K-State Invitational to Get Underway Friday

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State volleyball is set to host its annual K-State Invitational beginning Friday, as the Wildcats will welcome North Texas, Oregon State and Omaha to Ahearn Field House for the two-day event.

Fresh off a sweep of Missouri State in its 2018 home opener on Tuesday, K-State (5-1) will play a Friday doubleheader against North Texas (3-4) at 12 p.m. CT and Oregon State (4-1) at 7:30 p.m. The Cats will finish the weekend with a 6 p.m. match Saturday night vs. Omaha (3-3).

Fans can purchase a $10 all-sessions ticket that allows them to view every match over the weekend. A $10 yoga mat ticket package is also available for the UNT match with a pre-match yoga class taking place at 8 a.m.at Memorial Stadium. Fans receive a K-State yoga mat and a ticket to the match with the Mean Green.

ESPN3 will carry the Wildcats' matches with the Beavers and Mavericks while K-StateHD.TV will broadcast the Cats vs. North Texas. Fans can also listen to Rob Voelker call the action all weekend long on New Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with free, live audio available at K-StateSports.com/watch.

Following the K-State Invitational, the Cats will finish its non-conference schedule with three consecutive road matches, beginning at UMKC (September 11) before heading to Minneapolis to face Green Bay (September 14) and Minnesota (September 15).

MATCH #7
K-STATE (5-1, 0-0 Big 12) vs. NORTH TEXAS (3-4, 0-0 Conference USA)
Friday, September 7, 2018 // 12 p.m. CT // Ahearn Field House (5,000) // Manhattan, Kan.
Watch: K-StateHD.TV
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats | Tickets

MATCH #8
K-STATE (5-1, 0-0 Big 12) vs. OREGON STATE (4-1, 0-0 Pac-12)
Friday, September 7, 2018 // 7:30 p.m. CT // Ahearn Field House (5,000) // Manhattan, Kan.
Watch: ESPN3 // Brian Smoller (play-by-play), Liz Wegner-Busch (analyst)
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch // Rob Voelker
Live Stats | Tickets

MATCH #9
K-STATE (5-1, 0-0 Big 12) vs. Omaha (3-3, 0-0 Summit League)
Saturday, September 8, 2018 // 6 p.m. CT // Ahearn Field House (5,000) // Manhattan, Kan.
Watch: ESPN3 // Brian Smoller (play-by-play), Liz Wegner-Busch (analyst)
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats | Tickets

AT A GLANCE

K-State (5-1) finds itself at the top of the Big 12 standings after a Tuesday night sweep of Missouri State in its home opener.
The Wildcats have won their last three matches after going 2-1 at the Marcia E. Hamilton Classic hosted by Saint Louis.
Tuesday vs. Missouri State, the Cats used nine service aces and 10 team blocks for its third straight-set victory of the season.
Zsofia Gyimes tallied a career-high four aces while Alyssa Schultejans recorded three aces for the second straight match.
K-State has posted nine aces and double-digit blocks in back-to-back matches.
Five Wildcats had at least five kills in the match vs. the Bears, including a team-best 10 from Kylee Zumach.
The Wildcat defense limited MSU to just eight points in the third set, the fewest single-set point total since K-State limited Tennessee State to six points on Sept. 3, 2016.
The Wildcats rebounded from their first loss of the season vs. Marquette by sweeping a Saturday doubleheader with SLU and Western Kentucky.
Junior middle blocker Elle Sandbothe and Zumach were named to the all-tournament team for their performances.
Sandbothe hit over .300 in all three matches and led the Cats with a .418 hitting percentage (2.45 kills/set) while also averaging 1.18 blocks/set.
Zumach paced the Wildcat offense with 35 kills in 10 sets (3.50 kills/set) while hitting .286 and averaging 3.10 digs/set.
Zumach had a career-high 14 digs in a double-double effort vs. SLU.
Setter Sarah Dixon was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week after reaching the 40-assist mark in all three matches including a career-high 46 in the four-set win over the Billikens.
Dixon led the Big 12 with 11.55 assists/set over the week and is tops in the conference this season at 10.70 assists/set.

SCOUTING THE FIELD

K-State hosts its annual K-State Invitational at Ahearn Field House beginning Friday, Sept. 7, as it will welcome in North Texas, Oregon State and Omaha.
The Cats open with North Texas (3-4), who is riding a four-match losing skid after opening the season 3-0.
UNT is led by Valeria Valerian with 3.14 kills/set to go with 2.14 digs/set.
Oregon State (4-1) has won its last three matches, including a five-set win at No. 21 Iowa State on Aug. 25.
The Beavers have two players averaging better than 3.00 kills/set in Maddie Goings (3.59) and Amy Underdown (3.18).
Omaha (3-3) claimed all three matches at its home Omaha Challenge over the weekend, defeating UMKC, UIC and UTEP.
The Mavericks have five players that average over 2.30 kills/set, led by Claire Leonard's 2.79 kills/set.

INSIDE THE SERIES

The Cats faced both Omaha and Oregon State last season, defeating UNO (3-1) in Omaha after being swept by the Beavers in Corvallis in the season's opening weekend.
K-State is 2-1 all-time against North Texas, with the last meeting being a Wildcat sweep in 2007.
OSU leads the all-time series, 2-1, while K-State is 10-6 vs. the Mavericks all-time.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is a combined 4-1 against the field at this year's K-State Invitational.

ACES IN SPADES

K-State has posted nine service aces in each of its last two matches (2.57/set), led by Alyssa Schultejans who has two straight matches with three aces.
Schultejans has tallied all eight aces over her last three matches to lead the team after having just five all of last season.
Gyimes had a career-high four aces vs. Missouri State and has seven over her last three matches.
The Cats have at least five aces in four of six matches this year.

CONSISTENTLY EFFICIENT

As a team, K-State has posted hit better than .250 in all six matches this season, including a season-high .318 efficiency in its four-set win over Saint Louis Saturday.
The Wildcat offense has hit .350 or better in a single set six separate times, with season-best of .619 in the fourth set vs. the Billikens.
K-State currently leads the Big 12 and ranks 22nd in the nation with a team hitting percentage of .277 after finishing seventh in the league at .212 in 2017.

KY & GLO SHOW

Fifth-year senior outside hitter Kylee Zumach and freshman opposite Gloria Mutiri rank first and second, respectively, on the team in kills, kills/set and each hit over .300 on the year.
Combined, the duo has combined for 138 kills which accounts for 48% of K-State's team total.
In six matches, the pair has posted eight matches in double-digit kills.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sarah Dixon

Zsofia Gyimes

Gloria Mutiri

Elle Sandbothe

Alyssa Schultejans

Kylee Zumach

Kansas State University Athletics