Let the history books chronicle Kansas as the winner of the first college volleyball match played in the Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
The Jayhawks overcame some early jitters to subdue Missouri-Kansas City, 1-15, 15-7, 15-6, 15-11, in a match played before 832 fans in the Jayhawks' new building, which seats 1,300.
"It wasn't perfect, but it definitely felt good to win before our fans in a place we really feel is our home," KU senior middle blocker Amanda Reves said.
Reves had 14 kills while junior Amy Myatt contributed a career-high 13 kills and senior Mary Beth Albrecht nine. Sophomore setter Molly LaMere had 42 assists and 11 digs -- both career highs -- as the Jayhawks christened the building with a victory.
"The opener opener wasn't good," second-year KU coach Ray Bechard quipped, referring to Game One. "The result was good. A lot of fans came up and said, 'Wow, this (building) is awesome. This is cool.'
"There was a lot of energy. It was a good crowd. I didn't look around that much. I wanted to find a place to hide there at one point in time."
KU's coach didn't abandon ship after the first game.
"I said, 'Let's forget all about that and understand we are a good team,''' Bechard said. "I said, 'We will have to earn points. We will have to block some balls, dig some balls and put some balls away.'
"They (Kangaroos) played five matches prior to the start of the season and it looked like it," Bechard added. UMKC went 4-1 on a European tour prior to the start of the season.
"They looked like they were in midseason form. We looked like we were still in last week sometime. To our credit, we came back and played well the last three games. That was a good team."
Former Lawrence High player Katy Kampschroeder had two kills, nine digs and 36 assists for UMKC.
"Kampschroeder did a great job running their offense," Bechard said. "We finally physically kind of took over."
Kampschroeder agreed.
"I think we used all our energy in the first game," she said. "We didn't keep the same intensity."
The Jayhawks seemed to play harder after the Game One thrashing.
"I was pretty disappointed in myself. I was more disappointed as a whole team," said Reves, an honorable mention all-Big 12 pick last year from Denver. "We were not talking, not relaxing. I was definitely trying to get everyone going. A win is a win. We need to build on it and play our game every single match."
KU, 1-0, will next meet Maryland-Baltimore County at the West Virginia Tournament on Friday night in Morgantown, W.Va.
-- Gary Bedore's phone number is 832-7186. His e-mail address is gbedore@ljworld.com
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.