Kansas State University Athletics
Friday, October 2
Morgantown, WV
5 p.m.
Kansas State University
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West Virginia
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Kansas St.
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West Virginia
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K-State Pulls Off Second Straight Five-Set Road Win
Oct 02, 2020 | Volleyball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For the second straight night, K-State overcame a 2-1 deficit to pull off a five-set victory over West Virginia, sweeping the season series with a 21-25, 30-28, 24-26, 25-17, 15-8, decision Friday night at WVU Coliseum.
Four Wildcats, including three true freshmen, reached double-figure kills on the night, led by Jayden Nembhard's match-high 19. Aliyah Carter tallied 17 kills while middle blocker Kadye Fernholz chipped in with a dozen while leading K-State (3-1, 3-1 Big 12) in hitting efficiency at .346.
"Gritty," head coach Suzie Fritz said after the match. "Two five-set road wins, that's tough to do. I was really proud of Nembhard. After not playing last weekend and coming in and playing 10 straight sets, her productivity and the maturity she showed on the left were really excellent. I thought Teana (Adams-Kaonohi) came in and gave us a nice upgrade in this one after being out last weekend.
"Really proud of them, it's really hard to win on the road."
Nembhard led the Cats in kills for the second straight match after putting up 24 kills in Thursday night's five-set victory. The Keller, Texas, native hit .222 and added three blocks Friday night, helping K-State to its first season sweep of West Virginia (1-3, 1-3 Big 12) since 2016.
The trio of Carter, Fernholz and Nembhard accounted for 46 of K-State's 67 kills. Fernholz's 12th kill of the night ended the match, as she set career highs in kills, digs (8) and blocks (7).
Sophomore setter Teana Adams-Kaonohi saw her first action of the season, coming off the bench to hand out a career-high 46 assists with seven digs and an ace.
K-State hit .382 in the fourth set and .389 in the decisive final set while racking up 24 kills to West Virginia's 13 over the final two frames. Conversely, the Wildcat defense held WVU to hitting percentages of .105 and .000 in the fourth and fifth sets, respectively.
Abigail Archibong put down 10 kills on 21 swings for a .286 efficiency while also adding four block assists. K-State totaled 13 team blocks in holding West Virginia to a .156 team hitting percentage.
Freshman libero Mackenzie Morris eclipsed the 20-dig mark for the first time in her career, registering a match-best 24 along with three service aces. Dru Kuck added 17 digs, a season high.
"We call them our littles, but our liberos were extra special, for me, in terms of all the hundreds of little plays that they're making that give us an opportunity," added Fritz. "I thought Kuck played incredibly well. I think Morris is playing incredibly well. But all of them – Loren Hinkle, Jacque Smith – they just feel like the glue that holds our team together."
West Virginia led throughout the entire opening set, scoring the first four points and leading by as many as seven at 17-10. K-State outscored WVU 6-2 late in the set and climbed to within two points, forcing a timeout with the score sitting at 23-21. The Mountaineers used five team blocks to limit the Wildcats to a .039 hitting efficiency. Carter and Nembhard were the only players to record multiple kills in the set, each picking up four.
The Wildcats trailed by as many as eight points in the second set, as WVU raced out to a 12-4 lead and later held a 17-9 edge. From there, K-State went on to score the next six points and forced a Mountaineer timeout. Later in the set, the Cats fought off two West Virginia set-point chances and were finally able to close the set when Adams-Kaonohi served up K-State's first ace of the match, 30-28.
In the third set with K-State eyeing a 2-1 lead, the Mountaineers would fend off five straight set-point opportunities and finished on a seven-point scoring run with a kill by Natalie Winter. WVU racked up 16 kills and hit .289, the only set in which West Virginia hit over .200 on the night.
K-State strung together a 9-2 scoring run midway through the fourth set, propelling the Cats to a 25-17 set win. Five different players recorded multiple kills in Set 4, including four from Carter on 10 swings without an error.
The final frame saw the Wildcats score the first five points, as they would lead from start to finish. Fernholz landed four kills on just four swings and picked up a solo block.
Natali Petrova led the Mountaineers with 17 kills with Kristin Lux adding 11. Setter Lacey Zerwas recorded a double-double with 42 assists and 12 digs.
K-State held a 67-56 advantage in total kills.
The Wildcats will head into an off week before starting a four-match homestand. K-State's next match is against Texas on Friday, October 16 at Bramlage Coliseum, starting at 4 p.m. on ESPNU. Fans can also hear Rob Voelker call the action on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with free, live audio streaming on K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Four Wildcats, including three true freshmen, reached double-figure kills on the night, led by Jayden Nembhard's match-high 19. Aliyah Carter tallied 17 kills while middle blocker Kadye Fernholz chipped in with a dozen while leading K-State (3-1, 3-1 Big 12) in hitting efficiency at .346.
"Gritty," head coach Suzie Fritz said after the match. "Two five-set road wins, that's tough to do. I was really proud of Nembhard. After not playing last weekend and coming in and playing 10 straight sets, her productivity and the maturity she showed on the left were really excellent. I thought Teana (Adams-Kaonohi) came in and gave us a nice upgrade in this one after being out last weekend.
