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

Kansas celebrates after scoring a point on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence.

The 22nd-ranked Kansas volleyball team won its seventh straight match Friday night, sweeping Houston, 3-0 (31-29, 25-20, 25-15) in a Big 12 contest at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, but the victory didn’t come easy for the Jayhawks.

“That first set, (Houston) had a couple of hitters who really put some pace on the ball,” said Kansas head coach Matt Ulmer, whose team has recorded seven straight sweeps during its hot streak. “I thought they served really aggressively and didn’t miss much in the first set with their serving, so they put good pressure on and made us too predictable. They did a really good job of coaching, doing a lot of different schemes with their defense.”

Prior to the match, the court at the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena was dedicated to former KU head coach Ray Bechard. Bechard retired following the 2024 season after 27 seasons as head coach and is the winningest coach in program history, posting a 496-313 record.

The teams definitely put on a show for the 2,041 in attendance in the opening set.

Kansas (8-3, 1-0) scored the first eight points of the match before Houston (7-5, 0-1) got its offense going. The Cougars battled their way back into the set and eventually had two set points, at 25-24 and 26-25, but the Jayhawks fought off both to prolong the set. KU had four set points of its own before converting on the fifth to take Set 1, 31-29.

“(Houston) made some great digs,” Ulmer said. “We put some stink on some of those balls, and they were popping up and transitioning back (to their offense). It was good for us. I was really proud of the battle and finding a way to win that first set, because it wasn’t going our way for a lot of it. We could have folded. I was proud of us for hanging in there and finding a way to get it done.”

The second set was as even as the first, and Houston held a 16-15 lead after an attack error by KU. However, the Jayhawks responded with a 4-1 run of their own to go up 19-17 after a kill by Logan Bell. The Cougars got to within one, at 19-18, but the Jayhawks closed the set with a 6-2 surge to take Set 2, 25-20.

Houston scored the first three points of Set 3, prompting UImer to call a timeout, and the Jayhawks responded by scoring six of the next eight points to take a 6-5 lead. The teams traded points from there until KU finally wore down the Cougars with a 5-0 run to open up a 17-11 lead in the middle stages of the set. Houston got no closer than five points the rest of the way as Kansas closed the match with a 3-1 burst to take Set 3, 25-15, and complete the sweep. The Jayhawks have now won 21 straight sets dating back to their Sept. 8 match against Wichita State.

“We like winning,” said Ulmer when asked about the streak of sweeps. “It’s fun to win at home and wanting to keep coming back. For me, it’s more about what we’re doing. There were so many things that were really disappointing in the first set, but we’re happy to win. I would’ve just liked to play clean and play better and follow the game plan better.”

Taylor Stanley – the current AVCA National Player of the Week and the Big 12’s Rookie and Offensive Player of the Week – led Kansas with 17 kills, 11 digs, six blocks and two aces. Bell added six kills, 11 digs, three blocks, three assists and two service aces, Grace Nelson finished with six kills, nine digs and two blocks, Reese Ptacek chipped in six kills, eight blocks and two service aces, Reese Messer – who was named to the Big 12’s Starting Seven this week – had 35 assists, seven digs and three kills, and Jayhawk libero Olivia Hasbrook finished with 13 digs, two assists and two service aces in the victory.

Kansas is back in action Sunday afternoon, hitting the road to take on Texas Tech (8-5, 0-1) in another Big 12 matchup. The Red Raiders lost their conference opener Friday night, dropping a 3-2 decision to Iowa State in Lubbock, Texas. First serve for Sunday’s match at United Supermarkets Arena is scheduled for 1 p.m.