K-State Visits TCU to Open Big 12 Slate

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State begins its Big 12 schedule Saturday, as the Wildcats visit TCU with first serve set for 4 p.m. from The Rickel in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Wildcats (5-7, 0-0 Big 12) wrapped up their non-conference schedule at the North Texas Challenge last weekend, going 1-2 and setter Sarah Dixon being named to the all-tournament team. Dixon set a career high with 61 assists Friday against Ohio.

TCU (5-6, 0-1 Big 12) opened its conference slate with a three-set loss at Oklahoma Wednesday night. The Horned Frogs enter the weekend on a three-match losing skid.
Fans can listen to Rob Voelker call the action with free, live audio available at K-StateSports.com/watch.

MATCH #13
K-STATE (5-7, 0-0 BIG 12) at TCU (5-6, 0-1 BIG 12)
Saturday, September 28 // 4 p.m. // The Rickel (1,350) // Fort Worth, Texas
Watch: N/A
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch // Rob Voelker
Live Stats

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State enters the first weekend of conference play following a 1-2 weekend at the North Texas challenge last weekend.
While in Denton, Texas, the Wildcats defeated host Mean Green in five sets before falling to Ohio in five and New Mexico in four sets.
Setter Sarah Dixon was the lone representative on the North Texas Challenge all-tournament team after averaging 11.64 assists per set, including a career-high 61 against the Bobcats.
Brynn Carlson turned in a career-best 21 kills vs. the Lobos while hitting .436.
Carlson led the Cats with 52 total kills and 3.71 per set.
Peyton Williams hit a team-high .338 while leading the team with 12 blocks over the three matches.
Freshman Dru Kuck tallied 46 digs (3.29 per set) to lead the Wildcat defense.
Jacque Smith (19 digs vs. Ohio) and Mckenzi Weber (14 digs vs. New Mexico) each recorded career best outings.
Overall, K-State has played seven five-set matches in its first 12 outings to begin the season (3-4) while four of the last six matches have gone the full five sets.
The Wildcats have yet to play a three-set match, going four sets five times (2-3) in addition to their seven five-setters.
The Cats have lost five of their last six matches overall and finished the non-conference portion of their schedule 5-7.

SCOUTING TCU

TCU (5-6, 0-1 Big 12) opened its Big 12 schedule with a three-set loss at Oklahoma Wednesday, marking the third consecutive straight-set defeat.
2018 Big 12 Freshman of the Year élan McCall returned from injury Wednesday to make her season debut, recording nine digs.
The Horned Frogs enter the weekend having lost six of their last eight overall.
TCU began the season 3-0 and received votes in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll.
Freshman Audrey Nalls the TCU offense with 132 kills and 3.47 kills per set average.
Nalls, the Co-Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year, is second on the team with 80 digs (2.11 per set) and 25 total blocks.
TCU ranks eighth in the Big 12 in team hitting percentage at .194 and kills per set at 11.45 while ninth in digs per set (12.18).
The Frogs were picked to finish third in the Big 12 preseason coaches' poll.
The Frogs are 5-3 in home matches this season and have won their last two home outings.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State leads the all-time series with TCU, 8-6, going back to 2012 when the Horned Frogs joined the Big 12.
The Wildcats claimed the last meeting between the teams in four sets to close the regular season last year.
The victory snapped a four-match skid to the Frogs after TCU won in Ahearn Field House in four sets a season ago.
The Cats are 3-4 all-time on the road in the series.
Fritz is 8-6 against the Horned Frogs in her career.

GOING THE DISTANCE

Through 12 matches in 2019, K-State has gone the full five sets seven times - three shy of matching the single-season record of 10 such matches (2017).
The Wildcats have yet to play a three-set match, playing five four-set matches in addition to seven five-setters.
The Cats played just three five-set matches a season ago - equaling the lowest such matches in a single season.
The Cats have claimed the opening set of a match seven times in 12 matches and have split the first two sets of a match in 11 of 12 outings this season.
K-State has played the most sets (55) of any Power 5 school.

