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

Kansas celebrates during a match against Grand Canyon on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Lawrence.

Kansas volleyball (7-3) wrapped up its nonconference slate on Sunday afternoon, sweeping Grand Canyon (25-21, 25-21, 25-15) in the final match of the Jayhawk Classic at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena.

“I thought we kept (Grand Canyon) in it, and we couldn’t get in much rhythm,” head coach Matt Ulmer said. “We didn’t get in much of a rhythm because we just kept missing (serves) at bad times, so we’ve got some things to work through.”

Offensively, the No. 22-ranked Jayhawks, who have now won the last six matches all via sweeps, were led by freshman pin hitter Taylor Stanley, who put down 14 kills. It was a balanced effort throughout, however, as four more Jayhawks, Aisha Aiono, Reese Ptacek, Grace Nelson and Logan Bell each recorded at least seven kills, while sophomore setter Reese Messer passed for 37 assists.

“Every team you play, they’re going to have different strengths and weaknesses and how they’re going to defend you,” Ulmer said. “They really focused on our outsides with their block and their scheme… but you know, that means our middles and Taylor were more open.”

Of the two middles, it was Aiono who had a career-high 10 kills, along with a team-high five blocks on the defensive end.

“The biggest thing right now is she’s really thinking that Reese is going to set her every ball, and I should say our setters in general, I think Cristin (Cline) as well,” Ulmer said. “The comfort level between our middles and setters right now is at a high, especially with (Aiono), so that’s really neat to see.”

The opening set was a close battle from the start, as KU committed three service errors and struggled to establish its block, still holding a slim 11-10 advantage. However, the Jayhawks won four of the next five points, taking a 15-11 lead at the technical timeout.

“Yeah, the defense is going to drive me into early retirement, I think,” Ulmer joked. “Even just following game plans, we’re having a really hard time doing that, so that’s going to catch up to us fast, and it’s making sets be tighter than they need to be.”

Ptacek’s first service ace of the match gave KU a five-point cushion before a pair of attacking errors by KU and four kills by the Lopes tied the match at 19. A pair of kills by Stanley and a block pulled the Jayhawks ahead for good, ending the set after Nelson’s second kill of the set.

The Jayhawks pulled away on the offensive end, putting down 18 kills with six errors in the first set for a .316 hitting percentage.

The second set was once again a back-and-forth battle with the two teams trading scoring runs throughout the set. Grand Canyon (6-5) drew within two points late in the set at 22-20, but KU pulled away late thanks to a kill by Aiono, a block, and a kill by Stanley to take a 2-0 match lead.

The score was tied three times to begin set three, but the Jayhawks took the lead at 4-3 and never looked back. KU’s lead grew rapidly to 13-6, and the Jayhawks ultimately led by as many as 10 points, which was the difference in the final set as Ptacek ended the match with a kill on a free ball.

The Jayhawks recorded a .516 hitting percentage in the final set, pounding down 18 kills with just two errors, while also blocking five Grand Canyon attacks.

“I thought our block was better in the third set,” Ulmer said, “And I thought we hit better service targets than, you know, what we were trying to do originally.”

KU will now turn its attention to Big 12 Conference play, starting on Friday against Houston inside Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena at 6 p.m. Ulmer says the biggest improvement he would like to see from his group in the second portion of the season is finding more consistency.

“The pressure is going to be higher, and we’re just going to have to execute much better,” Ulmer said. “For me, it’s more of the serving (and) defense piece, we just don’t have that much time to get better at it before we’re in the grind of (the Big 12)… People are understanding what they’re trying to do better, so I like our IQ and our growth mindset, we just need to execute at a higher level.”