Kansas volleyball senior Ryan White has become somewhat of an expert on change.
During her past three seasons of competition, at two different schools, White has played for a different head coach. First, for back-to-back years at Oregon State in 2022 and 2023, before redshirting there in 2024. And then, of course, this year with the Jayhawks and first-year KU coach Matt Ulmer.
While all of that change certainly has brought with it equal parts challenge and growth, the one constant has been White’s ability to rise to the top.
In all three of those seasons, including this year at Kansas, White was chosen by her teammates to be a team captain.
On this Kansas team, the transfer libero joins setters Cristin Cline, a transfer from Oregon, and returning KU veteran Katie Dalton as captains.
“There’s a pretty big gap from the three of them to the next,” Ulmer said recently before turning his attention back to what White has brought the team. “She’s been a great leader for us and I’m happy she’s a Jayhawk.”
So, too, is White. Especially after learning of the team vote to make her a captain.
“I felt very honored,” she said. “That was my biggest thing. I feel like I’m a very social person, but, to get here and to feel like that and have something (like that happen), was really just an honor. I honestly was tearing up a little bit. It’s so cool to make connections like that with a team so fast and to feel like I can lean on them and they can lean on me.”
You don't have to look far or long to find White's enthusiasm for the game & love of her teammates. [Kansas Athletics photos]
The Jayhawks (10-7 overall, 1-2 in Big 12 play) have been leaning on White even more than Ulmer initially thought they might.
Because of the season-ending injury recently suffered by fellow-KU libero Raegan Burns, White’s role on the roster has been even bigger than leadership. She also has become a sort of quarterback of the Kansas defense.
Ulmer brought White to KU — she was planning to transfer to Oregon to join him there before he took the job in Lawrence — because he thought she and Burns would push each other and wage a healthy battle for playing time that would benefit both players and the team.
“We played Oregon State twice a year (when I was at Oregon) and she would always kick our butt,” Ulmer said of his new libero. “Our game plan would be don’t hit the ball to left back because Ryan was there.”
“Burns had experience here,” the KU coach added. “But (signing) someone that I was comfortable with, and knew, was also important.”
Now, with Burns out, it has become a life saver. Kansas has other players who could fill the role. But none of them carried 86 matches of college experience and more than 900 carry digs into the season with them like White, who grew up in Richland, Washington, where, not-so-surprisingly, she also was a captain during her junior and senior seasons at Richland High.
White has proven to be a huge part of Ulmer’s first Kansas team, utilizing both her leadership skills and vast experience to give KU a steady presence in the back row, two things that made her a target for Ulmer at Oregon in the 2024 recruiting cycle.
“Adding Ryan to our team is a major win,” Ulmer said when the Ducks announced her signing on Nov. 30, 2024. “Ryan is an elite passer and defender with a desire to be elite at everything she does,”
Barely two months after the release went out, Ulmer was in Lawrence and White was, too, checking out KU on her official visit. One month later, she made her move to the Midwest official by signing with the Jayhawks.
It doesn’t take long to see the various elements of her game come to life.
She’s always talking and always moving, with her head on a swivel during play, in the huddles and even during stoppages. There’s a lot going on out there and she wants to take it all in.
She uses her words to provide her teammates with both specific and overarching details about every aspect of the match. And she seems to be mostly poised, even in the wildest moments during and after rallies.
“We talk about being leaders on this team all the time,” White said. “Every one of us is a leader in our own (way). And, for us to be successful, everyone has to do their leadership piece.”
So, what does that look like regarding White through Ulmer’s eyes?
“You can count on her,” he said. “She’s engaged, she’s always trying to get you to be your best self. And a big way to do that is, she’s just reliable. And she shows up every day like that. She’s always ready to run through a wall, always ready to do what you need. She’s a pretty special human.”
As if changing schools and moving 47 miles south from Corvallis to Eugene, Oregon, wasn’t already going to be a big enough change, White said she knew that making the move from her homes in the Pacific Northwest to Kansas, to help Ulmer put his handprints on the KU program, would require a lot from everyone.
And Ulmer said recently that he has appreciated that all of those things he thought he was getting from White at Oregon made the trip with her 1,800 miles east to Kansas.
“It’s really important that we have Ryan,” Ulmer said. “She’s settling in more and more.”
And, so far, she’s loved every second.
“I’m glad I get to be here,” she said. “And I’m glad that we’re all working together for this major process.”
After opening their home slate and Big 12 play last weekend with a five-set loss to Arizona State, the 18th-ranked Jayhawks followed that up with a sweep of Arizona and a four-set loss at No. 12 TCU on Wednesday night.
Next up, they’ll play at No. 15 Baylor in Waco, Texas, tonight before returning home for a pair of home matches against Texas Tech and Iowa State next week.
— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com
