K-State Heads to Morgantown for Mid-Week Clash with WVU
Nov 08, 2016 | Volleyball
GAME PREVIEW
NOV 9, 5:00 PM CT
WVU Coliseum
Morgantown, W.Va.
NR
K-STATE
WILDCATS
17-8 (6-6 Big 12)
NR
WEST VIRGINIA
MOUNTAINEERS
12-13 (3-8 Big 12)
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MANHATTAN,
Kan. – The Kansas State volleyball team travels to Morgantown, West
Virginia, for its second consecutive conference road match, taking on West
Virginia Wednesday at 5 p.m. CT.
K-State (17-8, 6-6 Big 12) took the first
meeting with the Mountaineers (12-13, 3-8) in five sets at Ahearn Field House
on Oct. 22. The Wildcats are looking to snap a two-match losing streak.
The match between the Wildcats and Mountaineers will be broadcast
online at WVUSports.com. 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 travels to Morgantown,
West Virginia, for its second consecutive conference road match with West
Virginia (12-13, 3-8 Big 12) at 5 p.m. CT.
·
K-State claimed the season’s first
meeting between the teams in five sets at Ahearn Field House on Oct. 22.
·
K-State looks to sweep the season
series with WVU for the second straight year.
·
K-State ranks first in the Big 12
with 13.44 assists/set and second in kills/set 14.02.
·
West Virginia is tops in the Big 12
with 2.55 blocks/set.
·
The match will be broadcast online
at WVUSports.com.
·
Fans can also listen to the match
on local radio at 1350 KMAN and on K-StateSports.com.
LAST
TIME OUT
·
K-State dropped a three-set
decision (20-25, 12-25, 22-25) at TCU Saturday for its second straight loss.
·
The two-match losing streak equals
the Cats’ longest of the season (two other times).
·
TCU hit .311 as a team Saturday.
K-State had held its previous two opponents under .200.
·
TCU had 10.0 team blocks, the most
by a K-State opponent in a three-set match this season.
·
Brooke Sassin paced all Wildcats
with 13 kills on .333 hitting while Kersten Kober dug a team-best 13 balls.
·
For the second consecutive match,
K-State recorded just one service ace. The Wildcats had multiple service aces
in every other match this season.
A LOOK
AT K-STATE
·
Kansas State (17-8, 6-6 Big 12)
enters the match 5-5 over its last 10 matches and have lost two straight
matches.
·
K-State has only had consecutive
losses three times this season and have not lost more than two straight matches
all year.
·
K-State is 13-1 this season when
winning the first set and 9-4 when tied at 1-1.
·
K-State tied a program record with
10 four-set victories this season.
·
In the NCAA’s latest RPI release of
the season, K-State comes in at No. 21 - the third-highest of any Big 12 team
(Texas, Kansas).
·
K-State has registered more kills
than its opponent in 13 of the last 18 matches.
·
Kansas State is second in the Big
12 in team kills/set with 14.02, which ranks 35th nationally.
·
The team’s 13.44 assists/set are
tops in the conference and 17th-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
12-13 overall and 3-8 in the Big 12.
·
WVU is 3-7 over its last 10 matches
and have lost four of its last five.
·
The Mountaineers have a winning
record in three- and five-set matches but are just 1-5 in four-set matches this
season.
·
West Virginia ranks last in the Big
12 this season with a .192 team hitting percentage.
·
WVU leads the conference with 2.55
blocks/set.
·
Freshman outside hitter Payton
Caffrey is second in the league with 4.71 kills/set and has been named Big 12
Rookie of the Week five times.
·
Junior middle blocker Mia Swanegan
is best in the conference with 1.43 blocks/set.
A LOOK
AT THE SERIES
·
Kansas State leads the all-time
series, 7-2, dating back to 2012.
·
K-State has won the last three
meetings in the series.
·
K-State is 3-1 in Morgantown and
have won the last two.
·
The teams last split the season
series in 2014 as the Wildcats seek to sweep WVU for the second straight
season.
·
In the season’s first meeting, both
teams hit below .200 while WVU out-blocked the Cats, 16.0-8.0.
·
A trio of Wildcats - Brooke Sassin
(16), Bryna Vogel (16), Alyssa Schultejans (12) - registered double-figure
kills in the first matchup.
·
The Cats picked up 10 service aces
vs. WVU - a season high.
CLIMBING
THE CHARTS
·
Senior setter Katie Brand (4,616
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 66, which is three shy of equaling K-State’s all-time mark of
69 held by Kim Zschau (1995-98).
·
Senior libero Kersten Kober (1,475
career digs) moved into third place all-time (rally-scoring era) on K-State’s
career list.
·
Senior outside hitter Brooke Sassin
has 984 career kills as a Wildcat. With 16 more, she will become just the sixth
Wildcat to reach 1,000 in the rally scoring era.
ON AND OFF THE COURT
·
It was announced that Katie Brand
is one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award that recognizes
student-athletes for contributions in the community, classroom, character and
competition.
·
Brand would become the first
Wildcat to ever win the award.
·
Brand, along with Kersten Kober,
were both named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team Thursday.
·
It marks the second straight season
the pair have achieved the first-team honor.
D-D-D
DEFENSE
·
The Cats have 11 matches this
season reaching double-digit blocks.
·
In 2015, K-State only had six
matches with double-figure blocks.
·
K-State is 9-2 when recording 10.0
or more team blocks.
·
K-State has recorded double-figure
blocks in back-to-back matches four time this season, something the Cats only
did once in 2015.
·
The Cats have held two of their
last three opponents to under a .200 attacking percentage.
BRAND RECOGNITION
·
Redshirt senior setter Katie Brand
leads the Big 12 lead with 15 double-doubles this season.
·
Brand has recorded an assist-dig
double-double in 11 of the last 14 matches, including five of the last six.
·
In the win over Baylor, Brand
eclipsed 1,000 assists this season - her fourth 1,000-assist season as a
Wildcat.
·
She became the eighth Wildcat to
join the Double-Grand Club as she now has over 4,000 career assists and 1,000
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.
LUCKY
NO. 4
·
Kansas State is 10-2 in four-set
matches this season, equaling the school record for four-set victories in a
season (1987).
·
K-State is 12-4 in the fourth set
overall and 6-2 in the set in conference matches.
·
West Virginia is 1-5 in four-set
matches this season. The Mountaineers have a winning record in both three- and
five-set matches.
·
The Mountaineers have lost their
last five four-set matches.
ASSASSIN
·
Senior outside hitter Brooke
Sassin’s 984 career kills ranks her seventh on K-State’s career kill list in
the rally-scoring era (since 2001).
·
She leads the team with 17 matches
in double-figure kills, having done so in four straight matches and eight of
the last nine overall.
· Sassin has led the team in kills in five of the last six matches and six of the last eight.
· Ten times she has either led or tied for the team lead in kills in a match.
