Kansas State University Athletics
Sunday, September 24
Manhattan, Kan.
12:00 P.M.
Kansas State University
8-7, 1-1Big 12
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Kansas
12-2, 1-0Big 12
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Kansas
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K-State
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Wildcats Fall in Five in Dramatic Sunflower Showdown
Sep 24, 2017 | Volleyball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – In a back-and-forth battle Sunday, K-State held a 2-1 match lead and fought off a pair of match points in the fifth set before falling to No. 12 Kansas at Ahearn Field House, 20-25, 25-21, 25-22, 15-25, 16-14, in front of a crowd of 3,325.
Trailing Kansas (12-2, 1-0 Big 12) by four in the final set, K-State (8-7, 1-1 Big 12) scored seven of the next eight points to claim a 9-7 edge. KU clawed back to take a 14-12 advantage, only to see the Wildcats tie the score at 14 before the Jayhawks tallied the final two points to close the five-set thriller.
"I thought we competed hard," said head coach Suzie Fritz. "I thought we played well at times, but still trying to develop greater consistency in a lot of phases. But I like the way we competed."
K-State bounced back from an opening-set loss – in which KU never trailed – to win Sets 2 and 3. The Cats hit .424 in the second game and posted 20 kills in the third set. Across the two frames, K-State hit .378 and was led by redshirt freshman Peyton Williams, who had nine of her team-best 14 kills in the two sets while hitting .412.
"Usually, there's a lot going well when you're playing clean," said Fritz of K-State's performance in the second and third sets. "I thought we were managing our errors. I thought we were serving effectively. I thought we were good in a lot of phases."
Williams' 14 kills set a career high and paced a quartet of Wildcats in double-figure kills. The Topeka native was also the team leader in attack efficiency at .462 (14k-2e-26ta). Senior Bryna Vogel and junior Alyssa Schultejans each added 13 kills while redshirt junior outside hitter Kylee Zumach turned in 10.
"I think she gets better with every match," Fritz said of Williams. "She's just a very, very fast learner. The more she plays and the more opportunities she has, the more comfortable she gets and the faster she improves. She's becoming a bigger and bigger part of our offense with every match."
The Cats ended the second set on a 6-1 run, helping erase a one-point deficit, to claim a 25-21 set win. K-State used an 11-1 spurt to open a five-point advantage midway through Set 3 for a two-sets-to-one lead.
"We played our hearts out, that's for sure. We really wanted that one," Williams said. "Our energy was amazing. It's not hard with a crowd like that, to be honest. We had the mentality of one point at a time. We set little small goals we tried to get to and that's what helped."
Following K-State's 2-1 match lead, KU answered by hitting .333 or better in the match's final two sets, including a match-high .433 (17k-4e-30ta) in the fourth. A 6-1 Jayhawk run midway through the fourth game turned a one-point lead into a six-point edge and KU's lead swelled from there, ending with a 25-15 set victory.
Defensively, Vogel led the Cats with 15 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Junior libero Reilly Killeen finished with 12. Setters Sarah Dixon and Brooke Smith handed out 32 and 22 assists, respectively.
Sophomore middle blocker Elle Sandbothe had eight kills on 14 swings (2 errors) for a.429 efficiency while adding four blocks.
K-State travels to Austin for its third conference matchup, a meeting with Texas on Saturday, September 30 at Gregory Gymnasium. The match with the Longhorns will air on the Longhorn Network. Fans can also listen to Rob Voelker call the action on KMAN 1350 AM, 93.3 AM and streaming live on k-statesports.com.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Trailing Kansas (12-2, 1-0 Big 12) by four in the final set, K-State (8-7, 1-1 Big 12) scored seven of the next eight points to claim a 9-7 edge. KU clawed back to take a 14-12 advantage, only to see the Wildcats tie the score at 14 before the Jayhawks tallied the final two points to close the five-set thriller.
