Wildcats Close Regular Season at Texas Tech

Saturday, November 30

Lubbock, Texas

1 p.m.

Kansas State University

Texas Tech

Nov 27, 2019 | Volleyball

Watch Listen Live Stats Match Notes (PDF)

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State concludes the regular season Saturday with a trip to Texas Tech, as the regular-season finale for both teams is slated for a 1 p.m. start at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas.

The Wildcats (8-19, 3-12 Big 12) look to split the season series with Texas Tech (17-12, 7-8 Big 12) and snap a five-match losing skid. TTU claimed the season's first matchup in straight sets at Ahearn Field House on October 2.

K-State leads the all-time series with the Red Raiders, 37-14, while TTU has won the last four meetings in the series.

The match will be televised on FOX Sports Southwest and streamed on the FOX Sports 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 #28
K-STATE (8-19, 3-12 BIG 12) at TEXAS TECH (17-12, 7-8 BIG 12)
Saturday, November 29 // 1 p.m. // United Supermarkets Arena (15,070) // Lubbock, Texas
Watch: FOX Sports Southwest // FOX Sports app
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch // Live Stats

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State concludes the regular season Saturday at Texas Tech following a straight-set loss to No. 3 Baylor Saturday in its home finale.
K-State seeks a season split with the Red Raiders after TTU handed the Wildcats a 3-0 loss on Oct. 2.
Against the Bears, the Cats were led offensively by Peyton Williams with eight kills and a .500 hitting percentage.
Gloria Mutiri chipped in six kills while Holly Bonde and Anna Dixon each added five.
Defensively, Megan Vernon paced the Wildcats with six block assists and Loren Hinkle turned in a match-high 12 digs.
Hinkle has led the Cats in digs in each of the last four matches.
Baylor held a 46-31 advantage in total kills and posted a .279 hitting efficiency while K-State hit .143.
The Bears, who were led by Yossiana Pressley's 13 kills, swept the season series for the second time in three seasons.
The Cats fell to 0-8 in three-set matches this season and dropped their fifth consecutive match overall.
The five-match skid equals the Wildcats' longest of the season.

SCOUTING TEXAS TECH

Texas Tech (17-12, 7-8 Big 12) looks to close the regular season on a four-match winning streak.
The Red Raiders three-match winning streak comes on the heels of a season-long six-match skid.
Libero Emerson Solano picked up her second Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honor on Monday.
Solano ranks second during league play with 4.19 digs per set.
Offensively, TTU is led by Emily Hill and her 4.28 kills per set which ranks second in the conference.
Hill was a preseason all-Big 12 pick and was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week following the season's opening week of play.
The Red Raider offense ranks fourth in the Big 12 in hitting percentage (.224), kills per set (13.27) and assists per set (12.30).

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State leads the all-time series 37-14, dating back to 1982.
Texas Tech has won the last four meetings, including a 3-0 win in the season's first meeting on Oct. 2.
TTU's four-match winning streak is its longest in the series.
Prior to the current streak, K-State had only lost consecutive matches only once (two straight from 1999-2000).
The Wildcats had won the previous seven matchups.
K-State is 14-9 all-time in Lubbock and have lost the last two.
The Cats are 6-4 in their last 10 on the road vs. TTU.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is 29-8 in her career against Texas Tech and 14-4 in Lubbock.

FIRST GO-AROUND

K-State and Texas Tech met on Oct. 2 in at Ahearn Field House, with TTU taking a 3-0 decision.
The victory was the first straight-set win for Texas Tech in the series history.
The victory also extended the Red Raiders' winning streak to four over K-State, their longest winning streak in the series.
In the match, Emily Hill produced a match-high 21 kills to go with 10 digs for TTU.
Gloria Mutiri led the Cats with 12 kills while Anna Dixon added 10.
Holly Bonde set a career high with 16 digs and Megan Vernon registered five blocks.
K-State finished with 40 kills and a .161 hitting efficiency, both season lows at the time.

FOUR-HEADED MONSTER

Four Wildcats - Brynn Carlson, Anna Dixon, Gloria Mutiri, Peyton Williams - have each eclipsed 300 points this season.
Carlson (319.0), Williams (317.0), Dixon (316.5) and Mutiri (315.5) mark the only quartet in the Big 12 with 300 or more points.
No other conference foe has more than two players with 300+ points.
All four have registered at least 235 kills and average over 2.15 kills per set.
The four have accounted for 1,268 of K-State's 1,680 points this season (75 percent).
They have also accounted for 1,099 of the Cats' 1,349 (81 percent).
It is the first time four Cats have recorded over 200 kills and 300 points since the 2015 season.

SMARTY CATS

Seven Wildcats were named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team released on Nov. 21.
Brynn Carlson, Sarah Dixon and Mckenzi Weber each produced 4.0 GPAs, as they accounted for three of the seven perfect GPAs in the league.
Additionally, Carlson and Peyton Williams were each named CoSIDA Academic All-District last week.
Since 2015, 46 Cats have received Academic All-Big 12 accolades, including 41 first-time selections.
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 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).

PEY DAY

Redshirt junior Peyton Williams moved to fifth in the Big 12 in hitting percentage (.314) after a team-high .500 efficiency against Baylor Saturday.
Her career hitting percentage of .315 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 has led K-State in hitting efficiency in each of the last three seasons.
The Topeka native is now tied for the team lead in service aces with 23 while ranking second in total blocks (99) and blocks per set (0.90).
She has led or tied for the team lead in blocks in five of the last six matches, including a string of five straight outings.