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GRADUATION GUIDE
KANSAN.COM
THIS YEAR IN SPORTS
Missy Minear/KANSAN
Kansas defeated West Virginia 81-71 to become the Big 12 Tournament Champions.
CHRISTIAN HARDY @ByHardy
Just like most years, Kansas athletics had plenty of success in the 2015-16 school year. But over the last two semesters, many of those successes have come not from headliner sports, but from non-revenue sports making big strides.
Along with Kansas basketball's run to the Elite 8, there were five other teams who made runs in their postseason play. For many teams, this year was the most memorable of the last several decades.
Volleyball makes history, advances to Final Four.
Unprecedented: it was a word constantly muttered, talked about, and yelled by the Kansas volleyball team.
And the Jayhawks' season was exactly that.
The Jayhawks won 19 straight matches to start the year, a team record for consecutive wins, before falling to Texas in conference play. But where Kansas shined was in the NCAA Tournament. Kansas hosted the first two rounds, sweeping Furman and Missouri to advance to the Sweet 16, where the real challenges began.
There, they defeated Loyola Marymount in four sets. But the next win, a five-set victory over No. 2 USC where the Jayhawks went on a 6-0 run to comeback and win the match, was where the Jayhawks cemented their legacy.
The win in the team's first ever Elite 8 matchup gave the Jayhawks their
first Final Four appearance in program history. There, the first-time accomplishments ended: the Nebraska Cornhuskers ended the Jayhawks' unprecedented run with a four-set win in Omaha. Nebraska. Still, it was one of the most memorable runs in recent Kansas athletic's history, and a huge stride for women's sports at Kansas.
Kansas men's basketball reaches Elite 8
The 2015-16 season brought four championships for coach Bill Self's Jayhawks. It started with the gold medal at the World University Games in July of 2015; with 'USA' stitched across their crimson and blue jerseys, the Jayhawks won eight straight games to win the gold medal, including a double overtime win over Germany to win the championship.
Then the build-up to the Jayhawks' run at their 12th straight Big 12 title ramped up with 14 straight wins after a loss to Michigan State early in the season. Within those 14 was a 3-0 run at the Maui Invitational to win their second title.
After some stumbling in the middle of the year, the Jayhawks won 14 straight games, marching into the tournament as the the Big 12 regular season and post-season champion and the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament.
Through the tournament, the Jayhawks were the favorites to win, steamrolling their way through the first three games of the tournament. But the run
stopped in the Elite 8, when Villanova clamped down on Kansas senior Perry Ellis in what would be his last game of his storied Jayhawk career.
Kansas football goes winless
The first season at the helm of Kansas football couldn't have been more difficult for David Beaty. With a lack of depth, scholarship players, and immense youth on both sides of the ball, Kansas supporters knew Beaty, in his first year as head coach of a college football program, would struggle. But few saw a winless season coming.
The Jayhawks struggled on both sides of the ball in 2015. Beaty shuffled through four starting quarterbacks, including Michael Cummings, who tore his ACL in the spring game, as the offense finished 114 out of 127 teams in total offense.
Clint Bowen's defense had it worse, though: with a secondary with almost nothing but freshman or first-time players, the Jayhawks finished dead last in the NCAA in total defense, allowing 560.8 yards per game.
It all led to an 0-12 season, the second time in Kansas football history. But the struggles have prompted changes, including Beaty taking over play-calling duties and tweaks on both the offensive and defensive side, which the team hopes will lead to more success in 2016.
Kawinpakorn excels in senior season
There may never be another golfer like Yupaporn Kawinpakorn to come through Kansas again. This year, Kawinpakorn, a senior from Samutpakan, Thailand, won five individual titles after winning just one in her first three years at Kansas. The five wins are a Kansas record, but that was only the start of what Kawinpakorn accomplished in her final year as a Jayhawk.
She broke the team's 54-hole score record several times, finishing the regular season with a 209 at the Red Raider Invitational before finishing tied for fifth at the Big 12 Women's Golf Championship. Before heading to the NCAA Regionals this week, Kawinpakorn was named to the All-Big 12 team for the second time in her four-year career at Kansas.
Most impressively, Kawinpakorn has broken Kansas' single-season stroke average record every year since she's been at Kansas, and is expected to do it again if she stays on pace at the NCAA tournaments to finish the year.
Kansas tennis earns berth NCAA Tournament
For the first time since 1999, the Kansas tennis team advanced to the NCAA tournament this year. And for coach Todd Chapman, this may be just the start of his postseason opportunities.
The Jayhawks finished in a tie for second place in the Big 12, but did it with three freshman in its top six: Nina Khmelnitckaia, Janet Koch, and Anastasiya Rychagova. With those three, along with senior Maria Jose Cardona, the Jayhawks went 17-7 and finished No. 33 in the ITA standings.KU
Edited by Michael Portman
Missy Minear/KANSAN
Junior libero, Cassie Wait, celebrates Wednesday night against Kansas State. The Jayhawks defeated the Wildcats in four sets.
Missy Minear/KANSAN
Freshman Anastasia Rychagova reacts to a ball being called out to win a set against Denver on Mar. 6th.
Rychagova lost only her second match of the season.
Baxter Schanze/KANSAN
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