K-State Plays Host To Colorado Saturday
Oct 11, 2002 | Volleyball
Oct. 11, 2002
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KANSAS STATE (8-6, 4-2) VS COLORADO (9-7, 3-3)
Saturday, October 12, 2002 *Ahearn Field House (5,000) * Manhattan, Kan. * 7 p.m.
Radio: Brian Smoller can be heard on the radio at 1350 AM KMAN in the Manhattan area or over the internet at www.k-statesports.com or at www.1350kman.com.
Rankings: Neither team is ranked.
Coaches: Kansas State's Suzie Fritz is 28-14 (.667) in her second year. She is 1-1 versus Colorado. Colorado's Pi'i Aiu is 107-64 (.626) in his sixth year. He is 5-5 against K-State.
Series: Colorado leads the all-time series, 21-10. However, the two teams have split the last 12 meetings, including all 10 in Big 12 play. The Buffs are 11-4 in matches played at Ahearn, but the Wildcats have won the last two.
LAST TIME OUT...KANSAS STATE def. OKLAHOMA, 30-20, 30-20, 30-19
Wednesday, October 9, 2002 * Howard McCasland Field House (312) * Norman, Okla. * 7 p.m.
NORMAN, Okla. -- Kansas State posted a season-best .331 hitting percentage, as the Wildcats moved to 3-0 on the road in Big 12 play with a 30-20, 30-20, 30-19 win over Oklahoma on Wednesday... In addition to the .331 hitting percentage, the Wildcats held the Sooners to a .167 percentage, the ninth opponent they have held under .200 hitting... Junior MB Lauren Goehring paced a balanced attack with 11 kills on .467 hitting, while junior OH Cari Jensen added 10 kills and three service aces.
K-STATE LOOKS TO CONTINUE ITS WINNING WAYS AS COLORADO VISITS FOR 7 P.M. MATCH ...Fresh off its seventh straight Big 12 road win at Oklahoma on Wednesday, Kansas State (8-6, 4-2 Big 12) looks to continue its momentum on Saturday, as the Wildcats host rival Colorado (9-7, 3-3 Big 12) at Ahearn Field House beginning at 7 p.m. The Wildcats will be looking for their 200th win at Ahearn Field House in school history with a win, as the program stands at 199-118-5 (.628) since its inception in 1974, including 56-15 (.789) over the last five years.Coming off its weekend break, Kansas State looked rested and ready for the rest of the conference season, as the Wildcats posted a season-best .331 hitting percentage en route to a 30-20, 30-20, 30-19 win over Oklahoma on Wednesday. The win was not only the seventh in a row on the road in conference play for K-State, but the fifth straight in three games. The Wildcats, who have now won seven straight meetings with the Sooners since 1999, also held its ninth opponent to a hitting percentage below .200, as Oklahoma hit just .167 for the match.Junior MB Lauren Goehring paced a balanced Kansas State attack with 11 kills on just one hitting error for a .467 hitting percentage against the Sooners. Junior OH Cari Jensen registered 10 kills and a match-high three aces, while senior co-captain Jennifer Pollard and sophomore S Gabby Guerre added nine kills each.This will be the 32nd meeting with Colorado, as the Buffaloes hold a 21-10 all-time advantage. The two teams have met twice annually since 1987. The series began in CU's first-year as a varsity program on Oct. 25, 1986 with the Wildcats earning a 15-5, 15-5, 15-1 win at the Wichita State Tournament in Wichita, Kan. After K-State won the first three meetings, Colorado rolled off 14 straight wins in the series from 1988-94. The two teams have now split the last 12 meetings since 1996, including all 10 in Big 12 play. The Wildcats are just 4-11 against the Buffs at Ahearn Field House, but the team has won the last two at home.Kansas State returns to action on Wednesday, Oct. 16 as the Wildcats to travel to Lawrence, Kan., to face archrival Kansas (13-2, 4-2 Big 12) at 7 p.m. The longest rivalry in school history at 84 matches, K-State has won 14 straight over KU since 1995, including the last four in three games.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK... Kansas State went 1-0 this past week, earning a much-needed 3-2 win over Texas Tech at home on Wednesday before having a bye on Saturday... The Red Raiders have now lost all seven meetings with the Wildcats in Manhattan dating back to 1997, including three in five games... With the win against Tech, K-State earned its 199th win at Ahearn Field House and extended its winning streak in home five-game matches to five matches.Junior MB Lauren Goehring paced four players in double-digit kills with a career-tying 19 kills on .484 hitting, as the Wildcats posted team season-highs in kills (70), digs (89) and blocks (15)... Goehring matched her career-high in kills that she set in the first round match of the NCAA Tournament against Arkansas on Nov. 30, 2001, while adding a season-best eight blocks. Junior OH Cari Jensen in a near season-best 15 kills in the win, while senior co-captain Jennifer Pollard registered her team-best six double-double with 13 kills and 21 digs. Sophomore MB Lisa Martin tapped in 14 kills on .379 hitting and six blocks.Sophomore S Gabby Guerre was impressive all-around in the win, as she posted six kills on .333 hitting with a season-best 56 assists, nine digs and a career-high seven blocks.Junior L Laura Downey-Wallace posted the third-most digs in a match in school history with a career-high 32 on the night.
