photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas celebrates a point against TCU on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Lawrence.

Coming back from an Arizona road trip on which it dropped two games to fall out of first place in the Big 12, the Kansas volleyball team responded with a crucial four-set win, 3-1 (25-20, 25-21, 15-25, 25-17) over No. 18 TCU on Wednesday night at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena.

“I feel like it was kind of like a big momentum shift, just for the rest of the season,” senior setter Camryn Turner said. “It was kind of hard losing two to teams that I feel like we could have beaten, so I feel like it was really good how we responded. It’s very telling.

“This point of the season, it’s very, like, mundane. Everything we do, it’s been the same for a while now. So just kind of going a little harder in practice, going a little harder in weights, so it’ll be easier translated into the game.”

Outside hitter Ayah Elnady led KU with 18 kills and added 15 digs and four blocks, making her one of three Jayhawks with double-doubles alongside Caroline Bien (14 kills, 19 digs) and Turner (39 assists, 19 digs).

“She wasn’t having her best match, but don’t count her out,” KU coach Ray Bechard said of Elnady’s performance. “She took a ton of swings… and when the match is on the line, she’s going to find a way.”

The Jayhawks got out to an early 5-2 lead in the first game before some defensive miscues allowed TCU to tie it. While Kansas continued to have trouble communicating on serve-receive, their offense clicked right away to keep the Jayhawks afloat.

“(TCU outside hitter Melanie) Parra’s got a great serve… We got a little tentative on that, we were thinking it would be more spin but it was a little flatter,” Bechard said. “So we went to four across to try to pass and we kind of settled in against her and did a little better job.”

Toyosi Onabanjo and Turner had an immediate connection and ran a few perfectly executed slides to retake a 12-11 lead and keep momentum on Kansas’ side.

“When she gets fired up, I just want to keep feeding the beast, and she’s going to keep getting kills and bring the energy to our team,” Turner said.

Then Kansas grabbed a 15-14 lead at the first media timeout with a balanced offensive attack and solid block, and the Jayhawks battled to go up 19-17 when an unsuccessful challenge by TCU gave Kansas all the momentum it needed. Onabanjo led a rally before London Davis finished it off and the Horned Frogs called timeout.

From there, two more slides got the Jayhawks to set point, and they won set one 25-20 on a service error by TCU. Onabanjo led the Jayhawks with five kills in the set while hitting .833.

Kansas kept its momentum going with a dominant start to the second set. As TCU’s offense struggled to connect, Kansas took advantage to mount an 11-5 lead early on. From there the Horned Frogs found their groove and slowly chipped away at the Jayhawks’ lead before a 6-1 run made it a 17-14 game. Kansas then called its first timeout of the night and rattled off back-to-back points coming out of it to force TCU to use a timeout of its own.

Elnady led the Jayhawks to victory on a couple of powerful crosscourt shots, as Kansas was able to switch off points for a 25-21 win.

While they had been able to hold off the TCU comeback in set two, the Jayhawks lost all of that energy entering the third, set, as the Horned Frogs jumped out to a 7-0 lead. The disparity remained the same through much of the set, as Kansas rattled off a couple of points in a row only to give back an even bigger run to TCU. The Jayhawks hit .025 with 10 attack errors in their 25-15 set three loss.

“We were really, really sluggish, really not good in that third set,” Bechard said. “So when we called timeout (late), we said, ‘Whether we’re going to win the third set or not, we need to start playing better.’ So I think the message was more at the end of the third set, ‘Let’s get some momentum, we’re probably not going to catch them, but let’s get some momentum.’ … So we were actually playing a little bit better at the end of the third and that carried over into the fourth.”

Elnady was the ultimate catalyst in the fourth set, tallying nine kills in the frame to lead a bounce-back performance by Kansas after a disappointing set three.

“I literally turned to Bien and said ‘Ugh, I love when Ayah does this,’ and she was like ‘Me too,'” Turner said. “When Ayah gets fired up, it’s go time. When she turns it on, everyone’s hopping on board and we know it’s go time.”

After starting the set off pretty even, three kills in a row by Elnady sparked an eight-point run for the Jayhawks to take a 15-6 lead. The Horned Frogs benefited from a few calls with which Bechard disagreed, but it didn’t matter as the Jayhawk defense stepped up big and the offense once again found its rhythm. With her final kill of the set, Elnady got Kansas to its first match point, before TCU went on a three-point run. However, the Horned Frogs were unable to stave off a fourth set point, as Kansas won the final set 25-17.

While the Jayhawks only hit .192 in an uncharacteristically iffy night from the offense, their defense adjusted from early miscues to keep them afloat in a crucial matchup.

“We had some people offensively that didn’t have their best match, but we dug 92 balls tonight,” Bechard said. “You’ve got to find a way to win some things when one part of your system’s not working.”

He was able to find this from his entire team, as Elnady, Turner, Bien, Raegan Burns and Bryn McGehe each had over 15 digs on the night.

Kansas will need to keep this team-wide consistency going as it faces another pivotal Big 12 matchup on Saturday, when the Jayhawks will host No. 17 Baylor at noon.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas freshman Reese Ptacek waits for the serve against TCU on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Lawrence.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas celebrates a point against TCU on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Lawrence.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas senior Toyosi Onabanjo hits the ball against TCU on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Lawrence.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas sophomore Raegan Burns digs the ball against TCU on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Lawrence.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas freshman Grace Nelson chest-bumps freshman Kenzie Dean during the match against TCU on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Lawrence.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas hosts TCU on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Lawrence.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas hosts TCU on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Lawrence.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas sophomore Raegan Burns during the match against TCU on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Lawrence.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas senior Caroline Bien celebrates with Raegan Burns against TCU on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Lawrence.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas senior Caroline Bien during the match against TCU on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Lawrence.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas senior Camryn Turner serves the ball against TCU on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Lawrence.

photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas senior Caroline Bien digs the ball against TCU on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, in Lawrence.