Kansas Athletics
LAWRENCE, Kan. -The Kansas Volleyball team tabbed a 3-0 victory against the Colgate Raiders on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena.
"I thought Colgate played pretty close to their ceiling, and when you come in here and you play without much to lose, and they're are organized and a very experienced team, they competed very well, so congratulations to them," said Kansas Head Coach Ray Bechard. "But the Jayhawks had an aggressive mindset. We served well. Our transition offense was very good, and we had good balance offensively. So we're excited about advancing to tomorrow night against the Florida Gators."
Ayah Elnady led with 12 kills as Toyosi Onabanjo added 11 with zero errors for an astonishing hitting percentage of .733 while producing five blocks. The Jayhawk defense held Colgate to just .178 hitting with 10 total blocks and strong back row performances from Raegan Burns and Bryn McGehe who each added nine digs apiece.
Kansas came out with a commanding start as it rapidly rattled off seven straight points behind three Caroline Bien aces and a London Davis kill, forcing Colgate to call a timeout early in the match at 7-0. The Raiders wouldn't be silenced by the deficit as they reduced the Jayhawk lead to one at 8-7, but a trio of Onabanjo slides along with a strong middle attack and a block assist had her filling the stat sheet at the 14-9 mark, with KU leading. The Jayhawks earned its largest edge at 24-15 as Big 12 Freshman of the Year Reese Ptacek went perfect and collected three kills on three attacks and Burns contributed an ace of her own. Another Onabanjo block paired with Camryn Turner was the decisive set point as the Jayhawks snagged the first 25-18.
London Davis and Ptacek paired up for a block before Ptacek added a solo roof of her own on the next play to put Kansas up 3-0 in the second set. But this set was more contested early on with just a four point cushion at 9-4 being the largest for the Jayhawks. During that stretch, Elnady came up with two straight points off a kill immediately followed by an ace. Despite an array of successful attacks from Bien, Davis and Elnady, Colgate hung around closely and managed to flip the lead 15-14 in its favor at the media timeout. Jayhawk errors stretched the Raiders advantage to 21-17, but both Ptacek and Elnady managed to effectively find the middle of Colgate's court on a soft tip and roll to cut it down 21-20. On the ensuing point, Ptacek and Davis joined forces for another block to tie up the set. Teams continuously traded points until Davis used the Colgate block to transfer the edge back to Kansas at 24-23. A Raider overpass set up a side swipe by Onabajo for the Jayhawks to take the second set 25-23.
Kansas jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the third as Elnady collected a trio of kills within five points. The Jayhawks maintained a steady precedence as the duo of Ptactek and Davis continued to govern and protect the net as they roofed back-to-back Colgate attempts as Kansas went up 16-9. A McGehe ace pushed it 19-11 as three more Onabanjo kills, including an impressive dig that rolled into the perfect spot on the Colgate court, made it 23-15. The Raiders utilized a 6-0 run to narrow it 23-21, forcing a Jayhawk timeout. Coming out of the break, Ptacek nailed a slide deep in the backcourt to set up match point. Veteran senior leadership sealed the 3-0 Kansas victory as Turner added her 36th assist of the night as Bien hammered home the final point at 25-22.
Kansas faces a quick turnaround against No. 6 seed Florida (21-7) for a chance at the Sweet 16 on Saturday. The match begins at 6:30 p.m. CT at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena.