Volleyball Wins Five-Game Slugfest With Missouri
Oct 09, 2003 | General
Manhattan - Four Wildcats tallied 10 or more kills and four more collected 10 or more digs as 12th-ranked Kansas State outlasted Missouri in five games, 30-23, 28-30, 30-28, 28-30, 15-10, Wednesday night before 1,345 fans at Ahearn Field House.
Kansas State won its third match in a row and its 15th in the last 16 matches to improve to 15-3 overall and 5-1 in Big 12 action. Missouri fell to 12-4 overall and 5-2 in league play.
'Our kids battled tonight,' head coach Suzie Fritz said. 'It will help us down the road to have been in tight matches like these. You cannot simulate game experience, especially a tightly-contested and competitive match like we had. We were happy to get the win, and now we need to get back to work and get ready for Nebraska on Saturday.'
Cari Jensen led the Cats in kills with 19, a season high, while Lauren Goehring and Valeria Hejjas pitched in 17 and Lisa Martin tallied 12 on the night. Hejjas' 17 tied a career-high and the junior has 10 or more kills in 13 of K-State's 18 matches this season. Martin finished the night with a .400 hitting percentage while Goehring finished at .325.
Defensively, Kris Jensen set a new career high in digs with 22 while Laura Downey-Wallace (13), Gabby Guerre (11) and Cari Jensen (11) all finished with 10 or more digs. Jensen's 11 digs along with her 19 kills gave her a double-double for the third time this season and 19th for her career.
The Wildcats came out strong in game one, winning 30-23. After the two teams traded points back and forth, the Wildcats made a push at the end of game one. With the score 22-21, K-State scored the next four points, two on kills by Lauren Goehring, to go ahead 26-21. A Valeria Hejjas kill and two attack errors by Missouri ended game one in favor of the Wildcats.
Game two was one to forget for K-State as the Wildcats hit just .070 for the game with 12 errors while Missouri was slightly better at .143. The Tigers jumped out quickly in the game, going up 11-3 and never trailed again. K-State made a run and after a Hejjas kill, the Wildcats had drawn within 22-20. Cari Jensen's kill a few plays later tied the game at 26, but Missouri closed out the game, 30-28, on a service ace.
Game three saw the roles reversed from game two as the Wildcats came from behind to squeak out the 30-28 win. After trailing by as many as seven early in the game (7-14), Kansas State came back and took its first lead on a Hejjas kill at 28-27 and went on to win the game at 30-28 on another Hejjas put-down. Both teams were luke-warm from the floor as the Wildcats hit .222 and Missouri at .278.
K-State took the lead in game four and built it to a 17-10 margin just past the midway point of the game, until Missouri battled back and extended the match to a fifth game with a 30-28 win. Both teams hit over .300 for the game as Mizzou edged the Wildcats in hitting percentage, .311 to .304.
In the pivotal fifth game, the Wildcats used a .429 hitting percentage and a defense that kept Missouri to a .217 clip to take the game and the match at 15-10. With the game tied at five, K-State scored 10 of the next 15 points, including four kills from Lisa Martin, to take the match.
Kansas State heads to Lincoln, Nebraska, on Saturday to face the seventh-ranked Cornhuskers. First serve is set for 5 p.m.
Missouri (12-4, 5-2) 23 30 28 30 10
#12 Kansas State (15-3, 5-1) 30 28 30 28 15
KSU
