LAWRENCE, Kan. – Nerves? Sure, but a first appearance in the NCAA Tournament didn’t seem to faze Kansas freshman Jada Burse. She led Kansas with 14 kills and the Jayhawks rolled to a 3-0, NCAA Tournament First Round victory over Samford in Horejsi Family Athletics Center Thursday night. Kansas, playing in its fifth-straight NCAA Tournament, will play Creighton in the Second Round at 6:30 p.m. Friday night with hopes of advancing to the Regional Semifinals.
Burse, who led the No. 5 overall seeded Jayhawks (27-2) outright for the first time this season, logged a team-best six kills in the second set, including a set-clinching point after the Bulldogs (21-14) pulled within one late. She added three kills during a 7-0 run to put away Samford in the third set.
“I was nervous in the beginning,” Burse said. “(Kayla) Cheadle talked to me and helped get the nerves out. After a couple kills I let it go, it was fine.”
Kansas hit .261 as a team, a little better than its average during the regular season, but saw a varied attack as Burse (14) and junior outside hitter Madison Rigdon (11) notched double-digit kill performances with Kelsie Payne logging nine on just 14 swings. Of the 14 kills for Burse, the clincher in the second set helped rally the team from a “disinterested” effort according to Kansas head coach Ray Bechard.
Kansas had used a 6-0 run to separate itself from Samford in the opening set (25-19), then started the second set 6-1 before the Bulldogs threatened late at 22-21. Bechard called a timeout and his team responded with a pair of back-to-back kills from Tayler Soucie then Burse’s final kill for the 25-21 second set victory.
“I said get to 25 first, let’s go,” Bechard laughed after listening to Burse and Rigdon struggle to recall the momentum changing speech. “I just think at that point we were disinterested, we didn’t look like we were very engaged. We had a lead early in that set and really could have put the pressure on them and that was probably the most disappointed I was in the match tonight.
“That set was in doubt, in the balance and there was no reason for that. I told them we have to play like we want to beat Creighton and beyond, so let’s compete like that, and they responded well.”
It wasn’t the last challenge for Samford, but perhaps the most serious. The Bulldogs led by as many as five points in the third set (10-5) before Kansas rallied with a 6-1 run – including four points off Samford errors – to tie the game at 11. The set was tied again at 12 and 13 before the 7-0 run put significant distance between the squads and Kansas closed with a 12-4 run overall to put the match away with a 25-17 third-set win.
“She had 14 kills, only 3 errors on 32 swings and had a lot of great touches form a blocking standpoint,” Bechard said of his freshman from DeSoto, Texas. “She’s making more volleyball plays, not just athletic plays. The light came on for her six weeks ago when she said, ‘I belong out here and am a good enough volleyball player.'”
Perhaps Burse’s only rookie move was questioning whether or not to take the complimentary water after the postgame press conference.
“Can I take this,” Burse asked after grabbing the water, hesitating, and drawing a chuckle from the media and her coach.
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks, who advanced to the program’s first NCAA Championship Final Four last season, will face a Bluejay squad that needed five sets to dispatch Northern Iowa earlier Thursday after leading 2-0. It’ll be the second meeting between Kansas and Creighton this season, with the Jayhawks owning a five-set victory over the Jays at the Bluejay Invitational (Sept. 8).
— KU Athletics —