Jayhawks miss postseason after final loss

By Zach Getz

Monday, November 30, 2009

Kansas had a bittersweet end to the season over the weekend, first sweeping Texas Tech 3-0 at home during its most decisive victory of the season, then being swept by No. 2 Texas in Austin Saturday. Kansas finished the season 16-14 (8-12), its best record since 2004.

Kansas’ fell just short of making the post-season.

Six Big 12 Conference teams will continue their seasons in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament as Texas, Iowa State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Baylor all made the tournament.

Weekend scores

Kansas vs. Texas Tech

(25-8, 25-15, 25-10)

Kansas vs. Texas

(20-25, 15-25, 19-25)

Photo Gallery

Kansas Volleyball vs. Texas Tech (Senior Night)

Kansas Volleyball defeats Texas Tech 3-0 on Nov. 24 at the Horseji Family Athletics Center.

Senior libero Melissa Grieb said she enjoyed her time at Kansas.

“It’s unreal to think I’ll never play another volleyball game,” Grieb said.

Coach Ray Bechard said he was happy for the seniors and said they had been a big part of what Kansas had been in the past four years. Seniors graduating with Grieb this year are setter Katie Martincich and middle blockers Paige Mazour and Brittany Williams.

“Katie in her fifth year probably represents a student athlete as well as anybody,” Bechard said. “Not a lot of people thought Paige could be a Division 1 volleyball player. She sure looked like a good one tonight. Brittany trusted us coming a long way from home and Grieb proved that local talent can have a really, really good career in a Jayhawk uniform.”

Kansas went out on top at home as Kansas swept Texas Tech 3-0. Kansas had twice as many digs and kills as Texas Tech at 42-to-21 on both accounts. Kansas also had a .468 hitting percentage and six Jayhawks hit better than .400 for the match. It was the best hitting percentage by Kansas since August 2006.

Bechard called the performance by Kansas exciting.

“We came back Sunday in practice after the Nebraska game and got pretty serious with the game plan early, and I thought it showed tonight,” Bechard said.

Kansas started out strong in the first set, taking an 11-1 lead. Kansas kept stretching its lead out and Texas Tech never recovered as Kansas won the set 25-8. Kansas hit an impressive .500 in the set and had only one error with 16 kills.

Texas Tech hung around the second set, but could never seem to gain any momentum. At 12-10, Kansas finally started to pull ahead and used a 10-3 run to help propel itself over Texas Tech, winning the set 25-15.

Texas Tech came out and took a quick 5-3 lead, but it was short lived as Kansas scored the next six in a row to take a 9-5 lead and continued on a 22-5 run to finish the set 25-10.

After the match, the seniors gave speeches to the crowd without shedding a tear, but Mayfield said there were tears before the match.

Martincich said it hadn’t sunk in that her career was over yet.

“When you play volleyball for 12 years, there have been times seasons that seem to drag on,” she said. “But this season went by so fast. It just flew by, and it’s really weird to think about we won’t be playing here again.”

Kansas couldn’t get the marquee victory at No. 2 Texas that may have sealed the deal on a postseason berth. Texas was too athletic and its offensive power was in full force, Bechard said.

Texas’ possible player of the year candidate Destinee Hooker had a match high 14 kills on a .522 hitting percentage, and six Longhorns hit for .333 or better.

Williams led Kansas’ offense with 11 kills while Mayfield had eight. Kansas’ defense only racked up 20 digs with no player getting more than five.

Texas came out and quickly took a 4-0 lead in the first set, but Kansas battled back and tied the set at 15-15. Texas then went on a 5-1 run to take a solid lead that it would use to win the set 25-20.

Kansas and Texas traded points for the beginning of the second set, but after Kansas trailed 8-10, Texas rattled off seven points in a row to take a nine-point lead. Kansas could never recover and lost the set, 15-25.

Texas took a 7-2 lead to start off the third set and Texas’ offensive prowess kept Kansas at bay for the rest of the set, and Texas won the set 25-19.

— Edited by Abbey Strusz

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