Kansas State University Athletics
Saturday, September 16
Omaha, Neb.
5:30 p.m.
Kansas State University
7-6
3
vs
2
UNI
10-4
1
2
3
4
5
F
K-State
25
24
29
23
15
3
UNI
22
26
27
25
6
2
Wildcats Gut Out Five-Set Win Over Northern Iowa
Sep 16, 2017 | Volleyball
OMAHA, Neb. – In a match that featured 45 tied scores and 18 lead changes, K-State was able to outlast Northern Iowa Saturday in five sets (25-22, 24-26, 29-27, 23-25, 15-6) to complete the Omaha Challenge at Baxter Arena.
K-State (7-6) and Northern Iowa (10-4) and Nebraska all finished the Omaha Challenge with 2-1 records, after UNI upset the No. 10 Cornhuskers in four sets earlier in the day. The Huskers won the four-team tournament due to the tiebreaker.
Senior Bryna Vogel was selected to the all-tournament team, finishing Saturday's match with 15 kills at a .333 clip. The Clearwater, Kansas, product equaled her career-high with 23 digs and posted a season-high six blocks and earned all-tournament honors for the third straight weekend.
After exchanging blows through the first four sets – each side erasing at least a three-point deficit late in each set win – K-State never trailed in the final set and ended the match on a 7-1 run. Freshman Brynn Carlson, along with Zumach, each had three kills on five swings without an error in the final set, helping the Cats to a match-best .320 hitting percentage (10k-2e-25ta).
"Gritty," said head coach Suzie Fritz after the match. "Coach (Trent) Sorensen said late in the match that this one is going to come down to who wants it more. Northern Iowa was in a situation where it had to play multiple games today and had to go back-to-back. But we are in a situation where we were in our seventh match in 10 days, so everybody's grinding at this point.
"We stayed in it. We were good when it mattered," Fritz added. "We played really good volleyball in the fifth – played really clean, stayed low error and didn't hurt ourselves very much. I felt like we stayed the aggressor. Again, 90-plus digs and 15 blocks is about as good as it gets for five sets. It's an area where we've really been grinding and trying to be a better defensive volleyball team."
Redshirt junior Kylee Zumach (17) led five players in double-figures for K-State while junior libero Reilly Killeen was one of five Wildcats with 10 or more digs, finishing with a match-best 27. K-State ends the non-conference portion of its schedule by going 5-2 over its last seven matches – all played in a 10-day span, including four matches over the last five days.
The Cats recorded a season-best 15 team blocks and 97 digs, helping limit a Panther offense to a .176 hitting percentage, including a .000 mark in the decisive final game. Sophomore middle blocker Elle Sandbothe and Vogel paced their squad with six blocks apiece.
"I was very excited about our defensive intensity," Fritz added. "I thought we upgraded significantly. I was very proud of Vogel and (Devan) Fairfield and Reilly Killeen in the back row, and I thought they really made some tremendous defensive plays. And I could include Sarah Dixon and Brooke Smith in that mix, as well. But that was, by far, our best defensive effort of the season."
Dixon and Smith, both setters, each recorded assist-dig double-doubles. Vogel turned in her fourth double-double effort of the season with 15 kills while matching her career-high with 23 digs. Dixon dished out 34 assists while Smith recorded 24. Fairfield added nine digs.
Vogel's fifth kill of the opening set capped a 7-1 K-State run to end the set after Northern Iowa led 21-18 late. The set held 11 tied scores and five lead changes before the Wildcats snatched the lead for good late. Behind three team blocks, K-State limited UNI to a .135 team efficiency while hitting .205. Each side had 13 kills in the set.
Set 2 resembled the first, but this time it was Northern Iowa that trailed late and finished by scoring the final five points after K-State had three set points. The Cats led 24-21 after a 7-1 stretch that included three kills from Zumach. Middle blocker Peyton Williams also added three kills in the frame while Sandbothe picked up three blocks.
The Cats fought off five set points as they trailed 24-20 in a crucial third set. Zumach recorded three kills and Sandbothe picked up her first career service ace to quickly wipe out UNI's four-point lead and force the set to deuce points. Another Zumach kill fended off set point and Vogel closed out the frame with her ninth kill. The Wildcat defense had five blocks in Game 3 as they had a dozen through the match's first three sets.
Late in the fourth, the Wildcats owned a three-point edge at 21-18 but Northern Iowa would go on to score seven of the next nine points to force a decisive fifth set. The Panthers recorded 20 kills and hit .264 – highest of any single set for either side. Middle blocker Macy Flowers came off the bench to tally four kills on six swings for K-State.
Williams, a redshirt freshman, ended the night with 10 kills and equaled Vogel's team-best .333 attacking efficiency.
Five different Wildcats recorded a service ace after being held to two aces in the tournament's first two matches combined. UNI had one ace against four service errors.
K-State begins its Big 12 slate on Wednesday, September 20 as it travels to Norman, Oklahoma, to face the Oklahoma Sooners (3-9). The match will stream live at SoonerSports.tv while fans in the Manhattan area can also listen to Rob Voelker call the action live on KMAN 1350 AM, 93.3 FM and on K-StateSports.com.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
K-State (7-6) and Northern Iowa (10-4) and Nebraska all finished the Omaha Challenge with 2-1 records, after UNI upset the No. 10 Cornhuskers in four sets earlier in the day. The Huskers won the four-team tournament due to the tiebreaker.
