The 17th-ranked Kansas volleyball team saw its momentum in Big 12 Conference play halted this week after a pair of road losses to No. 8 Texas.
The Longhorns beat the Jayhawks 3-1 Thursday, and there would be no second-day resurgence for KU this week, as it fell in a sweep to Texas Friday night.
The Jayhawks will host Oklahoma for a single match on the afternoon of Oct. 14.
Match 1
A second-set surge that saw KU outhit Texas .552 to .100 didn’t last, as the Longhorns pulled ahead with an 8-1 run midway through the third game, then staved off a Jayhawk rally in the fourth and final set to close out the 3-1 victory (25-17, 16-25, 25-18, 25-22).
KU used a kill by setter Camryn Turner and back-to-back service aces to draw as close as 22-21 in the fourth frame, but despite a service error, Texas claimed three of the final four points and won on a Molly Phillips kill.
Phillips, Asjia O’Neal and Madisen Skinner reached double-digit kills for the Longhorns, as Skinner led the way with 18, including eight as Texas jumped ahead in the first set.
Reagan Cooper paced the Jayhawks with 17 kills. Turner had 36 assists and 11 digs.
Match 2
The Longhorns put together a more complete showing at Gregory Gymnasium Friday night, outhitting the Jayhawks in each set and, generally, outperforming KU in most statistical categories on their way to a 3-0 sweep (25-16, 25-15, 25-18).
Skinner had 22 kills on the night and no other player for either team managed more than eight. She was aided by setter Emma Swindle, who put up 35 assists.
Texas set the tone early with nine of the first 10 points in the opening set and KU never pulled closer than six points behind before the Longhorns’ Jenna Wenaas closed out the game with a pair of late kills.
The Jayhawks equalized several times early in the second frame and maintained a tie up until 6-6 before a trio of attack errors sparked a strong stretch for Texas. It was a similar story as KU faced defeat in the third set, using a dominant early showing with four kills by Cooper to go up 10-7 before the Longhorns went on a 10-1 run that eventually stretched to 16-3. They took the set by a final margin of 25-18.
