photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas setter Ainise Havili (11) celebrates a point from teammate Kelsie Payne (8) against Chicago State during the first set on Friday, Sept. 2, 2016 at the Horejsi Family Athletic Center.

If early indications hold true, it looks as if it will be new year/same story for the fall sport that plays in the shadow of the University of Kansas powerhouse basketball team.

But wait, that’s good news. Make that great news. We’re not talking football here. We’re talking volleyball.

The Jayhawks, coming off a sweep of a quality Northern Iowa squad, remain ranked fourth in the nation in the AVCA poll released Monday, have been in the top-10 in 14 polls in a row and the top-25 for 18 weeks running.

Defending national champion Nebraska tops the poll, followed by runner-up Texas and national semifinalist Minnesota.

Clearly, the Jayhawks (9-0), who went 30-3 and reached the Final Four for the first time in school history last season, know how to handle success.

Horejsi Center is sold out for the year and those lucky enough to hold season tickets are getting their money’s worth already.

All-American Kelsie Payne showed in the sweep against UNI that it’s not a very good idea to trash-talk her. She had 25 kills in the three sets and scored a point on 17 of her final 21 hits. Even for the long leaper who adds perfect timing to the equation and is set by the magical Ainise Havili, those are mind-blowing numbers.

After she was blocked in the first set, someone on the other side of the net said a few choice words, according to someone in attendance. Mistake. Payne, a junior from Austin who was not offered a scholarship by Texas, had five errors in the first set, one the rest of the way. Her hitting percentage: .487. To put that in perspective, consider that other than Payne, Kansas combined for a .141 percentage (.250 overall). UNI’s was .161.

“Understanding that everything is game-planning against everything she does, we want to have balance,” KU coach Ray Bechard said. “We also want to know that when Payne needs to take over a match, she’ll take over a match. And she has taken over matches in the past. For her to do what she did against a real good defensive team is significant.”

Kansas also qualifies as a strong defensive team, in large part because of upbeat libero — how’s that for a redundancy — Cassie Wait, who already has a pair of 30-dig matches to her credit this season. She has an active streak of five 20-dig matches and is averaging 6.5 digs per set during it.

“Cassie’s been unbelievable,” Bechard said.

The coach is not alone in that sentiment. Wait has won back-to-back Big 12 defensive player of the week honors, giving her five for her career.

It’s easy to see why Horejsi is sold-out for the season.

KU hits the road for an invitational at Purdue and will play Xavier, 14th-ranked Purdue and Southeast Louisiana, concluding the nonconference portion of the schedule. The Jayhawks open Big 12 play a week from Wednesday at Horejsi against Oklahoma. And then, with the entire volleyball world watching closely, Kansas travels to Austin to play the Longhorns on Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. Texas doesn’t visit Kansas for another five weeks after the Austin match. The scalpers who bemoan the lack of demand for KU football tickets just might be seen in the vicinity of Horejsi on Oct. 29.