KU volleyball sweeps Samford in NCAA Tournament opener

A year after the program’s first trip to the Final Four, Kansas volleyball opened up the 2016 NCAA Tournament Thursday night with a three-set sweep of Samford on the Jayhawks’ home floor at Horejsi Family Athletics Center.

Freshman Jada Burse put away a team-high 14 kills for KU (27-2) and junior setter Ainise Havili passed out 27 assists and got low for 14 digs as the Jayhawks advanced to the second round of the tournament. Kansas won 25-19, 25-21, 25-17.

The No. 5 overall seed in the field, Kansas will face Big East champion Creighton (27-6) at 6:30 p.m Friday night. The Bluejays survived a five-set scare against Northern Iowa to set up a rematch between KU and Creighton. Coach Ray Bechard’s team won on the Bluejays’ home court, in five sets, back in September.

Kansas enters Round 2 on a 15-match win streak, while the Bluejays have rattled off 21 straight.

KU is 10-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. In 2015, the Jayhawks went 4-1 in the postseason before losing in the national semifinals.

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