K-State Begins Homestand Against Texas Saturday
Sep 26, 2002 | Volleyball
Sept. 26, 2002
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KANSAS STATE (6-5, 2-1) VS (RV) TEXAS (9-3, 1-2)
Saturday, September 28, 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 theManhattan area or over the internet at www.k-statesports.com or atwww.1350kman.com.
Rankings: Neither team is ranked.
Coaches: Kansas State's Suzie Fritz is 26-13 (.667) in her second year. Sheis 2-0 versus Texas. Texas' Jerritt Elliott is 26-17 (.605) in his secondyear and 76-29 (.724) in four years as a head coach. He is 0-2 againstK-State.
Series: Texas leads the all-time series, 8-6. However, Kansas State has wonsix straight in the series, dating back to 1999. The Wildcats are 3-3against the Longhorns in Manhattan.
LAST TIME OUT...
KANSAS STATE def. IOWA STATE, 30-25, 30-24, 31-29
Wednesday, September 25, 2002 * Valley High School * Des Moines, Iowa * 7 p.m. CST
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- Kansas State used a balanced attack with threeWildcats in double-digit kills to extend its winning streak over Iowa Stateto 13 matches in a 30-25, 30-24, 31-29 win on Wednesday evening at ValleyHigh School... Senior OH Jennifer Pollard led a balanced Kansas State attackwith her team-tying fifth double-double, as she posted 13 kills on .333hitting with 11 digs.
K-STATE BEGINS TWO-MATCH HOMESTAND ON SATURDAY BY HOSTING TEXAS...Looking to build on the momentum of the last two matches, the Kansas Statewomen's volleyball team (6-5, 2-1 Big 12) returns to action on Saturday byhosting Texas (9-3, 1-2 Big 12) at Ahearn Field House beginning at 7 p.m.It is the first of a two-match homestand for the Wildcats, as the team hostsTexas Tech (6-5, 1-1 Big 12) on Wednesday. Kansas State extended its winning streak to two matches on Wednesday, asthe Wildcats moved to 2-1 in conference play with a 30-25, 30-24, 31-29victory over Iowa State in a match played at Valley High School. TheWildcats used a balanced attack with three players in double-digit kills toextend its winning streak over Cyclones to 13 matches. K-State has won 12of the 13 contests against ISU in three games dating back to 1996, including39 of 40 games. Kansas State again used strong serving to alter the Iowa State attack,posting seven service aces in the match.The Cyclones hit just .177 in the contest, marking the seventh time thisseason that the Wildcats have held an opponent below a .200 hittingpercentage. This will be the 15th meeting with Texas, as the Longhorns hold an 8-6series advantage. Texas Tech (16) is the only Texas school that KansasState has played more times than Texas in school history. Both teams havemet each other twice a year since 1996. The series began in 1981 with Texassweeping a pair of matches, first 15-9, 11-15, 15-0, 15-3 on Oct. 9 at theTexas Longhorn Classic then 15-4, 15-5 on Oct. 16 at the Oral RobertsInvitational. The Longhorns won the first six meetings in Big 12 playbefore the Wildcats upset the then-No. 8 ranked 'Horns 3-1 in Austin fortheir first win in the series. K-State has since won six straight matchesin the series. Last year, K-State evened its all-time record at homeagainst Texas to 3-3 with a tight 30-28, 25-30, 30-26, 34-32 win on Sept. 29before accomplishing the sweep with a 30-22, 30-13, 27-30, 30-26 win inAustin on Nov. 7. Sophomore Gabby Guerre nearly posted her first careertriple-double in the match in Austin with 10 kills on .600 hitting to gowith 46 digs and nine digs. Kansas State continues its homestand on Wednesday, as the Wildcats playhost to Texas Tech (6-5, 1-1 Big 12) at Ahearn Field House beginning at 7p.m.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK... Kansas State opened the Big 12 Conference season lastweek by splitting a pair of three-game matches, losing 3-0 at home to No. 5Nebraska on Wednesday before breaking a four-match losing streak on Saturdayin a 3-0 win at Baylor... The four-match losing skid was the longest sinceby a K-State team since the 1997 squad dropped five in a row... On Wednesday, the Wildcats lost for just the fourth time in its last 31home matches, as the Cornhuskers delivered a 30-25, 30-16, 30-27 decision inthe Big 12 opener for both teams... The loss snapped a four-match winningstreak in conference openers and left the team 8-13 all-time in leaguestarters since 1982... The last loss in a conference opener was to Coloradoat home in 1997... The Wildcats were held to just one block in the Nebraskamatch, the lowest total against a Big 12 foe and lowest since a one-blockeffort against Washington State in 1993. On Saturday, Kansas State swept Baylor for the second straight season,as the team set a season-high with 13.5 blocks and tied a season-high with10 aces in the 30-17, 30-22, 30-23 win... The Wildcats also held the Bearsto a paltry .104 hitting percentage, marking the sixth time this season thatthe team has held an opponent under a .200 hitting percentage.
