Kansas 2024

[buttery]

I thought I'd take a stab at this as I think it's a little sad that a Top 16 program from last year doesn't have a 2024 page yet! 

Kansas improved on a decent 2022 season going 19-11 with a 2023 season that probably outperformed expectations, finishing second in the Big 12 and 24-6 overall. The Jayhawks hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament as the #14 overall seed, beating Omaha in a nail biting sweep, before losing to Penn State in a heartbreaking 15-13 fifth set.

Jayhawks return the Big 12 Setter of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team performer Camryn Turner (S), All-Big 12 Second Team Performers Ayah Elnady (OH) and London Davis (OPP), and outstanding All-Rookie Team libero Raegan Burns.

The Jayhawks' mentality for 2024 is probably similar to 2017 with a very impactful group likely in their last go around in Turner, Bien, Davis, and Elnady (she could come back as she still has a COVID year, but she can only get so many degrees). This team should have the expectation of winning the Big 12 and hosting the first weekend of the NCAA tournament again; and I don't think a Top 12 seed is out of the question if they play to their potential, which ideally gives them a shot to see if they can win a neutral site game for a place in a regional final.

As of now (knocks on wood), I'm unaware of any transfers in or out of Kansas and honestly, this seems like a very tight knit group with everyone embracing their role. 2021 Big 12 Freshman of the Year Caroline Bien and setter Katie Dalton both play DS and exemplify this group's "team first" mentality. The Jayhawks will likely have elite passing, elite floor defense, and elite setting; but the biggest unanswered question is who can fill the offensive void of Raegan Cooper, who looked pretty much unstoppable in her final few games for the Jayhawks.

Departures:

• Kennedy Farris, DS/L, Lansing, KS (5th Year - Graduation)
• Raegan Cooper, OH, Rowlett, TX (5th Year - Graduation)
• Mykayla Myers, MB, Coppell, TX (5th Year - Graduation)
• Kim Whetstone, MB, Kansas City, KS (Senior - Graduation)
• Molly Schultz, DS/SS, Rockford, MN (Senior - Graduation)
• Kaiti Parks, MB, Olathe, KS (RS-Junior - Graduation)

Returners (positions based on website roster):

• DS/SS/Liberos:
  
• Raegan Burns, L, Lafayette, IN (Sophomore - 3 Years Remaining Eligibility)
• Brynn Kirsch, DS, Sioux Falls, S.D. (Junior - 2 Years Remaining Eligibility)
• Molly McCarthy, SS, Rancho Mirage, CA, (RS-Sophomore - 3 Years Remaining Eligibility)
• Bryn McGehe, DS, Platte County, MO, (Senior - 1 Year Remaining Eligibility)

• Setters:
• Camryn Turner, S, Topeka, KS (Senior - 1 Year Remaining Eligibility)
• Katie Dalton, S, Parker, CO (Junior - 2 Years Remaining Eligibility)

• Outside Hitter
• Ayah Elnady, OH, Cairo, Egypt (RS-Senior - 2 Years Remaining Eligibility [!!!])
• Caroline Bien, OH/DS, Overland Park, KS (Senior - 1 Year Remaining Eligibility)
• Rhian Swanson, OH, McPherson, KS (Junior - 2 Years Remaining Eligibility)

• Middle Blockers

• Aisha Aiono, MB, Liberty, MO (Sophomore - 3 Years Eligibility Remaining)
• Toyosi Onabanjo, MB, Houston, TX (Senior - 1 Year Remaining Eligibility)

• Opposite
• London Davis, OPP, Galena, OH (Senior - 1 Year Remaining Eligibility)
• Ellie Schneider, OPP/MB, Metairie, LA (Sophomore - 3 Years Remaining Eligibility)

Incoming:

