The OU volleyball team lost a tough match Wednesday against the Kansas Jayhawks in five sets [25-21, 20-25, 22-25, 27-25, 10-15].
The Kansas offense proved to be too much for the Sooners defense, with four Jayhawks notching double-digit kills. KU junior Karina Garlington had the match-high 28 kills.
The Jayhawks (8-3, 1-1) also enjoyed a 1,046 crowd at Horejsi Center in that gave KU a huge home-court advantage.
The Sooners took a big 6-1 lead in the first set to quiet the crowd. The Jayhawks rallied back, but lost the close match.
The Jayhawks responded with a dominating second set win over the Sooners, notching five blocks and forcing seven Sooner errors. OU struggled to regain offensive rhythm enough to overcome the deficit the Jayhawks built in the set. Both teams showed their toughness in a hard-fought third set that had three lead changes and six ties. Kansas had a match-high 18 kills in the set to take a 2-1 advantage over the Sooners.
OU rebounded by winning their toughest set this year, forcing a deciding fifth set. The Sooners had five blocks and forced Kansas to make five attack errors. But the Jayhawks would win the final set, sending OU home with just its third loss.
Sophomore Caitlin Higgins led the Sooners with 17 kills, followed by Francie Ekwerekwu (15) and Suzy Boulavsky (12). María Fernanda and Bridget Laplante had 27 digs each to lead the Sooners.
OU (9-4, 2-1) finishes its two-game road trip Saturday in Boulder, Colo. The Sooners play the Colorado Buffaloes at 8 p.m.
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