'CATS IN THE BIG 12 STATISTICS... Kansas State had several players show up inthe individual conference statistics released on Monday... S Gabby Guerremoved up several spot to No. 4 in overall hitting percentage at .391, whileMB Lauren Goehring dropped from sixth to eighth with a .356 percentage...Guerre also ranks eighth in the league with an 11.34 assists per gameaverage... Two Wildcats remain in the Top 10 in digs per game... L LauraDowney-Wallace now leads the Big 12 in the category with a 4.66 per gameaverage after ranking second the first two weeks of the season... She alsoranks 13th nationally... She also leads the category after just two leaguematches with a 5.83 average... Senior co-captain OH Jennifer Pollard droppedtwo spots from fifth to seventh with a 3.11 per game average.
'CATS RANK 15TH IN NATIONAL ATTENDANCE... Kansas State is ranked 15thnationally in home attendance with an average of 1,323 fans per match inthree matches this season... This is nothing new for Kansas State, who hasfinished among the national Top 15 in home attendance the last fiveseasons... The Wildcats are one of six Big 12 schools to rank among thenational Top 30 in attendance... Nebraska ranks second with a 4,105 permatch average, while Missouri (17), Texas A&M (18), Texas (23) and Colorado(25) all trail Kansas State... The 2,876 fans that attended Kansas State'smatch with Nebraska on Sept. 18 ranked as the 22nd-largest crowd in the NCAAthis year and the 12th-largest on the mainland.
GABBY THE GREAT... Sophomore S Gabby Guerre continues to show her tremendousall-around ability as a volleyball player, as she collected double-doublesin four of the last five matches, including all three matches at the USFInvitational on Sept. 13-14... She saw her streak of four straightdouble-doubles end on Saturday at Baylor, but she still displayed hertremendous abilities as a player with six kills on .667 hitting to go with30 assists, two service aces and six blocks. She currently ranks fourth in the Big 12 in hitting percentage with a.391 percentage, while she ranks eighth with an 11.34 assists per gameaverage... She averages 1.66 kills per game, 2.11 digs per game and 0.69blocks per game. Guerre narrowly missed her first career triple-double and first by aWildcat since 1998 with her performance against Georgia Tech (9/14)... Sheposted nine kills on .350 hitting with 52 assists and 10 digs against theYellow Jackets... Val Wieck was the last Wildcats with a triple-double with10 kills, 20 digs and 15 blocks against Colorado on Nov. 27, 1998... Shealso turned in a career-high 12 kills on .529 hitting against No. 19Michigan State with 46 assists and six digs... She also had the 'standard'double-double by a setter against South Florida with 50 assists and 10 digs.She ran her streak of double-doubles to four, as she added 33 assists and 11digs in the 3-0 loss to No. 5 Nebraska on Sept. 18.
