No. 10 Kansas Hosts No. 5 Texas With Heavy Big 12 Title Implications

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Another top-10 matchup between Kansas and Texas will have major Big 12 title implications heading into the final stretch of the regular season. The 10th-ranked Jayhawks will look to end a 23-match losing streak against the fifth-ranked Longhorns on Wednesday night (6:30 p.m.) in front of a sold-out crowd at Horejsi Family Athletics Center.

The match will be televised locally by Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (State of Kansas & KC area) and nationally by ESPN3. Audio coverage of the action can be heard on KLWN-AM 1320 in Lawrence or online at KUAthletics.com/radio.

QUICK HITS
• BATTLE FOR FIRST: No. 10 Kansas plays host to No. 5 Texas on Wednesday for sole possession of first place in the Big 12 standings. Both Kansas and Texas enter this week’s top-10 showdown with a 10-1 record in conference play. It is the second top-10 matchup between Kansas and Texas this season. UT handed KU its only loss of the season on Oct. 23 in Austin, ending the Jayhawks’ program-record 19-match winning streak. Kansas is seeking its first Big 12 title.
• KANSAS-TEXAS SERIES: Texas leads the all-time series with Kansas, 38-4, including 23 straight victories. KU’s last win over Texas was in 2003, when the Jayhawks swept the season series with five-set wins in both Lawrence (Oct. 22, 2003) and Austin (Nov. 8, 2003).
• SOLD OUT: Wednesday’s match against Texas has been sold out for over three weeks, since Oct. 26. Kansas has sold out 11 matches this season, including six advance sellouts – K-State (9/23), Iowa State (10/10), Oklahoma (10/21), Baylor (10/31) Texas (11/9), and TCU (11/14).
• TOP 10: Kansas remains at No. 10 in this week’s AVCA Coaches Poll. The Jayhawks have been ranked in the top-25 for a program-record 10 consecutive weeks, including six consecutive weeks in the top-10. KU’s highest ranking of the season – and in program history – was No. 7 on Oct. 19.
• PAYNE NAMED BIG 12 OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK, AGAIN: Sophomore right-side hitter Kelsie Payne registered 22 kills on a .486 hitting percentage in a 3-1 victory at Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon in Norman to earn her third Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week nod. In the only match of the week for KU, Payne poured in seven kills in the first set against the Sooners and went on to record just one attacking error during the last three sets of the match, finishing with just four attacking errors on 37 attempts. Payne was also given the weekly award on Sept. 7 and Nov. 2.
• 20-WIN SEASON: The 2015 Jayhawks are the fastest team in program history to reach 20 wins in a season (21 matches), edging 1991’s squad which reached 20 wins in 23 matches. Kansas has reached 20 wins in four consecutive seasons and 15 seasons overall.
• BIG 12 LEADERS: KU leads the Big 12 Conference in in kills per set, hitting percentage, and assists per set, while ranking second in hitting percentage defense and aces. Sophomore setter Ainise Havili leads the Big 12 in assists per set (12.2). Three Jayhawks are listed on the Big 12 kills per set and hitting percentage top-10 lists, respectively.
• WAIT MOVING UP: Junior libero Cassie Wait is steadily climbing KU’s career digs list. With 24 digs on Saturday at Oklahoma, Wait moved into sixth-place on KU’s career digs list with 1,154. Earlier this season, Wait became the third-fastest Jayhawk to reach 1,000 career digs.
• NEXT UP: Kansas will play host to TCU on Saturday in Lawrence (1 p.m. CT, Time Warner Cable SportsChannel/ESPN3).