Wildcats, Bears Tussle at Ahearn Saturday

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The K-State volleyball team is set for the annual Pack the Field House night, as 25^th-ranked Baylor visits Ahearn Field House Saturday night.

The match, which is part of the Ultimate Wildcat Weekend, is slated for a 7 p.m. start time with tickets and select concessions available for just $1.

K-State (9-10, 2-4 Big 12) faces its second straight ranked opponent in Baylor (15-4, 5-1 Big 12) after a loss at No. 23 Iowa State Wednesday night in which the Wildcats posted their second-highest dig total in a three-set match in the rally-scoring era.

Saturday's match with the Bears will stream live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. Fans can also listen to Rob Voelker will call the action on KMAN 1350 AM, 93.3 FM and at k-statesports.com.

AT A GLANCE

K-State (9-10, 2-4 Big 12) fell in straight sets at No. 23 Iowa State Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum.
The loss was the Wildcats' 10th straight loss to the Cyclones in Ames, last winning in 2007.
K-State picked up the most digs in a three-set match (74) since Oct. 23, 2002 against Missouri.
The mark was one shy of the program record during the rally-scoring era (since 2001).
ISU limited the Cats to season-lows in team kills (23) and hitting percentage (.015).
K-State's 23 kills were its lowest output since posting 21 at No. 5 Hawaii on Aug. 28, 2010.
The .015 attacking percentage was the program's worst since hitting -.019 at No. 2 Texas on Nov. 18, 2009.
Setters Sarah Dixon and Brooke Smith each turned in a career-best performance in digs, collecting 17 and 16, respectively.
Smith added 11 assists for her third double-double of the season.
Freshman Brynn Carlson led the K-State offense in kills for the second time this season, recording six.
Junior middle blocker Macy Flowers recorded all five of her kills off the bench in the third set.

SCOUTING THE BEARS

No. 25 Baylor (15-4, 5-1 Big 12) sits in third place in the Big 12 standings and will be the second straight ranked opponent the Cats will face.
The Bears have won 10 of their last 11 matches overall, including their last three Big 12 matches.
Baylor is led by two-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week Katie Staiger, who leads the conference with 4.38 kills/set, ranking 23rd nationally.
Freshman setter Hannah Lockin, who has twice been named Freshman of the Week by the league, spearheads a Bears offense that ranks first in the Big 12, and 10th nationally, in assists per set (13.64).
Baylor ranks in the league's top three in 12 different categories and are holding opponents to a league-low .145 hitting percentage - the seventh-best rate in the country.
Defensively, Shelly Fanning and Camryn Frieberg rank in the conference's top 10 in blocks per set.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State leads the all-time series, 28-15, dating back to 1993.
The Wildcats and Bears have split the season series in each of the past four seasons.
K-State is 17-5 all-time against Baylor in Manhattan, including winning five of the last six.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is 21-11 in her career vs. the Bears and is 13-3 at home.
K-State last lost at home to Baylor in 2014 (3-2).
K-State last faced a ranked Baylor team in 2009, when the then-No. 23 Bears won in four sets in Manhattan.
The Cats are 6-4 in the last 10 overall in the series

VS RANKED OPPONENTS

Saturday's match vs. No. 25 Iowa State will be the sixth match against a team ranked in the AVCA Top 25 (0-5).
It is the second time this season the Cats have faced back-to-back ranked opponents (vs. No. 12 KU, at No. 5 Texas).
Dating back to last season, the Cats have lost their last 10 matches to ranked opponents.
K-State is 1-17 in its last 18 matches against ranked teams, going back to 2014.
The last win against a top-25 team was a four-set win at No. 6 Hawaii on Aug. 27, 2016.

NICE DIGS

K-State's 74 digs Wednesday night was one shy of matching the program's all-time record in a three-set match - and most since the 2002 season against Missouri.
With their performance, the Cats moved from 9th to 3rd in Big 12 matches this season in digs per set (15.12 from 13.24).
Wednesday's match saw four Wildcats in double-figure digs - a first this season - including career-high outputs from setters Sarah Dixon (17) and Brooke Smith (16).
Zumach has already reached a single-season high in digs, as she has eclipsed 100 digs for the first time in her career.

HEATING UP

Bryna Vogel, the squad's lone senior, posted a season-high 16 kills in back-to-back matches (at TCU, vs. TTU).
The Clearwater product has also posted season-highs in blocks in two straight matches, with 7.0 against TCU before 9.0 vs. Texas Tech Saturday.
The right-side hitter has hit .250 or better in four of her last five outings, and has 10 matches this season at .300 or higher - and 40 for her career.
She is ranks second on the team in hitting percentage (.283), kills (189), kills/set (2.55), digs (201), digs/set (2.72), points (227.5), points/set (3.07) and total blocks (48.0).
Vogel sits at 798 career kills, 861 career digs and 193 career blocks.

ACES IN SPADES

In conference-only matches, K-State is best in the Big 12 with 26 service aces and rank second with 1.04 aces/set.
The Wildcats recorded seven against TCU last Wednesday, a team Big-12 high in a four-set match this season.
In overall and conference matches, Brooke Smith and Kylee Zumach rank in the league's top 10.
Zumach has 18 service aces this season, already a single-season high in her career (had 20 career aces entering 2017).

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Players Mentioned

Brynn Carlson

Sarah Dixon

Macy Flowers

Brooke Smith

Bryna Vogel

Kylee Zumach

Kansas State University Athletics