The Kansas University volleyball players were hoping for the best when they gathered last week to watch the NCAA Tournament selection show.
But it was even a shock to them when the word “Kansas” appeared on the first screen alongside UCLA in the first round of the 64-team field.
“Half of the team was screaming, and the other half was looking to make sure it wasn’t Kansas State,” KU senior Josi Lima said. “It was a great feeling.”
After losing its final three matches and finishing 15-14, KU received a second chance. In their 10 p.m. matchup tonight against the Bruins in storied Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, the shorthanded Jayhawks are hoping to seize the opportunity.
“We have a lot of injuries,” Lima said, “but we have a lot of talented players that can fill in and play the roles.”
Kansas lost junior Jana Correa in the middle of the season because of a torn ACL. Then, in KU’s final game against Iowa State, all-time Jayhawk assist leader Andi Rozum was forced out because of a back injury.
Team leader and four-time Big 12 Conference first-team member Lima will play, but she will also be hampered by nagging ailments.
KU coach Ray Bechard said he had never been this shorthanded entering a tournament match.
“There’s probably other programs in similar situations, but I don’t know who they are or where they’re at,” Bechard said. “We’re limited, but you can only put six out there, so let’s knock on wood and hope everybody stays healthy from here on out.”
Bechard said Rozum was “very, very doubtful” for tonight’s match.
Without Rozum, Bechard has had to juggle his lineup this week and also teach players new positions.
Emily Brown became the team’s setter when Rozum went down, even though the sophomore had become one of the team’s leaders in kills. Lima also has been taught this week to step into the setter’s role, though she has never has played it in four years at KU.
“It’s not the time of year you want to be working on a lot of different things,” Bechard said, “but this is the hand we’ve been dealt.”
The Bruins (18-10) enter as the 16th seed. This will be KU’s third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
