Fayetteville, Ark. ? A balanced offense and solid defense helped Kansas University’s volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep (25-15, 25-16, 25-20) of North Texas on Friday in the first match of the Arkansas Tournament.

The Jayhawks improved to 5-2, while UNT dropped to 0-8.

KU matched a season-high hitting percentage with a .324 attack percentage, led by freshman Tayler Tolefree, who, while making her second career start, swung at a .462 attack percentage. She recorded seven kills on 13 attempts and made just one error. Tolefree, a Lawrence High graduate, also had five blocks. Sophomore Lauren Hagan led KU with a career-best six blocks.

The Jayhawks collected 44 kills, compared to North Texas’ 27. Karina Garlington led all players with 10 kills. Sophomore Allison Mayfield added eight and Hagan ended with seven.

Defensively, KU out-dug the Mean Green, 56-41, and junior libero Melissa Manda had 15 digs. Sophomore Nicole Tate joined Manda in double figures, tallying 11 digs along with 38 assists for her second double-double.

Senior Paige Mazour was successful on 50 percent of her attempts, collecting four kills and no errors in the first set.

Senior Katie Martincich recorded a pair of service aces, including one for the set point.

After taking a commanding 18-7 lead in the final set, Kansas had trouble putting the match away. North Texas scored five straight points and then rolled, 7-1, to cut the score to 23-18. The Jayhawks were able to hang on, as a UNT attack error and a Mayfield kill finished the match, 25-20.

Kansas will face Jacksonville State at 1 p.m. today and Arkansas at 7 p.m. today in the Arkansas Tournament.