Updated 4:26 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025:

The new-look 15th-ranked Kansas volleyball team got to experience matches shorter than five sets for the first time, and in turn experienced victory for the second and third times.

The Jayhawks took down Bowling Green in four sets — 25-18, 25-20, 25-27, 25-14 — on Wednesday, then beat No. 23 Georgia Tech, also in four, 25-17, 25-18, 22-25, 25-14, on Thursday.

KU evened its record at 3-3 after a series of five-set heartbreakers against high-ranked opposition. Both matches took place as part of the Stacey Clark Classic at Holloway Gymnasium in West Lafayette, Indiana, where the Jayhawks will get a chance to add another marquee win to their resume when they take on host Purdue at 6 p.m. on Friday.

KU 3, BGSU 1

The match featured one of the top performances in the career of senior outside hitter Rhian Swanson, who totaled a career-best 20 kills on .421 hitting with just four errors. Sophomore middle blocker Reese Ptacek added 12 on .381 hitting, and setter Cristin Cline tallied 43 assists.

Lauryn Hovey led the way with 12 kills and 13 digs for Bowling Green, which came back from 17-11 and 24-21 deficits to force a fifth set, but hit just .121 as a team to KU’s .276.

Two Jayhawks made their season debuts: pin hitter Audra Wilmes, a veteran transfer from Washington, who played in one set, and redshirt junior defensive specialist Molly McCarthy, who had six digs.

“Bowling Green is well-coached, serves aggressively, and runs a lot of different offensive patterns that gave us trouble,” KU coach Matt Ulmer said in a press release. “I’m proud of how we responded in the fourth set. We have great senior leadership, and we saw that today, particularly from Rhian Swanson and Molly McCarthy.”

The Falcons hung tough early in the first set but conceded three kills to Swanson and two service aces to Cline as part of a 6-1 run for the Jayhawks. KU didn’t close the game out immediately but got another kill by Swanson on its third set point to start strong in West Lafayette.

Bowling Green, which was a set away from the NIVC title last season, didn’t make it easy in the second game. Six straight points, including a pair of aces by Sydnie Hernandez, put the Falcons ahead 9-3. KU was able to battle back for five straight of its own, led by Swanson and Ptacek, who scored four of them and combined for a block on Hovey. Later, trailing 19-17, the Jayhawks benefited from a service error by Hernandez and then proceeded to score seven of the next eight points, mostly with McCarthy serving. Swanson provided the winner.

The Falcons reversed that late surge with their own performance in the third set. KU had gone ahead 17-11 when Cline set up Ptacek for a kill (aided by Ava Buddelmeyer’s block error), then recorded a kill of her own. The Falcons drew as close as two points away on three occasions, then even managed to tie the game at 21 on an attack error by Selena Leban. But Leban put the Jayhawks a point away at 24-21.

Bowling Green proceeded to score four straight when Wilmes got blocked by Buddelmeyer and Kendall Williams and then Buddelmeyer and Hovey recorded one kill each, before Hovey got an ace. Leban tied the score back at 25 for KU, but ultimately committed the decisive attack error for the 27-25 result.

There was no such drama in the final set, the most lopsided of the day. KU built a five-point cushion early and did not let the Falcons gain any ground. The Jayhawks closed out the 25-14 game on a kill by Jovana Zelenović and an attack error by Hovey.

KU 3, GT 1

Swanson continued her hot streak with another 19 kills, this time backed up by Zelenović (14 on .444 hitting), Ptacek (11) and outside hitter Grace Nelson (10 kills and nine digs). Cline started at setter and supplied another 46 assists, and libero Ryan White added six assists to go with 12 digs.

Georgia Tech, which entered at 4-0 and having already beaten higher-ranked Purdue on Wednesday, did not have a single player reach double-digit kills. Larissa Mendes led the way with nine.

The first set swung KU’s way on a 9-0 run, primarily with Cline serving. Consecutive attack errors by Mendes followed by back-to-back kills from Swanson supplied the final four points to make it 15-5 before Tech spent its second timeout of the set. The Jayhawks were still doubling up the Yellow Jackets at 22-11 but conceded six straight points on errors of all kinds before sealing the deal.

The second figured fewer dramatic momentum swings. KU inched ahead from an 11-11 tie on three consecutive kills by Swanson and maintained its narrow advantage down the stretch. Two attack errors by Anika Groom and a reception error on a serve by Cline were enough for the Jayhawks to go up 2-0.

They couldn’t finish off the sweep because Tech came out strong in the third, with a block by Groom and Bianca Garibaldi capping off a 4-0 run that made it 10-5 in the Yellow Jackets’ favor. KU never led in the set, although it did draw to two points away on a series of occasions, including at 24-22 before Cline’s service error ended the game.

The fourth set, which swung the match to KU, featured the most decisive result. Tech essentially ran out of gas after Nelson’s service error made it 12-12, and the Jayhawks scored 13 of the next 15 points. One run featured three aces by Ptacek in a four-point span. Zelenović and Aurora Papac combined for two late blocks, and Zelenović was responsible for the match point with a final kill.