"I thought we competed hard," said head coach Suzie Fritz. "I thought we played well at times, but still trying to develop greater consistency in a lot of phases. But I like the way we competed."
K-State bounced back from an opening-set loss – in which KU never trailed – to win Sets 2 and 3. The Cats hit .424 in the second game and posted 20 kills in the third set. Across the two frames, K-State hit .378 and was led by redshirt freshman Peyton Williams, who had nine of her team-best 14 kills in the two sets while hitting .412.
"Usually, there's a lot going well when you're playing clean," said Fritz of K-State's performance in the second and third sets. "I thought we were managing our errors. I thought we were serving effectively. I thought we were good in a lot of phases."
Williams' 14 kills set a career high and paced a quartet of Wildcats in double-figure kills. The Topeka native was also the team leader in attack efficiency at .462 (14k-2e-26ta). Senior Bryna Vogel and junior Alyssa Schultejans each added 13 kills while redshirt junior outside hitter Kylee Zumach turned in 10.
"I think she gets better with every match," Fritz said of Williams. "She's just a very, very fast learner. The more she plays and the more opportunities she has, the more comfortable she gets and the faster she improves. She's becoming a bigger and bigger part of our offense with every match."
The Cats ended the second set on a 6-1 run, helping erase a one-point deficit, to claim a 25-21 set win. K-State used an 11-1 spurt to open a five-point advantage midway through Set 3 for a two-sets-to-one lead.
"We played our hearts out, that's for sure. We really wanted that one," Williams said. "Our energy was amazing. It's not hard with a crowd like that, to be honest. We had the mentality of one point at a time. We set little small goals we tried to get to and that's what helped."
Following K-State's 2-1 match lead, KU answered by hitting .333 or better in the match's final two sets, including a match-high .433 (17k-4e-30ta) in the fourth. A 6-1 Jayhawk run midway through the fourth game turned a one-point lead into a six-point edge and KU's lead swelled from there, ending with a 25-15 set victory.
Defensively, Vogel led the Cats with 15 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Junior libero Reilly Killeen finished with 12. Setters Sarah Dixon and Brooke Smith handed out 32 and 22 assists, respectively.
Sophomore middle blocker Elle Sandbothe had eight kills on 14 swings (2 errors) for a.429 efficiency while adding four blocks.
K-State travels to Austin for its third conference matchup, a meeting with Texas on Saturday, September 30 at Gregory Gymnasium. The match with the Longhorns will air on the Longhorn Network. Fans can also listen to Rob Voelker call the action on KMAN 1350 AM, 93.3 AM and streaming live on k-statesports.com.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State posted a .278 attacking percentage and KU hit .342 in the match.
- KU had a 63-55 edge in team digs.
- Four Wildcats reached double-digit kills, led by Williams' career-best 14.
- Zumach registered her 14th double-figure kill match of the season while Schultejans posted her ninth effort.
- Vogel now has 27 career double-doubles.
- Each team had 7.0 team blocks.
- The Jayhawks had five service aces and 10 errors to K-State's four aces and eight service errors.
- K-State leads the all-time series with KU, 63-51-1.
- The Jayhawks have won the last six meetings overall in the series.
- Sunday's match marked the third consecutive five-set match the Wildcats have played, the longest string of such matches since beginning the 2013 season with three straight five-setters.
- The Cats are 0-3 this season against ranked opponents and have dropped their last eight meetings with top-25 teams.
- K-State entered the match 6-0 this season when leading 2-1
- Head coach Suzie Fritz is now 119-16 in her career when leading a match 2-1.
- Sunday's attendance of 3,325 is the 16th-largest crowd in Ahearn Field House history.
Team Stats
KU
KSU
Kills
68
64
Errors
17
22
Attempts
149
151
Hitting %
.342
.278
Points
80.0
75.0
Assists
63
56
Aces
5
4
Blocks
7.0
7.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
13
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
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