KU volleyball pulls off another sweep of West Virginia
photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World
The Kansas volleyball team picked up right where it left off Thursday with a second straight 3-0 victory, this time 25-18, 25-22, 25-17, over West Virginia.
The Jayhawks hit .337 as a team, including .414 to help separate themselves in what began as a tight first set. Outside hitters Reagan Cooper and Ayah Elnady led KU in kills once again with 13 and 12, respectively, and opposite London Davis added 10 more on just 16 total attacks. Commanding the offense as usual was setter Camryn Turner, with 36 assists.
“I thought Cam created good opportunities offensively, I thought we served better, and I thought we created some better organized defense,” KU coach Ray Bechard said in a press release. “When it got to the chaos, we handled it better so I’m excited about that. It was a good two-day stretch for us, and now we’ll turn the month into November the next time we compete. We’ll get an opportunity to see a K-State team that’s trending in a very good way.”
Bailey Miller led the Mountaineers with 11 kills, and libero Camila Covas had a game-high 13 digs.
WVU kept the first set tied up until 11-11, at which point three kills by Elnady powered a run of four straight points for KU. The Jayhawks did one better later in the game, piling on seven in a row with Molly Schultz serving, including a pair of aces by the senior defensive specialist.
The second set saw KU in control early before three consecutive attack errors and a ball-handling error by Turner allowed WVU to pull back within one point. The Mountaineers kept it close and staved off a set point at 24-21 with a Hailey Green kill but saw the game end with a Lauren DeLo service error.
There was no such intrigue in the third frame. KU led by six points early and a couple of kills from Emma Beretich helped WVU cut it to 18-14, but the Jayhawks scored eight of the next 10 points and Rhian Swanson sealed the result at 25-17.