Kansas State University Athletics
Tuesday, September 4
Ahearn Field House
6 p.m.
Kansas State University
5-1
3
vs
0
Missouri State
3-4
1
2
3
F
Missouri State
18
24
8
0
K-State
25
26
25
3
Cats Serve Up Sweep of Bears in Home Opener
Sep 04, 2018 | Volleyball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Behind a balanced attack, nine service aces and 10 team blocks, Kansas State was able to sweep Missouri State, 25-18, 26-24, 25-8, in its home opener at Ahearn Field House Tuesday night.
K-State (5-1), who tallied nine service aces and double-digit blocks for the second straight match, fended off a set point from Missouri State (3-4) in the second set that would have tied the match at a set apiece. After four lead changes, the Cats closed Set 2 by scoring the final three points, capped by an ace by Kylee Zumach.
The momentum continued into the third set, as the Cats scored the first six points and later had a nine-point run behind the serving of Devan Fairfield to open a 21-3 lead on their way to their third sweep of the season.
"What I really liked was the comeback in Game 2," said head coach Suzie Fritz. "We got a little bit nasty there at the end of Game 2, defensively. That's been an area of persistent work right now, so to be able to see some things come together when it really mattered was meaningful.
"Our serving was terrific there in the third, that's really the reason why we were able to get that margin that we did."
"We started off serving really hard (in the third set)," Zumach said. "Devan went back there and had like a (9)-point run. We were just blasting them out of system so they couldn't attack us like they were earlier in the match."
K-State limited the Bears to a .111 team hitting percentage on the night behind its 10 blocks and forced MSU into more errors than kills in the final set for a -.138 efficiency. Zumach, along with Peyton Williams, led K-State with four block assists while freshman Gloria Mutiri had three.
The Wildcat offense hit .284 and have eclipsed the .250 mark in all six matches this season. Williams had five kills on 10 swings without an error (.500).
Zumach also led the Cats with 10 kills while hitting .318 to go with eight digs and two aces. Senior middle blocker Zsofia Gyimes served up a career-high four aces and senior outside hitter Alyssa Schultejans picked up three, including back-to-back aces to end the first set.
Junior Elle Sandbothe recorded eight kills with a hitting percentage of .333, her fourth straight match over the .300 threshold. Mutiri added six kills and posted a .333 efficiency.
Fairfield, a fifth-year senior libero, posted a team-best 13 digs and redshirt junior setter Sarah Dixon handed out 32 assists to go with eight digs.
K-State held a 40-33 edge in total kills. MSU was led by Amelia Flynn who had a match-best 15 kills and hit .357.
The Wildcats kick off the K-State Invitational on Friday, as they welcome in North Texas, Oregon State and Omaha to Ahearn Field House. K-State will play a doubleheader Friday against UNT (12 p.m. CT) and OSU (7:30 p.m.) before concluding the event Saturday night vs. the Mavericks (6 p.m.)
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
K-State (5-1), who tallied nine service aces and double-digit blocks for the second straight match, fended off a set point from Missouri State (3-4) in the second set that would have tied the match at a set apiece. After four lead changes, the Cats closed Set 2 by scoring the final three points, capped by an ace by Kylee Zumach.
The momentum continued into the third set, as the Cats scored the first six points and later had a nine-point run behind the serving of Devan Fairfield to open a 21-3 lead on their way to their third sweep of the season.
"What I really liked was the comeback in Game 2," said head coach Suzie Fritz. "We got a little bit nasty there at the end of Game 2, defensively. That's been an area of persistent work right now, so to be able to see some things come together when it really mattered was meaningful.
"Our serving was terrific there in the third, that's really the reason why we were able to get that margin that we did."
"We started off serving really hard (in the third set)," Zumach said. "Devan went back there and had like a (9)-point run. We were just blasting them out of system so they couldn't attack us like they were earlier in the match."
K-State limited the Bears to a .111 team hitting percentage on the night behind its 10 blocks and forced MSU into more errors than kills in the final set for a -.138 efficiency. Zumach, along with Peyton Williams, led K-State with four block assists while freshman Gloria Mutiri had three.
The Wildcat offense hit .284 and have eclipsed the .250 mark in all six matches this season. Williams had five kills on 10 swings without an error (.500).
Zumach also led the Cats with 10 kills while hitting .318 to go with eight digs and two aces. Senior middle blocker Zsofia Gyimes served up a career-high four aces and senior outside hitter Alyssa Schultejans picked up three, including back-to-back aces to end the first set.
Junior Elle Sandbothe recorded eight kills with a hitting percentage of .333, her fourth straight match over the .300 threshold. Mutiri added six kills and posted a .333 efficiency.
Fairfield, a fifth-year senior libero, posted a team-best 13 digs and redshirt junior setter Sarah Dixon handed out 32 assists to go with eight digs.
K-State held a 40-33 edge in total kills. MSU was led by Amelia Flynn who had a match-best 15 kills and hit .357.
The Wildcats kick off the K-State Invitational on Friday, as they welcome in North Texas, Oregon State and Omaha to Ahearn Field House. K-State will play a doubleheader Friday against UNT (12 p.m. CT) and OSU (7:30 p.m.) before concluding the event Saturday night vs. the Mavericks (6 p.m.)
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State hit .284 as a team while limiting Missouri State to .111.
- The Wildcats picked up nine service aces against just three service errors, led by Gyimes' four aces.
- Zumach led K-State with 10 kills and tied for the team lead with four block assists (Williams).
- K-State recorded nine aces and double-digit blocks for the second straight match.
- Fairfield had a team-high 13 digs and Dixon led the Cats with 32 assists.
- Sandbothe hit over .300 (.333) for the fourth consecutive match.
- Five Wildcats had at least five kills, as the Cats held a 40-33 edge in total kills.
- K-State has hit over .250 as a team in all six matches this season.
- K-State has won the last eight matches in the series with Missouri State and now trail the all-time series, 14-9.
- Fritz passed Laurie Corbelli (Texas A&M) for fourth on the Big 12's career wins list with 331 victories while in the Big 12.
Team Stats
MSU
KSU
Kills
33
40
Errors
21
13
Attempts
108
95
Hitting %
.111
.284
Points
37.0
59.0
Assists
33
36
Aces
1
9
Blocks
3.0
10.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
10
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
5
Aces
3
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
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OH
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