Kansas 2023

[bluepenquin]

I didn't get to watch that much of the Wichita State game. From what I can tell - Kansas didn't play that well and weren't all that good in the things they have been good at this year. Still - got the win against a team that thinks of Kansas as their rival, while Kansas doesn't really consider Wichita State a rival. This is the type of game that screams upset - and Kansas got the win.

Also - it sounds like Wichita State has been good at getting their opponents off their game - they are effective at making the game look ugly. They also are missing their best player, so they may be good enough to compete and win the AAC.

Dalton was available for the first time this year. She came in late in the 4th set as a DS (instead of Kirsch). She actually looked pretty good - and got a backrow kill late in a close set.

I didn't see Farris with the team - certainly didn't see her dressed for the game.

Colorado is the #24 team in the country (according to Pablo) - so this afternoon is a big matchup game for both teams.

[bluepenquin]

Looking at the Kansas Stats through the first 3 weeks - some observations.

Elnady has improved at every aspect of her game this season (and she was good last year). She is getting more kills, hitting a higher percent, getting more digs - and from what I have seen, her serve receive is a plus. She is hitting .289 on the season which is very good to see.

Turner leads the teams in digs - 3.39 d/s. This is an increase over last season. Not that # of digs tells the story, but I see her floor defense to be outstanding.

Mykayla Myers is 7th on the team in total attacks. She is getting less than 2 attempts per set as a 100% full time player thus far. She is only hitting .244 on the season as a MB. Not sure what to say here - they need to get her more involved in the offense and she needs to be more efficient.

Katie Dalton has some wild per set stats for a player that hasn't played the front row and basically only played 4 sets (she came in for 1 rotation in one set for her first set played. She is 2 for 2 in kills (from the back row). She has 4 aces. She has 3.20 digs per set - while just playing the 3 rotations. Obviously small sample size here - but those are some crazy rate numbers.

I always like to look at serve receive attempts - who are teams targeting. Here are the % from the Colorado match (Colorado evidently had a high risk serving strategy against Kansas that led to a ton of errors, but may have been keeping KU out of system).

Elnady - 32.8%
Bien - 25.4%
Cooper - 20.9%
Dalton - 13.4%
Burns - 7.5%

Colorado only got a serve on Burns 5 times in the entire match. That is both highly impressive by Colorado - and a clue to how good other teams believe Burns is.

Cooper with 20.9% is the problem here. I believe there is only 1 of the 6 rotations where she is even in serve receive and it isn't anything close to a third of the court. How the heck did Colorado get the ball to her that often - and this is certainly not want KU would want. For reference - Cooper had 2% of the attempts against Wichita State, which has been more of the norm for the season. I have no idea how good Dalton is on serve receive.

[buttery]

Sept 9, 2023 8:56:42 GMT -5 bluepenquin said:

Looking at the Kansas Stats through the first 3 weeks - some observations.

Elnady has improved at every aspect of her game this season (and she was good last year). She is getting more kills, hitting a higher percent, getting more digs - and from what I have seen, her serve receive is a plus. She is hitting .289 on the season which is very good to see.

Turner leads the teams in digs - 3.39 d/s. This is an increase over last season. Not that # of digs tells the story, but I see her floor defense to be outstanding.

Mykayla Myers is 7th on the team in total attacks. She is getting less than 2 attempts per set as a 100% full time player thus far. She is only hitting .244 on the season as a MB. Not sure what to say here - they need to get her more involved in the offense and she needs to be more efficient.

Katie Dalton has some wild per set stats for a player that hasn't played the front row and basically only played 4 sets (she came in for 1 rotation in one set for her first set played. She is 2 for 2 in kills (from the back row). She has 4 aces. She has 3.20 digs per set - while just playing the 3 rotations. Obviously small sample size here - but those are some crazy rate numbers.

I always like to look at serve receive attempts - who are teams targeting. Here are the % from the Colorado match (Colorado evidently had a high risk serving strategy against Kansas that led to a ton of errors, but may have been keeping KU out of system).

Elnady - 32.8%
Bien - 25.4%
Cooper - 20.9%
Dalton - 13.4%
Burns - 7.5%

Colorado only got a serve on Burns 5 times in the entire match. That is both highly impressive by Colorado - and a clue to how good other teams believe Burns is.

