K-State Prepped for Senior Night, Texas Tech Saturday
Nov 25, 2016 | Volleyball
GAME PREVIEW
NOV 26, 6:00 PM
Ahearn Field House
Manhattan, KS
NR
TEXAS TECH
RED RAIDERS
10-20 (0-15 Big 12)
NR
K-STATE
WILDCATS
19-9 (8-7 Big 12)
Senior Night
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MANHATTAN,
Kan. – The Kansas State volleyball team hosts Texas Tech Saturday
night in its final regular-season home match of the season. A post-match
ceremony honoring the six-member senior class will immediately follow the match
with the Red Raiders, which is slated for a 6 p.m. first serve.
K-State (19-9, 8-7 Big 12) seeks the 11th
20-win season under head coach Suzie Fritz and also looks to win its fifth
straight match in the series with Texas Tech (10-20, 0-15). The Wildcats swept
the season’s first meeting in Lubbock, Texas, back on Oct. 5.
Part of a Wildcat Weekend, fans can purchase $3
tickets with their KU football ticket. The match will be broadcast worldwide on
K-StateHD.TV with Rob Voelker calling the action. Fans can also listen to the
match on local radio at 1350 KMAN and at k-statesports.com.
AT A
GLANCE
·
Kansas State (19-9, 8-7 Big 12)
returns to Ahearn Field House for its final regular-season home match of the
season vs. Texas Tech (10-20, 0-15 Big 12) at 6 p.m.
·
The match with the Red Raiders is
also Senior Night and there will be a post-match ceremony to honor the
six-member senior class.
·
K-State swept the season’s first
meeting in Lubbock, Texas, back on Oct. 5.
·
The Wildcats are seeking their
sixth straight victory over TTU.
·
Texas Tech ranks last in the Big 12
in team kills/set, assists/set and blocks/set.
·
K-State leads the conference in
assists/set and ranks third in kills/set.
·
The match will be broadcast
nationally on K-StateHD.TV and fans can also listen to the match on local radio
at 1350 KMAN and on K-StateSports.com.
LAST
TIME OUT
·
K-State fell in four sets at No. 7
Texas Saturday, 10-25, 15-25, 25-20, 17-25. The Wildcats’ 27th straight loss to
the Longhorns.
·
It was the 14th four-set match the
Cats have played in this season, a new single-season program record.
·
Texas set a K-State opponent record
for a four-set match with a .449 hitting percentage.
·
K-State had a season-low 28 digs in
the match.
·
Senior Brooke Sassin led K-State
with a dozen kills while senior middle blocker Katie Reininger added 10.
A LOOK
AT K-STATE
·
Kansas State enters the match
having won its last two matches and is 6-4 in its last 10.
·
K-State seeks its first 20-win
season since 2014 and 11th under head coach Suzie Fritz (since 2001).
·
The Wildcats are looking for their
12th home win of the season, which would
be their most since 2012.
·
In the NCAA’s latest RPI release of
the season, K-State comes in at No. 19 - the third-highest of any Big 12 team
behind Texas (2) and Kansas (6).
·
K-State has five players that
average over 2.20 kills/set.
·
The team’s 13.20 assists/set are
tops in the Big 12. K-State has never finished a season as the conference
leader in the category.
·
Overall, K-State ranks in the top
three of the Big 12 in 10 major team statistical categories.
A LOOK
AT TEXAS TECH
·
Texas Tech (10-20, 0-15 Big 12)
enters the match having lost its last 18 matches overall, last winning on Sept.
14 at Rice.
·
The Red Raiders’ 18-match losing
streak comes directly following a 10-match winning streak.
·
TTU is led by redshirt senior
middle blocker Lauren Douglass who leads her team with 3.06 kills/set and a
.340 hitting percentage along with 1.04 blocks/set.
·
Douglass ranks in the conference’s
top 10 in all three categories.
·
Texas Tech allows a league-high
.243 opponent hitting percentage while K-State ranks third in with a .241 team
attacking efficiency.
·
TTU ranks at the bottom of the Big
12 in kills/set, blocks/set and assists/set.
A LOOK
AT THE SERIES
·
K-State leads the all-time series,
35-10, dating back to 1982, and have won the last five in the series.
