Via Kansas Athletics
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas volleyball team fell in a heartbreaking five sets to the Florida Gators in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night in the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena.
“Yeah, certainly have an appreciation for what happened tonight,” said Kansas Head Coach Ray Bechard. “Lasts two hours, 35 minutes, there was no break. There was no moment to collect your thoughts. You just had to go. And there are some levels of disappointment. Obviously, the 15-13, we had a couple controllables there that we didn’t take care of. But beyond that, it’s the two young ladies that are joining me here, and the other four in the locker room that developed in our program to a national college level, played their last match out there tonight. I’ll forever be grateful for that group, what they did and how they gave us the opportunity to be in a moment like tonight.”
The Jayhawks and the Gators played a closely contested first game despite Kansas’ early momentum, quickly running up the score to lead 5-2. Florida gained a narrow lead midway through the set, up 13-11, but Kansas tied it up at 13’s off a huge block assist by Caroline Bien and Reese Ptacek after a Florida attack error. From there, the Gators went on a 6-point unanswered run, and Kansas would finally be relieved by another Florida attack error. The Jayhawks were able to find their footing from there, and as they started to close back in, down 20-17, Florida called their first timeout of the match. A Bien ace out of the timeout followed by a Florida error on the attack and a huge solo block by Ptacek would bring the Jayhawks back to life, tied 20-20. More back and forth play would ensue, and with Florida leading 24-22, another KU timeout came. Florida took the first set 25-22.
The second set started in similar fashion with a back and forth battle. The Jayhawks were then able to spark up a run, scoring five unanswered points making the score 9-5 in favor of the Jayhawks, triggering a Gator timeout. Kansas was able to carry this momentum and extend the lead to 16-10 following back-to-back kills from Bien. Florida went on to match Kansas’s scoring, trading points before calling a timeout with the score 20-14 in favor of the home side. After back-to-back kills from Bien to push the lead to 24-19, the Jayhawks just needed one more to take the second. Florida was able to rally and score two points to make the score 24-21 before Ayah Elnady sealed the set for the Jayhawks with a kill in the clutch.
Kansas got off to a hot start in the third, leading Florida 6-2 following back-to-back kills by Elnady. Florida was able to fight back and cut the lead to 8-7. The teams continued to battle while the score was knotted at 11-11. After two quick points from Florida, Kansas decided to call their first timeout of the set down 11-13. The Jayhawks continued to fight against Florida, following two Elnady kills to make the score 15-17. Florida rattled off two more to make things 15-19 before a Kansas timeout. Florida was able to carry their momentum through and pushed the lead to 24-16 before eventually winning the set 25-17.
The fourth set started off the same as the previous three with a back-and-forth battle. Kansas got the early lead of 5-4, before a Florida response to tie the set at 5 all. Kansas was able to get some separation after a kill from Elnady to make the score 9-7 in favor of the Jayhawks. Kansas was able to hold their two-point lead after a huge block assist by Camryn Turner and Toyosi Onabanjo to make it 11-9. The Jayhawks heated up following kills from London Davis and Onabanjo to extend KU’s lead to 17-13. An ace from Bryn McGehe out of the timeout pushed Kansas’s lead to 18-13. The set continued with the same flow before Florida cut the lead to just two points. Florida served to give Kansas a three-point lead before the sides traded points with a kill from Elnady. A kill from London Davis out of Florida’s timeout gave Kansas a 24-21 lead. Florida was able to rally back and tie the set at 24’s, before a kill by Onabanjo to give Kansas the advantage 25-24. The Jayhawks would win it on a Gator attacking error, forcing things to a fifth.
In the final set, the Gators came out swinging and took an early 5-1 lead before Kansas called time. The Jayhawks continued to fight and were able to trim the lead to 4-6, before an ace from Turner made the score 5-6. Florida came out of their timeout and scored a quick two points to extend their lead to 5-8 before the Jayhawks responded with a quick two points of their own, cutting the lead back down to 7-8. After a huge Turner kill, the Jayhawks were able to tie the set up at 10-10. More back and forth play would follow, and Kansas took their second timeout with Florida up by one. The Jayhawks got down 14-12, but Onabanjo and Turner stood tall at the net to keep things within a point. The Gators edged the Jayhawks with one final kill, taking the fifth 15-13.
Elnady ended her college career atop the kills leaderboard with 18 total, and Bien was close behind with 15. Turner surpassed 4,000 career assists, ending the night with a total of 43. She was also the digs leader with 14, while Elnady joined in her double digits with 10.