'CATS IN THE BIG 12 STATISTICS... Kansas State had several players show up in the individual conference statistics released on Monday... S Gabby Guerre ranks 5th in hitting percentage (.364) and 7th in assists (11.48)... L Laura Downey-Wallace still continues to lead the Big 12 in digs per game with a 4.76 per game average, while senior OH Jennifer Pollard remained 7th with a 3.15 per game average... Downey-Wallace also ranks 14th nationally... She also leads the category in league-only matches with a 5.35 average... MB Lauren Goehring is tops in aces (0.59) and 10th in points (4.29) in Big 12-only matches... MB Lisa Martin is third in league-only blocks (1.29), while OH Cari Jensen is tied for fifth in aces (0.47).
'CATS RANK 22nd IN NATIONAL ATTENDANCE... Kansas State is ranked 22nd nationally in home attendance with an average of 1,131 fans per match in five matches this season... This is nothing new for Kansas State, which has finished among the national Top 15 in home attendance the last five seasons... The Wildcats are one of six Big 12 schools to rank among the national Top 30 in attendance... Nebraska ranks second with a 4,851 per match average, while Texas A&M (17), Missouri (21), Texas (24) and Colorado (28) all join Kansas State in the rankings... The 2,876 fans that attended Kansas State's match with Nebraska on Sept. 18 ranked as the 35th-largest crowd in the NCAA this year and the 22nd-largest on the mainland.
QUICK STRIKE... Kansas State has shown an ability to strike quickly on its opponents, as seven of the team's eight wins have come in three-game sweeps... During the team's season-best four-match winning streak, the Wildcats won all four matches in three games... The three remaining sweeps have come on the road in Big 12 play against Baylor, Iowa State and Oklahoma... In 2001, the team earned nine wins in three games.
GETTING DEFENSIVE... A trademark for Kansas State over the years has been its ability to frustrate its opponents and force them into making unforced errors... The Wildcats have continued that trend in 2002, as they have held nine of their 14 opponents to a hitting percentage below .200, including their first three opponents... K-State has capitalized on this trend by winning eight of those nine matches... The team ranks sixth in the Big 12 opponent hitting percentage with a .182 average... The Wildcats held back-to-back opponents under a .100 hitting clip in matches against Wichita State (9/3) and Arkansas State (9/8) and almost did against Baylor (.104, 9/21)... K-State got outkilled in a win for the first time this season against Texas Tech, but was able to win the match because it forced the Red Raiders into 43 hitting errors and a .129 hitting percentage.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE, PART I... Don't tell the Kansas State players there is no such thing as a home court advantage... Not only have the Wildcats won 79 percent of their home matches over the last five years, they have done it in some tight situations... With Wednesday's 3-2 win over Texas Tech at home, Kansas State has now won five straight five-game home matches dating back to Sept. 26, 2001. In fact, the program has won seven of the nine five-game matches it has played at home since 1998.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE, PART II... With just one more win, Kansas State can achieve 200 wins at Ahearn Field House this season... One of the toughest home courts in the nation, the 'Old Barn' has been the home to Wildcat volleyball since its inaugural season in 1974... The program has compiled an impressive 199-118-5 (.628) since that season, including a 56-15 (.789) mark over the last five years... In all, the Wildcats have upset 13 ranked teams in Ahearn since 1997 and have a streak of 34 consecutive wins at home over non-conference foes dating back to 1994... K-State was 13-2 at home last season and has won 28 of its last 33 home matches over the last three years.
