The Jayhawks celebrate the win against Ole Miss on Friday, September 18, 2026 in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena.

The 22nd-ranked Kansas University women’s volleyball team earned its fifth straight win and fifth straight sweep Friday night, defeating Ole Miss, 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-13), in the opening match of the Jayhawk Classic at the Horejsi Family Arena.

“It was great to play Ole Miss,” said KU head coach Matt Ulmer, whose team hit .402 for the match with 47 kills on 87 attacks. “I thought they served very aggressive, and their block had a lot of size. There were a lot of heavy-hitting arms on the other side. Those are all things we’re going to see in our conference, so I thought it helped get our eyes adjusted a little bit more as the match went along.”

Taylor Stanley led KU (6-3) with 18 kills and a .519 attack percentage on 27 attempts, and adding three aces, three digs and two blocks for the Jayhawks. Grace Nelson had 15 kills and only one error on 23 swings, hitting .609, along with seven digs and two aces of her own.

The opening set was fairly even until the late stages, as the Jayhawks’ attack was hitting on all cylinders, but KU had six service errors as well to help keep Ole Miss close.

“I thought we were over-aggressive with our serves in the first set,” said Ulmer. “We calmed down and got ourselves into a rhythm. Our offense in the first and third sets was about as good as you can do, which is exciting to see. Just a lot of great individual performances, but we have to keep growing.”

KU – which is now 4-0 at home with four sweeps – finally took control of the first set with a 5-1 run – created by a mix of kills, aces and blocks – to open up a 21-15 advantage before cruising to a 25-19 win. The Jayhawks hit .560 in the set, pounding down 16 kills against only two errors on 25 total attacks.

The second set was even more competitive than the first, as the Rebels (6-4) and Kansas were tied at 20 before the Jayhawks scored two straight to take a slim 22-20 lead. Ole Miss got one point back to get to within 22-21, but a block error and attack error by the Rebels made it 24-21 Kansas, and the Jayhawks took set two, 25-22.

KU never trailed in Set 3, scoring four of the first five points and not allowing Ole Miss to score more than two points in a row during the entire set. The Jayhawks slowly widened their lead throughout the set, using a 6-1 burst to build a 19-10 lead and land the knockout punch against the Rebels. Kansas hit .467 in the final set, putting down 17 kills with three errors on 30 attacks to close out the match.

“I definitely think connections are getting better on offense,” said UImer. “I think (setters Reese Messer and Cristin Cline) both feel like they have a really good idea of where they’re trying to put that ball and what they’re looking for. I think our serve receive is pretty dialed in right now. It’s pretty hard to get points off our passes back there. Serving has been a little up and down, but I like how aggressive we are. We’re earning a lot of points on our side, which is very exciting.”

Along with Nelson and Stanley, Logan Bell had seven kills, Aisha Aiono netted five kills and three blocks, Messer handed out 42 assists, along with five digs and three blocks, and Olivia Hasbrook chipped in seven digs, three aces and two assists for the Jayhawks in the win.

Kansas is back in action Sunday afternoon, taking on Grand Canyon (5-4) to close out the Jayhawk Classic. First serve at Horejsi Family Arena is set for 2 p.m.