Cooper with 20.9% is the problem here. I believe there is only 1 of the 6 rotations where she is even in serve receive and it isn't anything close to a third of the court. How the heck did Colorado get the ball to her that often - and this is certainly not want KU would want. For reference - Cooper had 2% of the attempts against Wichita State, which has been more of the norm for the season. I have no idea how good Dalton is on serve receive.

Good observations here. Big Rotation 1 issues here. With Cooper and Elnady in, it turns into essentially a two-person reception core with Elnady and Burns because they try to hide Cooper so much, but it’s a lot of ground for Elnady to cover and a short serve could disrupt any attack approach from Cooper. Happened in last part of Set 1 for Wichita State game - they then switched Bien with Cooper, but then they’ll just serve Bien and as we learned last year she’s not as great as attacking after being served. They don’t have Szabo like last year to do the Annie Drews run around so setting the right pin with Davis being a righty takes even better timing and precision. So without a perfect pass (unlikely with Elnady having to cover half the court, and they aren’t serving Burns obviously) then opponents know it’s going outside (because Myers is the middle in this row and you’ve noted her attacking inefficiency/scarcity here).

Maybe if they really need to side-out in a squeeze, they DS Elnady with McGeHe or Schultz or something, but pretty bad to burn a sub for one rotation - Wichita State point scored 5 points on that rotation in Set 1 though.

[buttery]

Other observations as I had time to watch the WSU game.

As we know, the floors defense is phenomenal, but the same goes for covering attackers and those don’t show up on stat sheets I think. Between Burns, Bien, Kirsch, and Turner; the block coverage is foolishly good. So many second chance points for the Jayhawks - they don’t really need to be that efficient if they get so many second chance opportunities.

Also, the commentator said Farris is in nursing school and that is why she wasn’t playing. She could theoretically red shirt and then have yet another year of eligibility.

[bluepenquin]

Sept 9, 2023 15:11:56 GMT -5 buttery said:

Sept 9, 2023 8:56:42 GMT -5 bluepenquin said:

Looking at the Kansas Stats through the first 3 weeks - some observations.

Elnady has improved at every aspect of her game this season (and she was good last year). She is getting more kills, hitting a higher percent, getting more digs - and from what I have seen, her serve receive is a plus. She is hitting .289 on the season which is very good to see.

Turner leads the teams in digs - 3.39 d/s. This is an increase over last season. Not that # of digs tells the story, but I see her floor defense to be outstanding.

Mykayla Myers is 7th on the team in total attacks. She is getting less than 2 attempts per set as a 100% full time player thus far. She is only hitting .244 on the season as a MB. Not sure what to say here - they need to get her more involved in the offense and she needs to be more efficient.

Katie Dalton has some wild per set stats for a player that hasn't played the front row and basically only played 4 sets (she came in for 1 rotation in one set for her first set played. She is 2 for 2 in kills (from the back row). She has 4 aces. She has 3.20 digs per set - while just playing the 3 rotations. Obviously small sample size here - but those are some crazy rate numbers.

I always like to look at serve receive attempts - who are teams targeting. Here are the % from the Colorado match (Colorado evidently had a high risk serving strategy against Kansas that led to a ton of errors, but may have been keeping KU out of system).

Elnady - 32.8%
Bien - 25.4%
Cooper - 20.9%
Dalton - 13.4%
Burns - 7.5%

Colorado only got a serve on Burns 5 times in the entire match. That is both highly impressive by Colorado - and a clue to how good other teams believe Burns is.

Cooper with 20.9% is the problem here. I believe there is only 1 of the 6 rotations where she is even in serve receive and it isn't anything close to a third of the court. How the heck did Colorado get the ball to her that often - and this is certainly not want KU would want. For reference - Cooper had 2% of the attempts against Wichita State, which has been more of the norm for the season. I have no idea how good Dalton is on serve receive.

