Wildcats Top Texas Tech 3-1

MANHATTAN, Kan. - The Kansas State Wildcats got their second straight win in conference play on Sunday night taking down the Texas Tech Red Raiders 25-17, 25-17, 18-25, 25-13. K-State (10-14, 4-10 Big 12) saw strong performances from a number of players again in the win to help send Tech (2-21, 0-14) back to Lubbock still seeking its first Big 12 win.

"I like how we responded early," said head coach Suzie Fritz. "I think game two was nice for us and so was game four. Our quick hitters were really good tonight."

K-State's middle blockers were able to take advantage of open zones on the court on the quick set with senior Kelsey Chipman tallying 13 kills on 23 swings with just one error to hit .522. Freshman Alex Muff posted eight kills while hitting .385.

The Wildcats were led, however, by the lefty Kathleen Ludwig. Ludwig was one short of her career-high with 17 kills against the Raiders and hitting an efficient .433 from her opposite position. Ludwig and Muff also were a force at the net each with seven block assists.

"Ludwig was terrific," Fritz said. "She was really good for us and was more efficient. She's been working on being more balanced in her attacking and she got some nice looks tonight and didn't hurt herself."

Libero Lauren Mathewson followed her record night against No. 23 Texas A&M on Wednesday with another shining performance as she posted 19 digs over the four sets. Mathewson tallied 60 digs for the week and averaged 6.67 digs a set over the last two matches. Her 19 digs tie her for seventh in career digs at K-State with 1,121.

The Wildcats were able to slow Tech's offense down holding two of the Raiders' main weapons below .125 hitting percentages. Amanda Dowdy had just 11 kills hitting .057 and Miara Cave posted 10 kills hitting .111. Tech hit for a negative percentage as a team in the first set and .000 in the second before storming out after the intermission in the third set to hit .407.

Fritz said Tech became more aggressive with its serving in the third set, which took her team out of its system a bit and the Wildcats took too long to recover to get into the game. K-State fired right back in the fourth set with solid serving from Mathewson early in the game to set the tone for the Wildcats as they did not have a single attack error in the fourth set hitting .625 - a season-high for an individual set.

The Wildcats return to action on Wednesday as they travel to take on rival Kansas for another Sunflower Showdown in Lawrence. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. from Horejsi Family Athletics Center.

- k-statesports.com -