OT, women’s Soccer, VB and BB

OT, women’s Soccer, VB and BB

1. Soccer. The soccer team ended up exceeding expectations. While they started slow, with new coaching leadership and many new players, they finished strong. The highlight was winning the Big 12 postseason tournament in KC. They did make the NCAA tournament but lost to a very good St. Louis U team, 0/1.
2. Volleyball. The VB team came in 2nd in the Big 12 losing two games late in the season to teams they should have beat, AR and BYU. They did make the NCAA as a 3rd seed in their regional. They easily beat a Colgate team in the first round, 3/0, but lost in the 2nd round to a way under ranked Florida team in 5 sets, losing the final set 13/15 which could have gone either way. We should all be very proud of this team. They represented KU with class. We lose, I believe 5+ seniors, so next year could be rough unless we sign some size and talent including through the portal. Most games this year have been sellouts. People have been buying in to women’s VB around the country.
3. Basketball. Feeling better about the BB team. They are off to a 9/1 start but have had a modest schedule. We will know more after we play Pen State this PM. We definitely have a few really good freshmen and one very good transfer, a KC native, Sania Copeland. S’Mya Nichols continues to play great. We do not have a true center but Regan Williams, a slight (for a Center) 6’ 3” freshman from Park Hill South, MO, is filling in well. We still have injury bug issues. I think we are looking at the middle of the pack Big 12 team. BTW, KSU has a really good team.

The women's BB team beat Pen State in the last few minutes. A number of players played great but unexpected was the defensive effort by Danai Papadopoulou, a reserve center who was able to contain the monster center Gracie Merkle for Pen State. Danai is an areospace engineering student at KU. As expected Nichols played great but Sania Copeland hit some crucial 3s to give us the lead at the end and we hot our free throws. We play Baylor at home this coming weekend to start Big 12 play.

hoshi wrote: Danai is an areospace engineering student at KU.

As a grad of the KU Aero Eng department myself, that's impressive. It's been a minute, but back in the day an Aero degree was the 2nd highest hour load for a 4 year program at KU...many students stretched it to 5 years. I was on a 4 yr academic scholarship so I wasn't allowed that luxury and damn near killed myself. To do that and play a Div I sport? Last one I recall to do that was Bruce Kallmeyer, (KU football place kicker) was in the Civil Engineering program. He's now in the financial/Insurance world so me may not have completed that degree (or switched).

I had a very bad experience with the previous Women’s BB coach. I was a science counselor to the women’s BB and VB team at the time. She would not let her players take science classes that required labs because those students might have to miss a practice now and then. There was a gifted BB player that was in prepharmacy and had to graduate with a Bachelor of General Studies degree before she could even apply for entrance into the pharmacy program. I went to bat for her for entrance and she got in despite having a lower GPA. She graduated from the pharmacy program with a 0.5 GPA higher than her UG grades and is now a respected pharmacist in the Wichita area. In programs like engineering, pharmacy and the sciences in general, the students have to make extra sacrifices. Not all coaches have been supportive in the past. I do not see that as a major problem these days.