Cats Tangle with Top-Ranked Texas Wednesday

Wednesday, November 13

Austin, Texas

7 p.m.

Kansas State University

Texas

Nov 12, 2019 | Volleyball

Watch Listen Live Stats Match Notes (PDF)

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State aims to snap No. 1 Texas' 12-match winning streak Wednesday night, as the Wildcats take on the Longhorns at 7 p.m. at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Texas.

K-State (8-15, 3-8 Big 12) will face its second top-ranked opponent this season (Baylor), marking the first time in program history the Wildcats will take on two different No. 1 teams in a single season.

The Longhorns (17-2, 11-0 Big 12) have won 21 consecutive Big 12 matches dating back to last season and claimed the first meeting in the series at Ahearn Field House on October 9 (3-0). UT leads the all-time series 42-7 and has won the last 32 meetings, dating back to the Cats' Big 12 championship season of 2003.

The match will be televised on the Longhorn Network and available on the ESPN app. Fans can listen to Rob Voelker on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with free, live audio streaming at K-StateSports.com/watch.

MATCH #24
K-STATE (8-15, 3-8 BIG 12) at #1 TEXAS (17-2, 11-0 BIG 12)
Wednesday, November 13 // 7 p.m. // Gregory Gymnasium (4,000) // Austin, Texas
TV: Longhorn Network // Paul Sunderland, Salima Rockwell
Online: ESPN app
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch | Live Stats

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State heads to Austin to take on top-ranked Texas following a three-set home loss to Iowa State Saturday.
Against the Cyclones, K-State was held a season-low 30 kills at a .108 hitting efficiency.
Anna Dixon led the Wildcats with eight kills while Brynn Carlson added five and Gloria Mutiri finished with five.
ISU claimed a season sweep of K-State for the third straight year and extended its winning streak to seven in the series.
Defensively, Dru Kuck turned in a team-high 11 digs while Holly Bonde and Peyton Williams each turned in three block assists.
Splitting time at setter, Teana Adams-Kaonohi and Sarah Dixon handed out 13 and 12 assists, respectively.
K-State's .108 hitting percentage marked its second-lowest efficiency of the season, as the Wildcats are 1-6 when hitting below .200.
Iowa State had two players reach 10 kills in Eleanor Holthaus and Avery Rhodes, with Rhodes hitting at a .600 clip (1 error, 15 swings).
ISU setter Piper Mauck produced a double-double with 35 assists and a match-high 12 digs.
The Cats fell to 0-5 in three-set matches this season matches.

SCOUTING TEXAS

Texas (17-2, 11-0 Big 12) enters Wednesday night's match as the nation's top-ranked team while on a season-long 12-match winning streak.
Dating back to last season, the Longhorns have claimed 21 consecutive Big 12 matches, the nation's third-longest active streak.
The Longhorns lead the country in hitting efficiency at .332 and have three players in the league's top 10 in the category in Skylar Fields (.343), Logan Eggleston (.317) and Micaya White (.312).
UT is undefeated at Gregory Gymnasium this season, including wins over top-25 teams Minnesota, BYU and Baylor.
White was named the Big 12's Preseason Player of the Year while Fields was the Preseason Co-Freshman of the Year.
Four times Fields has been honored as Big 12 Rookie of the Week and has been named Offensive Player of the Week once.
The Longhorns are second in the conference in kills per set (14.05) and assists per set (13.21) and rank third in opponent hitting percentage (.188) and blocks per set (2.50).

INSIDE THE SERIES

Going back to 1981, Texas leads the all-time series 42-7.
K-State is 3-21 all-time against the Longhorns in Austin, last winning in 2001 (3-1).
Texas has taken the last 32 matchups, dating back to K-State's Big 12 championship season of 2003.
The 32-match skid is the Wildcats' longest active losing streak against a single opponent.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is 3-34 in her career against UT and is 1-17 on the road, with her lone victory coming in her first season at the helm (2001).

FIRST GO-AROUND

K-State and Texas met on Oct. 9 at Ahearn Field House, with the then-fourth-ranked Longhorns winning in straight sets.
In the match, K-State's Anna Dixon produced a match-high 14 kills and setter Sarah Dixon turned in a double-double.
The Cats pushed UT to extra points in the opening set before ultimately falling 32-20.
The Longhorns used 10.0 total team blocks to hold K-State to a season-low .096 hitting percentage.
Loren Hinkle paced the Cats with 16 digs and Megan Vernon added three blocks.

