6) blew a two-sets-to-none lead to a ranked team for the third time this season, falling to the No. 22 Sooners (18-5, 5-2) on Saturday, 25-23, 25-19, 23-25, 19-25, 9-15.
The Jayhawks dominated statistically, out-killing the Sooners 68-58, out-digging them 74-64 and out-assisting them 65-53. But in the decisive fifth set, Bechard's squad let the Sooners jump out to a speedy 4-0 lead.
"Once the momentum went their way, they just took off," Bechard said.
Sophomore defensive specialist Brianne Riley led the Jayhawks with 17 digs. Riley was one of four Jayhawks with double-digit digs on the evening. She said that despite the team's strong starts, it has a clear problem getting over the hump and finishing off opponents.
"It was just an issue of finishing," Riley said. "That's something we need to figure out together."
Bechard shuffled his lineup, opting to start senior setter Nicole Tate over sophomore setter Kara Wehrs. Tate finished with a game-high 59 assists.
"Nicole has been through this a lot of times before as a senior, and when you're in a bit of a funk you
have to change it up a bit," Bechard said. "She performed well, but we have all the confidence in the world that when Kara gets another shot at it, she'll do a great job."
Tate said she could not pinpoint any reason why the Jayhawks seem to struggle finishing off opponents. But she said she has been through adversity before and is confident this team can overcome.
"Yeah, I guess it is a rough patch," Tate said. "I don't know if it's the toughest I've been through. I've played a lot of volleyball, so it's tough to say."
Edited by C.J. Matson
SOCCER
Kansas records first Big 12 road win
Goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud withstands Red Raiders' offense
RYAN MCCARTHY rmccarthy@kansan.com
CONTINUED BY SCOTT MACWITHERS/THE DAILY TOREADOR The Red Raiders' Taylor Lytle pulls sophomore midfielder Madi Hillis back while attempting to get ball control during the Jayhawks' 3-1 victory in Lubbock, Texas. Whitney Berry, Amy Grow and Jaimie Fletcher scored Kansas' goals.
Kansas ended its two-game drought on Friday night by winning its first conference road game, defeating Texas Tech 3-1.
The Jayhaws played in front of a record-setting crowd of 2,288 fans in Lubbock, Texas, but the team fed off the high-intensity situation.
"Their fans were crazy" sophomore defender Brittany King said. "We just had to stay focused and not get into what they were saying."
CONTRIBUTED BY SCOTT MACWATTERS/THE DAILY TORFAND
Coming into the game, the Jayhawks knew that the matchup would be demanding, but the team was well-prepared.
"The biggest thing was the way we competed," coach Mark Francis said. "Tech's a really feisty team, and you have to match their fight.
"I think, some of the games lately, we haven't necessarily had that consistently, and I thought yesterday we had that from everybody that went on the field."
Texas Tech tried to capitalize on some early scoring chances, but freshman goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud kept them at bay by grabbing eight saves on the night.
"She kept us in the game a lot," King said. "She's really good at communicating and just keeping us organized and making some saves that we thought she wasn't going to make."
The Red Raiders started out with a frantic pace in the first 10 minutes of the game, but the Jayhawks controlled the tempo after the early surge.
"This was one of the first games where we played a full 90 minutes and came out from the beginning ready to play," sophomore midfielder Amy Grow said.
The goal pushed Berry into a tie for fourth place in Kansas history with 52 career points.
In the 30th minute, Kansas broke the scoreless tie when junior forward Whitney Berry put the Jayhawks on the board with a penalty kick.
Kansas took advantage of a yellow card in the
59th minute when Grow knocked in a long-range free kick from just inside the midfield mark.
"She's really good at communicating and just keeping us organized and making some saves."
right post and flew into the back left corner to give the Jayhawks a 2-0 lead.
"I didn't have intentions of scoring." Grow said. "I was just
The ball ricocheted off the
BRITTANY KING sophomore defender
playing the ball in and their keeper wasn't ready for it."
The Red Raiders crept back into the game during the 81st minute when senior defender Casey McCall
scored an empty net goal to cut the lead to 2-1.
ing the Jayhawks' third goal from the right side of the penalty box off an assist from fellow freshman midfielder Liana Salazar.
However, freshman forward Jamie Fletcher responded by scor-
With the victory, the Jayhawks improved to 10-6 overall and 2-3 in the Big 12.
Kansas caught a break by not having a game on Sunday for the first time all season. It proved to be a necessary day of rest after a lengthy trip to west Texas.
Kansas' third leg of its fourgame road trip will be on Friday, Oct. 21, against Missouri in Columbia, Mo. The game begins at 6:30 p.m.
- Edited by C.J. Matson
7.