DOWNEY-WALLACE EXCELLING AT NEW LIBERO... When the AVCA adopted the libero for the 2001 season, the organization could not have found a better person for the position than junior Laura Downey-Wallace... She has made an instant impact for the team in 2002, averaging a team and Big 12-best 4.78 digs per game... The average also ranks 7th nationally... She has posted double-digit dig totals in 13 of the 14 matches thus far, including 20 or more on five occasions. In the first six Big 12 matches of the year, she is averaging a league-best 5.30 digs per game, including her near record-setting 32-dig effort against Texas Tech (10/2)... Her 106 digs in six league matches are nearly twice as many as second place total of 59 (Pollard).With her 4.78 digs average, she is on pace to break both Kim Zschau's single-season marks for both average (4.17) and total (455) set in 1998.
GABBY THE GREAT... Sophomore S Gabby Guerre continues to show her tremendous all-around ability as a volleyball player, as she has collected double-doubles in four of the last eight matches, including all three matches at the USF Invitational on Sept. 13-14... She saw her streak of four straight double-doubles end on Sept. 21 at Baylor, but she still displayed her tremendous abilities with six kills on .667 hitting to go with 30 assists, two service aces and six blocks... She narrowly missed her sixth double-double of the season twice in the last three matches, including a a six-kill, 56-assist, nine-dig and seven-block performance in the win over Texas Tech on Oct. 2. She currently ranks 5th in the Big 12 in hitting percentage with a .364 percentage, while she ranks 7th with an 11.48 assists per game average... She also averages 1.48 kills per game, 2.09 digs per game and 0.74 blocks per game.Guerre narrowly missed her first career triple-double and first by a Wildcat since 1998 with her effort against Georgia Tech (9/14)... She posted nine kills on .350 hitting with 52 assists and 10 digs against the Yellow Jackets... She also turned in a career-high 12 kills on .529 hitting against No. 19 Michigan State with 46 assists and six digs... She also had the 'standard' double-double with 50 assists and 10 digs against South Florida and 33 assists and 11 digs against Nebraska.
POLLARD, CARI JENSEN PACE WILDCAT OFFENSE... Senior co-captain Jennifer Pollard and junior OH Cari Jensen have become the most effective 1-2 punches for the Wildcat offense this season... Together, they have combined to account for 42 percent of the team's kills (305 out of 724) and 39 percent of the team's points (360 out of 923) this season... Jensen paces the squad in kills (3.22 per game) and aces (0.37 per game), while Pollard is second in digs (3.24 per game) and third in kills (3.00 per game) and points (169)... Jensen has totaled double-digit kills in 11 of the first 14 matches, including nine in the last 10... Pollard, who has 10+ kills in 24 of the last 39 matches, has totaled double-digit kills and double-digit digs in nine matches this season.
A LOOK AT COLORADO... Colorado enters Saturday's match with a 9-7 overall record and 3-3 mark in Big 12 play... The Buffaloes earned a 30-16, 30-25, 28-30, 30-17 win over Oklahoma on Oct. 5 before taking Wednesday off... The win over the Sooners snapped a three-match conference slide that included back-to-back five-game losses to Kansas and Missouri at home... The loss to the Jayhawks on Sept. 25 snapped CU's six-match winning streak... The Buffs have played one of the nation's toughest schedules, including the likes of UCLA, Ohio State, Hawai'i, Notre Dame, Loyola Marymount and Colorado State... Junior OH Monique Gerlach leads the team in kills (3.67 per game), hitting percentage (.354) and aces (0.34 per game)... Senior OH Meghan Barkman ranks first in blocks (1.00 per game), while she is second in kills (2.54 per game) and hitting percentage (.271)... Senior S Elizabeth Gower averages a team-best 9.86 assists per game... The team is hitting .221, while opponents also hit .221... The team returns eight letterwinners and six starters from 2001.
GOEHRING BECOMES AN ALL-AROUND THREAT... Junior MB Lauren Goehring has developed into one of the Wildcats' top all-around offensive threats in 2002... She currently leads the team in both overall points (193.5) and Big 12-only points (86.5), while she places second on the team in four categories, including hitting percentage (.358), blocks (0.88 per game) and aces (0.31 per game).She broke out of her hitting slump against Texas Tech, as she turned in a career-tying 19 kills on a .484 hitting percentage in the 3-2 win... The 19 kills were the most by the junior since she had 19 against Arkansas in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament held at Ahearn Field House.She was the Big 12 leader in hitting percentage on Sept. 9 after she posted a .543 hitting percentage against Wichita State and Arkansas State... Against ASU (9/8), she turned in a season-best 17 kills on .652 hitting - the highest hitting percentage by a Wildcats since Goehring posted a .857 mark against Air Force (9/9/00) at the Wildcat Classic... In being named the MVP of the CSU University Park Classic on Aug. 31, Goehring posted the fifth-highest hitting percentage in the 16-year history of the tournament with a .460 average.She has also surfaced as one of the team's best servers... The team leader in 2001 with 37 aces, she is ranks first in the Big 12 in conference-only aces (0.59 per game)... Of these 14, 13 have come in the last six matches, including three each against Nebraska (9/18) and Baylor (9/21).