·
K-State is 19-1 at home in the
series with the only loss coming in 2004.
·
The Wildcats are 16-0 in three-set
matches in the series.
·
In the season’s first meeting,
K-State hit .308 while holding TTU to .168.
·
Junior Bryna Vogel led K-State with
12 kills and a .478 (1 error, 23 attempts) attacking percentage.
·
Setter Katie Brand dished out 40
assists and three Wildcats hit over .300 (min. 10 attempts).
·
Senior libero Kersten Kober
recorded a match-high 18 digs in the match.
SENIOR
CLASS
·
The six-member senior class have
collected over 75 wins over the last four years.
·
The seniors have a home record of
39-11 since 2013 and are 30-9 at Ahearn Field House in that time.
·
They have qualified for the last
two NCAA tournaments and are on the cusp of a third.
·
The class has collected a total of
14 Academic All-Big 12 selections.
HOME
SWEET HOME
·
K-State is 9-2 at Ahearn Field
House this season and 11-3 at home overall.
·
It is the Cats’ first 10-win home
season since 2013 and the 10th such season under coach Fritz.
·
K-State is 61-17 (.782) at home
since the start of the 2011 season and is 57-7 (.891) against unranked
opponents at home in that span.
·
Kansas State owns a 358-169-5
(.678) all-time record at Ahearn Field House.
·
Since 2011, the Cats are 33-14
(.702) in home conference matches.
·
At home this season, the Cats
average 14.32 kills/set and hit .257 as opposed to true road matches where they
average just 13.39 kills/set while hitting .212.
TOURNAMENT
BOUND?
·
Kansas State is seeking a 17th NCAA
Tournament appearance in program history and 12th under coach Fritz.
·
The Cats have qualified for
postseason play each of the last two seasons and four times in the last five
years.
·
Coach Fritz has a career record of
9-11 in the NCAA Tournament and a 6-5 record in the first round.
·
K-State has reached the regional
semifinal (Sweet 16) three times in program history and made its last
appearance in 2011.
EFFICIENCY
IS KEY
·
K-State is 7-0 this season when
hitting at least .300 and 15-3 when hitting .200 or better as a team.
·
The 13 matches of a .250 or higher
attacking percentage is more than the total number of times all of last season
(12).
·
The Cats have hit .500 or better in
a single set 11 times this season, something they only did once in 2015.
ASSASSIN
·
Senior outside hitter Brooke
Sassin’s 1,020 career kills ranks seventh on K-State’s career kill list in the
rally-scoring era (since 2001).
·
Sassin has eclipsed 300 kills for
the third straight season.
·
She leads the team with 20 matches
in double-figure kills, having done so in eight of the last nine and 12 of the
last 14.
·
Sassin has led the team in kills in
seven of the last nine matches.
·
Twelve times she has either led or
tied for the team lead in kills in a match.
·
She has recorded seven
double-doubles this season, five of which have come in the last eight matches.
WHITE
HOT SAND
·
Freshman middle blocker Elle
Sandbothe has started each of the last seven matches, her first starts of the
season.
·
In each of those matches, she has
recorded at least five kills, including back-to-back matches with 10 kills
(career high).
·
Sandbothe has tallied multiple
blocks in six of the last seven matches and a career-high 9.0 blocks at West
Virginia.
·
She has led or tied for the team
lead in blocks in five of the past seven matches.
·
Three times she has posted a .400
hitting percentage or higher.
LUCKY
NO. 4
·
Kansas State is 11-3 in four-set
matches this season.
·
The 11 wins and 14 total four-set
matches are both new all-time program records.
·
The Wildcats are 13-6 in the fourth
set overall this season, the highest percentage of any single set.
BRAND
RECOGNITION
·
Senior setter Katie Brand (4,743
career assists) moved into second place on K-State’s all-time career assists
list in the rally-scoring era (since 2001).
·
Her career double-double total
currently sits at 67, which is two shy of equaling K-State’s all-time mark of
69 held by Kim Zschau (1995-98).
·
She is one of only three players in
K-State history with multiple 1,200-assist seasons in the rally-scoring era.
·
With her 1,225 assists this year,
she is 50 away from breaking her single-season high of 1,274 (2014).
