Kansas holds on in final two sets to sweep Colgate in first round of NCAA Tournament

By Avery Hamel, Special to the Journal-World Dec 6, 2024

The Kansas volleyball team poses for a photo after advancing to the next round of the NCAA Tournament against Colgate Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence.

For the second year in a row, Kansas volleyball took on an opponent it had previously faced in its season-opening tournament, this time to open up the NCAA Tournament. And once again, the Jayhawks swept that opponent (25-18, 25-23, 25-22) for a second time — this time, it was Colgate — to move on to the second round of the tournament the following day.

Last year, Kansas faced No. 6 seed Penn State in the second round and suffered a heart-breaking five-set defeat, but the Jayhawks will look to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2021 as they face No. 6 Florida on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

“At this time of the year, obviously it’s a survive-and-advance mentality. There’s some things we did very well tonight, and there’s some things that we’ll need to clean up as we advance, but I thought Colgate played pretty close to their ceiling,” head coach Ray Bechard said on Friday. “But the Jayhawks, we were in an aggressive mindset. We served well, our transition offense was very good, and we had a good balance offensively. So we’re excited about advancing to tomorrow night against the Florida Gators.”

Even though they swept, the win was far from pretty. Kansas tallied 10 service errors and 15 attack errors while struggling communicatively on defense and serve-receive.

“We got ourselves in a bit of trouble in the second set but made good plays both offensively and defensively. And that’s what an experienced team with high standards and high goals should do,” Bechard added.

Ayah Elnady led the team with 12 kills, but middle blocker Toyosi Onabanjo put on a greatly efficient performance, finishing with 11 kills on 15 attempts and no attack errors. Camryn Turner remained effective as always, with 36 assists, four digs, and three blocks. The Jayhawks struggled on defense, specifically in the final two sets when they allowed the Raiders to creep back in late.

Kansas got off to a great start in its first-round tournament match, as three aces by Caroline Bien gave the Jayhawks an early 7-0 lead, forcing a Colgate timeout. The Raiders regrouped during the break and came out to score eight of the next ten points of the match, but Kansas held steady to keep control of an important first set. The Jayhawks regrouped after a six-point run with three straight successful slides by Onabanjo and Camryn Turner to get back to a 13-8 lead.

“It’s just trusting that connection that I have with Cam,” Onabanjo said. “Like we worked on it so much during the spring, so there’s no need to worry or have any fear that we’re not going to connect, because we’ve done it all season long. It’s just having that trust in each other, and we know that if we ever need a point, (we can just) set that slide, and I’m here for her and she’s here for me.”

With two separate three-point runs, Kansas was able to force another timeout and build a 22-14 lead. While Colgate battled back with a three-point run of its own after Kansas grabbed its first set point, the Jayhawks were able to close it out, winning the first game 25-18.

But Kansas didn’t get the explosive start it had in the first set in the second, as the Jayhawks and Raiders largely stayed even until Kansas grabbed a 9-5 lead on a big block by Bien and Onabanjo. However, Colgate bounced back to score five of the next six points to tie the game at 10.

The Raiders grabbed their first lead of the night on an attack error by Bien leading into a media timeout. Kansas was able to tie things at 16 before a 5-1 Colgate run gave the Raiders a 21-17 lead. Reese Ptacek led a Jayhawk bounce-back on both sides of the ball, tallying a kill to start a four-point rally and a block with London Davis to finish it off and force another timeout.

“There was no panic. We’ve got a group that believes in each other and believes in our system,” Bechard said.

Remaining resilient, the Raiders fought for the next two points before Kansas’ composure finally returned and the Jayhawks rattled off another four-point stretch to take the second set 25-23 as Raegan Burns stepped up big at the service line to finish things off.

Burns has often been subbed out to serve throughout the season, and had a few early errors from the service line, but was able to rise to the occasion when it mattered most.

“We’re spending a lot of time on it, and Bernie is going to put in the time,” Bechard said. “We were really good in this rotation of two- and three-point scoring, and she was a big piece of that. And she’s not only serving tough, but she’s serving right to target, to where we wanted the ball to go. So she’s one of the unsung heroes for us, because she’s always in the right place, doing the right thing.”

After a tumultuous second set, Kansas regrouped to start the third on a 9-3 run and force another early Colgate timeout. The Raiders pulled back to make it an 11-8 game before the Jayhawks retook control with another 9-3 run to get within five points of a clean sweep.

But the fight that drove Colgate all night long wasn’t ready to quit just yet, as a 10-3 run made it a two-point game and forced a Kansas timeout. Bechard brought in sophomore Ellie Schneider and freshman Ellie Moore on for a bit of action late in the third, with Moore running the floor, but put Turner back on to try and stop the bleeding to close things out. Her return stopped a seven-point run before Bien finished things off with a seam shot to complete the sweep of Colgate with a 25-22 third-set victory.

“We just talked in the locker room that everybody in that locker room needs to do everything they need to do from this moment up until we step on the floor to get their mind right, their body right, all of it,” Bechard said. “It’s more about let’s control what we can control. They present certain problems, and we certainly present some problems too, so let’s play our brand. Let’s play with the energy and execution that we want to and we can ride the wave in there sometimes with that crowd as well. (Tomorrow) should be a great volleyball match.”

The Jayhawks will look to continue their playoff push as they host the second round of the tournament and match up against No. 6 Florida.

The Kansas bench cheers on participants in a game during a break against Colgate Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence.

Kansas libero Raegan Burns makes a dig against Colgate Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence.

Kansas opposite hitter London Davis reaches up for a kill attempt against Colgate Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence.

Kansas setter Camryn Turner reaches up for a block against Colgate Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence.

Kansas middle blocker Toyosi Onabanjo hits the ball for a kill against Colgate Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence.

Kansas outside hitter Caroline Bien hits the ball over the net against Colgate Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence.

Kansas middle blocker Toyosi Onabanjo dives for a dig against Colgate Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence.

Members of the Kansas Jayhawks celebrate a point against Colgate Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 in Horejsi Family Volleyball Area in Lawrence.

Kansas libero Raegan Burns celebrates with outside hitter Ayah Elnady after scoring a point against Colgate Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence.