Kansas’ postseason hopes look a little brighter after defeating No. 21 Baylor 3-1 Saturday. The victory was Kansas’ first against a ranked opponent since October 2007.

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Kansas Volleyball vs. Baylor

The Jayhawks played Baylor on Saturday Nov. 14. Kansas won the match 3-1.

“I think our team is counting how many matches we have left with aspirations of making a great finish,” coach Ray Bechard said.

Kansas has a tough finish, with three out of the final four matches against teams ranked in the top 10. Bechard said Kansas still had a lot to play for and there was an air of excitement surrounding the team.

“I think we’re maturing,” Bechard said. “We got a lot of young players on the floor, but obviously they understand the importance of this time of the season.”

Junior outside hitter Karina Garlington led Kansas with 19 kills against Baylor while sophomore outside hitter Allison Mayfield was right behind her with 16 kills. Three Jayhawks had double-digit digs, led by senior Melissa Grieb with 19, followed by sophomore setter Nicole Tate with 16 and senior setter Katie Martincich with 14.

Baylor was plagued by errors, with 24 hitting and nine serving errors for the match.

Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Hagan said her team members had really stepped up and were played together better as a team.

“It’s important to have that against any team and especially in the Big 12,” Hagan said. “We knew this was a big game and we had to get it done. And we did.”

Garlington said that with the energy the Jayhawks had, she knew they would win the match during the first set.

“Our whole team had such confidence,” Garlington said. “They would score and it was just one point. Nobody got super worried about it because we all knew we had it in the bag.”

Kansas took an early 9-4 lead in the first set and stretched it out to 13-5 toward the middle of the set. Kansas kept a healthy lead for the rest of the set, winning 25-18.

Baylor came out strong in the second set and took a 13-7 lead. Although Kansas scored four in a row to narrow the gap, it could never get over the hump and lost the set 19-25.

Both teams went back and forth to start the third set, and there were 13 ties in the set. After tying it up at 18-18, Kansas started to pull away with a 21-18 lead. Baylor tried to come back but fell short, and Kansas won the set 25-20.

Baylor took a 9-5 lead early in the fourth set, but Kansas was able to tie the set 15-15. With Baylor on the ropes, Kansas pulled away and took a 19-16 late in the set. Kansas never faltered and defeated Baylor 25-20.

Kansas improved to 15-11, 7-9 in conference play, while Baylor fell to 21-7, 10-7 in conference play. The victory also matches the number of victories Kansas had in its last post-season berth in 2005, when it went 15-15.

Follow Zach Getz at twitter.com/zgetz.