🏐 Jayhawks to Face Oregon in First Round of 2021 NCAA Tournament

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas Volleyball will head to Omaha, Nebraska, to take on the No. 19 Oregon Ducks in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament. That match will take place on Thursday, Dec. 2, and first serve is set for 4:30 p.m. CT.

This is the 10th time in program history that Kansas has qualified for the NCAA Tournament and the first time since 2017.

Kansas finished the regular season 16-11 overall record and 8-8 in Big 12 play. At 8-8, Kansas finished tied for third in the 2021 Big 12 standings along with West Virginia and Iowa State. Texas won the Big 12 at 15-1, followed by Baylor at 14-2.

The Jayhawks are going into the tournament on a four-match winning streak, having swept the last two regular season series. On Nov. 19-20, Kansas defeated TCU 3-2 and 3-1. To close out the regular season, KU swept Kansas State by scores of 3-1 and 3-2. In the match on Saturday, Nov. 27, against Kansas State, the Jayhawks had 71 kills and were led by Caroline Bien with 17. This number marks her second-highest of the season. In addition to Bien, Kansas had three players with double-digit kills in last Saturday’s match. Caroline Crawford had 15, followed by London Davis with 13 – her new career high – and Jenny Mosser with 11.

Kansas had four players receive All-Big 12 recognitions on Tuesday. Bien was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year as well as earning a spot on the All-Big 12 First Team and Rookie Team. Mosser and Crawford were named to the All-Big 12 Second Team while freshman Camryn Turner secured a spot on the All-Big 12 Rookie Team.

In addition to the All-Big 12 recognitions, Kansas also had two weekly Big 12 recognitions on Tuesday. Crawford was named the Defensive Player of the Week and Davis earned the Rookie of the Week title.

No. 19 Oregon has an overall record of 22-8 and finished 13-7 in Pac 12 play. At 13-7, the Ducks finished fourth in the Pac 12. Oregon’s trip to the NCAA Tournament is the 18th in program history and fourth under head coach Matt Ulmer. Last season, the Ducks danced their way to the Sweet Sixteen, where they fell to Purdue, 3-1. Oregon enters the tournament coming off of a two-game winning streak after taking down Arizona and Oregon State 3-0 to end the regular season.

Kansas and Oregon have met three times, most recently in 2008. Oregon leads the series 3-0.

Up Next

The winner of the Kansas/Oregon matchup will move on to the second round of the tournament and face the winner of the Ole Miss/Creighton match. Ole Miss and Creighton play at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 2 and the winners will play Friday, Dec. 3, at 7 p.m. in the D.J. Sokol Arena.