• Zoey Burgess, MB, Alpine, UT (Freshman - 4 Years Remaining Eligibility)
• Ellie Moore, S, Darien, CT (Freshman - 4 Years Remaining Eligibility)
• Reese Ptacek, MB, Prescott, WI (Freshman - 4 Years Remaining Eligibility)
• Kenzie Dean, OH, Johnston, IA (Freshman - 4 Years Remaining Eligibility)
• Heidi Devers, DS, Shawnee, KS (Freshman - 4 Years Remaining Eligibility)
• Grace Nelson, OH, River Forest, IL (Freshman - 4 Years Remaining Eligibility)

Too Early Starting Line-Up Prediction:

• 5-1
  
  • OPP: London Davis (DS - Katie Dalton)
  • S: Camryn Turner
  • OH1: Grace Nelson (DS - Caroline Bien)
  • OH2: Ayah Elnady
  • MB1: Toyosi Onabanjo (SS - Bryn McGehe)
  • MB2: Zoey Burgess
  • L: Raegan Burns

I plan to give a take on positions as a group separately, but MB2 and OH1 are the outstanding questions here, with pretty much everything else probably being solidified barring a large surprise. For those new to Kansas, you'll notice that Caroline Bien and Katie Dalton are DSing. Katie Dalton plays a very similar position to the role Nicole Dalton played at Texas, being a setter who plays back-row and yet, is a primary passer, and gives the option for Kansas to run their offense normally if Turner takes the first ball (or at times they'll let Turner show off her cannon of a left arm). Caroline Bien's new role as an elite DS can't be understated either - I still think she could probably be a libero professionally and her role in KU's serve and pass game is key to the success of the team. Seeing as she's been called the other floor captain along with Turner, I can't see Bechard taking her out of the serve receive and sacrificing probably the team's best floor defender and playing Nelson 6-rotations (this year).

Interesting to see how the non-conference schedule will go - would like KU to play one more big RPI 50-50 games like Marquette and Purdue to deal with the RPI boost Texas provided. This team is too good to be routing Oral Roberts, Bellarmine, and New Hampshire on their home floor in sweeps this year.

[digs]

I expect Grace Nelson to make an instant impact. I saw a lot of her in juniors, and she’s got serious game. And while DS depth may keep her out of the back row, she can absolutely play six rotations. She’s a deadly back row attacker.

Also, shout out to Heidi Devers, who I’ve also seen a lot of in juniors. She is an absolute gamer. Dynamic defender, lock down passer. Unflappable. Will be interesting to see how they use all the DS talent. Will there be competition for the jersey? Raegan is fantastic. But Heidi absolutely has the chops to play Libero in the Big 12, imho. Will be fun to see how it plays out with so much talent back there. A nice problem to have.

[buttery]

Jan 19, 2024 23:15:29 GMT -5 digs said:

I expect Grace Nelson to make an instant impact. I saw a lot of her in juniors, and she’s got serious game. And while DS depth may keep her out of the back row, she can absolutely play six rotations. She’s a deadly back row attacker.

Also, shout out to Heidi Devers, who I’ve also seen a lot of in juniors. She is an absolute gamer. Dynamic defender, lock down passer. Unflappable. Will be interesting to see how they use all the DS talent. Will there be competition for the jersey? Raegan is fantastic. But Heidi absolutely has the chops to play Libero in the Big 12, imho. Will be fun to see how it plays out with so much talent back there. A nice problem to have.

Interesting point on Devers - I watched a couple of her games on Dynasty and when St. James played in a showcase against Cornerstone on ESPN and she had a couple insane digs. I assumed that if she didn’t beat out Mya Bolton at St. James for the libero jersey, she wouldn’t at KU, but she does look impressive.

An option could be to redshirt her and create two years of separation between her and Burns, so she’d take over the libero jersey her junior and senior year, then be Bien’s replacement in 2025. She will probably want to play right away, but this is also a player who committed the very first day you could commit (and she might’ve been the first commit overall in her class nationwide actually), so she definitely loves KU.

[buttery]

I thought I'd start rambling myself again in order to A. Bump the Kansas thread back into the first 5 pages of this forum, and B. Because I'm really excited about the next season of Kansas volleyball and wanted to share my thoughts. I'll probably break these down into discussions by position like I said I would earlier.

