K-State Looks to Continue Strong Start in St. Louis

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Following its undefeated weekend in Honolulu, K-State will head east down I-70 as it enters the second weekend of the 2018 season at the Marcia E. Hamilton Classic at Chaifetz Arena hosted by Saint Louis beginning Friday.

The Wildcats (2-0) will kick off the weekend against Marquette (2-1) Friday at 3:30 p.m. The Cats will then have a Saturday doubleheader against SLU (0-3) at 12 p.m., before capping the weekend vs. Western Kentucky (2-2) at 5 p.m.

The Cats' match vs. the Billikens will stream live online on ESPN+ and fans can listen to Rob Voelker on the call all weekend at K-StateSports.com/watch. K-State's matches with the Golden Eagles and Saint Louis will be carried on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM).

K-State completed back-to-back sweeps of Hawai'i at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu after a weather-delayed start to the 2018 season. Originally, the Cats were scheduled to also square off with Gonzaga and UCLA, but the threat of Hurricane Lane altered the Bulldogs' and Bruins' travel plans.

Following the Wildcats' weekend in St. Louis, K-State will return home for its home opener at Ahearn Field House against Missouri State on Tuesday, September 4. First serve vs. the Bears is set for 6 p.m., and will be broadcast live and free on K-StateHD.TV, the K-State Sports Roku app and Apple TV. The match will also be televised on FOX College Sports Pacific and be carried on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM).

MATCH #3
K-STATE (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. RV MARQUETTE (2-1, 0-0 BIG EAST)
Friday, August 31, 2018 // 3:30 p.m. CT // Chaifetz Arena (800) // St. Louis, Mo.
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats

MATCH #4
K-STATE (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) at SAINT LOUIS (0-3, 0-0 Atlantic 10)
Saturday, September 1, 2018 // 12 p.m. CT // Chaifetz Arena (800) // St. Louis, Mo.
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats

MATCH #5
K-STATE (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) vs. Western Kentucky (0-0, 0-0 Big West)
Saturday, September 1, 2018 // 5 p.m. CT // Chaifetz Arena (800) // St. Louis, Mo.
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats

AT A GLANCE

K-State began its 45th season of volleyball with back-to-back sweeps over Hawai'i at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.
Due to Hurricane Lane, the Wildcats played an altered tournament slate that was originally scheduled to include No. 11 UCLA and Gonzaga.
K-State swept the Rainbow Wahine for the first time in their series history, as the Cats begin a season with consecutive sweeps for the first time since 2014.
Senior Kylee Zumach led the Wildcat offense with 19 kills and 18 kills, respectively, in the sweeps of UH.
Her efforts garnered her Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors for the first time in her storied career.
Redshirt junior setter Sarah Dixon is second in the Big 12 and ranks eighth in the country with 12.50 assists per set.
K-State is one of just 12 teams in the country who have yet to drop a single set (only Big 12 team).

SCOUTING THE FIELD

The Cats head to St. Louis for the second weekend of the regular season at the Marcia E. Hamilton Classic, hosted by Saint Louis.
K-State will meet a pair of NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago in Marquette and Western Kentucky, making four of the Cats' first five matches against postseason teams.
Marquette was voted the BIG EAST's preseason favorite while WKU was selected as Conference USA's preseason No. 1 team.
The Golden Eagles, who are receiving votes in the latest AVCA poll, went 2-1 at the Baylor Invitational, including straight-set wins over Texas State and LSU before a four-set loss to the Bears.
MU ranks third in the nation as a team with 16.20 kills/set are is No. 4 in assists/set at 15.10.
The Lady Toppers began the season 2-2 with back-to-back wins over Missouri State and Belmont after starting 0-2 after losses to Alabama and Charleston.
Saint Louis, who was picked third in the Atlantic 10, seeks its first win of the year after being swept in all three matches at the Miami (Ohio) Invitational.
WKU finished 2017 in a tie for first in C-USA while Marquette was second in the BIG EAST and SLU third in the A-10.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State took its only meeting with Marquette back in 1981, 2-1, while the Wildcats have won all seven meetings all-time with St. Louis, the last coming in 2013.
K-State is 3-0 all-time at Saint Louis, with the last road meeting coming in 1985.
The Cats and Western Kentucky will meet for the first time on Saturday.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is 12-5 in her career against teams form the BIG EAST, 12-2 vs. the Atlantic 10 and 15-1 when facing members of Conference USA (total of 39-8, .830).

FIERCE START

After finally getting the 2018 underway, K-State won its first two matches for the seventh straight season and won both in straight sets for the first time since 2014.
Of the six sets played over the weekend, the Wildcat offense produced at least 15 kills five time, including a season-high 21 in the third set Saturday at Hawai'i.
The 21 kills were higher than any single-set output in 2017 and were the most since Dec. 3, 2016 against Lipscomb in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

FIRST TIME SINCE 2015

In the season-opening sweep of Hawai'i Saturday, K-State surpassed its 2017 season highs in kills (51) and assists (47) for a three-set match.
Those totals, along with Zumach's 19 kills, were all the most posted by the Cats since their sweep of UNLV on Sept. 5, 2015.
Zumach's 19 kills were the most in a three-set match since Brooke Sassin put up 19 in the win over UNLV.

SEEING 20/20

Redshirt senior Kylee Zumach posted back-to-back 20-point matches in Honolulu, courtesy of her team-leading 18 and 19 kills, respectively, over the weekend.
It marked the first 20-point match for Zumach since the 2016 season and the first time posting consecutive 20-point matches since her freshman all-America campaign in 2014 (Oct. 25 at WVU, Nov. 1 vs. TTU).
Zumach now owns 13 20-point matches in her career.
Her 37 kills move her career total to 1,095, just 15 away from moving into fifth place on K-State's all-time list (rally-scoring).

MILESTONE WATCH

With 328 career victories, head coach Suzie Fritz is just three wins shy of moving into fourth on the Big 12's career wins list.
Fritz is nine away from becoming the league's third-winningest head coach.

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Players Mentioned

Sarah Dixon

Kylee Zumach

Kansas State University Athletics