Langs, Elnady lead Kansas Volleyball to sweep of Miami in the NCAA Tournament
For the second straight season, the Kansas Jayhawks came into the NCAA Tournament as an unseeded team, needing to get two straight upsets to advance to the second weekend. And for the second straight season, Kansas got off to a dominant start with a big win in the first round.
This year, Kansas used a total team effort to pull away midway through each of the three sets as they earned a sweep of the MIami Hurricanes to set up a match with the hosting Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Super-senior middle blocker Rachel Langs had 10 blocks on the day to lead the Kansas defense, but she also led the Jayhawks in kill percentage, getting 8 kills on her 16 attacking swings. And she ended each of the first two sets, the first with a big block and the second with an emphatic kill to set Kansas up well heading into set 3.
The first set started with a back and forth between Kansas and Miami that indicated two evenly matched teams, but the Jayhawks totaled 14 kills in the set in a balanced way, pulling ahead thanks to swings from each of Langs, Anezka Szabo, Ayah Elnady and Caroline Bien. The Kansas defense clamped down after the set was tied at 13 and Kansas sealed a successful first set on back-to-back blocks.
The second set was all Kansas, as they jumped out to an 8-1 lead on the back of a complete performance, including two service aces by Elnady to score the first two points. Kansas ended set 2 with 13 more kills.
The final set started out a bit rocky, as Miami put on a last gasp effort to build some momentum. But there were never able to stretch the lead to more than 3, and Kansas went on a run to take a 6-5 lead that they would never give back. The third settled into an uneasy situation where Kansas was keeping Miami at bay, but couldn't seem to land the knockout swing. Late in the set, Miami was able to shrink the Kansas lead to just two points. However, Kansas some big blocks that involved Langs to score three straight points, and then Elnady ended the match with the last two Kansas points.
The Jayhawks ended the match with a .278 hitting percentage while holding Miami to just .113. Incredibly, Miami was under .100 in each of the first two sets. Bien had 12 kills, Elnady had 3 service aces, Camryn Turner had 30 assists, Kennedy Farris had 11 digs and Rachel Langs had 10 blocks all of which led the Jayhawks.
Up next is a match against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, who are the #2 team in the region. The Jayhawks will be looking to improve on their 12-10 tournament record under Bechard, hoping to repeat the trip to the Sweet 16 with another big upset. First serve is scheduled for 7pm.
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