Kansas State University Athletics
Thursday, September 14
Omaha, Neb.
7 p.m.
Kansas State University
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Omaha
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K-State
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K-State Digs Out Four-Set Win at Omaha
Sep 14, 2017 | Volleyball
OMAHA, Neb. – K-State recorded a season-high 83 digs – led by five players who reached double-figures – as the Wildcats began the Omaha Challenge with a four-set victory (25-22, 25-18, 18-25, 25-18) over Omaha Thursday night at Baxter Arena.
Junior libero Reilly Killeen registered 21 of those digs, a career high, and setters Sarah Dixon, Brooke Smith and opposite Bryna Vogel all turned in double-doubles for K-State (6-5). The defensive effort helped hold Omaha (3-8) to a .136 team hitting percentage in collecting the Cats' fourth win in their last five matches and first true road victory of the season.
Offensively, K-State was led by Vogel who had a dozen kills at a .357 clip. Outside hitter Kylee Zumach also had 12 kills and middle blocker Peyton Williams registered a career-best 11 with a.556 efficiency. As a whole, the Wildcats hit just .196 (54k-21e-168ta) – their lowest output in a winning effort this season.
"That was certainly not our best performance," said head coach Suzie Fritz after the match. "We are kind of a work in progress right now. We are trying to become a better defensive team. We feel like we can generate some kill production, and we have up to this point. But as the rally gets long, we're not a better volleyball team. We've prioritized a lot of defensive things and tried to become a more tenacious defensive team and put ourselves in a little better position."
K-State tallied 56 digs in claiming the match's first two sets – with Killeen racking up 15 in that span. The Cats ended the night with 83 digs in the four-set match, the season's previous high was 61 in a five-set match at Georgia Tech last Friday. Killeen's career-best output was the first 20-dig match by a Wildcat since November of 2016. Vogel finished with 16 digs while redshirt junior Devan Fairfield added a season-high 10.
Smith, a junior transfer, had a career-best 12 digs to go with 22 assists for her first double-double as a Wildcat. Dixon picked up her fourth double-double of the year while it was Vogel's third and 25th career effort.
"Progress, it's progress," Fritz said when asked about the team's 80-dig performance. "Defense is a connected effort. Your ability to serve, connect a touch at the night, connect that to the dig and then the transition swings. We have parts of that, at any given moment, that are not connected, they're breaking down within that sequence. We got a lot of people out there in roles they haven't had before and we are trying to figure it out."
K-State led throughout the first set until a 3-0 run from the Mavs gave them a 22-21 lead. The Cats responded by scoring the next four points, capped by Zumach's sixth kill, to take Game 1. The entire set was played within a five-point window and had four tied scores. Alyssa Schultejans added four kills and Killeen contributed eight digs1. As a team, K-State hit .117 (15k-8e-60ta) as the Mavericks tallied four team blocks along with 34 digs.
In Set 2, K-State used two different 4-1 spurts following by a five-of-six stretch to open a 17-10 advantage and cruise to a 25-18 set victory. The Cats held Omaha to a .087 attacking percentage (11k-7e-46ta) courtesy of 26 more team digs in the set and a pair of blocks. Junior middle blocker Zsofia Gyimes came off the bench to record three kills on seven swings without and error.
Omaha battled back in the third set. After seven tied scores and the scoreboard sitting at 12-12, Omaha went on to score 13-3 stretch that widened the gap to 23-15. The Mavs hit .267, their highest of any single set, while the Cats posted a .121 efficiency. Williams and Vogel each recorded four kills in the frame.
An early 7-2 by the Cats in the fourth set created a five-point lead, a cushion K-State rode to a 25-18 set win. The Mavericks crawled within a point at 16-15, but a string of four straight by the Cats kept UNO at bay. Vogel and Williams totaled eight kills in the set without committing an error on 11 combined swings. K-State hit a match-best .375 in the final game.
K-State continues the Omaha Challenge with a matchup with 10th-ranked Nebraska Friday at 4:30 p.m. The meeting between former conference foes can be heard live on K-StateSports.com.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Junior libero Reilly Killeen registered 21 of those digs, a career high, and setters Sarah Dixon, Brooke Smith and opposite Bryna Vogel all turned in double-doubles for K-State (6-5). The defensive effort helped hold Omaha (3-8) to a .136 team hitting percentage in collecting the Cats' fourth win in their last five matches and first true road victory of the season.
