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Sports

A look to the future for the KU volleyball roster

Published

1 week ago

on

December 18, 2025

By

Your Sports Nation

Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

KU freshman Logan Bell (left) and sophomore Grace Nelson wait for an Iowa State serve during the Jayhawks’ match on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence.

One of the qualities that makes Nebraska so good, Kansas coach Matt Ulmer told reporters after his team got eliminated by the Cornhuskers last week, is that they’ve experienced disappointment in the past and it makes them “hungrier to keep building.”

“For us, this is the first time really that this group is going to feel this, so hopefully that makes our offseason that much better,” he said. “Again, hopefully there’s still great memories for the people that are graduating, but for the group that’s behind, we’re going to keep raising the bar, keep trying to go more deeper and deeper in the tournament.”

Indeed, disappointing though the loss was — 3-0 (25-12, 25-11, 25-12) at the hands of one of college volleyball’s great powers — it can serve as an opportunity for development.

“It’s all part of the experience that you learn to grow from as a college athlete,” sophomore middle blocker Reese Ptacek said, “and so it’s just how do you take this and how do you apply it to what will be the rest of your career?”

And it came at the end of what was ultimately a successful season for Ulmer in his first year with the Jayhawks, one in which they came together despite a roster overhaul and a coaching change to reach the program’s fourth-ever Sweet 16.

“To me, it’s a great first start, and now we keep building the roster how we need to to be able to compete at the highest level,” Ulmer said.

The roster

Building a team is never straightforward in modern college athletics, and prospective transfer-portal entries and acquisitions could certainly alter the outlook for the 2026 Jayhawks (and in some cases already have done so). But they are currently poised to return a sizable chunk of their production from Ulmer’s inaugural campaign, with a few key exceptions.

Six players went through senior day: Katie Dalton, Brynn Kirsch, Molly McCarthy, Ellie Schneider, Rhian Swanson, and Ryan White. Kirsch did not play in 2025, McCarthy served as a periodic defensive specialist and Schneider appeared in just four sets after the month of September. The three biggest losses from that group are those of the starting setter Dalton, the kills-per-set leader Swanson and the starting libero White.

Dalton was one of the stories of KU’s season, a longtime backup to Camryn Turner in earlier years who rose to the occasion as a senior and turned in some standout performances, averaging 8.76 assists per set and earning a second-team all-conference honor. She recently announced her transfer to Creighton.

Her rise was all the more striking because it happened despite the offseason addition of Cristin Cline, an all-freshman selection for Ulmer at Oregon. While Dalton ultimately served as KU’s primary setter, Cline still played pretty extensively, both in certain matches against top competition that she handled on her own and along with Dalton in the occasional 6-2 system. (Both she and Dalton were team captains.)

The Jayhawks also still have Ellie Moore, a former recruit of Ray Bechard’s who redshirted during the season and has received the occasional mention from Ulmer for the competition she provides during practice; in all, KU looks to be well situated at setter, at least to start out.

Swanson, much like Dalton, was a Bechard holdover who seized the opportunity for increased playing time with a new group of teammates during her senior season. The McPherson native was one of KU’s most consistent attackers on a team that never quite got its offense playing as well as its defense. The Jayhawks will likely need to become more terminal in the years ahead, and they’re already set to supplement a group of returnees headlined by all-conference selection Grace Nelson with freshman signees like Tessa Dodd, Avery Poulton and Ryan Sadler. (Selena Leban transferred to Florida.) Ulmer has praised the athleticism and especially the leaping ability of his new group of pins.

White, a transfer from Oregon State, originally planned to join Ulmer at Oregon and followed him to Kansas. The libero Ulmer used to tell his Ducks to hit the ball away from proved quite a valuable addition, particularly given that KU’s previous libero Raegan Burns tore her ACL and meniscus early in the season. White, the third captain along with Cline and Dalton, averaged 3.92 digs per set.

The prospect of bringing back Burns surely helps matters on the defensive end, as does the extensive playing time Logan Bell received as a defensive specialist (188 digs in 129 sets) during her freshman season, although her future may be as an undersized pin hitter in the vein of Ulmer’s former Oregon standout Brooke Nuneviller.

With that in mind, it makes a lot of sense that Ulmer has already secured the transfer-portal commitment of Olivia Hasbrook, a 5-foot-8 libero from Ohio State, originally from Eureka, Missouri, who has two years left to play. Hasbrook played every set for the Buckeyes each of the last two seasons, averaging 3.73 digs per set in 2024 and 3.38 in 2025, and will add a veteran presence to the group.

Elsewhere, there’s a lot to like about what KU has coming back, or at least is projected to retain. Ptacek continues to excel as one of the league’s top middle blockers and still has two years of eligibility remaining, and while Croatian freshman Aurora Papac, who blocked well in her first taste of college volleyball, is reportedly in the portal, Aisha Aiono garnered more playing time late in the season. Jaeli Rutledge is joining the fold at that position in the class of 2026 too, as is two-sport athlete Cydnee Bryant, who also plays basketball.

KU’s other first-team all-conference selection, and the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s freshman of the year for the Central Region, was Jovana Zelenović, the 6-foot-7 opposite from Serbia whose presence bolstered the Jayhawks greatly in multiple facets of the game, including as their best serving threat with 46 aces on the season. But she too is in the portal, On3 reported on Monday, which would be a significant loss.

The good news for the Jayhawks is that in 2026 signee Taylor Stanley, they have another highly touted right-side hitter in the pipeline. She hails from Overland Park and already has experience representing the United States internationally at the youth level. This could be a position at which KU looks to add in the portal.

Even with some needs to fill, it should be a significantly calmer offseason than Ulmer’s first at the helm, as the Jayhawks look to build on their results from the 2025 campaign.

Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

KU sophomore Cristin Cline sets the ball for a hitter during the Jayhawks’ match against Arizona State on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, at the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence.

Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

KU sophomore Reese Ptacek looks to the other side of the court before serving to Arizona State on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, at the Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence.

Jay LaPrete/Ohio State Athletics

Ohio State’s Olivia Hasbrook makes a pass against Miami on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, in Coral Gables, Fla.