No. 19 Wildcats Host No. 11 Aggies Wednesday Night
Sep 21, 2004 | General
#19 Kansas State (6-4, 0-1)
vs. #11 Texas A&M (6-2, 2-0)
Wednesday, September 22
Ahearn Field House
Manhattan, Kan.
First Serve: Wednesday’s match between the Wildcats and Aggies will begin at 7 p.m. CT.
Television: None.
Radio: Wednesday’s match will broadcast live on Sports Radio 1350 KMAN in Manhattan and online at k-statesports.com. Brian Smoller will handle the play-by-play.
Internet: Live Stats will be available at k-statesports.com and a live internet webcast is also available as a part of the PowerCat Passport option at k-statesports.com.
Rankings: Kansas State is ranked 19th in this week’s USA Today/CSTV Top 25 poll. Texas A&M is ranked 11th.
Records: K-State enters the match with a 6-4 overall record and 0-1 mark in Big 12 play, while Texas A&M is 6-2 and 2-0.
K-State Coach Suzie Fritz: Fritz (Florida Atlantic 94) is in her fourth year at Kansas State and owns a record of 77-2. The 2002 and 2003 Big 12 Coach of the Year is in her eighth season at K-State after spending her first four years as the program’s top assistant.
Series: The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 10-7, and are 8-0 at home against the Aggies. K-State has won the past five meetings in the series.
quick sets
The Wildcats, ranked 19th in this week’s USA TODAY/CSTV Poll, welcome 11th-ranked Texas A&M to Ahearn Field House on Wednesday for their Big 12 home opener. The Wildcats have won the past five meetings against the Aggies and are 8-0 at home.
quick look at the wildcats
The Wildcats are ranked 19th this week and are riding a 18-match win streak at home, a new KSU record... K-State has produced at least 19 wins for nine straight seasons, including 20 wins in each of the last five... The program earned its first-ever conference title in 2003 with a 30-5 overall record and an 18-2 mark in Big 12 play... Senior Vali Hejjas is hitting .281 with 124 kills through 10 matches... Freshman Angie Lastra has collected 10 or more digs in every match this season and is averaging 4.41 digs per game.
quick look at the aggies
Texas A&M enters the match with a 6-2 overall record, 2-0 in Big 12 play, and is ranked 11th in this week’s national poll. The Aggies are hitting .265 as a team and are led by Melissa Munsch, who averages 3.85 kills, 3.12 digs and 2.08 blocks per game.
lastra comes up big in minnesota; named big 12 pow
Freshman libero Angie Lastra became the first-ever libero to be named the Big 12 Player of the Week after a strong showing in four matches at the Diet Coke Classic. Lastra, a freshman from Carolina, Puerto Rico, recorded 84 digs on the week and averaged a whopping 5.69 digs per game against three of the nation’s top teams at the Diet Coke Classic in Minneapolis, Minn. Against then-No. 5 Minnesota, who is ranked No. 1 this week, Lastra set a new Wildcat five-game match record with 36 digs and also collected seven service aces on the weekend. She posted 10 or more digs in all four matches for the week and also had two 25-plus dig matches and one 35-plus dig performance. So far this season, Lastra leads the Wildcats with 138 digs and 20 service aces and has collected 10 or more digs in all eight of the Wildcats’ matches. Lastra became the second straight Wildcat to take the league’s top weekly honor after outside hitter Vali Hejjas was selected last week.
deja vu, all over again
K-State battled No. 4 Florida and No. 5 Minnesota to the final points at the Diet Coke Classic on 9/9 and 9/10, dropping two close five gamers by the score of 15-13. The Wildcats took 2-1 leads in both matches before falling 13-15 in both fifth games. After the weekend, Minnesota, who knocked off K-State and Florida, moved up to the No. 1 spot in the national rankings.
cats run home win streak to 19 with sweep of north dakota state
Middle blocker Lisa Martin and outside hitter Sandy Werner each had 10 kills and Kansas State hit .359 for the match as the No. 16 Wildcats bounced back to sweep North Dakota State, 30-16, 30-16, 30-22, last Thursday night before 1,001 fans at Ahearn Field House. The win gave Kansas State its school-record 19th straight home win.