Senior Bryna Vogel was selected to the all-tournament team, finishing Saturday's match with 15 kills at a .333 clip. The Clearwater, Kansas, product equaled her career-high with 23 digs and posted a season-high six blocks and earned all-tournament honors for the third straight weekend.
After exchanging blows through the first four sets – each side erasing at least a three-point deficit late in each set win – K-State never trailed in the final set and ended the match on a 7-1 run. Freshman Brynn Carlson, along with Zumach, each had three kills on five swings without an error in the final set, helping the Cats to a match-best .320 hitting percentage (10k-2e-25ta).
"Gritty," said head coach Suzie Fritz after the match. "Coach (Trent) Sorensen said late in the match that this one is going to come down to who wants it more. Northern Iowa was in a situation where it had to play multiple games today and had to go back-to-back. But we are in a situation where we were in our seventh match in 10 days, so everybody's grinding at this point.
"We stayed in it. We were good when it mattered," Fritz added. "We played really good volleyball in the fifth – played really clean, stayed low error and didn't hurt ourselves very much. I felt like we stayed the aggressor. Again, 90-plus digs and 15 blocks is about as good as it gets for five sets. It's an area where we've really been grinding and trying to be a better defensive volleyball team."
Redshirt junior Kylee Zumach (17) led five players in double-figures for K-State while junior libero Reilly Killeen was one of five Wildcats with 10 or more digs, finishing with a match-best 27. K-State ends the non-conference portion of its schedule by going 5-2 over its last seven matches – all played in a 10-day span, including four matches over the last five days.
The Cats recorded a season-best 15 team blocks and 97 digs, helping limit a Panther offense to a .176 hitting percentage, including a .000 mark in the decisive final game. Sophomore middle blocker Elle Sandbothe and Vogel paced their squad with six blocks apiece.
"I was very excited about our defensive intensity," Fritz added. "I thought we upgraded significantly. I was very proud of Vogel and (Devan) Fairfield and Reilly Killeen in the back row, and I thought they really made some tremendous defensive plays. And I could include Sarah Dixon and Brooke Smith in that mix, as well. But that was, by far, our best defensive effort of the season."
Dixon and Smith, both setters, each recorded assist-dig double-doubles. Vogel turned in her fourth double-double effort of the season with 15 kills while matching her career-high with 23 digs. Dixon dished out 34 assists while Smith recorded 24. Fairfield added nine digs.
Vogel's fifth kill of the opening set capped a 7-1 K-State run to end the set after Northern Iowa led 21-18 late. The set held 11 tied scores and five lead changes before the Wildcats snatched the lead for good late. Behind three team blocks, K-State limited UNI to a .135 team efficiency while hitting .205. Each side had 13 kills in the set.
Set 2 resembled the first, but this time it was Northern Iowa that trailed late and finished by scoring the final five points after K-State had three set points. The Cats led 24-21 after a 7-1 stretch that included three kills from Zumach. Middle blocker Peyton Williams also added three kills in the frame while Sandbothe picked up three blocks.
The Cats fought off five set points as they trailed 24-20 in a crucial third set. Zumach recorded three kills and Sandbothe picked up her first career service ace to quickly wipe out UNI's four-point lead and force the set to deuce points. Another Zumach kill fended off set point and Vogel closed out the frame with her ninth kill. The Wildcat defense had five blocks in Game 3 as they had a dozen through the match's first three sets.
Late in the fourth, the Wildcats owned a three-point edge at 21-18 but Northern Iowa would go on to score seven of the next nine points to force a decisive fifth set. The Panthers recorded 20 kills and hit .264 – highest of any single set for either side. Middle blocker Macy Flowers came off the bench to tally four kills on six swings for K-State.
Williams, a redshirt freshman, ended the night with 10 kills and equaled Vogel's team-best .333 attacking efficiency.
Five different Wildcats recorded a service ace after being held to two aces in the tournament's first two matches combined. UNI had one ace against four service errors.
K-State begins its Big 12 slate on Wednesday, September 20 as it travels to Norman, Oklahoma, to face the Oklahoma Sooners (3-9). The match will stream live at SoonerSports.tv while fans in the Manhattan area can also listen to Rob Voelker call the action live on KMAN 1350 AM, 93.3 FM and on K-StateSports.com.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State posted a .276 attacking percentage while limiting UNI to a .176 efficiency.
- As a team, the Wildcats posted a season-high 15 blocks and 97 digs.
- Killen's 27 digs are the most by a Wildcat since Kersten Kober's 32 digs against Kansas on November 9, 2015. It was Killeen's second 20-dig match in the last three days.
- Sandbothe and Vogel each recorded a season-high six blocks while Vogel also matched her career-best output with 23 digs.
- It is the seventh 20-dig match of Vogel's career.
- Dixon, Smith and Vogel and posted double-doubles.
- K-State now leads the all-time series with Northern Iowa, 7-4-1.
- K-State ends a stretch of seven matches in 10 days and four in its last five (5-2).
- It was the Wildcats' first five-set win of the season (1-2).
- Vogel earned all-tournament honors for the third straight weekend and sixth such honor of her career.
Team Stats
KSU
UNI
Kills
69
73
Errors
25
35
Attempts
203
216
Hitting %
.217
.176
Points
89.0
81.0
Assists
64
68
Aces
5
1
Blocks
15.0
7.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
17
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
15
Aces
1
Blocks
6
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
OH
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