DOWNEY-WALLACE ADJUSTING TO NEW LIBERO... When the AVCA adopted the libero for the 2001 season, the organization could not have found a better person forthe position than junior Laura Downey-Wallace... A setter/defensivespecialist for the Wildcats last season, she has made an instant impact forthe team in 2002, averaging a team and Big 12-best 4.66 digs per game... Theaverage also ranks 13th nationally... She has posted double-digit dig totalsin nine of the 10 matches thus far, including 20 or more on four occasions.She has surpassed her 2001 dig total of 107. In the first two Big 12 matches of the year, she is averaging aleague-best 5.83 digs per game, including a 21-dig performance againstBaylor on Saturday... This is all the more impressive when you take intoaccount that the team had just 48 digs for the three-game match. She tallied an amazing 5.17 digs per game during the USF Invitational(Sept. 13-14), including back-to-back 20-dig efforts against No. 19 MichiganState and Georgia Tech on Sept. 14... She had a career-best 25 digs versusthe Jackets. With her 4.66 digs average, she is on pace to break both Kim Zschau'ssingle-season marks for both average (4.17) and total (455) set in 1998.
MARTIN CONTINUES TO EXCELS AFTER USF... One of the bright spots for KansasState at the USF Invitational came in the play of sophomore MB Lisa Martin,who was the lone Wildcat named to the All-Tournament team... She continuesto do well after the tournament, totaling a career-best eight blocks in thewin over Baylor on Saturday... Martin averaged 3.00 kills per game on a .453hitting percentage in the three-match tournament with a team-best 0.75blocks per game.... Martin broke her career-high in kills in back-to-backdays, as she totaled 11 on .526 against South Florida on Sept. 13 beforetallying a career-best 16 on .444 hitting against Georgia Tech onSaturday... She has gradually increased her play since hitting negative inthe opener at Colorado State, turning in a hitting percentage above .300 infive of the last nine matches, including a career-best .526 percentageagainst South Florida.
A LOOK AT TEXAS... Texas enters Saturday's match with a 9-3 overall recordand 1-2 mark in Big 12 Conference play... The Longhorns broke a two-matchlosing streak on Wednesday in a 3-0 win over Oklahoma at home... Texasentered league play on a six-match winning streak before losing 3-1 at hometo upstart Missouri and 3-0 at Nebraska... Sophomore OH Mira Topic leads theteam in both kills (4.78 per game), digs (2.66 per game) and points (232)...Sophomore MBs Bethany Howden and Kathy Hahn average 3.61 and 3.53 kills pergame, respectively, while Hahn adds a team-best 1.03 blocks per game...Freshman S Caron Blotch runs an effective Longhorn offense, as she averages1.05 kills per game on .345 hitting with 12.33 assists per game... The teamas a whole is hitting .272, while opponents manage just a .157 percentage...The team returns eight letterwinners and four starters from 2001.
LAUREN LIGHTING IT UP... Junior MB Lauren Goehring has developed into one ofthe Wildcats' top offensive threats in 2002... She currently ranks second onthe team in four categories, including hitting percentage (.356), kills(3.14 per game), blocks (0.77 per game) and points (130.5). Although she hit a pedestrian .268 in the matches last week againstNebraska and Baylor, she still ranks among the conference's best in hittingpercentage with a .356 average. On the strength of a .543 hitting percentage against Arkansas State andWichita State, Goehring became the Big 12 leader in hitting percentage witha .490 clip (58 K-10 E/98 TA) on Sept. 9... Against Arkansas State (9/8),she turned in a season-best 17 kills on .652 hitting - the highest hittingpercentage 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 CSUUniversity Park Classic on Aug. 31, Goehring posted the fifth-highesthitting percentage in the 16-year history of the tournament with a .460average.
NEARING 200 WINS AT AHEARN... With just two wins, Kansas State can achieve 200wins at Ahearn Field House this season... One of the toughest home courts inthe nation, the 'Old Barn' has been the home to Wildcat volleyball since itsinaugural season in 1974... The program has compiled an impressive 198-117-5(.629) since that season, including a 55-14 (.797) mark over the last fiveyears... In all, the Wildcats have upset 13 ranked teams in Ahearn since1997 and have a streak of 34 consecutive wins at home over non-conferencefoes dating back to 1994... K-State was 13-2 at home last season and has won27 of its last 31 home matches over the last three years.
