K-State Returns to Ahearn, Hosts West Virginia
Oct 21, 2016 | Volleyball
GAME PREVIEW
OCT 22, 6:00 PM
Ahearn Field House
Manhattan, KS
NR
WEST VIRGINIA
MOUNTAINEERS
11-11 (2-6 Big 12)
RV
K-STATE
WILDCATS
15-5 (4-3 Big 12)
Wildcat Weekend
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MANHATTAN,
Kan. – The Kansas State volleyball team returns to Ahearn Field House
for the first time in two weeks as it hosts West Virginia on Saturday at 6 p.m.,
to close out the first half of its Big 12 schedule.
K-State (15-5, 4-3 Big 12) leads the all-time
series with the Mountaineers (11-11, 2-6), 6-2, and owns a 3-1 edge in
Manhattan.
The match is part of a Wildcat Weekend, as fans can purchase $3
tickets with their Texas football ticket. The matchup with West Virginia will
be broadcast world-wide on K-StateHD.TV. Fans can also listen to Rob Voelker
call the match on local radio at 1350 KMAN and at k-statesports.com.
AT A
GLANCE
·
Kansas State returns to Ahearn
Field House as it hosts West Virginia at 6 p.m., on Saturday after two
consecutive road matches.
·
K-State is second (.257) in the Big
12 while West Virginia (.196) ranks ninth in the conference in team hitting
percentage.
·
K-State is 7-3 in its last 10
matches while West Virginia is 4-6.
·
The match will be nationally
broadcast on K-StateHD.TV. Fans can also listen to the match on local radio at
1350 KMAN and at k-statesports.com.
LAST
TIME OUT
·
K-State defeated Oklahoma in four
sets (13-25, 25-19, 25-21, 28-26) in Norman last Saturday.
·
K-State is now 9-1 in four-set
matches this season and is one win shy of equaling the program single-season
record of 10 four-set victories.
·
Brooke Sassin and Katie Brand each
recorded double-doubles. Brand leads the Big 12 with 11 double-doubles.
·
Alyssa Schultejans set a
season-high and Big 12 career-high with 15 kills in the match, her second
straight match with double-figure kills.
A LOOK
AT K-STATE
·
Kansas State (15-5, 4-3 Big 12)
heads to into the match having won three of its last four conference matches.
·
K-State is receiving votes in the
AVCA top 25 poll for the fourth straight week.
·
The Wildcats have been ranked or
received votes in the poll in seven consecutive weeks, peaking at a No. 23
ranking.
·
K-State is 11-0 this season when
winning the first set and 7-2 when tied at 1-1.
·
In the NCAA’s latest RPI release of
the season, K-State comes in at No. 16 - the second highest of any Big 12 team
(3. Texas).
·
All five of K-State’s losses have
been to teams either currently ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA top 25.
·
K-State has registered more kills
than its opponent in 11 of the last 13 matches.
·
Setter Katie Brand ranks No. 3 in
the nation and is the Big 12’s leader with 11.85 assists per set.
·
Kansas State leads the Big 12 in
team kills/set with 14.38, which ranks ninth nationally.
·
The team’s 13.78 assists/set are
tops in the conference and second-best in the NCAA.
·
K-State has never finished a season
in which it led the conference in team kills/set or assists/set.
·
Overall, K-State ranks in the top
three of the Big 12 in 11 major team statistical categories.
A LOOK
AT WEST VIRGINIA
·
West Virginia enters the match with
an overall record of 11-11 and 2-6 in the Big 12.
·
After starting the Big 12 schedule
2-1, the Mountaineers have lost five straight conference matches.
·
West Virginia is led by freshman
Payton Caffrey, who is second in the Big 12 with 4.90 kills/set.
·
Caffrey has seven matches reaching
20 or more kills and has been named Big 12 Rookie of the Week five times this
season.
·
Junior middle blocker Mia Swanegan
paces the conference in blocks/set with 1.35.
A LOOK
AT THE SERIES
·
K-State leads the all-time series,
6-2, dating back to 2012.
·
The Wildcats are 3-1 against the
Mountaineers at home, with the lone loss in Manhattan coming in 2014 (3-2).
·
K-State swept the season series
last year with a pair of straight-set victories.
·
The last time these teams met,
sophomore middle blocker Macy Flowers set a career high with 11 kills at WVU.
·
Also in the last meeting, a trio of
Wildcats posted double-digit kills - Flowers (11), Sassin (11) and Reininger
(10) - as the Cats hit .306 as a team in the match.
LUCKY
NO. 4
·
Kansas State is 9-1 in four-set
matches this season, just one win shy of equaling the school record for
four-set victories in a season (1987).
·
K-State is 10-2 in the fourth set
overall and 4-0 in the set in conference matches.
·
In Big 12 matches, the Wildcats
have a +29 point differential in the fourth set, best of any single set, and is
19 points better than the next highest set (+10 in the second set).
·
K-State has a point differential of
+60 in the fourth set this overall this season.
HIGH
EFFICIENCY
·
Kansas State has hit better than
.230 in 13 of the last 16 matches.
·
K-State hit .556 (17k-2e-27ta) in
the second set Saturday at Oklahoma, the fourth-highest single-set output of
the season.
·
The Cats have hit .500 or better in
a single set nine times this season, something they only did once in 2015.
·
K-State is 11-1 this season when
hitting above .250 and 6-0 when hitting at least .300.
·
The 12 matches of .250 or higher
attacking percentage equals the total number of times all of last season.
·
A Wildcat has hit at least .400
(min. 10 attempts) 19 times this season, led by Bryna Vogel with six matches.
TOP OF
THE BIG 12
·
K-State ranks in the top three of
the Big 12 in 11 major team statistical categories, including being the top
team in kills/set (14.38) and assists/set (13.78).
·
K-State has never finished as the
conference’s leader in team kills/set or assists/set.
·
Senior middle blocker Katie
Reininger ranks fourth in the Big 12 in conference matches, hitting .358
through seven league matches.
·
Senior Katie Brand averages 11.92
assists/set to lead the conference in Big 12 matches.
·
Kersten Kober (3.83, 4th) and Bryna
Vogel (3.54, 5th) and rank in the top 10 in digs/set in conference matches.
BRAND
RECOGNITION
·
Redshirt senior setter Katie Brand
is the Big 12 leader with 11 double-doubles this season.
·
Brand has recorded an assist-dig
double-double in seven of the last nine matches.
·
Her career double-double total
currently sits at 62, which is seven shy of equaling K-State’s all-time mark of
69 held by Kim Zschau (1995-98).
·
Brand ranks second in the NCAA and
leads the Big 12 in assists per set with 11.85.
·
She became the eighth Wildcat to
join the Double-Grand Club as she now has 4,395 career assists and 1,101 career
digs.
·
Brand is the Big 12’s active career
leader in assists, leading the next highest by nearly a thousand, and is No. 4
on the NCAA’s active career assists list.
ASSASSIN
·
Senior outside hitter Brooke Sassin
eclipsed 900 career kills after posting 17 at OU on Saturday, bringing her
career total to 916.
·
Sassin moved into seventh on
K-State’s career kill list in the rally-scoring era (since 2001).
·
She leads the team with 13 matches
in double-figure kills, having done so in four of the last five matches.
EN
VOGEL
·
Junior opposite Bryna Vogel is just
four kills from reaching 500 in her career.
·
Vogel leads the team with a .318
attacking percentage and six matches hitting at least .400
FLOWER
POWER
· Sophomore middle blocker Macy Flowers has led or tied for the team lead in blocks 12 times this season, including four of the last five matches.
· She already has more blocks this season (66) than all of last year (64).