KUCK CAN DIG IT

K-State freshman Dru Kuck has played 54 of 55 sets as the Wildcats' libero, totaling a team-high 221 digs (4.02 per set).
The Sheboygan, Wisconsin, ranks fourth in the Big 12 in digs per set while her 221 total digs leads the conference.
Kuck is the only freshman in the league's top 10 in digs per set.
From September 6-13, Kuck turned in 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-matches in a season.

PEY DEY

Redshirt junior Peyton Williams is fourth in the Big 12 with her .361 hitting percentage and has hit over .300 in 10 of 12 matches this season.
Williams, who has registered double-digit kills in nine matches, has eclipsed the .400 plateau six 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 .328 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 140-kill and 175-point marks this season.
Carlson has a team-high 173 kills (3.26 per set) while Mutiri has recorded 157 and Williams 141.
Carlson leads the trio with 180.0 total points while Mutiri is second with 176.0 points with 32 total blocks.
Williams leads K-State with 42 total blocks.
Carlson, Mutiri and Williams have accounted for 67.9 percent of K-State's total kill production (471 of 703).
All three have set single-match career highs this in kills: Carlson (21) vs. New Mexico, Mutiri (18) at Missouri State and Williams (17) vs. Central Arkansas.
Mutiri has also set career highs in hitting percentage (.480 vs. Austin Peay) and digs (18 vs. Dayton).

DISHING DIXON

Redshirt senior setter Sarah Dixon enters her fourth season with the program and third as the starting setter for the Wildcats.
Dixon has handed out 548 assists this season - the third-highest total in the country - and she is 113 assists from reaching 2,500 career assists.
The Chino Hills, California, native set a career high with 61 assists in a five-set loss to Ohio last Friday.
A season ago, Dixon earned AVCA All-America Honorable Mention and AVCA All-Midwest Region First Team honors.
Dixon dished out a career-high 1,099 assists last season and finished second in the Big 12 with 11.21 assists per set after ending the regular season as the league's category leader.

MILESTONE WATCH

Head coach Suzie Fritz is four wins 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.
Fritz's career winning percentage of .616 is fourth among active Big 12 coaches.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK

Seven players have made their Wildcat debut in the first four 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 54 of 55 sets as the K-State libero.
Kuck is the team leader with 221 digs (4.02 per set) while Hinkle has tallied 108 digs (1.96 per set).
Hinkle leads the team in service aces with 13 and has tallied at least one ace in eight consecutive matches.
Her string of eight straight matches with an ace is the longest by a Wildcat since Katie Brand's eight straight in 2016.
Dixon registered 16 kills, a career high, in a five-set win over Omaha in her first career start.

YOUTH MOVEMENT

K-State's 2019 roster features a total of 13 freshmen and sophomores (including redshirts) - its highest total since 2014 and third-most in the Fritz era (since 2001).
The combined 666 career sets played among returners are the Cats' fewest since 2009 (537).
The nine freshmen (four redshirts) match the highest number in the Fritz era.
Five incoming true freshmen help comprise the nation's 20th-best recruiting class.
Underclassmen have accounted for 531 of K-State's 703 kills this season, approximately 76 percent.
Five of the top six kill producers for K-State are freshmen or sophomores.

BIG 12 OPENERS

Since 2001, K-State is 8-10 in its conference opener.
The Cats are 2-2 in their last four Big 12 openers,
When opening league play on the road, K-State is 3-5 in the Fritz era.
K-State has never begun conference play against TCU.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Teana Adams-Kaonohi

Abigail Archibong

Holly Bonde

Brynn Carlson

Anna Dixon

Sarah Dixon

Loren Hinkle

Dru Kuck

Gloria Mutiri

Jacque Smith

Kenzie Smith

Mckenzi Weber

Peyton Williams

Kansas State University Athletics