Being a defensive specialist, junior Melissa Grieb does not get the attention of some of the outside hitters. After all, kills are certainly flashier than digs. But it was hard not to take notice of one specialist Wednesday night.

Grieb had five aces against the Wildcats, a career high. More importantly she tailed four of them during an 11-0 run during the fourth set that put the Jayhawks up 14-7, and led to their most impressive set of the season, winning 25-18.

“That’s about as long a serving stretch as I’ve seen in quite some time,” coach Ray Bechard said.

Grieb, who is also second on the team in digs per set and aces, has been the spark the Jayhawks have needed in the serving game. She only has nine serving errors and is the only player to have more aces than errors with at least 35 attempts.

“We know that the first contact tells what the rest of the play is going to be like,” Grieb said.

Aces are all well in good, but Bechard said after the loss that it really mattered more if Kansas could’ve secured the fifth and final set against K-State.

Kansas has finally made it out of their toughest stretch of the season, finally playing an opponent tomorrow night in Texas Tech that is not ranked after playing three in a row. Even worse, the Red Raiders do not even have a Big 12 victory this season, winless in five matches.

Bechard is not content though, he knows that Texas Tech will be hungry to get its first victory against Kansas and will not let the five-set heartbreak cloud his players’ thoughts.

“Texas Tech is a difficult place to play, and we’ll be prepared.” Bechard said. “We’re not going to let this match affect our preparation for the next one.”

But Grieb understands the lessons learned from Wednesday night’s match, even if the lessons are repeated. All the players and Bechard talked about the constant struggle for focus and coming out stronger at the beginning of sets. Even in the sets the Jayhawks won against the Wildcats, it was not a picture perfect start.

“I don’t know what it is. We just really need to work on being able to come out every set and come out strong.” Grieb said.

With a 1-4 standing the in the Big 12, Kansas has to make a move and pick up some victories, and Grieb might have to pull a couple of more aces from her sleeve.

— — Edited by Brieun Scott