Cats Wrap up Non-Con Slate at North Texas Challenge

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State will conclude the non-conference portion of its schedule at the North Texas Challenge beginning Thursday, where the Wildcats will meet host North Texas before facing off with Ohio and New Mexico.

The Wildcats (4-5) begin the three-day tournament at 7 p.m. against North Texas (5-4). The match will stream live on ConferenceUSA.com/watch.

K-State will take on Ohio (6-4) on Friday at 3:30 p.m., and conclude the tournament with New Mexico at 10:30 a.m., on Saturday. All three matches will have coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with free, live audio available at K-StateSports.com/watch.

MATCH #10
K-STATE (4-5) at NORTH TEXAS (5-4)
Thursday, September 19 // 7 p.m. // North Texas Volleyball Center (600) // Denton, Texas
Watch: ConferenceUSA.com/watch
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch | Live Stats

MATCH #11
K-STATE (4-5) vs. OHIO (6-4)
Friday, September 20 // 3;30 p.m. // North Texas Volleyball Center (600) // Denton, Texas
Watch: N/A
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch | Live Stats

MATCH #12
K-STATE (4-2) vs. (RV) DAYTON (3-4)
Saturday, September 21 // 10:30 a.m. // North Texas Volleyball Center (600) // Denton, Texas
Watch: N/A
Radio: KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen Online: K-StateSports.com/watch | Live Stats

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State enters its final weekend of the non-conference portion of its schedule at the North Texas Challenge, where the Wildcats will meet the host Mean Green, in addition to New Mexico and Ohio.
Peyton Williams was the lone Wildcat named to the all-tournament team at the MSU Fall Invitational last weekend, where K-State went 0-3.
Williams paced the Cats offense with a .392 hitting percentage while averaging 2.71 kills per set in three matches.
K-State enters the North Texas Challenge on a season-long three-match losing streak.
The Cats' three-match skid comes on the heels of a three-match winning streak, as K-State went undefeated at its home invitational.
K-State played a pair of five-set matches while at the MSU Fall Invitational, including the weekend's finale against (RV) Dayton.
The Wildcats have now played five five-set matches in the first nine matches to begin the season.
Sophomore Gloria Mutiri led K-State's offense with 44 total kills and 3.14 kills per set last weekend.
Mutiri turned in two double-doubles and produced a career-high 18 kills at Missouri State and a career-high in digs with 18 against Dayton.
Freshman libero Dru Kuck tallied at least 20 digs in all three matches over the weekend, extending her streak to five straight 20-dig performances.
Kuck picked up 67 digs (4.79 per set) in the three matches and leads the conference with 175 total digs this season.

SCOUTING NORTH TEXAS

North Texas (5-4) enters the weekend on a three-match winning streak after sweeping the Abilene Christian Invitational last weekend.
The Mean Green won all three of their matches in straight-set fashion, defeating ACU, Cal State Fullerton and Prairie View A&M.
UNT's offense is led by Valerie Valerian who has registered 143 kills (4.21 per set) - 65 more kills than the next closest on the team.
Valerian, who was UNT's lone selection to the Conference USA Preseason Team, is third on the Mean Green with 87 digs (2.56 per set).
The Mean Green were picked fourth in the Conference USA preseason coaches' poll.
North Texas finished last season in a tie for second place and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NIVC.

SCOUTING OHIO

Ohio (6-4) has won five consecutive matches after a 3-0 weekend at its home Bobcat Invitational.
The Bobcats picked up straight-set victories over Charleston, Connecticut and Virginia.
Junior setter Vera Giacomazzi was named tournament MVP while junior middle blocker Tia Jimerson and junior libero Macy Reihing earned all-tournament accolades.
Jimerson was tabbed the Mid-American Conference East Division Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after she totaled 10 blocks in her first matches of the season.
Maggie Nedoma paces the Bobcat offense with 115 kills and 3.03 kills a set, following by Lizzie Stephs with 101 kills (2.59 per set).
Ohio was selected third in the MAC East Division in the conference's preseason coaches' poll while Vera Giacomazzi, Jimerson and Stephens all earned preseason all-MAC honors.

