Kansas Volleyball sweeps a doubleheader against Belmont and Purdue

Today the Kansas Jayhawks welcomed the Purdue Boilermakers, the Creighton Bluejays and the Belmont Bruins in to the Horejsi Center for the Jayhawk Invitational. Today, they had two matches: one against Belmont at noon Jayhawk time, and another against Purdue at 7:00pm.

Match 1: Belmont

First Set:

Kansas pounced early, jumping out to leads of 7-2 and 14-7 before Belmont tried to get back into the set. They got as close as 19-16, but Kansas finished strong to win the first set.

Second Set:

Belmont was able to jump out to a quick 2-0 lead, but it was all Kansas from there. They quickly tied it up and then went on a big run.

The Jayhawks built the lead all the way to 21-12 before Belmont went on a big run. They got it back to within 3 at 23-20 before Kelsie Payne and Madison Rigdon got back to back kills to finish the set.

Third Set:

Kansas jumped out to a 6-2 lead before Belmont made a run to get back into it.

Belmont traded points until it was an 11-11 tie, and then KU went on a run including 2 kills from Madison Rigdon.

The Jayhawks made short work of the Bruins to sweep the match and get some extra rest before the match with Purdue.

Overall, this was a dominant showing by the Jayhawks. The real test was set for the evening matchup against undefeated Purdue.

Match 2: #17 Purdue

First Set:

The Jayhawks continued their hot play from earlier in the day, taking advantage of sloppy play by Purdue (4 errors) to build an early lead.

Purdue was able to keep the set from getting entirely out of hand, with the lead fluctuating between 4 to 8 points. Everyone got involved, and with the score sitting at 15-8, Madison Rigdon hit a big milestone:

From there, Kansas kept the pressure up and finished out the set rather easily.

Second Set:

Kansas continued their hot streak, as nothing was going right for Purdue and everything was going right for the Jayhawks.

Purdue just couldn’t shrink the lead below 6, as the Jayhawks came up with big play after big play, including this one by Ainise Havili:

Kansas stormed to finish the second set, looking like they were going to sweep their second opponent on the evening.

Third Set:

Purdue finally found their footing in the third set, jumping out to a quick lead.

Kansas tried valiantly to come back, but Purdue was finally able to string points together and keep the Jayhawks at bay.

Fourth Set:

Kansas got their swagger back, quickly jumping back into the lead.

Once they jumped out to that small lead, they fought fiercely to hold onto it. Hot hitting kept them ahead by at least 4 points for the remainder of the set.

The Jayhawks didn’t give the Boilermakers any opportunity to get back into the match, with Ainise Havili and sophomore Allie Nelson combining on a spectacular dig that should probably get a SC Top 10 spot tonight. I’ll try to find the clip and post it once I do.

Kansas remains undefeated, and will put that record on the line again tomorrow in the Jayhawk Invitational finale against #9 Creighton at approximately 7:30PM. You can tune in online at www.kuathletics.com/radio or on WatchESPN.