'CATS GO WINLESS AT USF ADIDAS INVITATIONAL... Kansas State dropped threematches at the USF Adidas Invitational Sept. 13-14, falling in four games tohost South Florida, No. 19 Michigan State and Georgia Tech... It was thelongest losing streak for the Wildcats since 1999. In fact, it marked thefirst time the team has lost consecutive matches since opening of the 2001season. For the tournament, Kansas State was outhit .252 to .225 and wasoutblocked 33.5-17.5 by its three opponents... In addition, they committed41 service errors compared to just 32 by its opponents, while tallying just13 service aces... Going into the tournament, the Wildcats had tallied 40service errors in five matches.
'CATS FINISH AS RUNNER-UP AT CSU CLASSIC... Kansas State finished as therunner-up to host Colorado State at the University Park Holiday Inn Classicheld 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 matchesagainst Connecticut and Western Michigan... The five-game loss to CSU wasthe second straight in a season opener. For their stellar efforts, junior MB Lauren Goehring and junior L LauraDowney-Wallace were named to the all-tournament team with Goehring garneringmost valuable player honors... Goehring posted 3.18 kills/game on .460hitting percentage in the three-match tournament, the fifth-highest hittingpercentage by a player in the 16-year history of the tournament...Downey-Wallace was the tournament's top libero, averaging a tournament-best3.82 digs/game.
WHAT'S BACK FOR KANSAS STATE... Kansas State returns eight letterwinners,including three starters, from the 2001 season... The Wildcats return anumber of proven performers, including starters - senior OH JenniferPollard, junior MB Lauren Goehring and sophomore S Gabby Guerre - to goalong with key reserves in junior libero Laura Downey-Wallace, junior OHCari Jensen and solid defensive specialists, junior Kris Jensen andsophomore Jami Sleichter... However, the team must overcome the loss ofthree starters, including two-time All-American OH Liz Wegner andall-conference selection Lisa Mimick. From a statistical standpoint, the'Cats return 44 percent of their kills, 68 percent of their aces, 65 percentof their digs and 49 percent of their blocks from the 2001 totals.
RULES CHANGES... After adding the rally scoring format last season, the NCAAadopted several more rules changes for the 2002 season, most notably addingthe libero (pronounced LEE-bah-ro), a designated back-row played intended tobe used as a ball-control specialist Other changes for the 2002 are the useof the pursuit rule and changes sides at eight points in the deciding fifthgame The pursuit rule allows players to retrieve a ball that has crossedthe centerline outside the court after a team's first contact or block Theteams must now switch sides at eight points in game five that goes to 15points in rally score.
POLLARD, DOWNEY-WALLACE NAMED CO-CAPTAINS... Prior to the start of preseasondrills, senior OH Jennifer Pollard and junior libero Laura Downey-Wallacewere named as co-captains by head coach Suzie Fritz Pollard has started 48of 58 matches over the last two years at outside hitter and was the teamco-leader in double-doubles (14) in 2001 Downey-Wallace averaged 2.56digs/game in 14 matches last season and will man the new libero position forthe Wildcats.
ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL ALUMNI MATCH... Before the annual Purple and Whitescrimmage on Aug. 24, Kansas State held its Alumni match, which attracted anumber 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 the1969-70 Wildcat squad - Susan Koehn-Buck, Susan Drews-Horton, KathyTeahan-Jantch, Susan Haas and Julie Blasi-Watts. Although the program onlyachieved varsity status in 1974, the university has had a volleyball teamdating 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 CoachesAssociation (AVCA)/USA Today Top 25 poll released August 12, as the Wildcatschecked in at No. 22 The Wildcats received 232 total points from the65-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 - alongwith four others - Texas, Missouri, Baylor and Texas Tech - who receivednine or more points K-State earned its first-ever preseason ranking in 1999when the AVCA ranked the Wildcats at No. 23 in its annual poll, while theprogram received its highest-ever preseason ranking in 2000 at No. 17 Lastyear, the Wildcats started the season ranked at No. 19.
'CATS PICKED FIFTH IN BIG 12... In a vote of the league head coaches, KansasState was picked to finish fifth in the 2002 Big 12 Conference race onAugust 13 The Wildcats received 67 votes to finish fifth behind four-timedefending league champion Nebraska (100), second-place Texas A&M (86) andtwo 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) TheCornhuskers garnered every first-place vote possible Despite Nebraska'sunanimous selection to repeat as champion, there was a tight race for spotstwo through six with 22 points separating the positions, including justeight for three through six The coaches' poll was based on a10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 system with a first-place vote receiving 10 points.