Good observations here. Big Rotation 1 issues here. With Cooper and Elnady in, it turns into essentially a two-person reception core with Elnady and Burns because they try to hide Cooper so much, but it’s a lot of ground for Elnady to cover and a short serve could disrupt any attack approach from Cooper. Happened in last part of Set 1 for Wichita State game - they then switched Bien with Cooper, but then they’ll just serve Bien and as we learned last year she’s not as great as attacking after being served. They don’t have Szabo like last year to do the Annie Drews run around so setting the right pin with Davis being a righty takes even better timing and precision. So without a perfect pass (unlikely with Elnady having to cover half the court, and they aren’t serving Burns obviously) then opponents know it’s going outside (because Myers is the middle in this row and you’ve noted her attacking inefficiency/scarcity here).

Maybe if they really need to side-out in a squeeze, they DS Elnady with McGeHe or Schultz or something, but pretty bad to burn a sub for one rotation - Wichita State point scored 5 points on that rotation in Set 1 though.

Rotation 1 has certainly been a problem all season.  I would still like to know how Colorado was able to get 20% of the match serves on Cooper when she is only receiving in 1 rotation and is being hidden?

To me - the easy answer is to play Bien in rotation 1.  There is no extra substitution to do this since she subs in for Cooper on the back row - in fact it will save them a substitution at the start of the set (which they have done on occasions).  Bien is fully capable of playing on the front row in this one rotation.  They also want to save those subs for bringing in a bigger blocker late in the set now that they have Dalton back (which they have been doing now).

I absolutely hated the 'Szabo run around the back endline to hit on the right side' during rotation 1 the last couple years.  I am fine with Davis hitting from the LS - she is right-handed, and she played the LS in club.  I just wouldn't sit around and wait for the opponent to go on a 4 or 5 point run before making the switch (which has happened already this season).  This doesn't seem difficult.

They also could run some combination plays out of this set - I wish they did more of this.  They could run Myers on a slide - even though Bien is on the RS (they used to do this all the time with Jarmac and Albers).  They could bring Davis in on an X play.  They also have Elnady as a potential hitter out of the middle - but in this rotation, why not have her hitting from the back left with Davis and Myers running an X?  There are unlimited options here - and the chances of being in system with Burns, Bien and Elnady receiving serve is very good, certainly better than what they are currently doing.

That is interesting about Farris.  Potential redshirt makes sense for why they aren't putting her in the match even when she is dressed for the match?  But - why would her demands from nursing school to play volleyball next year improve over this this year?  And I don't know her scholarship situation - I assume that she has had some but not all of her 5 years on scholarship - I would be surprised if Kansas will have a scholarship available for her next season (she may not be on scholarship this year)?  Anway - this is looking like a Farris decision and it would appear that she may be back for her 6th season.  Now - we really need for Elnady to come back for her 5th year next season and her 6th season in 2025.  It is crazy to think how much eligibility Elandy still has.  

[jwvolley]

Idk why the Colorado match isn't coded yet, weird, but before that match the passing stats were:

Elnady 2.21 on 110 attempts
Bien: 2.18 on 72 attempts
Burns 2.34 on 65 attempts
Kirsch 1.92 on 63 attempts
Cooper 1.50 on 15 attempts
Schultz 1.75 on 8 attempts

For reference, Elnady passed a 2.08 on the year last year and Farris passed a 1.98 (eek). That's a significant ball control improvement so far.

[bluepenquin]

Sept 10, 2023 8:30:37 GMT -5 jwvolley said:

Idk why the Colorado match isn't coded yet, weird, but before that match the passing stats were:

Elnady 2.21 on 110 attempts
Bien: 2.18 on 72 attempts
Burns 2.34 on 65 attempts
Kirsch 1.92 on 63 attempts
Cooper 1.50 on 15 attempts
Schultz 1.75 on 8 attempts

For reference, Elnady passed a 2.08 on the year last year and Farris passed a 1.98 (eek). That's a significant ball control improvement so far.

This is great information.

I will say it is possible that it is important to know who is being asked to cover more ground.  It was my opinion that Bien was asked to cover more ground than Elnady - while both have very similar passing stats (and I could be very wrong on this).

Most of this does match with what I am seeing when watching the games.  My thoughts:

Elnady has improved each year - she looks better this year passing and her passing last year was better than her Freshman Covid season.  Also - her entire game continue to get better.

Bien is very good - but not necessarily great.  I wonder what she would have been like if she was a libero (I assume a better passer).  Still - she is very good to have whether a 6 rotation OH or DS.