Setters:


Camryn Turner (Senior)/Projected Role: Starting Setter


Kansas returns their 2023 Big 12 Setter of the Year and All-American Honorable Mention 5'8 floor captain. Turner led KU to the 2nd best hitting percentage behind Texas, and 1st in kills and assists. She also led the conference in assists per set. In case you're a fan, read the piece from R1S1's Matt Tait. In terms of her on court play, Turner is foolishly athletic and has used that athleticism to develop into a great distributor of the ball. Additionally, her on-court defense is elite and she really isn't too much of a blocking liability at all. I would expect her to be one of the top setters in the country this year, so obviously she's running the 5-1.


Katie Dalton (Junior)/Projected Role: DS (Right Side)

Really KU's only insurance policy if god forbid Camryn Turner were to go down, but from what I've seen in limited playing opportunities, not a bad one. We'll get to Dalton (one of a long line of Daltons who have played college volleyball) as a DS, but she has had experience setting in a 6-2 situation, especially freshman year. The key thing for Kansas is that if Turner takes the 1st contact, Dalton usually comes in as a right side DS. Especially towards the end of the season, Dalton would consistently take the second contact where she had three options (one at OH, MB, and Turner has a RS because of her cannon left arm). Really unique, it gives me shades of Simpson/Ennis from 2018, and I imagine the off-season would only help develop this play style when Turner is in the front row.

Another thought here with Dalton, but I imagine she would get the keys to the 5-1 after this year in her final season in 2025 (she could, of course, transfer; but the way I see it, it's hers to lose at that point - Bechard is pretty old school and it's doubtful he'd bring in a transfer unless there was for sure no viable option).

[buttery]

I for one appreciate how Kansas plays a style where we can even have a discussion on defensive specialists depth. In fact, it's their largest position. Despite Bien and Dalton being starting level OH/L and Setter material, they were starting DSs last year; which leaves very little roles for the rest of the actual DSs. There is a conversation to be had here on who the serving specialist is - one final shout-out to graduate Molly Schultz, who seemingly was always good for an ace at any time last year when she got subbed in as serving specialist.


Libero/Defensive Specialists/Serving Specialists:


Reagan Burns (Sophomore)/Projected Role: Libero

Burns was a very unexpected, but very pleasant surprise last season as she got the libero jersey in game 1 and never looked back outside of a few sets due to injury. While her digs per set weren't very impressive, I think part of that is due to Kansas' terrific hitting percentage and thanks to some data from jwvolley , passed a great 2.27 last season. Teams are making a big mistake if they are choosing to target her in passing (which would be an obvious strategy to not serve liberos, but - and I loved Kennedy Farris - I wouldn't say that wasn't a strategy for opposing teams in prior years). Furthermore, the digs she does make are wildly impressive (like this, watch 10:06 here) and I truly think she could be one of the best liberos in the country by the end of her college career. There were very few college liberos who played a role on a Top 25-30 team and the future is very bright.


Caroline Bien (Senior)/Projected Role: DS (OH1)

I think the average reader of this forum would think the former Class of 2021 #14 national recruit, Big 12 FOTY, AA HM honoree, USAV Youth National Team training player and two-year starting six rotation OH would be pretty upset at playing DS. And she might've, but if she was, she definitely seems to have gotten past it and embraced her role last year as a back row substitute for Reagan Cooper. Her passing was around a 2.28 according to jwvolley and anyone who watched Kansas should know that she makes ridiculous and exceptional defensive plays. Her range is exceptional and her digs often allow Turner (or Dalton) to run an in-system offense. Additionally, when she was asked to replace either Elnady or Cooper at outside hitter, she generally played really well (see her performances against Purdue, K-State, and Iowa State). Finally, when she's back there, she is a back row attacking option - I would say it was very rarely used by Turner as Bien's just not that terminal from back there, but it is easy to terminate on the bic if the block isn't there!

