photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas libero Raegan Burns bumps the ball against Creighton at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, September 21, 2024 in Lawrence, Kansas.

Kansas had started the Jayhawk Classic with a commanding four-set win over No. 6 Purdue in front of a sold-out Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena and continued to roll with a sweep of Tulsa on Friday night.

But the 10th-ranked Jayhawks ran out of steam in their tournament-deciding match against No. 9 Creighton, as the offense that had been clicking all weekend couldn’t get anything going.

The Bluejays took advantage of this with a strong blocking front to sweep the Jayhawks (25-17, 25-19, 25-17) on Saturday afternoon.

After holding Purdue to a .278 hitting percentage on Thursday night, the Jayhawks allowed Creighton to hit .378 in the first set of Saturday’s match, a number that served as a preview of what was to come. Kansas had 38 total attacks in the first set to go along with nine attack errors — six of which came on blocks by the Blue Jays — to culminate in a .079 hitting percentage. In comparison, Creighton had 37 total attacks and only one attack error (on Kansas’ only block of the set).

“We ran into a good team that played pretty clean volleyball,” said head coach Ray Bechard. “Great offensive balance, they were ranked top 10. As we analyze kind of what just happened and we’ll obviously watch some video, but (I think) it was more just a combination of a lot of little things than one major thing.”

Starting out competitively, the Jayhawks found themselves down 12-10 in a set where the offense was getting absolutely shut down by Creighton’s block. The Bluejays then went on a 13-7 run that included four blocks and resulted in a 25-17 first-set loss whose score looked a lot closer than it felt. As Bechard often does, he tried to switch things up in the first set to get something going for his offense, as freshman Reese Ptacek subbed in for freshman Zoey Burgess after an attack error, and he experimented with freshman Heidi Devers coming in to serve for libero Raegan Burns. But these changes didn’t alter the path that Kansas was already on.

The work off the block that Kansas showcased in its win over Purdue looked to completely disappear against the Blue Jays. The Jayhawks allowed six blocks in the first set to a team that averages 2.67 per set as they couldn’t tool things off the Blue Jays’ blocking front.

Kansas did find some success by mixing in back-row attacks by Ayah Elnady and Caroline Bien, as it took an early 10-8 lead in the second set.

“Anytime that you can mix it in a little bit, it’s going to loosen up some opportunities for those front-row players,” Bechard said. “But it’s not a tactic that you rely on. And we just did not have the offensive balance today or the efficiency that we needed to… We didn’t pass as well as we needed to and we didn’t attack as well as we needed to.”

Later, things seemed to be clicking better than they had in the first game, with Elnady and Bien leading the Jayhawks to a 17-16 lead. But from there the Bluejays would go on a 9-2 run, including five straight points to force two timeouts from Bechard, as the offense overpowered Kansas’ blocking front and their block reappeared late on the other side for a 25-19 victory.

After some improvement for a good chunk of the second set, the Jayhawks settled into their earlier ways in set three, defeated by allowing another late run for Creighton to take control. Kansas stayed close, mostly within two, but could never overcome the deficit and ultimately allowed a 7-3 run to put the Bluejays three points away from a clean sweep. A few long rallies would not go in the Jayhawks’ favor, and Creighton won set three 25-17.

Despite the tough loss and a long talk in the locker room following it, Bechard recognized the positives that a top-10 battle afforded his team.

“I told our team afterwards, that team right there will be hosting the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and obviously we have some of those similar goals,” he said. “That’s a team that could advance… So I’m not sure that you’re going to see a team any better than that this year, they’re one of the top teams in the country. And we feel like we can be too, but they were closer to their true identity today than we were.”

With an undefeated record coming into Saturday’s matchup, a loss is not the end of the world for the Jayhawks as they push into Big 12 Conference play this week, but it still hurts.

“I think we look at the totality of our pre-conference schedule. We went 9-1 and we scheduled tough, and I think we scheduled tougher than any other Big 12 team,” Bechard said. “If someone asks you before the season starts ‘You’re 9-1 after 10 (matches), how do you feel about that?’ You’re probably pretty excited, but it’s just tough when the 10th one was that and we know we’re a better team than that.”

Bechard knows what his team can bounce back stronger from this adversity.

“It’s a new season, the Big 12 (play) starts and it’s a new season,” he said. “We looked at our two-a-days as one phase, our pre-conference as phase two, and now here we’re in phase three with the Big 12. We’ve got two to start at home, and I know our team will respond well and be ready to go.”

Kansas will open conference play this Wednesday against UCF at 6 p.m. in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas setter Camryn Turner sets the ball for a teammate against Creighton at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024 in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas middle blocker Toyosi Onabanjo attempts a kill against Creighton at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024 in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas defensive specialist Bryn McGehe passes the ball against Creighton at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024 in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas opposite hitter London Davis hits the ball over the net against Creighton at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024 in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas setter Camryn Turner bumps the ball against Creighton at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024 in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas middle blocker Toyosi Onabanjo attempts to block an attack by Creighton’s Ava Martin at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024 in Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas outside hitter Ayah Elnady attempts an attack against Creighton at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024 in Lawrence.