For 13 years Kansas and Texas played, and whether they were swept, lost in four or a heartbreaking five, the Jayhawks always lost. Until Saturday night in Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
Kansas beat Texas 17-25, 25-11, 27-25, 12-25, 15-10.
A Jayhawks win over the Longhorns bumped Kansas from No. 6 to 4 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, while Texas fell to fifth.
Dig in to a wild week of volleyball.
No one beats Kansas 26 times in a row
Twenty-five matches of frustration turned into an exhilarating evening for Kansas, a winner over Texas for the first time since Nov. 8, 2003.
The Jayhawks (20-2) survived a tense fifth set to record their first victory over the five-time Big 12 champions in 25 matches. This match between two final four teams from 2015 had plenty of drama until the final point, when the celebration mimicked the conclusion of a national championship.
With Kansas up 13-7 in the fifth, Jayhawks setter Ainise Havili suffered a bloody nose, leading to an extended break while she got treatment and staff wiped the court clean. Texas won three straight before Kansas closed the match.
Kansas, which outblocked Texas 13.0-9.5, punctuated the night with a block-assist from senior middle blocker Tayler Soucie and freshman outside hitter Jada Burse.
"Everybody had their moment tonight," said Kansas coach Ray Bechard, whose team lost to Texas in Lawrence, 3-2, a year ago and is now 5-40 in the series. "Finally the Jayhawks get a big win against the Longhorns."
Havili finished with 41 assists and 11 digs, her eighth double-double of the season, and outside hitter Madison Rigdon posted 16 kills. Junior All-American hitter Kelsie Payne led the team with 21 kills, eight digs and six blocks.
Kansas, which has won 14 straight at home, held the Longhorns to a .028 hitting percentage in the second, third and fifth sets.
Texas (17-3) had been extended to five sets in three of its other Big 12 matches (Texas Tech, Iowa State, Kansas State), but had prevailed in each.
TCU awaits the Longhorns on Wednesday in Fort Worth in a 7 p.m. match that will be televised on ESPNU. Kansas travels to Manhattan for a date that night with Kansas State.
Dominating final set sends Pitt past Tar Heels
The Panthers scored the biggest upset of their season, handing North Carolina its first loss in the ACC in five sets on Sunday. The Tar Heels had won 11 straight and not lost since dropping a five-setter at TCU on Sept. 17.
Pitt benefited from having Nika Markovic return to the lineup last weekend after losing her to an injury to her right toe in early October. The toe became infected and required surgery.
The Panthers' top hitter, hampered for nearly a month, was in top form for Friday's win, also a five-setter, over NC State. Against the Tar Heels, Markovic had a career-best 19 kills and 10 digs, her first double-double.
"We didn't make any excuses, but it's nice to have her back at full strength," coach Dan Fisher said.
After North Carolina eked out the fourth set 25-23, Pitt dominated the fifth 15-6.
The Panthers (17-7) also defeated Top 25 foes Colorado State and Michigan this season.
The Tar Heels dropped from eighth to 12th in the poll.
Brigham Young brings San Diego streak to a halt
Like every other team San Diego (19-3) has played for the better part of the last two months, BYU didn't have answers for the high-flying Toreros when the teams met a few weeks ago in San Diego.
But the Cougars continue to confound the Toreros in Provo, Utah.
BYU engineered a stunning home sweep of San Diego on Friday night, snapping the Toreros' 18-match winning streak while dealing them their fifth straight loss at BYU's Smith Fieldhouse.
The loss was the first for San Diego (19-3) since a 3-0 setback at then-No. 2 Wisconsin on Sept. 2. The Toreros' subsequent winning streak included a 3-0 home romp past BYU on Sept. 30.
It was all Cougars (20-3) Friday, though. Senior middle blocker Amy Boswell had 14 kills and freshman outside hitter McKenna Miller added 13 kills for BYU (20-3), which posted a .369 hitting percentage en route to its fourth straight victory.
"I'm super happy with the way we played," Cougars coach Heather Olmstead said. "San Diego is a really good team."
San Diego's 18-match winning streak, one shy of the best in program history, was also the longest active streak in Division I. Mid-American Conference-leading Miami (Ohio), which swept Northern Illinois Saturday for its 19th straight victory, now owns Division I's longest current unbeaten stretch.
The series, for what it's worth, is tied at seven. BYU is No. 14; San Diego is ranked 7.
OK, let's play again
Your eyes weren't lying if you spotted a victory for Long Beach State over UC Irvine on Sept. 24. Only it wasn't. The match has since been ruled a no-contest by the Big West Conference, a ruling upheld by the NCAA.
A UCI substitution in the second set was wrongly ruled illegal by the referee during the match, "and the NCAA ruled that the match had to be replayed," said Jody McRoberts, senior associate commissioner for the Big West Conference. McRoberts confirmed replaying a match is a first for the league.
No makeup date has been announced. UC Irvine won the first set 25-22 and will be ahead 20-18 in the second when the match resumes.
To add some juice, the teams met again on Saturday in Long Beach, with the 49ers dropping the first two sets only to rally to take sets three and four. The Anteaters' Victoria Dennis directed a kill toward the back line for 14-12 in the fifth, resulting in an argument from Long Beach State coach Brian Gimmillaro. He was issued a yellow card by the official for that argument, and was subsequently issued a red card when it was ruled by the officials that he had received a yellow card earlier in the fifth set. Because the red card carried a one-point penalty, UC Irvine notched the win.
Guess what that means? Another protest involving the two schools, this time by the 49ers. Long Beach State lodged a protest with match officials over the red card and will submit the appropriate documentation to the conference and NCAA offices for review.
Spikes and digs
Catching up on six other notables from around the sport last week.
1. No team is flying higher than Dayton at 24-1. The Flyers have the nation's best winning percentage and have won the Atlantic 10 regular-season title 12 times, including in 2014 and 2015. Welcome to the poll, Dayton, debuting at No. 24.
2. Miami (Ohio) took over the Mid-American regular season lead and set a school record with its 19th victory in a row with a sweep of previously unbeaten conference rival Northern Illinois (19-5) on Saturday. The RedHawks are 20-4.
3. Princeton, which had won 26 consecutive sets, was extended to five by Harvard in a showdown of reigning Ivy League co-champions last weekend. The Tigers prevailed in five behind a career-best 61 assists from setter Jessie Harris and 24 kills from freshman middle blocker Maggie O'Connell.
4. Indiana beat its highest-ranked opponent since the 2013 season, winning 3-1 over then-No. 13 Michigan on Saturday. Senior Jazzmine McDonald finished with 15 kills on 20 attempts to go with 10 blocks.
5. Also in the Big Ten, No. 11 Penn State (17-6) fell to No. 2 Minnesota (17-4) and No. 3 Wisconsin (18-3). Top-ranked Nebraska (20-1) awaits the Nittany Lions on Friday.
6. No. 8 Washington (19-3) and No. 9 UCLA (18-4) are tied for first atop the Pac-12 at 9-3. No. 13 Stanford (14-6) upset the Huskies, snapping Washington's seven-game win streak. The Bruins topped Colorado and Utah.