KU Athletics
SALT LAKE CITY – At the conclusion of a two-day tournament, No. 23 Kansas volleyball went 3-0 in three matches after taking down the Loyola Marymount Lions 3-0 (28-26, 30-28, 25-12) on August 27 at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“We saw some really contrasting styles,” stated head coach Ray Bechard. “Today was a team that played lightning quick. It took us awhile to adjust. The third set, we started controlling with our pass and serving a little bit.”
Set One
Kansas came out hot with a kill by graduate transfer Lauren Dooley and super-seniors Rachel Langs Anezka Szabo to advance the Jayhawks to a 3-1 lead. Dooley collected a block solo to advance the Jayhawks to 9-8. The Lions seemed to have found their rhythm, but redshirt freshman Ayah Elnady tied up the set at 14. Set one was forced into extra points, but the Jayhawks came out on top 28-26.
Set Two
Dooley and Szabo came out of the gates strong with a double block to kick off set two. LMU took the lead early while the Jayhawks tried to keep up. After a 4-1 run for KU, Loyola Marymount was forced to call a timeout at 19-16. LMU continued to maintain control up until set point. Sophomore Caroline Bien tied up the match at 24 after a kill down the middle. It was back and forth, but back-to-back errors by the Lions closed out the set 30-28.
Set Three
The Jayhawks began set three with a three-point run. Langs and Szabo shut down the LMU offense with a double block early in the set to advance to 5-1. After an ace by redshirt freshman Brynn Kirsch and an attack error, Loyola Marymount had to call a timeout. Szabo went up to the net for a block solo to advance the Jayhawks 16-7. It wasn’t until Bien had a kill to move Kansas to an 11-point lead, 20-9. Set three would end with another Jayhawk victory 25-12.
Important Notes
●Graduate transfer Lauren Dooley hit .765 with 13 kills on 17 attempts.
●Sophomore Camryn Turner earned a double-double with 40 assists and 10 digs.
●Super-senior Anezka Szabo recorded 11 kills, hitting .588.
“Camryn Turner is making a lot of good choices,” said Bechard. “She's extremely reliable right now and playing at a really good level.”
Up next
The Jayhawks will head to West Point, N.Y., for the Black Knights Invitational hosted by Army. KU will kick off the tournament on Sept. 2 at 12:30 p.m. CT and take on Temple followed by a match at 5 p.m. CT against host Army at the Gillis Field House.