No. 11 Wildcats Continue Road Swing at Texas Tech

Friday, November 6

Lubbock, TX

3 p.m.

Kansas State University

Texas Tech

K-State celebrates a point against Oklahoma at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas on October 22, 2020.

Nov 04, 2020 | Volleyball

Watch (Saturday)Listen Live Stats Match Notes (PDF)

MANHATTAN, Kan. – No. 11 K-State concludes a four-match road swing with a pair of matches at Texas Tech starting Friday at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas.

The Wildcats (6-4, 6-4 Big 12) are in the national poll for the fifth consecutive week and have won three of their last four matches after a split at the Dillons Sunflower Showdown at KU. Freshman outside hitter Aliyah Carter pocketed her second straight Big 12 Rookie of the Week honor after averaging 5.00 kills per set in the two matches.

Texas Tech (3-7, 3-7 Big 12), who had a bye week last week, looks to end a four-match losing skid. K-State and TTU split the season series a year ago and the Cats lead the all-time series 38-14.

Saturday's match will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Fans can also listen to Rob Voelker on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Free, live audio is available at K-StateSports.com/watch.

MATCH #11
#11 K-STATE (6-4, 6-4 BIG 12) at TEXAS TECH (3-7, 3-7 BIG 12)
Friday, November 6 // 3 p.m. // United Supermarkets Arena // Lubbock, Texas
Watch: N/A
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats

MATCH #12
#11 K-STATE (6-4, 6-4 BIG 12) at TEXAS TECH (3-7, 3-7 BIG 12)
Saturday, November 7 // 1 p.m. // United Supermarkets Arena // Lubbock, Texas
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State wraps up a four-match road swing with a pair of matches at Texas Tech on Friday and Saturday.
The Wildcats, ranked 11th in the country, split the 2020 Dillons Sunflower Showdown at Kansas last week.
After dropping Thursday's match in four sets, the Cats rebounded with a five-set victory over their rival on Friday night.
Aliyah Carter paced the K-State offense with 22 and 23 kills, respectively, in the two-match set.
Carter produced a career-high .450 hitting percentage on Thursday and a career-best eight digs on Friday.
Her efforts earned her a second consecutive Big 12 Rookie of the Week award.
Libero Mackenzie Morris again led the Cats in digs, turning in 12 and 18, respectively.
Morris has led K-State in digs in all 10 matches this season and has reached double figures in the category nine times.
Jayden Nembhard added a dozen kills at a .450 clips in Thursday's loss while Holly Bonde had 10 while hitting .360 on Friday.
Defensively, K-State racked up 11 team blocks on Friday, as Abigail Archibong, Carter and Kadye Fernholz each turned in five blocks.
K-State's six conference wins are its most since the 2016 season (9).

SCOUTING TEXAS TECH

Texas Tech (3-7, 3-7 Big 12), who had a bye week last week, has dropped four straight matches after facing top-five foes in Baylor and Texas.
The Red Raiders split each of their first three weekend series, going 1-1 against West Virginia, Iowa State and TCU.
TTU is led by Samantha Sanders, who has a team-high 119 kills (3.13 per set) and 131 points this season.
Allison Bloss is third in the conference with her .385 hitting percentage while Sanders ranks 10th in kills per set.
Emerson Solano ranks third in the Big 12 with 3.97 digs per set.
As a team, Texas Tech allows opponents to hit a league-high .265.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State leads the all-time series 38-14, dating back to 1982.
A season ago, the sides split the season series with each team winning on the road.
K-State's 3-0 win in Lubbock to end the 2019 season snapped a four-match losing streak to Texas Tech.
Prior to the four-match skid, the Cats had won the last seven against the Red Raiders (2014-17).
The Wildcats are 15-9 all-time in Lubbock.
Fritz is 30-8 in her career against the Red Raiders and has a 14-5 road record.
K-State is 6-4 in the last 10 meetings and 6-4 in the last 10 road matchups.
The Red Raiders will be the second straight opponent K-State has faced coming off a bye week.

CHECKING IN

K-State is ranked in the AVCA Fall Coaches' Poll for the fifth consecutive week, checking in as the 11th-ranked team.
K-State cracked the poll on Oct. 7 as the No. 15 squad, and are ranked for five straight weeks for the first time since 2014 (five straight).
The poll, which only ranks the four conferences playing in the fall, ranks the top 15 teams during the fall season.
This season marks the first time the Wildcats have cracked the AVCA Coaches' Poll since the 2016 when they went as high as No. 23 during the regular season.
It is the first time K-State has been in the nation's top 15 since the 2012 season.
The Cats are 231-107 (.683) all-time as a ranked team.