Offensively, K-State was led by Vogel who had a dozen kills at a .357 clip. Outside hitter Kylee Zumach also had 12 kills and middle blocker Peyton Williams registered a career-best 11 with a.556 efficiency. As a whole, the Wildcats hit just .196 (54k-21e-168ta) – their lowest output in a winning effort this season.
"That was certainly not our best performance," said head coach Suzie Fritz after the match. "We are kind of a work in progress right now. We are trying to become a better defensive team. We feel like we can generate some kill production, and we have up to this point. But as the rally gets long, we're not a better volleyball team. We've prioritized a lot of defensive things and tried to become a more tenacious defensive team and put ourselves in a little better position."
K-State tallied 56 digs in claiming the match's first two sets – with Killeen racking up 15 in that span. The Cats ended the night with 83 digs in the four-set match, the season's previous high was 61 in a five-set match at Georgia Tech last Friday. Killeen's career-best output was the first 20-dig match by a Wildcat since November of 2016. Vogel finished with 16 digs while redshirt junior Devan Fairfield added a season-high 10.
Smith, a junior transfer, had a career-best 12 digs to go with 22 assists for her first double-double as a Wildcat. Dixon picked up her fourth double-double of the year while it was Vogel's third and 25th career effort.
"Progress, it's progress," Fritz said when asked about the team's 80-dig performance. "Defense is a connected effort. Your ability to serve, connect a touch at the night, connect that to the dig and then the transition swings. We have parts of that, at any given moment, that are not connected, they're breaking down within that sequence. We got a lot of people out there in roles they haven't had before and we are trying to figure it out."
K-State led throughout the first set until a 3-0 run from the Mavs gave them a 22-21 lead. The Cats responded by scoring the next four points, capped by Zumach's sixth kill, to take Game 1. The entire set was played within a five-point window and had four tied scores. Alyssa Schultejans added four kills and Killeen contributed eight digs1. As a team, K-State hit .117 (15k-8e-60ta) as the Mavericks tallied four team blocks along with 34 digs.
In Set 2, K-State used two different 4-1 spurts following by a five-of-six stretch to open a 17-10 advantage and cruise to a 25-18 set victory. The Cats held Omaha to a .087 attacking percentage (11k-7e-46ta) courtesy of 26 more team digs in the set and a pair of blocks. Junior middle blocker Zsofia Gyimes came off the bench to record three kills on seven swings without and error.
Omaha battled back in the third set. After seven tied scores and the scoreboard sitting at 12-12, Omaha went on to score 13-3 stretch that widened the gap to 23-15. The Mavs hit .267, their highest of any single set, while the Cats posted a .121 efficiency. Williams and Vogel each recorded four kills in the frame.
An early 7-2 by the Cats in the fourth set created a five-point lead, a cushion K-State rode to a 25-18 set win. The Mavericks crawled within a point at 16-15, but a string of four straight by the Cats kept UNO at bay. Vogel and Williams totaled eight kills in the set without committing an error on 11 combined swings. K-State hit a match-best .375 in the final game.
K-State continues the Omaha Challenge with a matchup with 10th-ranked Nebraska Friday at 4:30 p.m. The meeting between former conference foes can be heard live on K-StateSports.com.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State posted a .196 attacking percentage while holding Omaha to a.136 hitting efficiency.
- The Wildcats' .196 percentage was the lowest in a winning effort this season.
- Five players – Dixon, Fairfield, Killeen, Smith and Vogel – all recorded 10 or more digs.
- Killeen's career-high 21 digs were the most by a Wildcat since Kersten Kober's 25 on November 9, 2016 at West Virginia.
- The team's 83 digs are a season-high and matched last season's four-set high. The season's previous high was 61 – a five-set match at Georgia Tech last Friday.
- Dixon, Smith and Vogel all recorded double-doubles.
- Williams killed a career-high 11 balls and led the team with four blocks.
- K-State had one service ace and 10 reception errors. The Cats had 30 aces over their last four matches entering Thursday.
- K-State now leads the all-time series with Omaha, 10-6, and is now 2-1 at UNO.
- Head coach Suzie Fritz is now 46-130 when her teams hit below .200.
- K-State is above .500 for the first time since beginning the season 2-1.
- The victory was K-State's first true road win of the season.
Team Stats
KSU
OMAHA
Kills
54
46
Errors
21
24
Attempts
168
162
Hitting %
.196
.136
Points
63.0
59.0
Assists
49
43
Aces
1
4
Blocks
8.0
9.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
S
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
DS/L
/ Volleyball
L
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballOPP
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballOH
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