Red-hot KU volleyball team eager for weekend showdown with No. 2 Texas

The Kansas volleyball team celebrates scoring against Texas during a match at Gregory Gym in Austin, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016.

A little more than one month ago, in a 4,000-seat gymnasium in Austin, Texas, the Kansas volleyball team was in control late in the first set of its match with the mighty Longhorns and had an opportunity to set the tone for the night by taking early lead in the match.

But the Jayhawks failed to finish, Texas pulled off the comeback and went on to win the Big 12 showdown of 2015 Final Four participants three sets to one.

Saturday, at 6:30 p.m. inside rocking Horejsi Family Athletics Center, the Jayhawks will get their shot at revenge. And there isn’t a player on the team who needs to be reminded of how close they were to writing a different chapter in a book that has been dominated by the Longhorns.

Texas leads the all-time series 40-4 and has won 25 consecutive matches over Kansas.

“I think they left that match knowing that it could’ve looked a little different,” said KU coach Ray Bechard. “So I don’t think they need a reminder of that. I think they’ll probably discuss that among themselves.”

The Jayhawks (19-2 overall, 8-1 Big 12) and Longhorns (17-2, 9-0) both are red hot entering Saturday’s clash, which will be shown on ESPN3.

In that first meeting, the Longhorns were ranked No. 5 in the country and the Jayhawks were ranked No. 8. Since then, UT has climbed back up to the No. 2 spot in the polls while Kansas has jumped two spots to No. 6. Saturday’s match will mark the fourth consecutive Top-10 meeting between these two Big 12 powers.

Both are coming off of sweeps in their most recent matches — Kansas swept Texas Tech on Wednesday night in Lubbock and UT swept Oklahoma at home — but Kansas is riding a streak of seven consecutive victories and five straight sweeps, which puts KU’s season-sweep total at 13. To put that number in perspective, Texas has recorded seven sweeps all season.

“We’re playing well,” said junior outside hitter Kelsie Payne, a native of Austin. “Everything’s clicking and I think we’re finding our roles and our flow as a team so it’s been really good.”

One of the most important roles in KU’s lineup caught a scare recently, when All-American setter Ainise Havili collided with a teammate during last week’s victory over West Virginia, causing her to miss the end of that match. But both Payne and Bechard said Havili looked like her usual self during Wednesday’s sweep of the Red Raiders and the Jayhawks believe they’ll be at full strength Saturday night.

So will Texas, of course, and that, Bechard said, is what makes this one such a challenge. In the first meeting, the Longhorns recorded a hitting percentage of .350 against the Jayhawks and simply overpowered a rock solid KU defense with superior offense. Finding a way to slow that attack, while also maintaining offensive efficiency of their own will be the biggest key for Kansas.

“You go into a lot of game plans and say, ‘If we can control this arm or this arm….’ and then, with Texas, they just keep adding arms,” Bechard said. “So you gotta kind of figure out what match-up’s gonna work for you. We think we’re in a different place than we were before. They’ve made some lineup changes, too and they’re better overall in some spots, too, so it should be fun.”

With the two teams separated by just a game at the top of the Big 12 standings, Saturday’s match becomes as important as any toward achieving one of each team’s major goals.

Bechard and the Jayhawks aren’t hiding from that fact and they’re hopeful that the energy and atmosphere of their home gym will help propel them to their biggest victory of the season.

“Obviously, this is for the Big 12 title and playing away anywhere in the Big 12 is a such big challenge and we have such a great atmosphere here that it’s going to be tough for them to play in,” Payne said. “But we’re not focused on that. Our focus is on pass and serve, first contact, and just controlling the things that we can control.”

Added Bechard: “Our routine won’t change, but it would be a little bit silly for us not to state the obvious. This is a team ahead of us in the standings and our goal is to win a Big 12 championship. Losing twice to a team that is ahead of you in the standings probably doesn’t set you up well to do that.

“Everybody knows the significance and importance of it, but we’ve just gotta be who we are and be the best version of ourselves and that’ll give us the best chance.”