RECAPPING 2001... Kansas State posted a 20-8 overall record and 15-5 mark inBig 12 Conference play last year, highlighted by its sixth consecutiveappearance in the NCAA Tournament... It was the program's seventh straightseason of at least 19 wins and third consecutive 20-win season... For thefirst time since the NCAA changed the tournament to a 64-team bracket, theWildcats hosted first- and second-round action at Ahearn Field House wherethey played host to Arkansas, Oral Roberts and defending NCAA championNebraska... After defeating the Lady Razorbacks to advance to the secondround for the fourth straight season, the Wildcats lost to the eventualFinal Four participant Huskers in four games... K-State ended the yearranked 18th in the final AVCA polls, its fourth straight final Top 25ranking.
TEAM EARNS PRESTIGIOUS ACADEMIC HONOR... Kansas State was recently named as one of a record-number 177 volleyball programs nationally to receive the2001-02 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)/Molten Team AcademicAward... The award, which has been given annually since 1992-93, honorscollege and high school teams that displayed excellence in the classroom bymaintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0scale 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 thatadvanced to NCAA Tournament last season, including NCAA champion Stanfordand Final Four participant Nebraska. The Huskers joined the Wildcats as theonly Big 12 schools to earn the honor... Kansas State posted thethird-highest grade-point average (3.59) of the 47 Division I schoolsselected, trailing only Belmont (Tenn.) University (3.69) and Liberty (Va.)University (3.64). Five of the 13 players on the team earned cumulative 4.0GPAs during the 2001-02 academic year, including current players LauraDowney-Wallace, Cari Jensen and Kris Jensen. It marked the second time theprogram 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-timemark of 520-455-11 (.533) in 986 matches The match against Oklahoma onOctober 9 will represent the 1,000th in school history... After posting justa 24-66 record from 1991-93, Kansas State has reeled off eight straightwinning 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 morethan the program recorded the entire decades of the 1980s and 1990s...K-State started its streak of eight straight winning seasons in 1994 withtheir first winning record in five years... The team followed that successwith the first of three 20-win seasons in 1995 and the program's first in 10years... The Wildcats continued its upward spiral in 1996, as the team setthe school record for wins in a single-season with a 26-9 record, includinga 13-7 mark in the first year of the Big 12 Conference... After a 19-12 markin 1998 snapped its streak of 20-win seasons, the program has since strungtogether three consecutive 20-win campaigns.
TOUGH SLATE AWAITS 'CATS... Ten NCAA Tournament teams, including Final Fourparticipant Nebraska, highlight the 2002 Kansas State University volleyballschedule... In addition to matches with the Cornhuskers, the 28-matchschedule 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 with2001 NCAA Tournament teams and eight contests with teams that were ranked inthe final USA Today/AVCA Top 25... The 18 teams on the schedule had acomposite record of 281-196 (.588) in 2001 and have combined for 125appearances in the NCAA Tournament... In 2001, 14 of the 18 squads hadwinning records, including seven that recorded 20 or more wins... Inaddition, Kansas State will play eight matches against five teams ranked inthe preseason AVCA poll, including three against two teams ranked in theorganization's Top 15 In all, the team will play 18 matches against 11teams that received votes in the preseason poll
MOVING FROM THE COURT TO THE BENCH... Head coach Suzie Fritz will have alittle extra help on the bench this season, as former standouts Lisa Mimickand Liz Wegner will serve the team as student assistant coaches as theyfinish their degrees Wegner, the program's only two-time All-American,holds 21 school career, single-season and single-match records, includingthe record for career kills (1,907) Mimick was a first team All-Big 12selection as a senior in 2001 and ranks in the top 10 in several careercategories, including third in 20-dig matches (10) In all, the two combinedto start 195 matches (and 229 matches) with 2,457 kills on 6,451 totalattempts with 2,259 digs and 432 blocks.
