MANHATTAN (KSNT) – The No. 13 Kansas Jayhawks evened up the Sunflower Showdown on the volleyball court Saturday afternoon sweeping the K-State Wildcats in Manhattan.
The first set got off to a back-and-forth start, before the ‘Hawks went on a 9-3 scoring run to build a 15-10 lead. They took the first set, 25-22.
KU carried that momentum into the second set, where a 7-1 run helped them to a 25-20 win.
The ‘Cats took a 13-9 lead to start the third set, but the Jayhawks would claw their way back to a 26-24 win.
“They picked their game up, I thought, in the third set. Their defense really came alive, they made some great swings,” Matt Ulmer said, Kansas volleyball’s head coach. “I think old ‘us’ would’ve lost that third set, and we’re probably going to a fifth set and here we go. New ‘us’, growing up mature ‘us’ made some good adjustments and kept going.”
Rhian Swanson and Jovana Zelenovic led the team with 10 kills each. Zelenovic also had three aces and three blocks.
K-State’s Ava LeGrand and Aniya Clinton both recorded double doubles, with LeGrand racking up 34 assists and 12 digs, while Clinton tallied 11 kills and digs.
The ‘Hawks start a three-game road trip on Wednesday in Salt Lake City, where they’ll take on Utah.
The Wildcats will head to Houston to take on the Cougars on Wednesday, before hosting UCF Nov. 26.
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