by LAWRENCE, Kan. – Coach Ray Bechard has reached unprecedented heights.
As Kansas swept Duke, 25-17, 25-18, 25-23, in the nightcap of the Kansas Invitational on Friday, Bechard became the first coach to reach 300 wins at KU. The Jayhawks also improve to 5-0 on the season for the first time since 2011.
KU came out roaring, never letting Duke take a lead in the first set. Kansas gained separation with a 7-0 run, highlighted by a pair of aces from Tiana Dockery to take a 16-8 lead. Duke called two timeouts during that span but the damage was done. KU never looked back and took the set, 25-17, after Dockery added another ace to close out the set.
Duke responded in the second set by jumping out to a 7-4 lead, but KU didn’t stay down for long. The Jayhawks used a 7-2 run to take an 11-8 lead. Junior libero Cassie Wait and sophomore right-side Kelsie Payne contributed three aces during the run. Janae Hall capped off the 25-18 second-set victory with two consecutive kills.
Both teams struggled to gain control in the back-and-fourth third set. Two kills late by junior Tayler Soucie gave KU match point, 24-22. An emphatic kill from Dockery sent the packed house at Horejsi home happy with a 25-23 third-set win.
KU concludes the Kansas Invitational against UMKC on Saturday at 4 p.m. inside the Horejsi Family Athletic Center.
Quotes
Senior Outside Hitter Tiana Dockery
On the match against Duke:
“It was a pretty good day for our whole team, especially because Coach B earned his 300th win, so it was really exciting. I feel like our team did really well. We kept ourselves together even on down parts during the match.”
On the adjustments made during the 3rd set:
“When we have a passer who is passing a little off, we talk to them a little bit and shift over to give her a little bit less responsibility, so she can get her momentum back afterwards. I think Madison (Rigdon) is very level headed, so she can mess up maybe two or three times and still kill it the next 10 or 20 times. She does really well on that.”