KILLER CARTER

True freshman Aliyah Carter has made a name for herself in 2020, earning her second straight Big 12 Rookie of the Week award on Tuesday.
Carter led K-State in each match at Kansas, eclipsing the 20-kill plateau in each with 22 and 23 kills, respectively.
Carter hit a career-best .450 on Thursday and added a career-high eight digs on Friday.
She averaged 5.00 kills per set last week while hitting at a .322 clip.
Carter has paced the Wildcats in kills in each of the past four matches, averaging 4.65 kills per set while hitting .230 in that stretch.
Carter broke the program's single-match freshman record with 26 kills on Oct. 16 against No. 1 Texas.
Carter's 26 kills were the most by any Wildcat since the 2011 season, when Lilla Porubek tallied 26 against Kansas.
Her career-best outing tied for the fifth-most kills in a single match in K-State history during the rally-scoring era (since 2001).
At 3.91 kills per set, Carter ranks third overall in the Big 12, first among league freshmen and second among freshmen nationally.

LAST FOUR MATCHES

K-State has won three of its last four matches, including a two-match sweep of Oklahoma (Oct. 22-23).
Over the last four matches, Carter paces the Wildcat offense with 4.65 kills per set while hitting .230.
Carter has accumulated 79 kills in that span after back-to-back matches with over 20 kills at KU.
Morris has served up a dozen aces over the last four matches, averaging 0.71 a set.
The freshman libero also has a team-high 63 digs (3.71 per set) over the last four matches.

THREE-HEADED MONSTER

The outside hitter trio of Brynn Carlson, Aliyah Carter and Jayden Nembhard have combined for 318 kills, with each averaging over 2.75 kills per set.
The trio has accounted for over 57 percent of K-State's 552 kills this season.
Carter leads the team with 172 kills (3.91 per set) while Nembhard averages 3.24 per set.
All three have turned in a 20-kill performance this season, including 24 kills by Nembhard at West Virginia (Oct. 1) and 20 by Carlson against Texas (Oct. 16).
The last time K-State had three different players record 20 or more kills was the 2016 season (Brooke Sassin, Bryna Vogel, Kylee Zumach).

DEFENSIVE CATS

As a team, K-State ranks in the top four in the Big 12 in both opponent hitting percentage (3rd) and digs per set (4th).
K-State held Oklahoma to hitting percentages of .120 and .092, respectively, during its two-match set, marking season lows for any Wildcat opponent.
The Wildcats have held opponents under .230 in seven of 10 outings.
Abigail Archibong ranks sixth in the league with 1.03 blocks per set while Mackenzie Morris' 3.70 digs per set ranks sixth.
Archibong's 10-block performance on Oct. 1 was the first double-digit block match in the conference as she is tied for the single-match high this year.

AWARD WINNERS

Following K-State's split in the Sunflower Showdown, Aliyah Carter took home her second straight Big 12 Rookie of the Week award.
The honor marked the fifth weekly award for K-State this season, as Archibong (defensive), Martin (offensive) and Nembhard (rookie) have each been recognized by the league.
K-State's five awards match Baylor and Texas for the most in the Big 12 this season.
Carter's award is the 60th weekly award under head coach Suzie Fritz.

MACK ATTACK

Freshman Mackenzie Morris has played every set as the K-State libero this season.
Morris, a Dallas, Texas, native, has a team-high 163 total digs (3.70 per set) and ranks sixth in the Big 12 in digs/set.
She has led the Wildcats in digs in all 10 matches, including back-to-back outings with at least 20 digs (24 at WVU, 21 vs. Texas).
Morris also leads the team with 19 service aces, including 12 coming in the last four matches.
Morris ranks third nationally in total service aces and has tallied multiple aces six times this season.

HELPING HAND

Senior transfer setter Shelby Martin ranks seventh in the Big 12 and 27th in the country at 9.32 assists/set.
Martin turned in K-State's first triple-double since 2014 with 38 assists, 11 kills and 10 digs against Oklahoma on Oct. 23.
Additionally, she has three double-doubles already this season, upping her career total to 31 after producing 28 in three seasons at East Carolina.
Her 60 assists in her Wildcat debut marked a career high.
Martin needs just 23 assists to crack 3,000 for her career and her 2,977 career assists rank fifth among active players.

GOING THE DISTANCE

So far in 2020, K-State has played 44 of a possible 50 sets, going the full five sets in six of the first 10 matches.
The Cats are 4-2 in five-set matches after Friday's five-set win at KU.
The Wildcats fought off a 1-2 deficit on back-to-back nights to win in five sets at West Virginia (Oct. 1-2).
Last season, K-State's five five-set wins marked its highest single-season total since the 2014 season (6).
The Wildcats' 10 five-set matches a season ago tied the program record.
Since 2017, K-State has played 29 five-set matches, going 13-16.