hejjas hammers competition in houston, named big 12 player of the week
Senior outside hitter Vali Hejjas totalled 58 kills on .358 hitting in four matches last week, leading the Wildcats to a 3-1 start. Hejjas opened up the Houston Tournament with 21 kills, her third career 20-kill match, on a sizzling .529 hitting percentage in a 3-0 win over Maryland. For her efforts, Hejjas was named the Big 12's Player of the Week for the second time in her career.
cats strong at the net
So far in 2004, the Wildcats have collected 112 team blocks (3.23 bpg) as a team, compared to just 84 for their opponents. Kansas State has collected 10 or more team blocks in seven of nine matches, including a team-high 20 against No. 5 Minnesota. Individually, Lisa Martin (1.50 bpg) and Joy Hamlin (1.48) are averaging more than one block per game this season.
k-state opens with 3-0 win over oral roberts
14th-ranked Kansas State opened up the 2004 season with a 3-0 sweep of Oral Roberts, 30-28, 30-23, 30-21, Wednesday night before 1,282 fans at Ahearn Field House and upped its current home winning streak to a record 17 matches. The Wildcats were led Wednesday by senior Michaela Franklin and sophomore Sandy Werner. Franklin, a right-side attacker, came in and propelled Kansas State early with some key kills. The senior finished the night with eight kills on .500 hitting, while Werner, an outside hitter, was the lone Wildcat to tally 10 kills. Werner finished the night with two digs, three blocks and hit .241.
cats receive highest preseason ranking
The No. 14 preseason ranking in the 2004 USA Today/CSTV poll is the highest in the history of Kansas State volleyball and marks the sixth straight season that the Wildcats have been present in the poll. Kansas State opened the 1999 season ranked 23rd and was ranked 17th in 2000, 19th in 2001, 22nd in 2002 and 15th last season. Other Big 12 teams making the top 25 were Nebraska (2nd) and Texas A&M (15th). Four other Big 12 teams, Texas, Kansas, Missouri and Colorado, received votes in the poll, while four non-conference opponents for the Wildcats checked in the poll as well as Florida was ranked fourth, Minnesota fifth, California 10th and Northern Iowa 21st.
wildcats face tough slate in big 12 defense
The defense of the 2003 Big 12 title will not be easy as Kansas State plays one its toughest non-conference and conference schedules in recent years, which includes 13 home matches and 15 matches against 2003 NCAA tournament teams. The Wildcats will open the season September 1 at home when Oral Roberts visits Ahearn Field House for a 7 p.m. match. After facing NCAA tournament teams Maryland and California, along with Houston at the Houston Tournament on September 3-4, the Wildcats will host Wichita State at Ahearn Field House on September 7. The Wildcats finished the 2003 season undefeated at home (16-0) for the first time in school history. On September 9-11, K-State heads to Minnesota for the Diet Coke Invitational where it will square off against two 2003 Final Four teams, Minnesota and Florida, as well as 2003 NCAA tournament qualifier Northern Iowa. The Wildcats open up conference play September 15 at Colorado before hosting North Dakota State in the final non-conference home match on September 16. The Cats will welcome Texas A&M to Manhattan on September 22 in the first conference home match before heading to Missouri on September 25. The month of October will have five home conference matches with Iowa State, Texas, Nebraska, Baylor and Kansas making trips to Ahearn.
