LINCOLN, Neb. – For the second straight season, Kansas Volleyball is playing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Kansas will take on Nebraska at 7 p.m. CT on Friday at Bob Devaney Sports Center. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
The Jayhawks took down seventh-seeded Miami (FL) on Thursday with a 3-0 sweep of the Hurricanes. As a team, Kansas hit .278 for the match with 40 kills and committed just 10 attack errors. The Jayhawks also had the advantage in service aces, 8-3. KU’s defense held Miami to a .113 attack percentage, which included the Hurricanes hitting less than .100 in each of the first two sets.
Caroline Bien led the Jayhawks on Thursday night with 12 kills and six digs, while Ayah Elnady had nine kills, seven digs and three service aces. Rachel Langs was also a force offensively as she hit a team-high .438 with eight kills and 10 blocks, helping KU to a 13-7 advantage in blocks. Camryn Turner had 30 assists and seven digs to go along with four kills and Kennedy Farris led the Jayhawks with 11 digs.
In Friday’s first-round match, Langs moved into sole possession of third place on KU’s all-time blocks list with 524. With an appearance in tonight’s match against Nebraska, Langs would be playing in her 127th match as a Jayhawk and move into a tie with Cassie Wait (2013-16) for the most matches played in program history.
Selected as the No. 7 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and the No. 2 seed in the region, Nebraska is 25-5 overall this season and finished 16-4 in Big Ten play. The Huskers are appearing in their 41st consecutive NCAA Tournament. Nebraska defeated Delaware State 3-0 on Thursday evening to advance to the second round.
Kansas will be looking to beat Nebraska for the first time in program history on Friday evening. Nebraska leads the all-time series 87-0-1. The teams will be playing for the first time since facing each other in the Final Four of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The Huskers won that match 3-1 to advance to the national championship.
The winner of Friday night’s match will advance to the Sweet Sixteen next week.