MATCH STATS
- No. 9 Kansas def. Oklahoma 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 25-17, 22-25, 15-13)
- Kansas moves to 19-3, 8-1 Big 12; Oklahoma 5-17, 2-7 Big 12
- Lawrence, Kansas
- Attendance: 1,302
- Box Score
LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 9 Kansas was pushed to the limit by seventh-place Oklahoma, escaping the match with a five-set win as senior right side Kelsie Payne and senior outside hitter Madison Rigdon snapped a 13-all tie in the decisive set.
Kansas downed three kills to start the fifth set, but Oklahoma answered with three putaways of its own and later took the lead at 6-5 on a kill by junior outside hitter Madison Drescher. Kills by redshirt jnior middle blocker Leslie Atherton and junior setter Morgan Miller gave OU a 9-7 edge. The Jayhawks called timeout and scored six of the next eight to vault ahead 13-11. Five Sooner miscues and a kill by sophomore middle Zoe Hill accounted for the KU scores. Oklahoma called timeout and knotted the score with a service error and a junior outside Alyssa Enneking putaway. Payne and Rigdon came through with kills to save Kansas from the upset at 15-13.
Rigdon (14), Payne (14) and sophomore outside hitter Jada Burse (13) led a balanced offensive attack for the Jayhawks, while Hill (8) and sophomore middle Mmachi Nwoke (7) followed. Hill put up a team-leading 10 blocks, while Payne added eight. Sophomore libero Allie Nelson was tops on the team with 18 digs, while Rigdon rounded out a double-double with 13 saves and senior defensive specialist Tori Miller chipped in 11 digs.
Enneking downed a match-high 22 kills, added 16 digs and made good on all 27 of her serve reception tries, but couldn’t lift the Sooners to victory. Drescher (17) and freshman middle Paige Anderson (13) also added double-digit kill efforts. Redshirt junior libero Rachel Manriquez pulled up 21 digs, followed by Miller (20), Enneking (16) and senior defensive specialist Emma Kelly (12).
Kansas outdid Oklahoma 13-5 in blocks and edged the Sooners .225 to .123 in hitting efficiency with help from 39 OU miscues. Oklahoma managed two more kills (61-59) and 16 more digs (84-68) in the loss.
Oklahoma was not at all intimidated by the homestanding Jayhawks, jumping out to a 7-3 lead in Set 1 with a 5-0 run. A pair of stuffs and two kills by Anderson gave the Sooners the edge. Drescher added a trio of putaways to push the advantage to five at 13-8. Kansas was within three seven times, before finally making it 19-17 on an OU miscue. Later trailing 21-17, Rigdon turned in a kill and a block as part of a 3-0 run to pull within one at 21-20. The teams split the next four points before a service error and an Enneking kill gave Oklahoma the 25-22 win.
The Sooners carried the momentum into Set 2, scoring nine of the first 11 points. Four KU miscues and two kills each by Enneking and Anderson aided the early run. Kansas chipped away, eventually tying the score at 11 with help from three Rigdon putaways. After ties at 12 and 13, Kansas surged ahead 16-13 with Burse kill, an OU error and a stuff by Hill and Payne. Back-to-back Drescher kills knotted the score at 19, but Kansas closed out the set on a 6-1 run. Kills by three different players set up the final point, which came on an Oklahoma hitting error.
Oklahoma boasted a two-point lead early in Set 3, last at 11-9. Kansas took over with a 5-0 run, part of a larger 12-3 push. Five OU miscues and two kills each by Burse and Rigdon made it 21-14 Jayhawks. A Drescher kill slowed KU momentarily, but could not stop the eventual 25-17 win. A Rigdon putaway made it 24-16 and a service error wrapped up the set two points later.
With their backs against the wall, the Sooners notched a 10-5 advantage to start Set 4. Four different players turned in kills and the Jayhawks helped with four errors. KU was within two at 11-9, but Oklahoma pulled away with a 9-1 run as Kansas committed five more miscues and Enneking notched an ace to go up 20-10. The teams split the next six points, but a Miller kill put OU on the hill at 24-13. The Jayhawks thwarted nine set-point tries, three on blocks by Hill and three on Oklahoma errors to slice the gap to two at 24-22. Enneking cut the rally short with the set clinching kill.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Oklahoma Athletics
The University of Oklahoma volleyball team won the first and fourth sets before ultimately falling 15-13 in the fifth set to No. 11 Kansas at the Horesji Center on Wednesday night. Facing a top-11 team for the second match in a row, the Sooners led the fifth, 10-8, before the Jayhawks finished off the night by taking seven of the last 10 points.
Oklahoma (5-17, 2-7 Big 12) won the first, 25-22. Kansas (19-3, 8-1) rallied to win each of the next two by scores of 25-20 and 25-17. The Sooners came back to win the fourth, 25-22, and keep the match alive.
Junior outside hitter Alyssa Enneking (League City, Texas) led all players with 22 kills and added 16 digs for her 12th double-double of the year. She was joined in double figures by junior outside hitter Madison Drescher (Southlake, Texas) with 17 kills and freshman middle blocker Paige Anderson(McKinney, Texas) with a season-high 13.
Kansas was led by 14 kills from Madison Rigdon, who knocked down the game winner, and Kelsie Payne. Rigdon netted a double-double with 13 kills. Jada Burse was also in double digits with 13 kills on a .357 attack rate.
OU junior setter Audrey Alford (Norman, Okla.)dished out a match-leading 52 assists to go with eight digs. Two-time reigning Big 12 Setter of the Year Ainise Havili collected 49 assists and eight digs.
Redshirt-junior libero Rachel Manriquez(Edmond, Okla.) led all players with 21 digs. Junior outside hitter Morgan Miller (Magnolia, Texas)was second with a season-high 20. KU was led by Allie Nelson at 18.
The Sooners are back in action Saturday at 2 p.m. against Baylor. Doors open at 1 p.m. and admission is free ahead of the OU football game.
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