photo by: Parker I. Johnson/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas outside hitter Taylor Stanley (23) hits the ball over on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026 at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence.

For the sixth time in as many matches to begin her career, Taylor Stanley was the lead attacker for Kansas volleyball.

The freshman pin hitter recorded 16 kills, her sixth match with at-least 15, to help lead the No. 22-ranked Jayhawks (3-3) to a sweep (25-20, 25-19, 25-20) over South Dakota State in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena on Friday.

“We have so much trust in Taylor offensively,” junior middle blocker Reese Ptacek. “The connection between Reese (Messer) and Taylor is really, like, blossoming for them, and I’m really happy that’s been happening, especially considering they’re both new.”

The setter Messer dished out 35 assists for the match, while junior pin hitter Grace Nelson recorded nine kills and Ptacek added seven.

The KU defense was tested throughout the match by South Dakota State outside hitters Sylvie Zgonc and Hannah Klein, who recorded 12 and 10 kills respectively.

“They had a really nice game plan coming in offensively (with) what they were trying to do, and we looked shocked,” head coach Matt Ulmer said. “They took advantage of our weaknesses, and again, those are things that every day we’re just trying to get better and better at.”

After recording four service aces in Tuesday’s win over Wichita State, sophomore pin hitter Logan Bell picked up right where she left off with a service ace to begin the match, ultimately helping KU score the first three points.

The Jayhawks led by as many as five points early in the first set, taking a 15-10 lead into the media timeout after a kill by junior middle blocker Reese Ptacek. The Jackrabbits used a four-point run to cut the deficit to 17-16 before Stanley responded with her fifth kill of the set.

“The thing about Taylor is we’re giving her all sorts of sets,” Ulmer said. “She’s getting some good ones, but she’s also getting some bad ones, obviously some stuff that we’re just throwing up to her and (saying), ‘Go do something, make magic,’ and she just is doing it more times than not.”

The two teams continued to trade points back and forth before KU scored the last four points to eke out a 25-20 set victory, taking a 1-0 match lead after a kill by Ptacek.

KU opened up a 7-4 lead in set two following an ace by Ptacek before South Dakota State scored six of the next eight points to take a 10-9 lead. A block and a kill by Stanley allowed the Jayhawks to regain the advantage before back-to-back kills by Nelson and Ptacek a few rallies later made the score 15-12 at the media timeout.

South Dakota State scored two points to cut the deficit back to one, but the KU offense came alive down the stretch with five kills and a service ace to take the second set, capped off once again with a slide kill by Ptacek.

Ptacek says that she and Messer have developed a great connection, especially with slide attacks, despite Messer joining the team not long before the season began.

“I love that (Messer) is wanting to throw me in a lot of different citations,” Ptacek said. “And we might not always connect perfectly… but that’s going to happen. And, it’s like in those instances, I want (her) to feel like she can just chuck me the ball, and I’ll go get it.”

The match remained tightly contested in the third set, as the Jayhawks had the chance to hold a four-point advantage before a successful challenge by the Jackrabbits on an attack made the score 9-7. South Dakota State tied the set at 13 before two straight points for the Jayhawks gave the hosts a 15-13 lead.

As they had all afternoon, the Jackrabbits cut the Jayhawks’ lead to just one point following the media timeout, but a 3-0 spurt sparked by a kill from Stanley extended the advantage back to four. Stanley then recorded her 14th kill to give KU its 20th point.

SDSU was the beneficiary of another successful challenge before a 5-2 run by KU ended the match as Stanley notched her fifth service ace to cap off the sweep.

“She was in a groove today, and I thought she got a lot of good points off the service line for us,” Ulmer said. “We don’t have a lot of highly aggressive servers, so she and Grace (Nelson) get to do that for us, and we know they’re going to miss a little bit more, but they’re also going to score some points for us in bunches.”

The Jayhawks will return to action on Sunday to close out the Kansas Invitational, hosting undefeated Tulsa (7-0) at 2 p.m. Ptacek says the key to taking down the Golden Hurricane, which defeated No. 15 Creighton on Sept. 6, is to stay consistent in all aspects.

“Are we disciplined in our prep? How we’re scouting, how we’re mentally preparing,” Ptacek said. “(Are) we disciplined on the court with defense, are we staying in our base? Disciplined with our mental capacity to stay calm, and just all those little things.”

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