Kansas Sophomore Katie Martincich winds up to serve against Texas Tech. KU swept the Red Raiders on Saturday in Horejsi Center.

Freshman Jenna Kaiser, wearing number 12, joins her team in celebrating a point Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007 during the KU home volleyball match against Texas Tech.

Kansas University’s Karina Garlington has been the odd woman out in a three-player competition with fellow volleyball freshmen Jenna Kaiser and Flavia Lino.

Saturday against Texas Tech, Garlington made coach Ray Bechard’s decision more difficult for the two open spots on the floor.

Garlington led the team in a 3-0 (30-27, 30-24, 30-25) sweep of the Red Raiders in Horejsi Center. It’s the second straight Big 12 Conference victory for KU (9-5, 2-2 in conference).

“Well, Karina’s never been totally 100-percent healthy, and she’s had some nagging things that have been bothering her,” Bechard said. “She’s a confident kid and had some good match-ups today and took some really good swings. That just gives us depth in that position.

“Flavia, right now, is working through some things, struggling a little bit, and Karina’s stepping up and playing well. So it’s good to have some options at that position.”

Garlington served up a team-high three aces, and her 14 kills were an individual high in a three-game match for any Kansas player this season.

And, again, this was against a Big 12 opponent.

“It’s way different from high school, that’s for sure,” Garlington said of the level of play in the Big 12. “But I just try not to think about it and just go through it one team at a time.”

Garlington hadn’t played much against the Big 12 prior to Saturday, logging time in just seven of KU’s 12 games in conference.

During that time, she came up with just five kills while committing eight attacking errors. Against Texas Tech, she limited her errors to three and also assisted in four blocks.

“I just use those seniors, Caitlin (Mahoney) and Emily (Brown) and (junior) Savannah (Noyes), all those players that have a lot of experience as leaders and role models,” Garlington said. “I just try to follow in their footsteps and just play the best that I can play because I can’t control what they’re doing on the other side of the net.”

Brown definitely set a good example in the victory over the Red Raiders.

The Baldwin native picked up her second triple-double – 10 kills, 25 assists and 11 digs – of the season and the third of her career.

“Everybody played well today. I don’t know what I did, actually,” Brown said. “I mean, everybody played well.”

The Jayhawks did have some issues attacking the net – picking up 25 attacking errors – but were able to counter that with a solid day from the service line.

KU finished with eight aces and committed just six service errors while giving up just one ace to Texas Tech.

“Any time you have more aces than errors, that’s a great stat,” Bechard said. “We got outblocked a little bit because we made some bad hitting choices, but I thought the serve really evened those two stats out.”

Kansas will need that kind of clean play against their next conference foe: No. 1-ranked and defending national champion Nebraska.

The Jayhawks will play host to the Cornhuskers on Wednesday at Horejsi.