Kansas Volleyball Punches Ticket to Sweet 16

In front of a sold out crowd of nearly 1,800 fans inside the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena on Friday night, the No. 4 seed Kansas Jayhawks took down the No. 5 seed Miami Hurricanes 3-1 in a best-of-five match in the second round of this year’s NCAA Tournament.

The win puts the Jayhawks in the Sweet 16 for just the fourth time in program history dating back to their first appearance in 2013. KU reached the Sweet 16 that year, the Final Four in 2015, and the Sweet 16 in 2021.

The Jayhawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to some stellar play by senior Rhian Swanson who had 15 kills in the win – her 19th game this season with double digit kills. Fellow senior Katie Dalton also had 39 assists and a career-high seven blocks in the victory.

KU won the first set handily 25-17 thanks in part to 13 kills by the Jayhawks. Three of those kills came from sophomore Reese Ptacek who finished second on the team in kills (10) behind Swanson.

The second set was a closer contest that went back and forth and was tied 21-21 at one point. But the Jayhawks eventually pulled away 25-22 thanks to some timely blocks by Ptacek and Dalton.

Despite holding out a two-set lead, Miami battled back in the third. The Hurricanes jumped out to a 5-2 lead and eventually won the set 25-22.

Miami got off to another hot start in the fourth set, leading the Jayhawks 4-1 early on. But KU rallied back and took advantage of the Hurricanes’ eight errors to win the set 27-25 and secure the match win.

Following the win, head coach Matt Ulmer expressed his pride in the team and the support shown from KU fans throughout the match.

"They showed up every day and just kept grinding," said Ulmer. "They never stopped believing in what we were talking about ... It's not always going to be pretty against a great team; they're going to push you and force the issue, but I'm just really, really happy for them. And I really appreciate everyone who was here and everyone who's been with us to help us get to this point."

Kansas will now face the winner of No. 1 seed Nebraska and unranked Kansas State which takes place at 7 p.m. CT this Saturday on ESPN+.

KU’s Sweet 16 matchup will take place at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, at a to-be-determined date and time next week.