SCOUTING NEW MEXICO

New Mexico (3-6) snapped a three-match skid with a straight-set victory over Seattle University last Saturday.
The Lobos went 1-2 at the Seattle Redhawk Invitational, dropping a three-set decision to Gonzaga and a five-setter to Oregon State.
UNM's Lauren Twitty has a team-best 103 kills (3.12 kills a set) and 13 service aces this season.
Twitty's 103 kills are 20 more than Tai Bierria, who ranks second on the squad with 83.
Twitty, a senior outside hitter, ranks third on the Lobos with 2.12 digs per set and 23 total blocks.
New Mexico, under first-year head coach Jon Newman-Gonchar, was picked to a seventh-place finish in the Mountain West's preseason coaches' poll.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State leads the all-time series with North Texas 4-1, defeating the Mean Green in Manhattan in three sets a season ago.
The Wildcats are 2-0 against Ohio, last facing the Bobcats in the first round of the NCAA Tournament is K-State's Big 12 championship season of 2003.
New Mexico has taken the only meeting between the sides, a three-set win in 1989.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is a combined 3-0 against the field at the North Texas Challenge, going 2-0 vs. UNT and 1-0 against Ohio.
This will be the first road meeting in program history at UNT and the first neutral site matches with UNM and Ohio.

NON-CON SUCCESS

Since 2001, K-State is 169-61 (.735) in non-conference matches, including a 10-1 mark a season ago.
The Wildcats own a 52-18 (.743) record against non-conference opponents away from home since 2011, not including the postseason.
From 2011-14, the Cats went 29-4 against non-conference foes at road and neutral sites.
Last season, K-State posted a 6-1 mark in road/neutral contests.

GOING THE DISTANCE

Through nine matches in 2019, K-State has gone the full five sets five times - halfway to the single-season record of 10 such matches (2017).
The Wildcats have yet to play a three-set match, playing four four-set matches in addition to five five-setters.
The Cats have claimed the opening set of a match seven times out of nine matches.
K-State has split the first two sets of a match in eight of nine outings this season.

KUCK CAN DIG IT

K-State freshman Dru Kuck has played every set as the Wildcats' libero, totaling a team-high 175 digs in 41 sets (4.27 per set).
The Sheboygan, Wisconsin, product registered 67 digs in three matches at the MSU Fall Invitational (4.79 per set), reaching the 20-dig plateau in all three outings.
She extended her streak to five consecutive matches with at least 20 digs - the longest stretch by a Wildcat in the rally-scoring era (2001).
Kuck produced consecutive 25 or more digs in consecutive matches (Sept. 6-7), becoming the first Wildcat to do so since Lauren Mathewson in 2009.
Kuck's five 20-dig performances put her two away from ranking ninth on K-State's list for 20-dig matches in a season.
Kuck's season average of 4.27 digs per set ranks third in the Big 12 while her 175 total digs are second.

PEY DAY

Redshirt junior Peyton Williams leads the Big 12 with her .368 hitting percentage and has hit over .290 in every match this season.
Williams, who has registered double-digit kills in seven matches, has eclipsed the .400 plateau four times and set a career high with 17 kills vs. Central Arkansas (Sept. 7).
The two-sport star has led the Wildcats in hitting efficiency each of the last two seasons and her career mark of .327 currently ranks fourth in program history in the rally-scoring era.
The Topeka native was named K-State Invitational MVP in addition to all-tournament honors last weekend at the MSU Fall Invitational.

THREE-HEADED MONSTER

The Wildcat trio of Brynn Carlson, Gloria Mutiri and Peyton Williams have each eclipsed the 100-kill mark this season.
Carlson has a team-high 121 kills (3.10 per set) while Mutiri has recorded 113 and Williams 110.
Williams leads the trio with 134.5 total points, including a team-high 30 blocks while Mutiri is second with 129.5 points (27 blocks).
Carlson, Mutiri and Williams have accounted for 67.9 percent of K-State's total kill production (344 of 507).
Mutiri has set career highs this season in kills (18 at Missouri State), hitting percentage (.480 vs. Austin Peay) and digs (18 vs. Dayton).
The sophomore opposite is coming off back-to-back double-doubles.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Seven players have made their Wildcat debut in the first three weeks of the season in Teana Adams-Kaonohi, Abigail Archibong, Holly Bonde, Anna Dixon, Loren Hinkle, Dru Kuck and Kenzie Smith.
Adams-Kaonohi, Dixon, Hinkle and Kuck are all true freshmen, as Kuck played every set this season as the K-State libero.
Kuck is the team leader with 175 digs (4.27 per set) while Hinkle has tallied 78 digs (1.90 per set).
Dixon registered 16 kills, a career high, in a five-set win over Omaha in her first career start.
K-State has the most underclassmen (13) on its roster since 2014 and the third-most in the Fritz era.
Underclassmen have accounted for 380 of K-State's 507 kills this season, approximately 75 percent.

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Players Mentioned

Teana Adams-Kaonohi

Abigail Archibong

Holly Bonde

Brynn Carlson

Anna Dixon

Loren Hinkle

Dru Kuck

Gloria Mutiri

Kenzie Smith

Peyton Williams

Kansas State University Athletics