Wildcats Stumble in Norman Friday Night

NORMAN, Okla. – In its first Big 12 road test of the season, K-State suffered a straight-set defeat at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooners (19-25, 19-25, 21-25) Friday night at McCasland Field House.

K-State (10-3, 0-2 Big 12) snapped its six-match winning streak against the Sooners (9-5, 1-1 Big 12) and suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season.

The Wildcats were held under a .200 team hitting percentage for just the second time this season and produced a season-low 37 kills. Freshman Gloria Mutiri led the Cats with a dozen kills while 10 were added by redshirt senior Kylee Zumach.

Oklahoma hit at a .309 offensive efficiency and Paige Anderson recorded a match-high 16 kills while hitting .556. In addition to Anderson, Alyssa Enneking (13) and Brianna Kadiku (11) reached double-figure kills for the Sooners. OU held a 51-37 edge in total kills and out-blocked the Cats, 9.0-5.0.

Setter Sarah Dixon turned in her fourth double-double of the season, picking up 30 assists to go with 12 digs. Libero Devan Fairfield led the Wildcats with 16 digs, her 10^th match with 10 or more digs this season.

Behind an early run of nine points and a late five-point spurt, Oklahoma took the opening set, 25-19. The Sooners picked up five team blocks in limiting K-State to a .150 hitting efficiency while the OU offense hit over .300. Mutiri led the Cats with five kills on 10 swings without an error.

K-State was within a single point at 20-19 late in the second game, but the Sooners closed the frame with five consecutive points to take a two-set lead. The OU offense hit at a .415 clip while picking up 19 kills against two errors. Mutiri added four more kills in Set 2 to up her team-leading total to nine.

OU's momentum carried into the third set, as it scored the first eight points in a 10-1 spurt to begin Set 3. Mutiri's 12^th kill of the night brought the Cats within three, 23-20, but K-State never led in the final frame as OU claimed the sweep with a 25-21 set victory.

Senior Macy Flowers led K-State with four block assists while Mutiri added three.

OU's Anderson posted a match-high six blocks while libero Keyton Kinley had 23 digs.

K-State completes its two-match road swing in Morgantown, West Virginia, as it takes on the West Virginia Mountaineers Wednesday at 5 p.m., at the WVU Coliseum. The match will stream free on WVUSports.com while fans can listen to Rob Voelker on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with live, free audio streaming on K-StateSports.com/watch.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

K-State hit .189 while Oklahoma posted a .309 hitting percentage.
Mutiri led the Wildcats with 12 kills while Zumach added 10.
Elle Sandbothe was third on the team with five kills.
Dixon had a double-double with 30 assists and 12 digs.
Fairfield had a team-best 16 digs.
Oklahoma out-blocked the Cats, 9.0-5.0.

NOTES

Oklahoma now leads the all-time series, 54-34-1.
The Wildcats six-match winning streak against the Sooners was snapped and have now lost back-to-back matches for the first time this year.
It marked the first sweep by OU in the series since 2012 and the Cats are 0-2 to start conference play for the first time since 2013.
With 336 career wins, head coach Suzie Fritz sits in a tie for third place on the Big 12's all-time wins list with Nebraska's John Cook as members of the conference.

Next Event

Team Stats

Gloria Mutiri

Kylee Zumach

Elle Sandbothe

Alyssa Schultejans

Players Mentioned

Sarah Dixon

Devan Fairfield

Macy Flowers

Gloria Mutiri

Elle Sandbothe

Kylee Zumach

Players Mentioned

Sarah Dixon

Devan Fairfield

Macy Flowers

Gloria Mutiri

Elle Sandbothe

Kylee Zumach

Kansas State University Athletics