Wildcats to Recognize Seniors vs. Texas Tech Saturday

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State volleyball prepares for its final home match of the regular season Saturday, as it will honor a six-member senior class following an 8 p.m. match against Texas Tech at Ahearn Field House.

In a post-match ceremony, the Wildcats will recognize their entire six-member senior class of Devan Fairfield, Macy Flowers, Zsofia Gyimes, Reilly Killeen, Alyssa Schultejans and Kylee Zumach.

K-State (14-11, 4-10 Big 12) enters Senior Night following a five-set win at Kansas Wednesday night in which it erased a two-set deficit to sweep the Sunflower Showdown for the first time since 2011. The Wildcats seek to split their two meetings with Texas Tech (16-11, 5-8 Big 12) after a five-set loss in Lubbock earlier this season. TTU has dropped eight of its last nine matches overall entering Saturday,

The matchup with the Red Raiders marks another Wildcat Weekend, as fans can purchase a $3 general admission ticket with a football ticket vs. Texas Tech.

Saturday's match will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and the ESPN app. Rob Voelker will be on the call on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with free, live audio available at K-StateSports.com/watch.

MATCH #26
K-STATE (14-11, 4-10 Big 12) vs. TEXAS TECH (16-11, 5-8 Big 12)
Saturday, November 17, 2018 // 8 p.m. // Ahearn Field House (5,000) // Manhattan, Kan.
Watch Online: ESPN3 // ESPN app // Mitch Fortner (pxp) and Liz Wegner-Busch (analyst)
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch | Live Stats
Promotion: Wildcat Weekend | Buy Tickets

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State (14-11, 4-10 Big 12) rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat Kansas in Lawrence Wednesday night, 22-25, 23-25, 25-12, 25-20, 15-9.
The Wildcats swept the Sunflower Showdown for the first time since 2011 and won their first road match in the series since 2014.
The victory marked the first time the Cats won a match when trailing 0-2 since 2014 and the first time against the Jayhawks since 2003.
After being held under a .200 hitting percentage in its previous two matches, K-State hit .298 in picking up its first five-set win of the season.
Freshman Brooke Heyne produced a career-high 17 kills to lead four Wildcats in double-digit kills.
Redshirt senior Kylee Zumach turned in 15 kills, coming off the bench late in the second set, including five kill in the fifth set. Zumach hit a team-best .394 on the night.
Junior Elle Sandbothe added 13 kills - a career high - and a team-high seven block assists.
Freshman Gloria Mutiri rounded out the quartet with 11 kills.
Setter Sarah Dixon handed out a career-best 59 assists in leading the Cats to a .298 hitting efficiency. Dixon added 10 digs for her ninth double-double.
Libero Devan Fairfield had 22 digs to pace the Wildcat defense, her fourth match with at least 20 digs this season.
Tuesday, 11 Wildcats were named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team - the most in the conference and most first-team selections in program history,

SCOUTING TEXAS TECH

Texas Tech (16-8, 5-8 Big 12) enters Saturday's match one spot ahead of K-State in the Big 12 standings.
TTU has dropped eight of its last nine matches overall, including its last three outings.
The Red Raiders are 4-7 in true road tests, including a 1-5 mark in conference play.
Emily Hill paces Tech with her 3.17 kills per set, good for 10th-best in the Big 12.
Katy Keenan leads her team with a .313 hitting percentage which ranks ninth in the league.
As a team, TTU ranks third in opponent hitting percentage (.190) and aces per set (1.16).

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State leads the all-time series with Texas Tech, 37-12, dating back to 1982.
After a five-set win earlier this season, TTU has taken the last two matchups in the series - its first time winning consecutive matches in the series since 1999-2000.
The Red Raiders have never won three straight against the Wildcats.
The last three matches have gone the full five sets, with Tech winning two of those.
The Cats have never been swept by TTU (18-0) in the series history.
K-State is 21-1 at home against the Red Raiders and have won the last 13 in Manhattan, with the only loss coming in 2004 (3-2).
The Cats have won seven of the last 10 matchups overall.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is 29-6 in her career vs. TTU.

BY THE NUMBERS

K-State is 14-0 this season when hitting at a higher efficiency than its opponent and are 11-0 when producing more kills.
When holding its opponent to a .200 hitting percentage or lower, K-State is 10-0.
Conversely, the Wildcats are 0-11 when trailing in attack percentage and 1-6 when being held under .200 as a team.
The Cats have picked up five or more service aces 13 times this season and are 9-4 in those matches.
The Wildcat defense has reached double-digit blocks seven times this year, going 5-2 in such matches.
Redshirt senior Kylee Zumach leads K-State with 15 matches with 10 or more kills, as the Cats are 11-4 when she reaches double figures and 5-2 with at least 15 kills.

MILESTONE WATCH

Setter Sarah Dixon leads the Big 12 with her 11.18 assists per set.
The last K-State setter to lead the conference in assists per set was Disney Bronnenberg in 1998 (15.54).
As a team, the Wildcats are second with 1.30 assists per set, last finishing as the Big 12 leader in 2007 (1.89).
Zumach is now in sole possession of second place in K-State history at 1,350 career kills in the rally-scoring era.
At 292 kills this year, Zumach sits eight kills shy of her third 300-kill season.
Zsofia Gyimes is three blocks away from 100 career stuffs and three aces shy of 50 career aces.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sarah Dixon

Devan Fairfield

Macy Flowers

Zsofia Gyimes

Brooke Heyne

Reilly Killeen

Gloria Mutiri

Elle Sandbothe

Alyssa Schultejans

Kylee Zumach

Kansas State University Athletics