In the record book, it will go down as a single victory. But in the minds of the Kansas University volleyball coaches and players, it meant so much more.

Saturday morning, at a surprisingly electric Horjesi Family Athletics Center, the Kansas Jayhawks knocked off No. 21 Baylor, 25-18, 19-25, 25-20 and 25-20. The victory was the Jayhawks’ third in the past four matches, their second straight home conference win and, perhaps most importantly, their first win against a ranked opponent since 2007, when they topped No. 18 Oklahoma at home.

“At this time of year, it’s extremely rewarding to see a team continue to get better,” KU coach Ray Bechard said. “And that’s what we did this week. This was a really, really, really good win. We talked about the K-State win (last Wednesday) being important at a regional or local level. Well, this match was important on a national level.”

And it came as a result of outstanding effort and execution from every player who took the floor for the Jayhawks. KU’s usual trio of Karina Garlington, Allison Mayfield and Nicole Tate once again led the Jayhawks’ attack. But the victory would not have come without the contributions of senior Brittany Williams (nine kills), sophomore Lauren Hagan (eight kills) and freshman Tayler Tolefree (five kills and two blocks).

KU’s back row was equally as solid. With 14 digs on the day, senior Katie Martincich recorded her 1,000th career dig, becoming just the 11th player in KU history to reach that milestone. Senior Melissa Grieb and junior Melissa Manda also delivered on defense, as the two combined for 26 digs and kept the Jayhawks in several rallies in which both teams scrambled ferociously.

“Wins like this are just unbelievable,” said Garlington, who led KU with 19 kills. “It was just a great team win. Everybody stepped up and played great. Just the energy we came in with was amazing.”

The Jayhawks harnessed that energy and dominated the opening set. Baylor struggled with serve-receive in the first set, giving KU plenty of opportunities to string together runs. A 9-4 KU lead forced Baylor to call a timeout. The Jayhawks ripped off a 4-1 run out of the timeout and built an insurmountable 13-5 lead.

The Bears won the second set, 25-19, and the two teams then battled back-and-forth throughout set No. 3 until Kansas turned an 18-all tie into a 25-20 victory. Tolefree delivered a key block at 22-20 and then finished the game with a kill on an overpass. Hagan also had a key kill late in the third.

“Everyone just really played to their roles today,” Hagan said. “And in a match like this, it’s very important to have that.”

Despite Baylor building leads of 4-1 and 12-8 in the fourth set, the Jayhawks dominated the latter part of the set. A kill from Williams tied things at 16. Mayfield (16 kills, seven digs) then followed with three straight kills to give KU a 19-16 lead, and Garlington recorded three kills down the stretch to seal the victory.

“I think we’re maturing,” Bechard said. “We have a lot of young girls out on the court, but they obviously understand the importance of this time of the season.”

The Jayhawks (15-11 overall and 7-9 in Big 12 play) will look to continue to build their resume for the NCAA Tournament selection committee Wednesday at No. 9 Iowa State. The last time Kansas made the NCAA Tournament (2005), its finished the regular season 15-14 and 7-13 in Big 12 play.