k-state returns eight from 2003, welcomes eight newcomers
Though the loss of four key seniors from last season’s Big 12 Championship team certainly will be noticeable, the cupboard certainly is not bare for head coach Suzie Fritz and company as eight letterwinners return from a year ago. Among the eight are 2003 Honorable Mention AVCA All-American setter Gabby Guerre, 2003 Big 12 Newcomer of the year Vali Hejjas, an outside hitter and Honorable Mention All-Big 12 middle blocker Lisa Martin. Other players returning that saw playing time a year ago include outside hitters Michaela Franklin, Katie Stanzel and Sandy Werner, middle blocker Joy Hamlin and outside hitter/defensive specialist Jamie Perkins. Also, Fritz and company signed perhaps the largest recruiting class in school history as eight newcomers will join the program in 2004. Among the highlighted newcomers are right side hitter Agata Rezende, a junior college transfer from Western Nebraska, freshman setter Stacey Spiegelberg, who participated in spring practice after graduating high school early and defensive specialists Angie Lastra and Lauren Rosenthal. Also joining the Wildcats are middle blockers Megan Farr and Megan Kroeker, outside hitter Jenny Jantsch and defensive specialist Leslie Townsend.
cats successful on the court and in the classroom
For the past three seasons, Kansas State has established itself as not only one of the top volleyball programs in the nation, but in the classroom as well. For the third straight season, Kansas State has finished the regular season ranked in the AVCA Top 25 poll and has received the AVCA/Molten Team Academic Award. The award is given to programs who have at least a 3.3 team grade-point average for the entire school year.
guerre chasing assist records
Entering her senior season, Gabby Guerre is on pace to become one of the top setters statistically in school history. The Houston, Texas, native currently has 4,062 career assists, including 384 so far in 2004. She needs 836 more to pass Disney Bronnenberg for second place all-time. The all-time career leader is Devon Ryning, who accumulated 5,132 from 1994-1997.
wildcats gunning for record ninth straight postseason berth
Entering the 2004 season, Kansas State has advanced to the NCAA tournament a school-record eight straight seasons. Also, the Wildcats have won at least 19 matches for the past nine seasons, including eight 20-win seasons and last year’s 30-win season.
home sweet home
Kansas State finished the 2003 season with a perfect 16-0 record at home for the first time in school history and ran the streak to 19 after a win over North Dakota State on 9/16. For the past nine seasons, the Wildcats are 106-22 (.801) and are 56-5 since the 2000 season. The last time K-State lost at home was to Washington State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2002. The last regular season loss was to Texas, back on 9/28/02.
martin manning the middle
Senior Lisa Martin, a 2003 Honorable Mention All-Big 12 selection, will move into a leadership role in 2004 as she will be the main force in the middle after All-American Lauren Goehring’s departure. Martin amassed 136 block assists in 2003 and is currently sixth in the K-State record books in block assists with 278. She headed into the season with 304 career block assists and has 54 so far in 2004. Martin has led Kansas State the past two seasons in block assists with 100 back in 2002 and 136 last season.
fritz leaving her mark on k-state program
One of the nation’s youngest head coaches, Suzie Fritz became the fastest coach in Kansas State school history to reach both 50 and 70 wins and also guided the Wildcats to their first-ever conference title in 2003. Fritz also became the first coach in school history to be named the league’s coach of the year for two straight seasons (2002 and 2003). In 2003, Fritz also became the first KSU coach to earn Region Coach of the Year honors. In three-plus seasons, Fritz has compiled a 77-25 overall record and a 49-12 mark in Big 12 play.
internationally speaking
Senior Vali Hejjas was the lone Wildcat last season to hail from another country, but recruiting coordinator Justin Ingram added two more players from other countries, giving the Wildcats four for 2004. Joining Hejjas this season is RS Agata Rezende, a native of Franca, Brazil and DS/OH Angie Lastra from Puerto Rico.
wildcats on the air
Sports Radio 1350 KMAN will once again carry Kansas State volleyball on the radio as Brian Smoller enters his sixth season as the “Voice of the Wildcats.” All Big 12 matches and 12 of the 13 home matches in 2004 will be broadcast live on the radio and on the internet at k-statesports.com.
the suzie fritz show
Smoller will once again host the bi-weekly radio show, “Wildcat Volleyball Weekly,” on KMAN with head coach Suzie Fritz and selected players. The show will air every other Thursday evening, beginning September 2, from 6:30 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Sports Radio 1350 KMAN.
