The Kansas Jayhawks had better offense, better defense, and better serving
Last season, Arizona volleyball upset the eighth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks behind 37 kills by Jordan Wilson. This time No. 18 KU was ready for her and her team.
Wilson was held in check all morning. She had just three kills, her lowest number this season. That was paired with 10 hitting errors for a thoroughly frustrating day.
It was just the second time this year that Wilson has been held to single-digit kills. The first was when San Diego held her to eight in a five-set match. Head coach Rita Stubbs eventually subbed her out of the game in favor of freshman Paige Thies at the start of the third set.
Thies had some success in her time on the court. She ended with two kills on five swings without an error. She also had three digs.
“She was ready,” Stubbs said.
Most of the Wildcats had difficulty scoring. Carlie Cisneros led the team with seven kills on .172 hitting. Four of those kills came early in the first set. Only Thies, setter Avery Scoggins, and middle blockers Adrianna Bridges and Sydnie Vanek hit over .300. Vanek had just one attack, though.
Both the KU block and floor defense were on point, keeping the visitors at bay. Arizona averaged just 9.7 kills per set as a team and only had seven in the first set. To make matters worse, their best hitting percentage was .163 in the third set.
The service game went in KU’s favor, too. While the Wildcats matched the Jayhawks’ six aces, they countered that with 13 service errors compared to just five for Kansas.
“We lost the serve and pass,” Stubbs said.
The Wildcats had difficulty against the Jayhawks’ 6-foot-7 freshman right side, Jovana Zelenovic. Zelenovic was able to go over the block time and again. If she didn’t get the clean kill, she got the block touch off the tips of the Wildcats’ fingers. She led the match with 13 kills on .409 hitting. She tied Bridges for second in blocks with five block assists, trailing only KU’s Reese Ptacek with eight.
“[Zelenovic] wasn’t the reason we lost,” Stubbs said. “We lost because we couldn’t score.”
In addition to Thies, Britt Carlson was subbed in to give the Wildcats a different look on the pins. The junior opposite gives Arizona more size on the right side. She had two kills and a block assist in her two sets of play.
On the bright side, Arizona managed the road split with its win over Kansas State on Friday. While Stubbs was pleased that they got one win out of a difficult trip, the performance left her wanting more.
“I was disappointed that we weren’t competitive,” she said.
Arizona now returns home to play Utah. The Utes were ranked No. 23 this week but lost to Iowa State and Colorado at home. They will come to Tucson with an 8-5 overall and 0-2 Big 12 record. The Wildcats are 7-5 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
Category: General Sports
