Kansas volleyball has had consecutive chances to host the NCAA Tournament as the higher seed in its first two matchups, and each year has been dealt a tough hand in the second round.
“We played Penn State here last year, which why they weren’t seeded, (I don’t know). And then Florida, and I get it, Florida got injured and lost a couple of matches, but some of these second round matches have really felt like some runs that you make deeper into the tournament, but that’s the way it works,” said head coach Ray Bechard postgame. “There’s some favorable or unfavorable draws, but we were still just a contact or two away from making it happen.”
This year, Kansas faced the sixth-seeded Gators, who slipped down the ranks due to early injury trouble and some late-season losses, but found full power for a tournament run. And this season’s draw made a second-round matchup just as exciting as last year’s, as Kansas fought to the very last point against a talented team on Saturday night but ultimately lost the fifth set 15-13 and saw the season end on its home court once again.
“It was really too bad that was in the second round, it was worthy of a regional for how well both teams played,” Florida head coach Mary Wise said. “We haven’t played a team truly in my (34-year) tenure that plays as clean a level of volleyball as Kansas.”
National Player of the Year finalist Kennedy Martin bolstered the Gators with a school-record 33 kills over all five sets. Martin broke Florida’s record once earlier with 32 kills against Missouri this year, but topped herself when it mattered most to lead her team to a regional appearance.
The Jayhawks started off fighting some nerves in the first set, where they lost 25-22 after a late five-point run to tie things at 20 ultimately fell short as the Gators turned to Martin, who grabbed two late kills to secure the victory. She ended the first set with 10 kills, while Kansas finished the set with 10 total kills as a team.
In the second, the Jayhawks were able to better muzzle Martin, holding her to five kills and forcing a few errors. Kansas looked much looser on the court in the second game, and used it to its advantage to take the set and tie the match. After yesterday’s game against Colgate, senior setter Camryn Turner said that the Jayhawks play their best when they’re having fun, and the excitement was definitely visible in the second after a stressful first frame. Another late run put Kansas up 17-10 before Turner executed her first signature dump of the game to get the Jayhawks up 18-12. The Gators remained resilient, trading off points and staying in a close game, before Ayah Elnady tooled Florida’s prominent block to win set two 25-21.
In the third, Florida head coach Mary Wise made a surprising choice and brought in backup setter Alexis Stucky to command the offense. Wise’s intuition worked, as Stucky’s connection with Martin was immediate, as Florida hit a match-high .351 while the Jayhawks struggled, hitting .212 with three errors in 33 attempts.
“Lex came in off the bench, which is not something that she’s done often throughout her career, and she sparked us,” Wise said. “There’s no way that we come back and win if not for Alexis’ performance tonight.”
Florida’s dominance on offense was enough for it to claim another lead in the match with a 25-17 victory in set four. The Jayhawks were once tied with the Gators at 13 in the set, but Martin and Florida’s block came to life to propel it to a 12-4 run for a convincing win.
Kansas’ offense bounced back in the fourth, as a kill by Onabanjo gave the Jayhawks a convincing 20-15 lead in a must-win set. But in the tough moment, Martin came to life again, recording four of Florida’s last nine points as the Gators forced the set to extra points before Kansas was able to secure the win, 26-24.
Kansas’ attempt at a comeback win started off on the wrong foot, as the Jayhawks quickly sank into a 5-1 hole in a 15-point set. After a timeout, Bechard’s team was able to regroup, chipping away at the deficit until a huge Turner ace reinvigorated the crowd and made it 6-5 to force a Florida timeout to stop the momentum. Florida increased its lead to three points before a small Kansas run tightened things and a service error made it a one-point game.
Turner elevated for a signature left-handed attack on the second ball to catch Florida off-guard and tie the game at 10. Back-to-back kills by Elnady gave Kansas a 12-11 lead, but just as the Jayhawks seemed to hold all the momentum on their side, Martin stepped up once again, and an ace by Isabel Martin got the Gators up 13-12 and forced a Kansas timeout. The Jayhawks were able to save match point once on a Florida error, before Kennedy Martin’s record-breaking 33rd kill of the match ended things and sent the Gators onto the second round.
“(Martin) creates some problems for us just like she does for everyone else in the country,” Bechard said. “She’s National Player of the Year caliber, and she’s been on an uptick in the last month, month and a half. And there’s a couple of things that we could have done better to slow her down, but then there were some things that you’ve just got to move onto the next point.”
The loss marks the end of Kansas’ 2024 season and tournament run with a 25-5 record, and also marks the end of the careers of six pivotal seniors whose time at Kansas has reshaped the program.
“Everyone just talked about how much we love each other and how big of an impact the senior class had. Not only with our play, but how we impacted each person off the court,” said senior London Davis. “I think once it all came to an end, though, you really just look at your body of work instead of the score at 15-13.”
“There’ll be a void,” Bechard said. “We’re not only losing six great volleyball players, we’re losing really, really good people, too.”
Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World