Burns is just flat out awesome - with a couple caveats.  It is only 6 matches and no one is serving her the ball.  Her floor defense is also outstanding - she looks like a great libero to me.  When comparing her to Cassie Wait - Wait was elite at serve receive (from what I saw).  She improved her floor defense as she got older and by her Junior year was above average in that part.  But she was critical in her serve receive and she covered a ton of ground.  Burns is ahead of where Wait was as a Freshman.  Burns probably isn't going to be required to cover as much ground as Wait - with Bien and Elnady being better at serve receive than Rigdon.  

Farris - Never been great in serve receive.  Last year, she made a huge improvement in her floor defense and outstanding in that part of her game.  Her serve receive was good enough - especially  with the solid OH around her.

Kirsch and Schultz - sort of disappointing in that I thought either could have been above average liberos for Kansas.  There is still time for Kirsch.

Dalton - I will be interested to see her serve receive and what the stats look like as we move forward.  For right now - it looks like she has won over the 2nd DS spot.  If she is 2.00+ - this team will be much better.

2022 was a sizeable improvement in serve receive and floor defense from the 2021 season for Kansas.  2023 looks like an even bigger improvement.  They just can never allow 20% from Cooper in any match with so many great options.  

[buttery]

Sept 10, 2023 9:08:34 GMT -5 bluepenquin said:

Sept 10, 2023 8:30:37 GMT -5 jwvolley said:

Idk why the Colorado match isn't coded yet, weird, but before that match the passing stats were:

Elnady 2.21 on 110 attempts
Bien: 2.18 on 72 attempts
Burns 2.34 on 65 attempts
Kirsch 1.92 on 63 attempts
Cooper 1.50 on 15 attempts
Schultz 1.75 on 8 attempts

For reference, Elnady passed a 2.08 on the year last year and Farris passed a 1.98 (eek). That's a significant ball control improvement so far.

This is great information.

I will say it is possible that it is important to know who is being asked to cover more ground.  It was my opinion that Bien was asked to cover more ground than Elnady - while both have very similar passing stats (and I could be very wrong on this).

Most of this does match with what I am seeing when watching the games.  My thoughts:

Elnady has improved each year - she looks better this year passing and her passing last year was better than her Freshman Covid season.  Also - her entire game continue to get better.

Bien is very good - but not necessarily great.  I wonder what she would have been like if she was a libero (I assume a better passer).  Still - she is very good to have whether a 6 rotation OH or DS.

Burns is just flat out awesome - with a couple caveats.  It is only 6 matches and no one is serving her the ball.  Her floor defense is also outstanding - she looks like a great libero to me.  When comparing her to Cassie Wait - Wait was elite at serve receive (from what I saw).  She improved her floor defense as she got older and by her Junior year was above average in that part.  But she was critical in her serve receive and she covered a ton of ground.  Burns is ahead of where Wait was as a Freshman.  Burns probably isn't going to be required to cover as much ground as Wait - with Bien and Elnady being better at serve receive than Rigdon.  

Farris - Never been great in serve receive.  Last year, she made a huge improvement in her floor defense and outstanding in that part of her game.  Her serve receive was good enough - especially  with the solid OH around her.

Kirsch and Schultz - sort of disappointing in that I thought either could have been above average liberos for Kansas.  There is still time for Kirsch.

Dalton - I will be interested to see her serve receive and what the stats look like as we move forward.  For right now - it looks like she has won over the 2nd DS spot.  If she is 2.00+ - this team will be much better.

2022 was a sizeable improvement in serve receive and floor defense from the 2021 season for Kansas.  2023 looks like an even bigger improvement.  They just can never allow 20% from Cooper in any match with so many great options.  

With Kirsch’s passing being not so great, I don’t see why you wouldn’t have Dalton in as a DS for the RS so that you can switch into a dub-sub at times.

I don’t have stats for this, but I think Molly Schultz is really good at coming in cold and getting an ace or at least getting team’s out of system. Would like to see what rating McGeHe passed at last year when she was in as well. And since we’re talking DSs, another note is that McCarthy hasn’t played this year - she was primarily the serving specialist in a lot of games last year, especially early. She’s obviously not going anywhere so that may be a redshirt situation too (though I don’t think she’s ever received serve though).

