Kansas University’s volleyball season is still alive, but the Jayhawks had to hold their breath while waiting for the postseason brackets Sunday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

The team gathered with supporters to watch the NCAA Tournament selection show on TV, but KU’s name wasn’t called until the next-to-last bracket.

The early matchups included several teams Kansas coach Ray Bechard didn’t expect, but when Colorado — KU’s last victim of the regular season — was announced, Bechard was certain his team would be picked.

“I saw some teams come up that I didn’t want to see up that I thought were bubble teams early on,” Bechard said. “But when Colorado came up, I said ‘Come on now. If they’re going, we’re going.'”

Kansas (18-8) will face Santa Clara (18-8) on Friday in Seattle. The time of the match has not been announced.

KU spent most of the season only dreaming of an NCAA bid. The Jayhawks were 9-0 in nonconference play and stood 10-1 overall and 1-1 in the Big 12 Conference after a sweep of Texas Tech on Sept. 22.

But the Jayhawks lost their next five matches and six of seven. Kansas turned things around in the final weeks of the regular season, winning three in a row and five of its last seven.

The Jayhawks know little about Santa Clara.

“It will be a lot different, but it’s new,” Bechard said. “It’s a great opportunity for a Midwest school to go out and have some success against West Coast schools.”

Kansas University volleyball players -- including Jill Dorsey (left), Megan Hill (front center) and Caitlin Mahoney -- react to being selected for the NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks, who will play Santa Clara on Friday at Seattle, watched the selection show Sunday at Memorial Stadium.

Senior libero Jill Dorsey said West Coast teams generally played a distinctive game.

“Usually there’s a typical West-Coast style, they play a faster style,” Dorsey said.

Santa Clara finished third in the West Coast Conference with tough defense. The Broncos limited their opponents to a paltry .171 hitting percentage.

The Broncos are also second in their conference in blocks, averaging 3.24 per game compared with the Jayhawks’ 2.54. Santa Clara is led at the net by freshman middle blocker Annalisa Muratore, who averaged 1.77 blocks per game, which would place her second overall in the Big 12 Conference.

If KU wins its first-round match against Santa Clara, it would face the winner of the match between Washington (24-2) and Idaho (17-12). Washington is led by former Kansas State coach Jim McLaughlin, who took the Wildcats to the Sweet 16 in 2000.

NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament bracket (.pdf)

But the Jayhawks aren’t looking past the first round, and hope to replicate the success they had last year when they defeated heavily-favored Long Beach State.

“They’ve been through a lot,” Bechard said of his players. “A month ago, I think everybody had written us off and this team refused to give up. We made November ‘Yes-vember’ and ‘fight for the invite,’ and that was kind of our theme for the rest of the month.”