"Really proud of them, it's really hard to win on the road."
Nembhard led the Cats in kills for the second straight match after putting up 24 kills in Thursday night's five-set victory. The Keller, Texas, native hit .222 and added three blocks Friday night, helping K-State to its first season sweep of West Virginia (1-3, 1-3 Big 12) since 2016.
The trio of Carter, Fernholz and Nembhard accounted for 46 of K-State's 67 kills. Fernholz's 12th kill of the night ended the match, as she set career highs in kills, digs (8) and blocks (7).
Sophomore setter Teana Adams-Kaonohi saw her first action of the season, coming off the bench to hand out a career-high 46 assists with seven digs and an ace.
K-State hit .382 in the fourth set and .389 in the decisive final set while racking up 24 kills to West Virginia's 13 over the final two frames. Conversely, the Wildcat defense held WVU to hitting percentages of .105 and .000 in the fourth and fifth sets, respectively.
Abigail Archibong put down 10 kills on 21 swings for a .286 efficiency while also adding four block assists. K-State totaled 13 team blocks in holding West Virginia to a .156 team hitting percentage.
Freshman libero Mackenzie Morris eclipsed the 20-dig mark for the first time in her career, registering a match-best 24 along with three service aces. Dru Kuck added 17 digs, a season high.
"We call them our littles, but our liberos were extra special, for me, in terms of all the hundreds of little plays that they're making that give us an opportunity," added Fritz. "I thought Kuck played incredibly well. I think Morris is playing incredibly well. But all of them – Loren Hinkle, Jacque Smith – they just feel like the glue that holds our team together."
West Virginia led throughout the entire opening set, scoring the first four points and leading by as many as seven at 17-10. K-State outscored WVU 6-2 late in the set and climbed to within two points, forcing a timeout with the score sitting at 23-21. The Mountaineers used five team blocks to limit the Wildcats to a .039 hitting efficiency. Carter and Nembhard were the only players to record multiple kills in the set, each picking up four.
The Wildcats trailed by as many as eight points in the second set, as WVU raced out to a 12-4 lead and later held a 17-9 edge. From there, K-State went on to score the next six points and forced a Mountaineer timeout. Later in the set, the Cats fought off two West Virginia set-point chances and were finally able to close the set when Adams-Kaonohi served up K-State's first ace of the match, 30-28.
In the third set with K-State eyeing a 2-1 lead, the Mountaineers would fend off five straight set-point opportunities and finished on a seven-point scoring run with a kill by Natalie Winter. WVU racked up 16 kills and hit .289, the only set in which West Virginia hit over .200 on the night.
K-State strung together a 9-2 scoring run midway through the fourth set, propelling the Cats to a 25-17 set win. Five different players recorded multiple kills in Set 4, including four from Carter on 10 swings without an error.
The final frame saw the Wildcats score the first five points, as they would lead from start to finish. Fernholz landed four kills on just four swings and picked up a solo block.
Natali Petrova led the Mountaineers with 17 kills with Kristin Lux adding 11. Setter Lacey Zerwas recorded a double-double with 42 assists and 12 digs.
K-State held a 67-56 advantage in total kills.
The Wildcats will head into an off week before starting a four-match homestand. K-State's next match is against Texas on Friday, October 16 at Bramlage Coliseum, starting at 4 p.m. on ESPNU. Fans can also hear Rob Voelker call the action on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with free, live audio streaming on K-StateSports.com/watch.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State hit .197 as a team (67 kills, 27 errors, 203 attacks).
- West Virginia turned in a .156 hitting percentage (56 kills, 27 errors, 186 swings).
- Four Wildcats reached double-figure kills, led by Nembhard's 19.
- True freshman combined for 46 of the Cats' 67 kills.
- Fernholz set career-best marks in kills (12), hitting percentage (.346), digs (8) and blocks (7).
- Morris dug a career-high 24 balls to go with three service aces.
- Kuck had a season-high 17 digs.
- Carter (17) eclipsed 10 or more kills for the fourth straight match.
- In the series, Nembhard totaled a team-high 43 kills (4.30 per set) while hitting .306.
- Carter racked up 33 kills (3.30 per set) and seven blocks.
- Over the two matches, the freshman trio of Carter, Nembhard and Fernholz combined for 94 of K-State's 129 kills (72.9%).
- K-State leads the all-time series 11-7.
- The Cats are now 6-4 in Morgantown.
- K-State is now 3-5 in the last eight meetings.
- K-State sweeps the season series from WVU for the first time since 2016.
- K-State has gone to five sets in three of its four matches this season and has played 19 out of a possible 20 sets.
Team Stats
KState
WVU
Kills
67
56
Errors
27
27
Attempts
203
186
Hitting %
.197
.156
Points
87
71
Assists
57
48
Aces
7
3
Blocks
13
12
Game Leaders
Kills
19
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
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