VS. RANKED OPPONENTS

Texas marks the third ranked opponent K-State will face this season, and second top-ranked opponent after playing then-No. 1 Baylor on Oct. 5.
This will mark the first time in program history that K-State will take on two different No. 1 teams in the same season.
In its history, K-State has never defeated the nation's No. 1 team (0-12).
Texas has been ranked in the AVCA Top 25 each of the last 31 meetings, including being in the top 10 in each of the last 18 matchups.
The Wildcats went 2-2 against ranked teams a season ago, picking up wins over then-ranked No. 24 Baylor and No. 22 Kansas in consecutive matches.
Against top-five foes, K-State is a combined 2-71 (.027) in its history.
K-State is 7-117 (.056) against teams ranked in the nation's top 10.
The Wildcats last defeated a top-five team in 2011, when they ousted No. 2 Nebraska in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Lincoln.
K-State last defeated a top-10 team on Aug. 27, 2016 when it defeated No. 6 Hawaii in four sets.
Since 2014, K-State is 3-27 (.100) against teams ranked in the AVCA Top 25.

GOING THE DISTANCE

Through 23 matches, 18 of K-State's matches have gone at least four sets this season.
Ten matches have gone the full five sets, matching the single-season record of 10 such matches (2017).
K-State is 0-5 in three-set matches and has never finished a season winless in three-setters.
The program record for three-set matches in a season is nine, which was set in 1986.
Through the season's first 13 matches, the Wildcats did not play a three-set match, breaking the program record to begin a season.
The Cats have also played eight four-set matches (3-5).
The Cats played just three five-set matches a season ago - equaling the fewest such matches in a single season.

AD ALL DAY

Freshman Anna Dixon has registered double-digit kills in last 12 of the last 13 matches, as her season-long streak of 12 ended Saturday against Iowa State.
She has led the Cats in kills in eight of the last nine outings.
Dixon produced back-to-back matches with 21 kills - her first two 20-kill performances of her career - against Oklahoma and Kansas.
Her 25-point night (21 kills, 3 aces, 2 block assists) vs. KU is a season high by any Wildcat this season
Dixon ranks sixth in the Big 12 in conference-only matches with 3.45 kills per set and is seventh with 3.83 points her set.

CARDIAC CATS

K-State's five five-set victories this season are its highest total since the 2014 season (6).
The Wildcats' match on Oct. 23 against KU marked the second time this season in which K-State battled back from an 0-2 hole to win in five sets (Clemson on Sept. 5).
The match was also the second consecutive match against KU in which the Wildcats have won after dropping the first two sets.
The Cats' two wins this season when trailing by two sets equal the program's single-season record, as the Cats have done so twice in 2003, 2008 and 2014.
K-State has never erased a two-set deficit to win three times in one season.
K-State has just 11 victories when trailing 0-2 in the Fritz era (since 2001).
The Cats have lost the opening set of a match 11 times, going 5-6 in those matches.
K-State has won the opening set 11 times this season but are just 3-8 in those matches.

NEW HIGHS

K-State's defense set an all-time program record with 119 digs on Oct. 16 at Oklahoma.
It was the sixth-highest output in a five-set match in the nation this season and highest by any Big 12 team this year.
Dru Kuck's 36 digs vs. the Sooners - equaling the third-most in program history during the rally-scoring era.
The Wildcats also own the league single-match high total with 18 blocks at TCU on Sept. 28.
The 18 blocks were the third highest in a four-set match during the rally-scoring era (since 2001).
Setter Sarah Dixon's career-best 61 assists vs. Ohio (Sept. 20) is the only 60-assist match in the Big 12 this season.
The Cats' offense turned in a season-high 75 kills in their five-set victory over Kansas - a season-best outing by any Big 12 team.
K-State's .360 hitting percentage against Austin Peay (Aug. 31) is the four-set high in the league this season.

MILESTONE WATCH

Head coach Suzie Fritz is one win away from notching career victory No. 350 as coach of the Wildcats.
Fritz would become just the third head coach in the history of the Big 12 to reach the landmark.