Wildcats, Jayhawks Clash Wednesday in Sunflower Showdown

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State will head east on I-70 for the season's second Sunflower Showdown with in-state rival No. 11 Kansas on Wednesday night at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center, with first serve scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

K-State (9-15, 2-9 Big 12) seeks to avenge a five-set loss to KU (20-4, 9-2 Big 12) at Ahearn Field House back on September 24. The Wildcats are coming off a match in which they pushed third-ranked Texas to five sets last Wednesday.

After a season-high 19 kills against the Longhorns, redshirt junior outside hitter Kylee Zumach sits at 995 career kills and is poised to become the 18^th Wildcat to join the 1,000-kill club. Zumach would be just the fifth player in program history to reach 1,000 kills to play her entire career in the rally-scoring era (since 2001).

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

AT A GLANCE

In its last time out, K-State (9-15, 2-9 Big 12) pushed No. 3 Texas to five sets at Ahearn Field House last Wednesday night.
It was K-State's ninth five-set match this season, equaling the program's record for five-setters in a single season (1986, 2011).
Redshirt junior Kylee Zumach paced the Wildcat offense with a season-high 19 kills.
Zumach now sits at 995 career kills, five away from becoming the fifth Wildcat to join the 1,000-kill club in the rally-scoring era (since 2001).
Zumach, setter Sarah Dixon and opposite Bryna Vogel all posted double-doubles in the match.
Vogel had a team-high 19 digs to lead four Cats in double figures.
Three Wildcats - Macy Flowers, Peyton Williams and Zumach - each posted three blocks.
The five-set loss to the Longhorns marked the second straight year the teams have gone the distance at Ahearn Field House.
The match was K-State's first loss when holding a two-set lead since 2015 at Creighton (Sept. 20).
K-State extended its season-long losing streak to six matches.

SCOUTING THE JAYHAWKS

No. 11 Kansas (20-4, 9-2 Big 12) sits in third in the Big 12 standings, having won four of its last five matches overall.
KU hitters Kelsie Payne (3.82) and Madison Rigdon (3.59) both rank in the conference's top four in kills per set.
Three Jayhawks - Zoe Hill, Taylor Alexander and Payne - are all in the league's top 10 in hitting percentage.
Two-time Big 12 Setter of the Year Ainise Havili paces the league with her 11.70 assists per set.
As a team, the Jayhawks ranks second in kills per set, assists per set and digs per set.
KU is 7-2 at home this season, including a 4-1 mark during Big 12 play.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State leads the all-time series, 63-51-1, dating back to 1974.
The Jayhawks have taken the last six matchups in the Sunflower Showdown, including a five-set victory in Manhattan this season (Sept. 24).
K-State's last victory in the series came on Oct. 1, 2014 in Lawrence (five sets).
The Cats are 29-15 all-time in Lawrence.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is 19-14 vs. KU in her career and is 10-6 on the road in the series.
KU has won 10 of 11 meetings, going back to 2012.

VS RANKED OPPONENTS

Wednesday's match vs. No. 11 KU will be K-State's ninth match against a team ranked in the AVCA Top 25 (0-8).
It is the second time this season the Cats will have faced a ranked KU squad, as the Jayhawks have been ranked each of the last six times the teams have faced each other.
The match will be the third time this season that the Wildcats have faced back-to-back ranked opponents.
Dating back to last season, the Cats have lost their last 13 matches to ranked opponents.
K-State is 1-20 in its last 21 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.

MILESTONE WATCH

Zumach (995 kills) is poised to become just the fifth Wildcat ever to play her entire career in the rally-scoring era to reach to join the 1,000-kill club.
Her total is seventh in program history during the rally-scoring era (since 2001).
Vogel is also approaching 1,000 career digs, as she eclipsed 900 career digs earlier this season and sits at 952.
Vogel would be the first hitter to play her entire career in the rally-scoring era to reach 1,000 digs in program history.

PEY DAY

Redshirt freshman Peyton Williams, who is also a member of the K-State women's basketball team, is shining in her first season on the volleyball court for the Cats.
Williams has 10 matches this season hitting .400 or better (min. 10 attempts), the most such matches by a Wildcat in a single season since 2009 when Kelsey Chipman did so 13 times.
Vogel, a senior, is second on the team with four .400+ matches this season.
The middle blocker continues to lead the team in efficiency at .352 - ranking sixth in the Big 12.
Her .352 hitting percentage would be the highest efficiency turned in by a Wildcat since Chipman's .354 in 2008.
The Topeka native has eight matches this season reaching double-digit kills - all in her last 14 matches played.
Williams has collected Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors in both volleyball and basketball - the first player in K-State history to claim both.

BATTLE OF THE BLOCK

After not recording a single team block in the season's first meeting at Texas on Sept. 30, K-State has picked up 87.5 total blocks in the eight matches since - and 47.5 in the last four matches.
In that eight-match span, the Wildcats have twice reached 18 blocks twice and set a season high with 19 Oct. 28 at TTU.
Following the Sept. 30 match with the Longhorns, K-State was averaging just 1.79 blocks per set as a team.
Since then, the Cats are putting up 2.57 blocks per set and have been led by Macy Flowers (1.24 bps) and Peyton Williams (1.15 bps).

Wildcats, Jayhawks Clash Wednesday in Sunflower Showdown

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sarah Dixon

Macy Flowers

Bryna Vogel

Peyton Williams

Kylee Zumach

Kansas State University Athletics

Wildcats, Jayhawks Clash Wednesday in Sunflower Showdown

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sarah Dixon

Macy Flowers

Bryna Vogel

Peyton Williams

Kylee Zumach

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