'CATS FINISH AS RUNNER-UP AT CSU CLASSIC... Kansas State finished as the runner-up to host Colorado State at the University Park Holiday Inn Classic held Aug. 30-31 in Fort Collins, Colo. ... The Wildcats posted a 2-1 record, losing a five-game heartbreaker to the host Rams before sweeping matches against UConn and WMU.For their stellar efforts, junior MB Lauren Goehring and junior L Laura Downey-Wallace were named to the all-tournament team with Goehring garnering most valuable player honors... Goehring posted 3.18 kills/game on .460 hitting percentage in the three-match tournament, the fifth-highest hitting percentage by a player in the 16-year history of the tournament... Downey-Wallace was the tournament's top libero, averaging a tournament-best 3.82 digs/game.
WHAT'S BACK FOR KANSAS STATE... Kansas State returns eight letterwinners, including three starters, from the 2001 season... The Wildcats return a number of proven performers, including starters - senior OH Jennifer Pollard, junior MB Lauren Goehring and sophomore S Gabby Guerre - to go along with key reserves in junior libero Laura Downey-Wallace, junior OH Cari Jensen and solid defensive specialists, junior Kris Jensen and sophomore Jami Sleichter... However, the team must overcome the loss of three starters, including two-time All-American OH Liz Wegner and all-conference selection Lisa Mimick. From a statistical standpoint, the 'Cats return 44 percent of their kills, 68 percent of their aces, 65 percent of their digs and 49 percent of their blocks from the 2001 totals.
RULES CHANGES... After adding the rally scoring format last season, the NCAA adopted several more rules changes for the 2002 season, most notably adding the libero (pronounced LEE-bah-ro), a designated back-row played intended to be used as a ball-control specialist... Other changes for the 2002 are the use of the pursuit rule and changes sides at eight points in the deciding fifth game... The pursuit rule allows players to retrieve a ball that has crossed the centerline outside the court after a team's first contact or block... The teams must now switch sides at eight points in game five that goes to 15 points in rally score.
POLLARD, DOWNEY-WALLACE NAMED CO-CAPTAINS Prior to the start of preseason drills, senior OH Jennifer Pollard and junior libero Laura Downey-Wallace were named as co-captains by head coach Suzie Fritz... Pollard has started 48 of 58 matches over the last two years at outside hitter and was the team co-leader in double-doubles (14) in 2001... Downey-Wallace averaged 2.56 digs/game in 14 matches last season and will man the new libero position for the Wildcats.
ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL ALUMNI MATCH... Before the annual Purple and White scrimmage on Aug. 24, Kansas State held its Alumni match, which attracted a number of former players, including including Jayne Christen (1998-2000), Kelli Luther (1995-96), Lisa Mimick (1998-2001), Julie Thomas (1997-2000) and Val Wieck (1995-98)... Also in attendance were five members of the 1969-70 Wildcat squad - Susan Koehn-Buck, Susan Drews-Horton, Kathy Teahan-Jantch, Susan Haas and Julie Blasi-Watts. Although the program only achieved varsity status in 1974, the university has had a volleyball team dating back to early 1960s.
'CATS RANKED No. 22 IN PRESEASON AVCA POLL... For the fourth consecutive year, Kansas State earned a ranking in the preseason American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)/USA Today Top 25 poll released August 12, as the Wildcats checked in at No. 22... The Wildcats received 232 total points from the 65-member coaching panel... Overall, the poll featured four Big 12 teams - No. 2 Nebraska, No. 17 Texas A&M, No. 21 Colorado and No. 22 K-State - along with four others - Texas, Missouri, Baylor and Texas Tech - who received nine or more points... K-State earned its first-ever preseason ranking in 1999 when the AVCA ranked the Wildcats at No. 23 in its annual poll, while the program received its highest-ever preseason ranking in 2000 at No. 17... Last year, the Wildcats started the season ranked at No. 19.
'CATS PICKED FIFTH IN BIG 12... In a vote of the league head coaches, Kansas State was picked to finish fifth in the 2002 Big 12 Conference race on August 13... The Wildcats received 67 votes to finish fifth behind four-time defending league champion Nebraska (100), second-place Texas A&M (86) and two teams that finished in a third-place tie, Colorado (72) and Missouri (72)... The Wildcats were followed in the poll by Texas (64), Baylor (45), Texas Tech (40), Kansas (31), Iowa State (14) and Oklahoma (14)... The Cornhuskers garnered every first-place vote possible... Despite Nebraska's unanimous selection to repeat as champion, there was a tight race for spots two through six with 22 points separating the positions, including just eight for three through six... The coaches' poll was based on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system with a first-place vote receiving 10 points.
