TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona Volleyball upset No. 8 Kansas in a five-set thriller (25-20, 21-25, 27-29, 25-20, 15-13) on Friday night in McKale.
Jordan Wilson had a career night with 37 kills and a .465 hitting percentage to lead all attackers. Wilson's previous career high was 22 kills. She also had 12 kills to record her ninth double-double of the season. Her 37 kills is tied for third all-time for kills in a single match in program history.
Arizona's offense hit .347 and its defense had nine blocks to hold Kansas to a .250 hitting percentage. In addition to Wilson's 37 kills,
Jaelyn Hodge followed with 18 kills and
Carlie Cisneros had 15 kills. Cisneros and
Journey Tucker both had four blocks to lead the defense, and five Wildcats recorded double-digit digs.
The Wildcats came out strong to win the opening set, 25-22. Arizona jumped to an early lead, but Kansas came back to take the lead at 17-18. The Cats went on a 5-0 run to regain control and win the set. Arizona had four blocks to hold the Jayhawks to a .119 clip. Wilson recorded five kills and Hodge had four kills to help the Cats take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The second set went to Kansas, 25-21, to even the match. Although the Cats out-hit the Jayhawks, Kansas served four aces to overcome Arizona in the second set. After Kansas won the first two points of the set, Arizona went on a 7-0 run, but Kansas used a pair of runs late in the set to regain the lead. Wilson tallied seven kills with a .500 clip to lead the Cats. Hodge had three kills, but Arizona couldn't overcome Kansas' aces.
Arizona dropped the third set, 27-29, to fall to 1-2 in the match. Arizona had three blocks and hit .365 in the set. Wilson recorded 11 kills while Cisneros and Hodge had four kills each, but Kansas fought off 12 tie scores to win the third set.
The Cats won the fourth set, 25-20, to force a fifth set in the match. Kansas had the lead for the first half of the set, but Arizona came back to gain the lead at 14-13 and never relinquished control. Arizona's offense hit a match-high .439 and was led by Wilson's 10 kills and .625 clip. Cisneros added five kills and Hodge tallied four kills to help the attack. The Wildcats had two blocks to hold the Jayhawks to a .275 hitting percentage.
Arizona won the match with a 15-13 win the final set. The Cats hit .400 and held the lead the entire fifth set. Wilson had four kills including the match-winning kill and Hodge followed with three kills. Arizona had to fight off three match points before Wilson sealed the win with her 37th kill.
The Cats hit the road to take on Cincinnati on Thursday, November 14 before heading to West Virginia on Sunday, November 17.
