by LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kelsie Payne reached her fourth 20-kill performance in the last five matches as No. 10 Kansas volleyball responded to its first home loss of the season with a 3-0 sweep over TCU on Saturday afternoon in front of a sold-out crowd at Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
The Jayhawks (23-2, 11-2 Big 12) finished with one of their most productive offensive matches of the season, totaling 59 kills on a .346 team hitting percentage. In all of NCAA Division I volleyball, Kansas is the sixth team to reach 59 kills or more in a three-set match this season.
KU reached 21 kills in the first set and 20 kills in the second set against the Horned Frogs. Entering Saturday, KU had reached 20 kills in a set four times this season.
Payne, a sophomore outside hitter, finished with 21 kills on a .559 hitting percentage, good for her career high in kills during a three-set match.
Junior Cassie Wait recorded a rare double-double from the libero position, finishing with 21 digs and 10 assists for her second 20-dig outing in a three-set match this season. Sophomore setter Ainise Havili finished with 44 assists and 15 digs for her 10th double-double of the season.
TCU (17-8, 7-6), led by first-year head coach Jill Kramer, was held to under 10 kills in the first and second sets while finishing with 27 kills on a .178 team hitting percentage.
KU took control of the first set with a 14-5 run for a 17-10 lead. Senior outside hitter Tiana Dockery (Navajo), sophomore outside hitter Madison Rigdon, and Payne all had five kills in the first set as the Jayhawks improved to 13-0 in opening sets at home this season. Dockery would finish with 12 kills on the afternoon.
Havili, Wait, and senior Anna Chruch started the second set with aggressive serving to breakout to an 11-3 Kansas lead. Of Payne’s 21 total kills, five came during the 11-3 run to start the second. The Jayhawks ended the second set by the score of 25-15 with a .405 hitting percentage and an 80-percent side-out rate.
Coming out of intermission, TCU went on a 6-0 run to take a 7-3 lead, showing the determination that was evident in an earlier win over then-No. 2 Texas on Oct. 28. But Kansas responded in kind, chipping away at TCU’s lead until tying the set at 19 on a kill by Payne. Kansas rode the ‘Payne Train’ for four kills during a 6-1 run to clinch the set and the match, 25-20.
NEXT UP
No. 10 Kansas has a midweek bye before playing the final two road matches of the regular season. The Jayhawks visit West Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 21, and play the second part of theDillons Sunflower Showdown at Kansas State on Wednesday, Nov. 25.