RECAPPING 2001... Kansas State posted a 20-8 overall record and 15-5 mark in Big 12 Conference play last year, highlighted by its sixth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament... It was the program's seventh straight season of at least 19 wins and third consecutive 20-win season... For the first time since the NCAA changed the tournament to a 64-team bracket, the Wildcats hosted first- and second-round action at Ahearn Field House where they played host to Arkansas, Oral Roberts and defending NCAA champion Nebraska... After defeating the Lady Razorbacks to advance to the second round for the fourth straight season, the Wildcats lost to the eventual Final Four participant Huskers in four games... K-State ended the year ranked 18th in the final AVCA polls, its fourth straight final Top 25 ranking.
TEAM EARNS PRESTIGIOUS ACADEMIC HONOR... Kansas State was recently named as one of a record-number 177 volleyball programs nationally to receive the 2001-02 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)/Molten Team Academic Award... The award, which has been given annually since 1992-93, honors college and high school teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale during the school year. Among the 47 Division I schools, Kansas State was one of just six that advanced to NCAA Tournament last season, including NCAA champion Stanford and Final Four participant Nebraska. The Huskers joined the Wildcats as the only Big 12 schools to earn the honor... Kansas State posted the third-highest grade-point average (3.59) of the 47 Division I schools selected, trailing only Belmont (Tenn.) University (3.69) and Liberty (Va.) University (3.64). Five of the 13 players on the team earned cumulative 4.0 GPAs during the 2001-02 academic year, including current players Laura Downey-Wallace, Cari Jensen and Kris Jensen. It marked the second time the program has received this honor and first time since 1996-97.
29 YEARS OF KANSAS STATE VOLLEYBALL... The 2002 campaign marks the 29th season of intercollegiate competition for the Wildcats... K-State owns an all-time mark of 520-455-11 (.533) in 986 matches... The match against Oklahoma on October 9 will represent the 1,000th in school history... After posting just a 24-66 record from 1991-93, Kansas State has reeled off eight straight winning seasons, including 20-win seasons in six of the last seven years... In fact, the 163 wins that the Wildcats have tallied since 1994 are more than the program recorded the entire decades of the 1980s and 1990s... K-State started its streak of eight straight winning seasons in 1994 with their first winning record in five years... The team followed that success with the first of three 20-win seasons in 1995 and the program's first in 10 years... The Wildcats continued its upward spiral in 1996, as the team set the school record for wins in a single-season with a 26-9 record, including a 13-7 mark in the first year of the Big 12 Conference... After a 19-12 mark in 1998 snapped its streak of 20-win seasons, the program has since strung together three consecutive 20-win campaigns.
TOUGH SLATE AWAITS 'CATS... Ten NCAA Tournament teams, including Final Four participant Nebraska, highlight the 2002 Kansas State University volleyball schedule... In addition to matches with the Cornhuskers, the 28-match schedule features battles with 2001 NCAA Tournament participants Baylor, Colorado, Colorado State, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, Missouri, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech... In all, the schedule includes 17 matches with 2001 NCAA Tournament teams and eight contests with teams that were ranked in the final USA Today/AVCA Top 25... The 18 teams on the schedule had a composite record of 281-196 (.588) in 2001 and have combined for 125 appearances in the NCAA Tournament... In 2001, 14 of the 18 squads had winning records, including seven that recorded 20 or more wins... In addition, Kansas State will play eight matches against five teams ranked in the preseason AVCA poll, including three against two teams ranked in the organization's Top 15... In all, the team will play 18 matches against 11 teams that received votes in the preseason poll...
MOVING FROM THE COURT TO THE BENCH... Head coach Suzie Fritz will have a little extra help on the bench this season, as former standouts Lisa Mimick and Liz Wegner will serve the team as student assistant coaches as they finish their degrees... Wegner, the program's only two-time All-American, holds 21 school career, single-season and single-match records, including the record for career kills (1,907)... Mimick was a first team All-Big 12 selection as a senior in 2001 and ranks in the top 10 in several career categories, including third in 20-dig matches (10)... In all, the two combined to start 195 matches (and 229 matches) with 2,457 kills on 6,451 total attempts with 2,259 digs and 432 blocks.