Also, since we’re talking DSs, McCarthy hasn’t played

[friendlybanter]

I like the way Kansas has played this year. I think Kansas has had a lot of good contributors this year. But IMO the true star of this team is Camryn Turner. She came out of nowhere and isn’t just a good setter, she’s to the point to where she is one of the best in the country. I like Kansas’ attackers, but sometimes I feel as if they don’t have that one star hitter to bail them out. But Turner has had the ability to deliver the ball to her hitters and really makes the offense goes.

Furthermore, her defense is excellent. When Kansas has Turner, Bien, and Burns in the back row together it feels like they are playing 3 liberos. She might not have the most intimidating block, but I really think she is the heart and soul of this team. Kansas knows who they are. They are not the biggest team or most intimidating off the bus. But what makes them good is the ability to be lock down on serve receive and floor defense, and let Turner ignite the offense.

Even though it may seem that the best move for Kansas is to go to a 6-2 now that Dalton is health, Turner is the reason they haven’t. She cannot leave the floor. She is just too valuable even with her height concerns. Girl got game! I am very interested to see how Kansas continues to build on this season. After a couple lull years, Kansas has regained traction in this program and it is good to see.

[Fe Gaslay]

Sept 11, 2023 1:06:07 GMT -5 friendlybanter said:

I like the way Kansas has played this year. I think Kansas has had a lot of good contributors this year. But IMO the true star of this team is Camryn Turner. She came out of nowhere and isn’t just a good setter, she’s to the point to where she is one of the best in the country. I like Kansas’ attackers, but sometimes I feel as if they don’t have that one star hitter to bail them out. But Turner has had the ability to deliver the ball to her hitters and really makes the offense goes.

Furthermore, her defense is excellent. When Kansas has Turner, Bien, and Burns in the back row together it feels like they are playing 3 liberos. She might not have the most intimidating block, but I really think she is the heart and soul of this team. Kansas knows who they are. They are not the biggest team or most intimidating off the bus. But what makes them good is the ability to be lock down on serve receive and floor defense, and let Turner ignite the offense.

Even though it may seem that the best move for Kansas is to go to a 6-2 now that Dalton is health, Turner is the reason they haven’t. She cannot leave the floor. She is just too valuable even with her height concerns. Girl got game! I am very interested to see how Kansas continues to build on this season. After a couple lull years, Kansas has regained traction in this program and it is good to see.

Love this!! Totally agreed about Turner being one of the best setters out there. Imo she’s top 10, but probably more like top 7-8 in the country. Just runs such a smooth offense and gives her hitters great looks

[bluepenquin]

Sept 11, 2023 1:06:07 GMT -5 friendlybanter said:

I like the way Kansas has played this year. I think Kansas has had a lot of good contributors this year. But IMO the true star of this team is Camryn Turner. She came out of nowhere and isn’t just a good setter, she’s to the point to where she is one of the best in the country. I like Kansas’ attackers, but sometimes I feel as if they don’t have that one star hitter to bail them out. But Turner has had the ability to deliver the ball to her hitters and really makes the offense goes.

Furthermore, her defense is excellent. When Kansas has Turner, Bien, and Burns in the back row together it feels like they are playing 3 liberos. She might not have the most intimidating block, but I really think she is the heart and soul of this team. Kansas knows who they are. They are not the biggest team or most intimidating off the bus. But what makes them good is the ability to be lock down on serve receive and floor defense, and let Turner ignite the offense.

Even though it may seem that the best move for Kansas is to go to a 6-2 now that Dalton is health, Turner is the reason they haven’t. She cannot leave the floor. She is just too valuable even with her height concerns. Girl got game! I am very interested to see how Kansas continues to build on this season. After a couple lull years, Kansas has regained traction in this program and it is good to see.

I believe that Turner would be an above average libero - her floor defense is that good.

I think she is a very good attacker as a setter - including dumps from the backrow.

She isn't a bad blocker given her height she is better than people think.

I just don't know if she is great at setting - and there is so much that can go into this out of her control.  I would like to see a faster offense - which Kansas has never had with her.  They don't run very many play sets.  This may or may not be related to Turner's skillset - but it gives me questions.  

