Kansas volleyball cracks top 25 heading into season home opener
By Dillon Davis
The Kansas volleyball team is less than a week into the 2023-24 season and already they are making their presence felt.
The Jayhawks swept Omaha and Pepperdine this past weekend to win the Omaha Tournament in their first taste of regular season play to start the year.
The impressive 2-0 start earned the Jayhawks a No. 23 ranking in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll this week, which will immediately get put to the test as KU hosts No. 25-ranked Purdue in their season home opener inside Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena on Thursday.
Purdue is currently 1-2 on the year with wins against Duke and Loyola. Their lone loss came against No. 18-ranked Creighton where they were swept 0-3.
KU is looking to reach the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year under 27-year head coach Ray Bechard and build upon last year’s fifth-place finish in the Big 12
The Jayhawks were picked fifth in this year’s Big 12 preseason poll, in part thanks to the returning talent of Preseason All-Big 12 setter Camryn Turner.
Last year, Turner was named Second Team All-Big 12 after leading the Jayhawks in assists with 1,025 and averaging 9.23 assists per set. She also recorded 23 service aces and 287 digs.
Turner and her fellow Jayhawks will face off against Purdue at 6:30 p.m. CT on Thursday as part of the Kansas Invitational. The second matchup of the invitational comes on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT when the Jayhawks take on No. 19-ranked Marquette. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.