Bien embodies the KU volleyball culture and is one of the leaders of the team with Turner. I'd also put her up in the top 1% of women's college volleyball athletes who receive NIL money as she has made quite a few videos for Wendy's and even has her own t-shirt within KU fan gear stores!


Katie Dalton(Junior)/Projected Role: DS (RS)

I've talked about her already in the setting section, but will elaborate that I thought her passing was pretty solid this season. There weren't many passing stats shared about her, but especially towards the end of the season, I felt Elnady was more of a target along with Bien (I think it's probably because she would be in a two-person reception core with Burns as they essentially hid Elandy). With the upside of her secondary setting capabilities, the fact that she can play great defense (at 6'1 with lanky go-go gadget limbs), and pass a ball even of similar par with the other DSs, they should start her. Between Kirsch, Dalton, and McGehe; I would say Dalton is about equal to McGehe in proven ability to pass a ball, and better than Kirsch.

Projected Bench:

Brynn McGehe (RS-Junior): Last year, she occasionally played DS for Elnady. I would say her overall DS game is potentially 3rd in every category (if we think passing/digging/serving), but not dominant in any particular aspect. From limited sample size in the last year, I think she's a decent passer, plays some good defense, and came in and served some aces on occasion. Not to pick on teams, but she would've been a huge asset at Minnesota last year. She's the 4th one in the all important Turner/Bien/Davis freshman class, so I expect Bechard will find a somewhat consistent role for her as a SS.

Bryn Kirsch (Junior): Feel a little bad for her because she got the libero jersey her freshman year from Farris, before getting injured and then ultimately got replaced that season for good. Next year, Burn comes around and obviously takes it for good with outstanding play. She's a really good DS, and a lot of teams would be lucky to have her, but her pros and cons don't quite outweigh Dalton, passing isn't good enough to pass Bien, and all-around game is weaker than Burns. However, Burns had an injury a few games too (both Iowa State games) and she stepped up as the replacement. I think she'd be the 1st choice replacement for Burns and the 1st choice replacement for Dalton - look for her to occasionally replace Dalton as RS DS and come in as an occasional SS (though that didn't seem to be her role as much last year - her best asset is the defensive capabilities she brings rather than passing or serving).

Molly McCarthy (RS-Sophomore): McCarthy didn't play last season and was in a boot most of the season. She's not going anywhere though because her family is one of KU's most important donors. HOWEVER - she's a good player! She was one of KU's primary serving specialist in 2022 and can dig a ball (see 35:46). I'd put her in the rotation for SS as well.

Heidi Devers (Freshman): digs brought up some good points in this thread from her club career, and I generally agree from the video I've seen of her club games and also her high school games at powerhouse St. James Academy in Lenexa. I think the bar has been set exceptionally high for DS positions at Kansas though and she has a lot of work to do to unseat a Burns/Bien/Dalton. I still think the best option here would be to redshirt her to A. Create 2 years separation between her and Burns and B. Allow for Bien to graduate, and Dalton to potentially start as setter in a 5-1 in 2025. She'd then be competing for 1 of 2 likely vacant full-time DS positions. Another Kansas native, it's clear she likes KU and hopefully will stay for all of her eligibility.

[ay2013]

I don't pretend to be any sort of expert on Kansas volleyball, but I do watch and follow tons of volleyball, generally. I think the comments around Bien continuing to be a DS are a bit premature. She lost her front row duties to an attacker (Cooper) who hit .346 last year. There isn't a single coach in the country who wouldn't have made the same call. Well, Cooper is gone, and Nelson aside (I don't think I share your enthusiasm about her ability to be an immediate impact player), unless Kansas has another LS who is hitting even high .200's, let alone mid .300's, the question about whether to let Bien stay on the court for, as you point out, her other significant contributions on the floor, is still one that is pretty likely, IMO.

[rjaege]

Optimism seems well founded. KU had impressive players and team play last year. Looks well grounded to improve this year. Good luck.