I don't mean this to be a negative on Turner - I think she is great.  She has a unique skillset for a setter - and her ability as a leader of this team is w/o question.

[badgerblockparty]

Sept 10, 2023 8:30:37 GMT -5 jwvolley said:

Idk why the Colorado match isn't coded yet, weird, but before that match the passing stats were:

Elnady 2.21 on 110 attempts
Bien: 2.18 on 72 attempts
Burns 2.34 on 65 attempts
Kirsch 1.92 on 63 attempts
Cooper 1.50 on 15 attempts
Schultz 1.75 on 8 attempts

For reference, Elnady passed a 2.08 on the year last year and Farris passed a 1.98 (eek). That's a significant ball control improvement so far.

How can you find a team’s passing numbers?

[friendlybanter]

Sept 11, 2023 6:57:46 GMT -5 bluepenquin said:

Sept 11, 2023 1:06:07 GMT -5 friendlybanter said:

I like the way Kansas has played this year. I think Kansas has had a lot of good contributors this year. But IMO the true star of this team is Camryn Turner. She came out of nowhere and isn’t just a good setter, she’s to the point to where she is one of the best in the country. I like Kansas’ attackers, but sometimes I feel as if they don’t have that one star hitter to bail them out. But Turner has had the ability to deliver the ball to her hitters and really makes the offense goes.

Furthermore, her defense is excellent. When Kansas has Turner, Bien, and Burns in the back row together it feels like they are playing 3 liberos. She might not have the most intimidating block, but I really think she is the heart and soul of this team. Kansas knows who they are. They are not the biggest team or most intimidating off the bus. But what makes them good is the ability to be lock down on serve receive and floor defense, and let Turner ignite the offense.

Even though it may seem that the best move for Kansas is to go to a 6-2 now that Dalton is health, Turner is the reason they haven’t. She cannot leave the floor. She is just too valuable even with her height concerns. Girl got game! I am very interested to see how Kansas continues to build on this season. After a couple lull years, Kansas has regained traction in this program and it is good to see.

I believe that Turner would be an above average libero - her floor defense is that good.

I think she is a very good attacker as a setter - including dumps from the backrow.

She isn't a bad blocker given her height she is better than people think.

I just don't know if she is great at setting - and there is so much that can go into this out of her control.  I would like to see a faster offense - which Kansas has never had with her.  They don't run very many play sets.  This may or may not be related to Turner's skillset - but it gives me questions.  

I don't mean this to be a negative on Turner - I think she is great.  She has a unique skillset for a setter - and her ability as a leader of this team is w/o question.

I agree, I think Kansas can leave a lot to desire on offense, but like you said I think there’s other factors involved. This Kansas team is completely different from last year other than Elnady and Turner. Bien and Davis (first year as full time starter) both in new roles, Cooper, Burns, and the middles are all new. Maybe that’s why the offense doesn’t run as many plays. That’s one thing I want to see Kansas develop as the season progresses. And it seems like Bechard never really runs a fast offense, so maybe that’s why we haven’t seen one. Turner still has the rest of this year and another year at Kansas and can elevate her game even more. But from what she started as to now, she has been a surprising revelation in a position Kansas has been iffy at since Havili

[buttery]

Very easy win for Kansas over Oral Roberts last night. Oral Roberts really tried to push the issue on the service line in a high-risk high-reward strategy…unfortunately for them they had 3 aces to 13 service errors (!).

Pretty much everyone got involved after set 1 for the Jayhawks. Schneider is being used as the second RS - definitely a big blocking presence and I kind of expected her in the middle so it was nice to see some offense out of her too. I think it’s interesting though that they are investing in her at RS because KU will again need a middle with Onabanjo next year.

Speaking of, Onabanjo is so impressive - so much energy and athleticism. Really big transfer for the Jayhawks that is a big presence both offensively and defensively.

On the other hand, I would say Myers is a step below Langs/Dooley last year. She can’t really run the slide and the connection between her and Turner isn’t great right now. Defensively, not really a huge blocking force either (though she does get positive touches at the net). For now they mostly just need a solid second MB, but may be concerning against top conference teams like Texas and BYU.

