No. 10 Volleyball Hosts TCU Saturday

Notes Link Kansas Notes
Tickets Link SOLD OUT

No. 10 Kansas begins the final quarter of a 16-match Big 12 Conference regular-season slate on Saturday against TCU. First serve is scheduled for 1 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 online at KUAthletics.com/radio.

PROMOTIONS
• Thanks4Giving canned food drive
• K Flag Giveaway

QUICK HITS
• KANSAS-TCU SERIES: Kansas leads the all-time series with TCU, 6-2, including a 3-1 mark in Lawrence. Kansas won the first meeting of the season, 3-0, in Fort Worth. The series dates back to a five-set TCU win on Sept. 10, 1999 in Lawrence.
• LAST TIME OUT: Kansas suffered its first home loss of the season to No. 5 Texas in five sets on Wednesday night. The second top-10 matchup between the teams gave sole possession of first-place in the Big 12 standings to Texas with four matches remaining in the regular-season. Sophomore setter Ainise Havili recorded a career-high 67 assists and guided KU’s offense to a .307 hitting percentage with three Jayhawks reaching 15 kills or more – Kelsie Payne (23), Tiana Dockery (18), and Tayler Soucie (16).
• SOLD OUT: Tickets toSaturday’s match against TCU have been sold out since Oct. 30. Kansas has sold out 12 matches this season, including seven advance sellouts – K-State (9/23), Iowa State (10/10), Oklahoma (10/21), Baylor (10/31) Texas (11/9), TCU (11/14), and Texas Tech (11/28).
• 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.
• HAVILI SETTING THE NATIONAL PACE: Sophomore setter Ainise Havili leads the nation in assists per set (12.3). The Fort Worth, Texas, native is quarterbacking KU’s offense to a .313 team hitting percentage. The next-highest team hitting percentage in program history is .254 in 2013.
• PAYNE TRAIN ROLLING: Sophomore right-side hitter Kelsie Payne registered a match-high 23 kills against No. 5 Texas on Wednesday to reach 20 kills for the third time in the last four matches. This season, Payne ranks second in the Big 12 in hitting percentage (.396) and kills per set (4.2) and is the only student-athlete in the country to rank top-50 nationally in both categories – 28th in hitting percentage and 34th in kills per set. Last week Payne was awarded her third Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honor after registering 22 kills on a .486 hitting percentage at Oklahoma last Saturday.
• DOCKERY FINISHING STRONG: Senior outside hitter Tiana Dockery will soon become the first Kansas volleyball student-athlete to compete in four NCAA tournaments during all four years of her collegiate career. Dockery is approaching that milestone with increased production. In the last two matches the Houston-area native has posted two double-doubles against Oklahoma (11 kills, 10 digs) and Texas (18 kills, 13 digs).
• WAIT MOVING UP: Junior libero Cassie Wait is steadily climbing KU’s career digs list. Wait ranks sixth on KU’s career digs list with 1,171, eight digs away from passing Sarah Rome (2000-03; 1,177) for fifth-place on the list. Earlier this season, Wait became the third-fastest Jayhawk to reach 1,000 career digs.
• 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 (15.1), hitting percentage (.313), and assists per set (14.2), while ranking second in hitting percentage defense (.174) and aces (1.4). 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.
• NEXT UP: Kansas has a mid-week bye before making the trek to Morgantown, West Virginia, to face the Mountaineers on Saturday, Nov. 21 (2:30 p.m. CT).