NCAA Tournament Match Primer: Omaha Mavericks at #15 Kansas Jayhawks

The fourth-seeded Jayhawks host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament

The Kansas Jayhawks Volleyball team had a very successful season, jumping into the Top 25 rankings after the first week and never falling out the rest of the season. Their second place finish in the Big 12 was good enough to earn them one of 16 nationally seeded spots in the tournament, which means they will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament in Horejsi Athletics Center. Their first opponent is the Omaha Mavericks.

Omaha enters the tournament after finishing first in the Summit League with a 12-4 conference record. The Jayhawks lead the series between these two schools with a 10-2 record. The last meeting was a 3-0 sweep in the Omaha tournament in their second match of the season.

Here are the essentials:

How to Watch

Thursday, November 30th, 7:00 p.m. CST

Lawrence, KS: Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena (2,265)

TV: ESPN+

Online Radio: Kansas Athletics

Live Stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial)

The Numbers

#15 Kansas: 23-5

• Hitting Percentage: .275
• Kills: 1444
• Assists: 1342
• Aces: 117
• Digs: 1607
• Blocks: 249.5

Omaha: 15-13

• Hitting Percentage: .198
• Kills: 1398
• Assists: 1303
• Aces: 176
• Blocks: 255

Season Recap

Kansas started out the year on a tear, sweeping six of their ten non-conference opponents on their way to a 9-1 record. They only dropped 6 total sets during that stretch, including the three in the loss to Purdue.

Conference play got off to a bumpy start as they dropped a five-set match to Texas Tech to open up the slate. Two wins against a ranked Houston team gave them some confidence going into Austin to play Texas. Unfortunately they came back home with their only two losses on the season that were not in five sets. The only other match they dropped the rest of the season was a five set match against Iowa State up in Ames.

The Jayhawks have a lot of momentum heading into the NCAA Tournament, as they beat two ranked teams in Baylor and BYU before taking down Cincinnati and UCF to clinch 2nd place in the Big 12.

Match Coverage

Follow along during the game with live updates from both the Blue Wings Rising and Kansas Volleyball Twitter accounts.

Come join the conversation in the Blue Wings Rising Discord Server.

Key Kansas Players

Junior Caroline Bien has transitioned from her role as a primary attacker to a well-rounded player this season. She is hitting .239 while averaging 2.63 digs per set, good for third-most on the team.

Graduate transfer Reagan Cooper leads the team in kills per set, and has been a dominant force in the offense. She is joined by redshirt sophomore Ayah Elnady and junior London Davis, who are second and third, respectively, to form a difficult attacking trio. 

Big 12 Setter of the Year Camryn Turner led the Big 12 with 10.71 assists per set. She was named to the All-Big 12 First team, along with Elnady and Cooper. Davis was a second team selection.

True freshman Raegan Burns served as the primary libero (defensive specialist) this season, tallying 3.56 digs per set. Her performance landed her on the All-Big 12 Freshman team.

Fun Facts

The Jayhawks are on a 14-match winning streak at home, with the last loss coming in the first home match of the season against Purdue.

This is the 12th NCAA Tournament appearance for the Jayhawks. All of those appearances have come in Ray Bechard's tenure, with the first in 2003.

Bechard was named Big 12 Coach of the Year, the fifth time he received that honor.