Can’t say it enough so I’ll say it again, but Burns is so so good. I think about half the teams in the Top 25 would take her as their libero and it’s crazy to think she’s probably going to get better since she’s only a freshman. So many digs that keep Kansas in-system in transition (kudos to Bien too) and with Turner setting it’s a magical combo.

Hopefully nothing happens, but Swanson could probably replace Cooper if needed - she’s probably more athletic and reminds me a little bit of Jada Burse just hitting over blocks. Of course, this is a player that had 14 kills hitting .286 vs Nebraska. Makes sense that they go to Cooper given experience, but the 4 OHs for Kansas are a big luxury that we’ve never had before.

Finally, I was wrong on Farris - they played her the last two points of the match as a SS for Burns. She’s clearly just on the team for leadership and to share her veteran experience, which makes sense because it feels like she’s been there for 10 years at this point. McCarthy was the only ones who didn’t see the floor (and sets 2 and 3 really weren’t close…set 3 was closer because KU essentially played their second string the whole set), so I imagine she’s redshirting.

[bluepenquin]

Sept 13, 2023 10:00:40 GMT -5 buttery said:

Very easy win for Kansas over Oral Roberts last night. Oral Roberts really tried to push the issue on the service line in a high-risk high-reward strategy…unfortunately for them they had 3 aces to 13 service errors (!).

Pretty much everyone got involved after set 1 for the Jayhawks. Schneider is being used as the second RS - definitely a big blocking presence and I kind of expected her in the middle so it was nice to see some offense out of her too. I think it’s interesting though that they are investing in her at RS because KU will again need a middle with Onabanjo next year.

Speaking of, Onabanjo is so impressive - so much energy and athleticism. Really big transfer for the Jayhawks that is a big presence both offensively and defensively.

On the other hand, I would say Myers is a step below Langs/Dooley last year. She can’t really run the slide and the connection between her and Turner isn’t great right now. Defensively, not really a huge blocking force either (though she does get positive touches at the net). For now they mostly just need a solid second MB, but may be concerning against top conference teams like Texas and BYU.

Can’t say it enough so I’ll say it again, but Burns is so so good. I think about half the teams in the Top 25 would take her as their libero and it’s crazy to think she’s probably going to get better since she’s only a freshman. So many digs that keep Kansas in-system in transition (kudos to Bien too) and with Turner setting it’s a magical combo.

Hopefully nothing happens, but Swanson could probably replace Cooper if needed - she’s probably more athletic and reminds me a little bit of Jada Burse just hitting over blocks. Of course, this is a player that had 14 kills hitting .286 vs Nebraska. Makes sense that they go to Cooper given experience, but the 4 OHs for Kansas are a big luxury that we’ve never had before.

Finally, I was wrong on Farris - they played her the last two points of the match as a SS for Burns. She’s clearly just on the team for leadership and to share her veteran experience, which makes sense because it feels like she’s been there for 10 years at this point. McCarthy was the only ones who didn’t see the floor (and sets 2 and 3 really weren’t close…set 3 was closer because KU essentially played their second string the whole set), so I imagine she’s redshirting.

Sure looks like Schneider is being groomed to be a RS.  I was thinking a different direction for this year - but long term, RS is a huge need for this program.  

Reese Ptacek and Zoey Burgess will be on the team next year - and there is no doubt in my mind that at least one of them will be good enough to start for KU.  What is unclear when looking at the pipeline - who is going to be the RS once Davis leaves after next year?  Not to mention - who is the primary backup or make shift 6-2 option this year and next?  It now looks like Schnieder is the 1st option as of now.

The 2024 KU roster is going to be stacked - but here is what the 2025 roster looks like as of now assuming no transfers and based on eligibility:

Setter:  Dalton (SR), Cook (FR)

OH: Elnady (SR+), Swanson (SR), Nelson (SO), Dean (SO)

MB: Ptacek (SO), Burgess (SO), Aiono (JR)

RS: Schnieder (JR)

L/DS: Burns (JR), Kirsch (SR), Devers (SO), McCarthy (?)

There is no certainty that Elnady sticks around for a 6th year.  I will be shocked if Nelson isn't starting by at least her Sophomore year.  Dean is a potential RS.

They will be losing after the 2024 season: Turner, Bien, Davis, Onabanjo - there is room needed on this roster from the 2025 class.