Kansas Jayhawks earn Top 16 seed, will host Rounds 1 and 2 of NCAA Volleyball Tournament

A 2nd place Big 12 finish is rewarded with the ability to keep playing in Horejsi.

By all accounts, it was a great season for the Kansas Jayhawks on the volleyball court. With their only home loss coming at the hands of Purdue in the first home match of the season, the Jayhawks battled their way to a second place finish in the Big 12 conference. And they were rewarded for that record with a Top 16 seed in the bracket, which comes with the ability to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.

The Jayhawks finished the Big 12 season with 11 wins in their last 12 matches, with the only loss coming in a 5-set match up in Ames against Iowa State. Included in that stretch is a key win over the BYU Cougars in Provo. The Jayhawks finished the season ranked 14th in the RPI.

The Big 12 had the second-most teams in the tournament with seven, just one behind the SEC. Joining the Jayhawks in hosting the first two rounds are the Texas Longhorns and BYU, with Iowa State, Houston, Baylor and TCU all making the field.

 The first and second rounds start Thursday, November 30th, running through Saturday December 2nd. The first match between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Yale Bulldogs is currently scheduled for 4:30pm Central time, with the first serve for Kansas and Omaha scheduled for 7pm Central.

Of particular interest will be the schedule for the Jayhawks in the second round of the tournament, as the Kansas Men's Basketball team is scheduled to host the Connecticut Huskies on Friday night in Allen Fieldhouse. Given the close proximity of the Horejsi Athletics Center and Allen Fieldhouse and the overlapping parking lot usage, I imagine that the second round would either be early in the afternoon or held on Saturday instead.

We'll have more coverage wrapping up the volleyball season and previewing the NCAA Tournament this week.

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