Kansas volleyball team’s biggest fans? The men’s basketball team, of course

One of the Kansas volleyball program’s biggest fans is a 6-foot-8 teenager from Ukraine who sometimes shows up to matches wearing blue sweats and red baseball cap, a hat with the word “Savage” scripted across the front. On most days, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk is a reserve guard on the Kansas men’s basketball team, a sophomore wing with a promising future. On other nights, though, he is just another face inside the Horejsi Family Athletics Center, watching one of the best college volleyball teams in the country.

So with the KU women’s volleyball team ranked 10th in the country and poised for its biggest match of the season — a home showdown with No. 5 Texas at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday — we’ll let Mykhailiuk break this one down.

“Big game,” Mykhailiuk said on Monday afternoon before practice at Allen Fieldhouse. “Texas and KU. They’re (both) in first place. Whoever wins is going to be champions in (the) Big 12.”

OK, that might not be totally accurate. There are four matches after this one. But Mykhailiuk is hopeful it’s KU that fends off Texas. Because he will likely be there, flanked by a couple of teammates, if they can find a seat in a Horejsi Center that is already sold out. For once, the real show on the KU campus won’t be the cadre of basketball players in the building — it will be a volleyball team that has rolled to a 22-1 record and is in the midst of its greatest season.

The Jayhawks’ only blemish came in a three-set loss at Texas on Oct. 23. They can avenge that setback on Wednesday, slay the Big 12’s resident volleyball giant, and put themselves in position for the program’s first conference title.

“They’ve been the measuring stick in the league,” KU coach Ray Bechard said of Texas. “They’ve elevated what everybody is trying to do.”

From that sense, the Jayhawks would like to match some of Texas’ dominance — which includes appearances in six of the last seven Final Fours and a stack of conference titles. But first, they would settle for a massive breakthrough on Wednesday. The Jayhawks, who are coming off three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, haven’t beaten Texas since 2003, when they swept both matches. On Wednesday, the teams will enter with identical 10-1 Big 12 records, with five matches remaining in a 16-game Big 12 season.

“There’s definitely some hype to it,” said sophomore setter Ainise Havili, who ranks second in the nation in assists per set. “But I think that’s something we need to fix from last time (against Texas). Just relax and play volleyball and we’ll get it done.”

With a victory, the volleyball team would also possess some new fuel for some friendly trash talk with Mykhailiuk and the rest of the men’s basketball team. The friendly competition, Havili says, has been part of the reason for the growing bond between the two teams. The players, Havili says, are always asking for a chance to battle on KU’s sand volleyball courts. One summer, Mykhailiuk joined Havili for an impromptu match on campus. For the moment, Mykhailiuk’s love for volleyball spectating has lasted.

“He was actually really good,” Havili said. “I thought he’d be a lot worse. He’s got pretty good ball control.”

At times, the basketball cheering section inside Horejsi Center has grown to five or six players. Sophomore point guard Devonte’ Graham is a regular presence. So is senior forward Jamari Traylor and junior guard Wayne Selden. In some ways, of course, it’s not too unusual. Go to any KU sporting event, and you’re likely to see athletes from other teams. But in other ways, sophomore Kelsie Payne says, the cheering section is cool.

Payne, a standout outside hitter, will sometimes peek up into the stands after a big kill. Sometimes, she says, she’ll see Mykhailiuk or Graham, and they look like the most excited fans in the gym.

“They get hyped, too,” Payne said. “We’ll look over and they’ll stand up and cheer. It’s cool to see them there.”

This story was originally published November 10, 2015 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Kansas volleyball team’s biggest fans? The men’s basketball team, of course."