Kansas middle blocker Toyosi Onabanjo yells out in celebration after getting a point during an exhibition match against Drake at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024 in Lawrence, Kansas.

Returning five of its six starters from a 2023 team that made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Jayhawks are primed to compete for a top spot in a Big 12 Conference that is now without Texas — which won the conference outright for the past four years. In the first look at this season’s players, Kansas beat Drake in all four sets of an exhibition match Saturday (25-15, 25-13, 25-10, 25-22), and some new faces took the court in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena for the first time.

After graduating offensive powerhouse Reagan Cooper over the offseason, the Jayhawks recruited well and created plenty of depth all around to continue their run of success. 

“All of the outsides are doing amazing,” senior Toyosi Onabanjo said. “I feel like we can put any of them in and they’re going to do their job and get it done.”

In the preseason exhibition, freshman outsides Grace Nelson and Kenzie Dean got some pretty significant playing time and looked good in their first collegiate scrimmage. Returners Rhian Swanson and Caroline Bien also held their own from the front row, with Bien looking to take on more responsibility up front after spending last year mostly in the DS role.

“It was really nice to play against someone different because we’re so used to going against ourselves, so it was just a challenge for us to see how we’re going to play against different competition,” Onabanjo said after a preseason full of intrateam scrimmages. “But I think… no matter who was on the court, we were all playing as a cohesive, collective unit. And I think that just showed how much we worked over the summer in preseason just to make sure that we’re all working together.”

After about a set and a half of mostly starters out on the court, coach Ray Bechard sent out some of the new players and gave returning role players a spot to shine as well. Molly McCarthy, Bryn McGehe and newcomer Heidi Devers all spent time showing their stuff in the back row during the first glimpse of this year’s new NCAA rule allowing two liberos to be designated for a single game. Sophomore Aisha Aiono, who didn’t see much floor time last year, took over Mykayla Myers’s starting spot at middle blocker before Onabanjo subbed in after one rotation. Along with some newcomers in the back row and at the pins, Zoey Burgess, 2024 Utah Gatorade Player of the Year, also took her first swings in-game and previewed a tricky serve.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas middle blocker Zoey Burgess bumps the ball during an exhibition match against Drake at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Lawrence, Kansas.

With 13 returning players and six newcomers, the Jayhawks made it a priority to welcome their new freshmen into the program over the offseason and bond as a team, including on their June trip overseas where they had the chance to play against a couple of national teams.

“It was great to have them together for the foreign trip, and then I know they’ve been putting in work this summer as well,” Bechard said. “We’ve got good depth, we’ve got a lot of options, and obviously we have a number of things that we’ve got to tighten up, but I thought it was a good start.”

“We did a lot of team bonding,” Onabanjo added. “Rhian [Swanson] has a lake house so we all went down there a couple of weekends just to hang out. But it’s just doing the little things… to make sure we’re all comfortable with each other coming into this season.”

This comfort showed even as the rotations consistently changed in the exhibition match and Bechard got all of his players out on the floor, including using Katie Dalton and freshman Ellie Moore to substitute for Camryn Turner in her well-secured spot as the team’s starting setter.

“I think we appreciated a good Drake team, but also it made us understand that all of the work that we’ve been doing up to this point… at the level that we have to play at to have success against each other should help us as we move through the pre-conference (schedule),” Bechard said.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas head coach Ray Bechard instructs the team during an exhibition match against Drake at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Lawrence, Kansas.

Kansas starts its regular season next week in a tough Duke Tournament against South Carolina, Duke and Colgate.

“We know that at the Duke Tournament, there’s going to be three really quality teams there, so we’ll have to be consistently good for a sustained period of time and that’s what it’s going to require once we get to conference anyway,” he said. “So it’s a good opportunity for us to start demonstrating that.”

“I’m so excited,” Onabanjo added. “It’s going to be really good competition. I think last year we kept pre(conference) a little mild, but this is definitely going to challenge us. I think (a harder schedule) just shows how much Coach B trusts us, and he thinks that we can definitely do great things against great competition,” she said.

The Jayhawks have been projected as a first-place finisher in Big 12 Conference preseason rankings and look to build on last year’s tournament appearance.

“It’s a good time [to get into volleyball],” Bechard said, encouraging students to come enjoy the season at Horejsi. “It’s a really good time, it’s an intimate environment, a fast-moving action-packed sport, and the Jayhawks play hard, they play together and they’re fun to watch.”

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas middle blocker Toyosi Onabanjo laughs with setter Camryn Turner during an exhibition match against Drake at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024 in Lawrence, Kansas.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas setter Camryn Turner sets the ball during an exhibition match against Drake at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Lawrence, Kansas.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas middle blocker Toyosi Onabanjo hits the ball for a kill during an exhibition match against Drake at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Lawrence, Kansas.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas libero Raegan Burns makes a dig during an exhibition match against Drake at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Lawrence, Kansas.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas opposite hitter London Davis connects for a kill during an exhibition match against Drake at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Lawrence, Kansas.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas outside hitter Caroline Bien celebrates with teammates during an exhibition match against Drake at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Lawrence, Kansas.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas setter Ellie Moore sets the ball to a teammate during an exhibition match against Drake at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024 in Lawrence, Kansas.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas libero Raegan Burns serves the ball during an exhibition match against Drake at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Lawrence, Kansas.

photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas setter Camryn Turner dives for a dig during an exhibition match against Drake at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, on Saurtday, Aug. 24, 2024, in Lawrence, Kansas.