photo by: Sarah Buchanan/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas' Grace Nelson celebrates against Kansas State on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025, at Allen Fieldhouse.

The 14th-ranked Kansas volleyball team bounced back on Thursday night with a victory on the road at Cincinnati, 3-1 (25-22, 25-17, 22-25, 25-18).

Sophomore outside hitter Grace Nelson excelled, recording a 17-kill, 19-dig double-double on .333 hitting. Senior outside hitter Rhian Swanson paced KU with 19 kills, and middle blocker Reese Ptacek and opposite hitter Jovana Zelenović added a dozen apiece.

Katie Dalton totaled 50 assists from her setter spot, and the Jayhawks hit .226 overall while holding Cincinnati to .099 as a team. Aurora Papac had six block assists for KU.

The Bearcats had the match’s offensive leader in senior outside hitter Carly Glendinning, who recorded 20 kills on 51 attacks. Lily Gillespie had 31 digs for Cincinnati, which used a 6-0 run midway through the third set to prolong the match but allowed the Jayhawks to pull away in the fourth.

“Happy with our defensive effort tonight,” head coach Matt Ulmer said in a press release. “Our offense had some good stretches, but it needs to become more consistent. Grace Nelson also did a lot of really nice things on the court tonight.”

KU had to fight to win the first set at Fifth Third Arena. The Jayhawks trailed 12-8 when Paige Pickering blocked Zelenović, but benefited from some attack and service errors in a 6-1 run to take the lead.

Swanson helped put KU ahead 18-15 with a pair of kills, but Cincinnati didn’t go away easily and even pulled back in front 20-19 with two kills from Glendinning and a solo block on Swanson by Andi Spies. However, the Jayhawks overcame a game-tying service error by Logan Bell to score the final three points out of a 22-22 tie on an attack error from Pickering, kill by Nelson and block by Nelson and Ptacek on Gretchen Sigman.

The second set was not as dramatic. An attack error by Papac put Cincinnati within striking distance, trailing 20-17, but KU rattled off five straight, led by Zelenović.

The Bearcats made the match a bit more interesting with their rally midway through the third game, which largely took place with Pickering serving and included three consecutive attack errors by the Jayhawks. KU managed to tie the score at 17 on back-to-back kills by Zelenović, but Cincinnati had a response with Elliott Mickelberry. With UC leading 23-22, Izzy Busignani scored a key kill, and the Bearcats didn’t falter at set point, as Swanson committed an attack error.

Cincinnati played KU close again in the fourth and final set but allowed a run of five straight while trailing 16-14, including a pair of aces by Ptacek. Busignani was responsible for two errors late, and Swanson delivered on match point.

KU improved to 16-8 overall and 7-3 in the Big 12 and will travel to face West Virginia (14-7, 2-7) at the newly renamed Hope Coliseum on Saturday at noon Central time. The Mountaineers beat Houston in five sets on Thursday.