Bears Ride Defense to Sweep of Cats Saturday

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Baylor defense quieted K-State's offense Saturday night, holding the Wildcats to season lows in both total kills and hitting percentage in a 25-18, 25-17, 25-11 win at Ahearn Field House.

Baylor (17-7, 9-4 Big 12) held a 43-28 edge in kill production while hitting .322 and the Bears' defense collected 10.5 team blocks to limit K-State (13-11, 3-10 Big 12) to a .103 hitting efficiency.

"Baylor's a great volleyball team, credit to them," head coach Suzie Fritz said after the match. "But I thought we played as poor as we have all year.

"From a serve-and-pass perspective, we were very much off. We struggled in serve-receive to, I think, stabilize a little bit. We ended up in a high-ball battle and tried to get our outside hitters to bail us out. We were uncharacteristically passive with our serving, and then we couldn't seem get any phase to click."

BU middle blocker Shelly Fanning paced her squad on both ends of the floor, leading the Bears with 11 kills at a .429 clip to go with eight block assists. Sophomore Yossiana Pressley tallied 10 kills and four block assists.

The Cats collected just 28 kills on the night and were led by redshirt senior Kylee Zumach with seven to go with seven digs. Brooke Heyne and Gloria Mutiri, both freshmen, added five while middle blockers Elle Sandbothe and Peyton Williams each had four kills.

K-State never led in the first and third sets, as the Bears hit .407 in the final frame while the Cats managed a .038 efficiency. The Cats clawed within a point at 17-16 in Set 2, only to see BU close on an 8-1 spurt to take a commanding two-set lead.

Baylor's momentum carried into the third, as the Bears tallied 10 of the first 13 points. Gia Milana registered four kills on five swings without an error in the final game. Zumach had four of her seven kills in Set 3 for K-State.

Five of Baylor's 10.5 team blocks were picked up in the opening set, led by three block assists from Fanning. Fanning, along with Pressley, each added four kills in the frame.

Defensively, Baylor out-dug the Wildcats by 15 and managed a 6-1 advantage in service aces on the night. BU libero Tara Wulf and defensive specialist Braya Hunt each turned in a dozen digs.
Zumach and Sandbothe each picked up two block assists. Setter Sarah Dixon handed out 22 assists with six digs and the Cats' lone ace.

Next up for Kansas State is the season's second Dillons Sunflower Showdown with Kansas on Wednesday. The match with KU will air on ESPN+ and stream live on the ESPN app at 6:30 p.m. CT. Rob Voelker will also be on the call on New Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with free, live audio streaming on K-StateSports.com/watch.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

K-State hit a season-low .103 while Baylor registered a .322 hitting percentage.
Zumach led the Wildcats with seven kills while Heyne and Mutiri each had five.
Baylor had a 43-28 edge in total kill production.
The Cats' 28 kills were a season low.
K-State's hitting percentage and kill output were its lowest since Oct. 11, 2017 at No. 23 Iowa State.
BU had six aces while the Cats had just one.
BU out-dug the Wildcats 45-30.

NOTES

K-State leads the all-time series, 29-18, and the teams split the season series.
The Cats are 17-7 at home in the series while Fritz is 22-14 against the Bears in her career.

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Team Stats

Kylee Zumach

Brooke Heyne

Gloria Mutiri

Elle Sandbothe

Players Mentioned

Sarah Dixon

Brooke Heyne

Gloria Mutiri

Elle Sandbothe

Peyton Williams

Kylee Zumach

Players Mentioned

Sarah Dixon

Brooke Heyne

Gloria Mutiri

Elle Sandbothe

Peyton Williams

Kylee Zumach

Kansas State University Athletics