Mizzou, KU selected to 2023 NCAA volleyball tournament

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Tigers and Kansas Jayhawks are dancing into the 2023 NCAA volleyball tournament.

Mizzou is an 8-seed and will face Delaware in the first round of the tournament held in Lincoln, Nebraska, at the University of Nebraska. If the Tigers win, they face the winner of the 1-seed Huskers and Long Island University.

The Tigers finished seventh in the SEC with a 17-12 record and 9-9 in conference play under first-year head coach Dawn Sullivan. They are much improved from their 9-19 record in 2022 where they finished last in the conference with only two wins in SEC play.

Kansas is a top-16 seed and a host as a 4 seed. They face Omaha in their first match on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT and face the winner of 5-seed Penn State and Yale.

If Kansas wins out in Lawrence, they could potentially face 1 seed Wisconsin and former Jayhawk middle blocker CC Crawford.

The Jayhawks will enter their third straight tournament, 12th tournament appearance under head coach Ray Bechard, who has headed the program since 1998, after finishing second in the Big 12 at 23-5 overall and 14-4 in the conference.

The Tigers boast SEC Libero of the Year in Maya Sands and Sullivan was one of four coaches selected for SEC Coach of the Year.

Kansas State was named in the First Four Out with a 16-11 record and seventh in the Big 12 with a 10-8 record under first-year HC Jason Mansfield.

The Tigers face the Blue Hens on Friday at 5:30 p.m.