K-State Begins Final Homestand Wednesday Night

Wednesday, November 20

Manhattan

6:30 p.m.

Kansas State University

Oklahoma

Buy Tickets

Nov 19, 2019 | Volleyball

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

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State begins its final homestand of the season Wednesday night, as the Wildcats are set to battle the Oklahoma Sooners at 6:30 p.m. at Ahearn Field House.

K-State (8-17, 3-10 Big 12) seeks to earn a season split with Oklahoma (16-8, 8-5 Big 12) after the Sooners took a five-set decision in Norman on October 16. In the match, the Cats set a program record with 119 digs, including 36 from freshman Dru Kuck.

Wednesday's match marks the final Wednesday Wildcat 4-Pack of the season, as fans can purchase four tickets with four $10 concession vouchers for just $38. The match is also Hometown Heroes Night, as K-State will honor its local first responders.

The match will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and available on the ESPN app. Fans can listen to Rob Voelker on the call on KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with free, live audio streaming at K-StateSports.com/watch.

MATCH #26
K-STATE (8-17, 3-10 BIG 12) vs. OKLAHOMA (16-8, 8-5 BIG 12)
Wednesday, November 20 // 6:30 p.m. // Ahearn Field House (5,000) // Manhattan, Kan.
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // Brian Smoller, Liz Wegner-Busch
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch // Live Stats
Promotion: Hometown Heroes / Wednesday Wildcat 4-Pack // Buy Tickets

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State returns to Ahearn Field House as it seeks a season split with Oklahoma Wednesday night.
In its last match, K-State suffered a four-set road loss to Kansas in the season's second Dillons Sunflower Showdown Saturday.
The loss to KU snapped the Wildcats' three-match winning streak against their in-state rivals and marked the first split in the Sunflower Showdown since 2014.
Three Cats reached double-figure kills, paced by Brynn Carlson's 12 at a .308 clip.
Anna Dixon and Peyton Williams each turned in 10 kills, with Williams hitting a team-high .421.
In addition to leading K-State in hitting percentage, Williams also led the team in aces (3) and blocks (4).
Dixon and Megan Vernon each added three block assists while Loren Hinkle had a match-best 12 digs.
KU hit .314 as a team, led by Rachel Lang's .556 efficiency, picking up 13 kills.
Langs, who also had a match-high seven blocks, led four Jayhawks in double-digit kills.
The Cats fell to 3-6 in four-set matches this season matches and 6-10 when splitting the first two sets.

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma (8-16, 8-5 Big 12) comes into Saturday's match in a third-place tie in the Big 12 standings.
The Sooners are coming off a four-set road loss to Iowa State on Friday and have 3-3 in their last six matches overall.
OU's offense is led by Ashlynn Dunbar, who ranks fifth in the Big 12 with 3.55 kills per set.
Defensively, libero Keyton Kinley leads the league at 5.02 digs per set while Branna Kadiku (2nd, 1.30) and Sarah Sanders (6th, 1.07) rank in the top six in blocks per set.
The Sooners boast the second-best opponent hitting percentage at .173 and lead the conference at 16.32 digs per set.
OU, who had received votes in the two previous AVCA Top 25 polls, were picked sixth in the preseason Big 12 poll.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Oklahoma leads the all-time series, 56-34-1, going back to 1975 after OU took the season's first matchup in five sets.
The Sooners have won the last three in the series, their longest winning streak since 2012-13.
K-State is 18-20 all-time at home against the Sooners and are 5-1 in the last six in Manhattan.
K-State is 6-4 in the last 10 meetings overall.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is 21-16 in her career against OU and 12-6 at home.

FIRST GO-AROUND

K-State and Oklahoma met on Oct. 16 in Norman, with the Sooners taking a five-set battle in which they erased a two-set deficit.
In the match, set a program record with 119 digs in the five-set match, led by Dru Kuck's career-high 36.
Kuck's total marked the third highest in program history during the rally-scoring era, as five Wildcats set career highs in digs.
Anna Dixon matched her career high with 21 kills while Gloria Mutiri added 13.
Sarah Dixon produced her first 20-20 double-double with 43 assists and a career-high 20 digs.
OU was led by Sarah Maras with 20 kills while hitting .373.
Keyton Kinley recorded 30 digs.
The loss was the first in which K-State held a 2-0 lead since 2017 (Texas).

GOING THE DISTANCE

Through 25 matches, 19 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 nine four-set matches (3-6).
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 295 points this season.
Carlson (308), Dixon (303.5) and Williams (303.0) have each broken the 300-point plateau.
All four have registered at least 230 kills and average over 2.20 kills per set.
No other Wildcat has over 100 kills.
The four have accounted for 1,211 of K-State's 1,596 points this season (76 percent).
They have also accounted for over 1,000 kills between them, 1,054 of the Cats' 1,287 (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).

PEY DAY

Redshirt junior Peyton Williams moved up to third in the Big 12 in hitting percentage (.319) after a team-high .421 efficiency at KU Saturday.
Her career hitting percentage of .317 ranks fifth in program history during the rally-scoring era (since 2001).
Williams has a career-high 13 matches this season with 10 or more kills, including a career-high 17 earlier this year against Central Arkansas (Sept. 7).
The two-sport star led the Cats in hitting percentage, aces and blocks Saturday against the Jayhawks.
The Topeka native now lead the team in service aces with 23 on the season while ranking second in total blocks (90) and blocks per set (0.87).

HOME SWEET HOME

K-State is 5-4 at home this season, with three wins coming at Bramlage Coliseum in its season-opening tournament.
Fritz is 182-79 (.697) at home in her 19-year K-State career and is 103-67 (.606) at home in Big 12 play.
K-State owns a 64-37 (.634) home record since 2011.

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.