Make it 4 for 4 for Camryn Turner, Caroline Bien and the rest of the Kansas volleyball senior class, which learned on Sunday evening that they had earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive year.
Not only that, the 24-4 Jayhawks also found out on Sunday that they will be hosting for the second year in a row, earning a 3 seed in the Louisville region after finishing second in the Big 12 Conference for the second year in a row.
KU will play Colgate in Round 1 at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena. The winner will get the winner of the other match in Lawrence between NC State and No. 6 seed Florida, with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.
The No. 2 seed in KU's region is Stanford, which could be KU's Sweet 16 opponent (in California) if both teams advance out of the first and second rounds.
Adding a second straight year of hosting to four consecutive trips to the tournament is quite a legacy for the six-person senior class that includes five Jayhawks who have been with the program throughout their KU careers, along with two-year transfer Toyosi Onabanjo, who recently joined Turner in being drafted into the Pro Volleyball Federation.
That class, which KU coach Ray Bechard recently described to R1S1 Sports as “consistent,” included Turner, Bien, Onabanjo, London Davis, Ayah Elnady and Bryn McGehe.
All six played a huge role in the Jayhawks staying in or around the Top 10 all season long. But it was that group and the Jayhawks’ depth behind it that made this year’s bunch yet another Big 12 powerhouse.
Not only have they shown up night in and night out against a tough schedule, but they also proved to be extremely tough to beat at home, won several big matches on the road and did a fabulous job of blending new talent with a veteran roster in order to make the Jayhawks as formidable as could be.
Freshmen Grace Nelson, Reese Ptacek and Zoey Burgess all played key roles at times. And the other KU returners, like Rhian Swanson, Molly McCarthy, Ellie Schneider and Aisha Aiono all showed up, as well.
Together, while following the lead of those six seniors, this team yet again set and reached the standard for what the KU volleyball program wants to be.
“Whether it was offseason, spring, every day in practice, there was a consistent presence,” Bechard said. “I don’t remember them not being ready to have a good practice.”
Their collective willingness to bring it each day made it even easier for them all to be ready when their names were called on match night. Sometimes that meant delivering big time production. Other times, it meant being happy to watch their teammates do it. All with the idea of winning as much as possible as the key motivator.
“I think the group’s unique in that way,” Bechard said. “You might find individuals who will do that for you, but, collectively, to have a group that will morph into whatever you need them to be in any given moment, this group has always done that.”
Now they get to do it one more time in the postseason, where it’s win or go home in front of their home crowd at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, which, throughout the years, has proven to give Kansas volleyball one heck of a home-court advantage.
This year’s trip to the NCAA Tournament marks the program’s 13th time in the field that will play for all the marbles. Roughly half of those have included home matches.
The Jayhawks have hosted NCAA Tournament action six times before — last season, twice at Allen Fieldhouse (2012 and 2013), twice at Horejsi before it was renovated (2015 and 2016) and once at the Expocentre in Topeka in 2014.
No matter what happens in the weeks to come for this team, Bechard said this senior class, which he believes has left the program in "a lot better shape than they found it," will move forward hoping that days like these are still ahead even without them around.
“As we have conversations with them, they want better things ahead," Bechard said. "And that’s also a great sign. Sometimes a class will leave and kind of be a little selfish and say, ‘Well, I hope they don’t do as good as we did.’ But I’ve already heard these guys say, ‘Man, I hope we’ve elevated this thing to the point where Kansas volleyball is even better next year.’”
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