Seattle ? This was one serve Jill Dorsey won’t forget.

The senior smacked an ace for the final point of Kansas University’s victory over Santa Clara on Friday in the NCAA volleyball tournament. It’s not often Dorsey gets to end a Jayhawks’ win. As the starting libero and top defensive player, she extends matches. She doesn’t end them.

Until her ace wrapped up the 30-25, 26-30, 30-28, 30-15 victory and sent Kansas (19-11) into the today’s second round where it will play the host Washington Huskies (25-2) for the chance to advance to the NCAA regionals.

But first, let Dorsey enjoy that ace.

“That was awesome,” she said. “We were playing well, and coach called the spot. I just went for it, and it fell in. You love getting aces, but it was a really good feeling.”

Of course, to focus on that one play wouldn’t do justice to the balance Kansas displayed against the Broncos (18-9). The Jayhawks had four players hit double-digits in kills, they more than doubled Santa Clara in team blocks and their .343 attack percentage — the ideal in a typical game would be .300 — was far better than the Broncos.

It added up to a pleasing night for Kansas coach Ray Bechard, who guided the Jayhawks past the tournament’s first round for the second straight season.

Entering the game, Bechard worried about Santa Clara’s formidable blocking and hitting, with good reason. The Broncos entered the game ranked 10th in the nation in blocks per game and had more kills this season than Kansas.

But the Jayhawks caught a break when Santa Clara freshman — and team blocks leader — Annalisa Muratore had season-ending knee surgery. Without her, the Broncos were forced to focus on four hitters to Kansas’ five, and they seemed to tire as the match wore on.

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Kansas, on the other hand, could go to senior Ashley Michaels; juniors Josi Lima, Paula Caten (12 kills); sophomore Jana Correa (16); and freshman Emily Brown (nine). Lima, who led Kansas with 17 kills, was the main option throughout the match, but both Michaels and Correa would provide timely kills.

It seemed whenever setter Andi Rozum needed a big hit, she knew just who to turn to, which kept the Broncos from focusing on one hitter.

“There were some points when they did just that,” Bechard said. “But it’s been Josi and Ashley Michaels for us all year.”

The teams split the first two games and traded points during the third game until Lima pounded a kill at 14-14, sparking Kansas to a 5-2 run, which gave it some breathing room as the game wore on.

Kansas built its lead to 28-23 when Santa Clara ran off a couple of quick points, prompting a quick time out from Bechard. The Jayhawks came out and Caten swatted a ball off a Broncos’ block, pulling them to one point of a psychologically important 2-1 lead in games.

After another Santa Clara point — this time off a controversial hit from a back-row Bronco that KU coaches thought the officials missed — Bechard called another time out and told his team it was time to win.

Enter the other half of the Jayhawks’ go-to hitters — Michaels. She provided one of her 15 kills with a game-winning hit just when Kansas needed it most.

“Ashley Michaels took two big swings, when, at the time, some players might be a little tentative,” Bechard said. “But that was very important for us because it was an opportunity for a momentum swing, and I think that carried us into game four.”

No kidding. Santa Clara, looking gassed and a bit deflated, fell behind 6-0 to start — with Dorsey serving — as Kansas cruised.

“I felt like we let game three get away from us,” Broncos coach Jon Wallace said. “That hurt our mentality for game four. I thought they got better as the match went on, and that hurt us. We needed them to stay the same.”

Now Kansas turns their attention the host Huskies, who beat Idaho in the other first-round game Friday. The Huskies, ranked fourth in the USA Today/CSTV Top 25 coaches’ poll, present a formidable task, but it’s one the Jayhawks are familiar with.

“We’ve seen Nebraska twice, Texas twice,” Bechard said. “But they’re probably as good as anyone we’ll see all year.”

The second-round match will begin at 9 p.m. CST.