[gatorjay]

does anyone know any details on spring matches? would love to attend some if they’re in LFK

[bluepenquin]

Mar 1, 2024 2:26:36 GMT -5 ay2013 said:

I don't pretend to be any sort of expert on Kansas volleyball, but I do watch and follow tons of volleyball, generally. I think the comments around Bien continuing to be a DS are a bit premature. She lost her front row duties to an attacker (Cooper) who hit .346 last year. There isn't a single coach in the country who wouldn't have made the same call. Well, Cooper is gone, and Nelson aside (I don't think I share your enthusiasm about her ability to be an immediate impact player), unless Kansas has another LS who is hitting even high .200's, let alone mid .300's, the question about whether to let Bien stay on the court for, as you point out, her other significant contributions on the floor, is still one that is pretty likely, IMO.

Yep - I expect Bien to have the inside track as a 6 rotation OH.  I do like Nelson a lot, but my expectation is Nelson (or Swanson) will be a situational front row replacement for Bien (or Elnady) when the offense is struggling, and they need a change of pace.  I would love to see Nelson as a redshirt this year - but KU typically doesn't do this (and Nelson may not be interested).  

BTW, Kansas made the decision to replace Bien with Cooper before she became a '.346' hitter.  Cooper wasn't close to being a .350 hitter for the 1st half of the season and she became significantly better than a .350 hitter for the 2nd half.  I cannot understate how elite Cooper became over the course of the season - as seen how she is ripping up professional ball right now.  Not sure where the credit goes here (obviously most of it to Cooper) - Cooper went from being a good player to an elite player in just a couple months with Kansas.  She was nothing like this at Texas Tech.  Just speculation - but did Kaitlin Nielsen have a hand in this?

[bluepenquin]

Mar 1, 2024 10:18:18 GMT -5 gatorjay said:

does anyone know any details on spring matches? would love to attend some if they’re in LFK

Kansas is horrible about publicizing their spring matches.  Good luck with this one.


 

[gatorjay]

Mar 1, 2024 11:16:18 GMT -5 bluepenquin said:

Mar 1, 2024 10:18:18 GMT -5 gatorjay said:

does anyone know any details on spring matches? would love to attend some if they’re in LFK

Kansas is horrible about publicizing their spring matches.  Good luck with this one.


 

looks like i’ll be DMing the instagram account and emailing the athletics department. will report back!

[bluepenquin]

Got to see Taylor Cook at Triple Crown - her 'setting' technique is outstanding. To my eye - her sets are typically perfect and something I would love to be hitting.

The issue (in my eyes) is going to be her size - she looks smaller than 5-9. And her athleticism. She may be very athletic, and it is hard to tell as her club runs a 6-2, but I would like to see speed and quickness in getting to the ball. Obviously, Cam Turner is an elite athletic.

Also - didn't see Ping coaching at Triple Crown - I was kind of counting on him coaching Taylor at club this year.

2026 recruiting class is going to be a critical one for KU this year.

[gatorjay]

Mar 1, 2024 11:18:03 GMT -5 gatorjay said:

Mar 1, 2024 11:16:18 GMT -5 bluepenquin said:

Kansas is horrible about publicizing their spring matches.  Good luck with this one.


 

looks like i’ll be DMing the instagram account and emailing the athletics department. will report back!

update “We will be posting a spring matches graphic soon. Thanks”

[ay2013]

Mar 1, 2024 9:16:52 GMT -5 rjaege said:

Optimism seems well founded. KU had impressive players and team play last year. Looks well grounded to improve this year. Good luck.

I dunno about THAT. Last year they pushed their second round opponent (Penn State) to 5. I see Kansas in the hunt for the Big 12 title mostly because Texas is gone and no other team really is bringing an elite returning roster to the table. I think a sweet 16 appearance could be an achievable goal, depending on the bracket, but I'd be surprised if they were an elite 8 team by season end.

[avid 2.0]

Ayah Elnady was named MVP at the African Games

http://instagram.com/p/C431tTmI_Cl