K-State, KU Set for Final Sunflower Showdown Saturday

Saturday, November 16

Lawrence, Kan.

1 p.m.

Kansas State University

Kansas

Nov 15, 2019 | Volleyball

Watch (Big 12 Now on ESPN+)Listen Live Stats Match Notes (PDF)

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State and Kansas are set to meet Saturday in the season's second edition of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, with first serve scheduled at 1 p.m.

K-State (8-16, 3-9 Big 12) claimed a five-set victory over KU (7-15, 3-9 Big 12) at Ahearn Field House on October 23, overcoming a two-set deficit to win its third straight in the series. The in-state rivals are currently tied in seventh place in the Big 12 standings.

The match will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and available on the ESPN app. Fans can listen to Rob Voelker with free, live audio streaming at K-StateSports.com/watch.

MATCH #25
K-STATE (8-16, 3-9 BIG 12) at KU (7-15, 3-9 BIG 12)
Saturday, November 16 // 1 p.m. // Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena (2,265) // Lawrence, Kan.
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // ESPN app
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch // Rob Voelker
Live Stats

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State heads to Lawrence to take on rival Kansas Saturday for the season's second edition of the Sunflower Showdown.
In its last match, K-State dropped a three-set decision at No. 1 Texas Wednesday night.
It marked the Wildcats' second time playing the nation's top-ranked team, the first time they have faced two different No. 1 opponents in the same season.
Brynn Carlson led the Cats with nine kills while freshman Anna Dixon added seven.
The Longhorns hit .346 in extending their winning streak to 13 matches while limiting K-State to a .118 hitting percentage.
Freshman libero Loren Hinkle turned in a career-high and match-best 18 digs.
Defensively, Peyton Williams led K-State with four block assists whole Holly Bonde added two.
UT out-blocked the Cats, 11-5, while five Longhorns registered five blocks.
Texas' Micaya White produced a double-double with a match-high 14 kills to go with 10 digs.
K-State's losing skid to the Longhorns extended to 33 matches, going back to 2003.
The Cats fell to 0-6 in three-set matches this season matches.

SCOUTING KANSAS

Kansas (7-15, 3-9 Big 12) comes into Saturday's match tied with K-State in seventh place in the Big 12 standings.
The Jayhawks have dropped five of their last six matches and are 3-16 since beginning the season 4-2.
KU's offense is led by Ashley Smith with 193 kills and 2.47 per set.
The Kansas defense is tops in the Big 12 with 2.61 blocks per set, paced by Zoe Hill (1.15 bps) and Rachel Langs (1.14 bps), who rank third and fourth, respectively, in the conference.
Offensively, KU ranks last in the league in hitting percentage (.172), kills per set (11.28), assists per set (10.36) and aces per set (0.96).
In conference play, Hill ranks in the top 10 in hitting percentage at .297 (eighth) and was tabbed Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 11.
KU is 4-5 at Horejsi Family Athletics Center this season, going 3-3 in Big 12 matches.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State leads the all-time series with Kansas, 66-52-1, going back to 1974.
The Wildcats have taken the last three matchups in the Sunflower Showdown, including a five-set win earlier this season on Oct. 23.
The three-match winning streak marks the Cats' longest since winning four straight from 2010-11.
K-State is 30-16 all-time in Lawrence and are 2-3 in its last five trips to Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
KU is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings overall.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is 22-15 in her career against Kansas and is 11-7 on the road.

FIRST GO-AROUND

K-State and KU met on Oct. 23 at Ahearn Field House, with the Wildcats taking a five-set battle in which the Wildcats erased a two-set deficit.
In the match, four Wildcats reached double-digit kill, led by Anna Dixon who matched her career high with 21.
K-State set a season high with 75 kills, a single-match high by any Big 12 team this season.
Brynn Carlson picked up five of her 15 kills in the fifth set, including a run of four straight kills to complete the comeback.
Peyton Williams (13) and Gloria Mutiri (12) rounded out the four Cats in double figures.
K-State picked up 12 service aces, a season high, led by three from Teana Adams-Kaonohi, Dixon and Loren Hinkle.
Hinkle registered 13 digs to lead the Cats while Sarah Dixon produced a double-double (41 assists, 11 digs).
The win was the second consecutive in the series in which K-State won when trailing by two sets.

GOING THE DISTANCE

Through 24 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 0-6 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.

FOUR-HEADED MONSTER

Four Wildcats - Brynn Carlson, Anna Dixon, Gloria Mutiri, Peyton Williams - have each eclipsed 285 points this season.
All four have registered at least 220 kills and average at least 2.20 kills per set.
No other Wildcat has over 100 kills.
The four have accounted for 1,162 of K-State's 1,534 points this season (76 percent).
They have also accounted for over 1,000 kills between them, 1,015 of the Cats' 1,238 (82 percent).
It is the first time four Cats have recorded over 200 kills since the 2015 season.
K-State is the only Big 12 team with four players with over 200 kills.

SMARTY CATS

Brynn Carlson and Peyton Williams were each named CoSIDA Academic All-District on Thursday.
Carlson earned first-team honors while Williams garnered second-team accolades.
The awards were the first in their respective careers and the first such honors earned by K-State since the 2016 season (Katie Brand, Kersten Kober).

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.

AD ALL DAY

Freshman Anna Dixon has registered double-digit kills in last 12 of the last 14 matches, as her season-long streak of 12 ended last Saturday against Iowa State.
She has led the Cats in kills in eight of the last 10 outings.
Dixon produced back-to-back matches with 21 kills - her first two 20-kill performances of her career - against Oklahoma and Kansas earlier this season.
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 3.38 kills per set and is seventh with 3.77 points her set.

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.