Kansas Vs. Xavier
Match Stats
No. 4 Kansas battles back from down two sets to one Xavier in a five set battle (25-15, 20-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-5).
The Jayhawks posted 12 services aces for the match. Kelsie Payne led the way for Kansas with 17 kills and a .316 hitting percentage. Jada Burse contributed 12 kills on a .375 hitting percentage, with seven of her kills coming in the need-to-win fourth set, taking the game into a fifth set.
Xavier’s reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year, Abbey Bessler recorded a double-double on the night with 15 kills and 12 digs.
Press Release
Courtesy of Kansas Athletics
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Fourth-ranked Kansas rallied from down two sets to one to defeat Xavier in five sets, 3-2 (25-15, 20-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-5) on Friday afternoon during KU’s first match at the Stacey Clark Classic.
The Jayhawks (10-0) remain unbeaten on the season and extend their regular-season nonconference winning streak to 25 matches. Kansas recorded 12 service aces
“We put ourselves in a deficit to start sets – we were behind in the first four sets,” Kansas head coach Ray Bechard said. “The response was good after that, but there is going to be a time that we are going to run out of opportunities for points in those situations. Let’s give Xavier some credit. Offensively, they create a lot of havoc. We only had five team blocks in five sets. That speaks to how they mix-up what they are doing. Give some credit to our team as well. We were down 2-1, and facing a deficit in a must-win fourth set and got that turned around and took care of business in the fifth set.”
Junior All-American right-side hitter Kelsie Payne led Kansas with a match-high 17 kills on a .316 hitting percentage. With the Jayhawks down in sets, 2-1, freshman outside hitter Jada Burse contributed seven kills in a must-win fourth set to help force a fifth set. Burse finished with a season-high 12 kills on a .375 hitting percentage.
The Jayhawks pulled away in the fifth set with three aces while taking advantage of Xavier’s miscues – seven attacking errors and two service errors.
Xavier (5-6) was led by a quatro of Musketeers in double-figure kills, including a double-double from reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year Abbey Bessler (15 kills, 12 digs).
The Jayhawks have a quick turnaround before facing No. 14 Purdue on their home court tonight at 6:30 p.m. Central.
“Tonight will be a different level of physicality with Purdue,” Bechard said. “They are playing as well as anybody in the country right now, coming off a great weekend (defeating No. 9 Stanford on the road). It will be a great challenge in a great environment. We are looking forward to it.”
Press Release
Courtesy of Xavier Athletics
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Xavier volleyball’s upset bid over unbeaten No. 4 Kansas fell short in five sets on Friday afternoon at Holloway Gym. The Jayhawks (10-0) are the highest ranked team the Musketeers (5-6) have ever faced in program history.
Xavier returns to action at 5 p.m. against Southeastern Louisiana in its second match of the Stacey Clark Classic. The two-day tournament is being hosted by Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind.
| MATCH NOTES |
- Abbey Bessler led Xavier with 15 kills and 12 digs as the outside hitter recorded her sixth double-double of the season. She also added two block assists.
- Xavier had seven more total team blocks (12-5) than the Jayhawks, the third time the Musketeers have had 10 or more blocks in a match this season. Brooke Betts led Xavier with seven (2 BS, 5 BA), while Sofia Peterson added six block assists. Alexis Newsome chipped in five block assists.
- Juniors Lauren Frilling and Kristen Massa both added 12 kills, while Sofia Peterson added 11 and a .348 hitting percentage. Xavier had four players with 10 or more kills in a match for the first time this season.
- Mackenzi Humm and McKena Estes both led Xavier in assists with 23. Meredith Klare also had a team-high 12 digs.
| SET ONE |
- Xavier jumped out to an early 7-3 lead before Kansas responded with an 8-4 run to tie the match at 11. The set was tied two more times before the Jayhawks pulled away for a 25-15 victory.
- Abbey Bessler had three kills and four digs in the opening frame. Sofia Peterson added three kills in three attempts.
| SET TWO |
- Xavier led from start to finish in the second set. The Musketeers hit .455 and got three or more kills from five different players – led by Kristen Massa who had four.
- Xavier led by as many as seven, 18-11, before evening the match with a 25-20 win.
| SET THREE |
- The third set featured 11 ties and eight lead changes. Tied at 23, the Musketeers got a kill from Abbey Bessler followed by a service ace from Mackenzi Humm to put Xavier up, 2-1.
- Abbey Bessler paced Xavier with seven kills in the set, while Lauren Frilling added four.
| SET FOUR |
- Xavier opened the set with a 9-4 run to force a Kansas timeout. Xavier led 16-15 midway through the set before the Jayhawks scored four of the next five points to force a Xavier timeout. Kansas would win the set, 25-23.
| SET FIVE |
• Kansas opened the set by scoring six straight points before posting the 15-5 set victory.
KANSAS VS. PURDUE
Match Stats
No. 14 Purdue handed No. 4 Kansas their first loss of the season, making it the second top 10 team they have beaten this week.
Azariah Stahl recorded a double-double for the Boilermakers, posting 15 kills and a career-high 19 digs. Blake Mohler contributed 11 kills with a team-best .476 hitting percentage.
Purdue posted a .331 hitting percentage, the highest hit by any Kansas opponent this season, who were held to .177 and were aced seven times.
Despite the loss, Jayhawk outside hitter Madison Rigdon put down a match-high 16 kills.
Press Release
Courtesy of Purdue Athletics
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The No. 14 Boilermakers knocked off their second Top 10 foe in a week, taking down No. 4 Kansas to wrap Day 1 of the Stacey Clark Classic on Friday. Purdue won the match 25-21, 24-26, 25-19, 25-14 to move to 9-1 on the year and hand the Jayhawks (10-1) their first loss of the year.
