Twenty minutes after Kansas’ 3-2 (30-23, 26-30, 20-30, 30-28, 15-7) victory against Missouri, Emily Brown stood on the baseline of the Hearnes Center, surrounded by a throng of Jayhawk fans.

Brown, senior right side/setter and four-year starter, played about three careers worth of volleyball games in a Kansas uniform. But after posting 12 kills, 29 assists and seven digs to lead Kansas to its first conference road victory since 2005 and its first victory at Missouri since 2001, she conceded that might have been her finest hour at Kansas.

“Wow,” Brown, Baldwin City, said. “Zero and 10 on the road last year, not one road win. That’s just shows our team and our young players that we’re not going to repeat last year.”

But for a while on Wednesday night, it seemed like they might.

Turning point

Kansas trailed 24-22 in game four, only six Missouri points away from a loss. But the Jayhawks went on a five-point run, punctuated by a Flavia Lino block, and took a 27-24 lead. Kansas closed out the game 30-28.

With the momentum in tow, Kansas rolled over Missouri in game five, 15-7 and clinched the match.

Sarah Wittenauer, sophomore defensive specialist/seter, proved to be the unlikely hero in game five. With Kansas holding a 6-5 advantage, coach Ray Bechard inserted Wittenauer to serve. Kansas reeled off an 8-0 run behind the strength of Wittenauer’s serving and gained a 14-5 lead.

“We know that’s a situation she’s comfortable in,” Bechard said. “She was the key to that run.”

Jenna Kaiser, freshman outside hitter, finished things off for Kansas with one of her 12 kills in its first conference victory of the year. Kansas improved to 8-5 and 1-2 in the Big 12. Missouri dropped to 7-4 and 0-2 in the Big 12.

“Our kids just needed something to feel good about,” Bechard said. “What better than a 3-2, come-from-behind road victory against your rival?”

Early success

Everything went easy for Kansas early. Kansas utilized an efficient offense to triumph 30-22 in game one. Five players registered at least three kills, while Kaiser was perfect with three kills on three attempts.

Brown had six assists to go along with two kills of her own. Katie Martincich, sophomore setter, added four assists and made two plays worthy of a second look. With Kansas leading 23-16, Martincich fished a ball out of the net and set the ball perfectly to Kaiser. Then the sophomore clinched game one with a rare kill from settor position. Martincich found a hole in the middle of the Missouri defensive and dropped a ball in to win the game.

Missouri’s resilience

Kansas held on to a tight lead for most of game two, and after one of junior middle blocker/right side Savannah Noyes’ eight kills clipped the line, the Jayhawks led 17-14. But Missouri won the next three points and a Weiwen Wang kill gave Missouri an 18-17 lead. Missouri never trailed again and closed out the game 30-26 on a kill from sophomore Megan Wilson.

A stifling Missouri defense derailed Kansas in game three. Missouri took control early and cruised to a 30-20 win. Bechard said he thought his team lost its early momentum during its game-one win.

“Sometimes it’s how you finish a game, and not how you start,” he said. “Even though we won game won, we were back on our heels late in the game, and that carried over to games two and three.”

— Edited by Meghan Murphy