Junior Azariah Stahl paced the Boilermakers on both sides of the ball, posting a team-best 15 kills and a career-high 19 digs. Junior Danielle Cuttino followed with 12 kills and three blocks and redshirt freshmanBlake Mohler chipped in 11 kills on a team-best .476 effort and also added a team-leading six blocks. Redshirt sophomore Sherridan Atkinson (9) and redshirt senior Faye Adelaja (7) also contributed to the Boilermakers’ balanced attack.
Defensively, Stahl led the way with 19 digs, while freshman Natalie Haben (13), redshirt junior Ashley Evans(13) and redshirt sophomore Carissa Damler (11) also reached double digits. Evans rounded out her double-double with 47 assists, five kills and a match-high four aces.
Purdue outhit Kansas .331 to .177 and served up seven aces to the Jayhawks’ four.
The Boilermakers used a 5-0 run, including two kills by Cuttino and an ace by Evans, to snap a 9-9 deadlock in Set 1. Purdue held off several Jayhawk rallies down the stretch, never relinquishing the advantage. Kansas narrowed the gap to one at 19-17 with three straight points, but the Boilermakers answered with a 4-0 run of its own, including an ace by junior Linnea Rohrsen, to go ahead 23-18. A kill by Cuttino set up Purdue’s first shot at the set. A kill by Atkinson two points later ended the stanza. Purdue hit .344 to KU’s .195 effort in the set.
Facing a 24-21 deficit in Set 2, Kansas rallied to score five in a row to steal away the 26-24 win. Purdue led the stanza from the start, boasting a five point advantage at 15-10. The Jayhawks called timeout and cut the margin to one three times, last at 18-17. A kill by Evans put the Boilermakers on top 21-17. Two KU errors and a kill by Cuttino made it 24-21 Purdue, but the Jayhawks managed three kills and a block in the final stretch.
The Boilermakers got five kills from Stahl and four each from Mohler and Cuttino, while outhitting KU .444 to .190 in a 25-19 Set 3 win. Purdue trailed 10-8 midway through Set 3, but turned things around with a 5-0 run including back-to-back kills by Atkinson and a block and overpass kill by Cuttino, to go ahead 13-10. Up just one at 15-14, the Boilermakers again rallied with four straight points, including a trio of Stahl putaways. Purdue held the Jayhawks at bay the remainder of the set, closing it out with a kill from Adelaja and two more from Mohler.
Six players turned in kills and the Boilermakers had help from four aces in a 25-14 Set 4 win to complete the upset. Purdue led 8-4 early on, but soon found itself on the short send of a 10-9 score. A kill by Atkinson and ace by Damler kicked off a match-ending 16-4 run. Kansas was within two at 15-13, but it was nearly all Boilermakers after that, including two aces by Evans, a solo stuff by Atkinston to set up match point and an ace by Peters to clinch it.
The No. 14 Boilermakers (9-1) wrap up the Stacey Clark Classic at 6 p.m. Saturday vs. Xavier (6-6).
Press Release
Courtesy of Kansas Athletics
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Fourth-ranked Kansas dropped its first regular-season nonconference match since 2014 at the hands of No. 14 Purdue, 3-1 (25-21, 24-26, 25-19, 25-14), on Friday night inside Holloway Gymnasium during the Stacey Clark Classic. KU’s regular-season nonconference winning streak ends at 25 matches.
The Jayhawks (10-1) lose for the first time this season despite a match-high 16 kills from junior outside hitter Madison Rigdon. Entering Friday night, Kansas had held all 10 opponents to a hitting percentage under .200; the Boilermakers (9-1) left the gym with a .331 clip and seven aces while out-digging the Jayhawks, 67-45.
“We played a good team tonight,” Kansas head coach Ray Bechard said. “They were prepared and ready. We weren’t. We competed in spurts, but we got out-dug by 22. Purdue is going to have a great season. This is a great environment to play in. Bottom line is, we have to learn from what we saw tonight.”
Purdue led by as many as four in a tight first set which featured seven ties, but aces from Anderson and Rigdon kept the Jayhawks within striking distance down the stretch. After a Rigdon ace, freshman Jada Burse registered a kill coming out of a Purdue timeout to bring KU within one, 18-19. The Boilermakers closed the first set on a 6-2 run to hand KU its first first-set loss of the season.
Kansas fell behind 15-10 in the second set, but didn’t give in. Junior All-American setter Ainise Havili got creative on the offensive end with a setter’s dump coming out of KU’s first timeout – a foreshadow of things to come. Facing set point, 24-21, Havili won a joust to put the Jayhawks within two, 22-24. Followed by a bad set, Purdue called timeout with the Jayhawks nipping at their heels, 24-23. Coming out of the timeout, Rigdon tied it at 24 with a kill, while Havili found the right seem in Purdue’s defense for another setter’s dump to give KU a 25-24 lead. Havili and Soucie teamed up for a block to close out the set.
KU’s slow rally culminated in a 5-0 run to set the set, 26-24, and equalize the match, 1-1.
Kansas started the third set neck-and-neck with Purdue, exchanging leads three times with eight ties. The Boilermakers pulled away with a 4-0 run to take a 19-15 lead by using a lethal offensive effort in the third set of 20 kills on a .444 hitting percentage.
Kansas recovered from a 5-1 Purdue lead in the fourth set to tie it at 10. After junior All-American right-side hitter Kelsie Payne registered her 10th kill of the night which brought KU within two, 15-13, Purdue went on a 10-1 run to clinch the four-set victory.
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks conclude the Stacey Clark Classic on Saturday against Southeastern Louisiana (Noon Central).
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