Kansas State University Athletics
SE: She’s Fearless – Freshmen Impress for K-State Volleyball in First Win
Sep 29, 2020 | Volleyball, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
It takes a special kind of play to get Suzie Fritz excited.
You don't coach volleyball in the Big 12 for two decades by living and dying with every point.
Wearing a mask this season on the K-State bench, Fritz is harder to read than ever. When the Wildcats faced Iowa State on Saturday night, she was never too up and never too down.
Until Mackenzie Morris made the kind of play that got Fritz very, clearly, wonderfully up.
"It was kind of just a look," Morris said. "She was like 'Great job!' and I knew I had to keep going. Just be relentless and give an all-out defensive effort for the team."
In the fourth set against Iowa State on Saturday, the Wildcats were clinging to a 10-8 lead and looking to close out the Cyclones for their first win of the season.
Iowa State middle blocker Candelaria Herrera, a senior who was supposed to be at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with Argentina this summer, tried to quick hit the Wildcats.
And there was Morris, in her second college game, diving onto the floor with her right arm outstretched to make a "pancake" save that kept the play alive for K-State.
And there was Fritz, on the edge of the court, pointing at Morris when the Wildcats won the point, in the universal symbol for "You just made a special play."
"She's fearless," Fritz said. "She's this tiny little thing and she's just fearless."
K-State beat Iowa State in four sets on Saturday with moments like that – taking down the preseason No. 3 in the Big 12 with one of the youngest rosters Fritz has brought to Manhattan.
When a block from Aliyah Carter won the match for K-State, four of the Wildcats on the floor were newcomers to the team. Three of them were in high school in 2019.
Watching a group of players take down an NCAA Tournament team when they're still learning how to win together? That should be enough to get K-State fans excited about the Wildcats.
"This is a team that could get a lot better in a short amount of time," Fritz said. "The way they approach it, the competitiveness, they want to be great and they're young enough to be able to make really significant jumps in really short windows of time."
On Saturday, K-State made a significant jump in about 24 hours.
During a COVID-adjusted season, the Wildcats will play a round robin schedule with back-to-back weekend matches against the other eight teams in the Big 12.
On Friday night, the Wildcats rallied from two sets down against Iowa State, only to fall 16-14 in a fifth-set heartbreaker.
In that final set, players like Carter were making their college debut and taking some big swings down the stretch against the Cyclones.
"I was excited. I was nervous. The beginning of the game for me really didn't go as planned, I hit it out a couple times, but that's just part of being a freshman," Carter said. "What really helped me settle in was just finally being able to play against another team."
One night later, Carter and redshirt junior Brynn Carlson led the Wildcats with 15 kills apiece.
Carter also came up with the winning block in the second set – teaming up with fellow freshman Kayde Fernholz – and the match-winning stuff in the fourth set.
"She was really good tonight. I think the whole challenge for a young player, and not just Carter, is going to be consistency," Fritz said. "I don't see us as a mature volleyball team yet, but I think we've made up a lot of ground from August 5. I think this team could be pretty special."
Fritz said the challenge for players like Carter and Morris will be reaching the point when their instincts can take over during a match.
They play two completely different positions – Carter is a high-flying outside hitter, Morris is a libero and defensive specialist – but both freshmen will need to adjust to what Fritz called an "incredibly instinctive" game.
"When you're a young player, often times you have to think a lot," she said. "You expend a great amount of energy trying to do what you need to do. The older players, the more mature you get, the less you have to think."
Carter and Morris were locked in on Saturday night, finishing with the team lead in kills and digs, respectively. It was a milestone weekend for the freshmen.
And that meant phone calls that have been two months and a global pandemic in the making.
"Probably going to call up my Dad," Carter said.
"I called my Mom," Morris said. "She was so proud of me and it was just a really great feeling."
It takes a special kind of play to get Suzie Fritz excited.
You don't coach volleyball in the Big 12 for two decades by living and dying with every point.
Wearing a mask this season on the K-State bench, Fritz is harder to read than ever. When the Wildcats faced Iowa State on Saturday night, she was never too up and never too down.
Until Mackenzie Morris made the kind of play that got Fritz very, clearly, wonderfully up.
"It was kind of just a look," Morris said. "She was like 'Great job!' and I knew I had to keep going. Just be relentless and give an all-out defensive effort for the team."
In the fourth set against Iowa State on Saturday, the Wildcats were clinging to a 10-8 lead and looking to close out the Cyclones for their first win of the season.
Iowa State middle blocker Candelaria Herrera, a senior who was supposed to be at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with Argentina this summer, tried to quick hit the Wildcats.
And there was Morris, in her second college game, diving onto the floor with her right arm outstretched to make a "pancake" save that kept the play alive for K-State.
And there was Fritz, on the edge of the court, pointing at Morris when the Wildcats won the point, in the universal symbol for "You just made a special play."
"She's fearless," Fritz said. "She's this tiny little thing and she's just fearless."
K-State beat Iowa State in four sets on Saturday with moments like that – taking down the preseason No. 3 in the Big 12 with one of the youngest rosters Fritz has brought to Manhattan.
When a block from Aliyah Carter won the match for K-State, four of the Wildcats on the floor were newcomers to the team. Three of them were in high school in 2019.
Watching a group of players take down an NCAA Tournament team when they're still learning how to win together? That should be enough to get K-State fans excited about the Wildcats.
"This is a team that could get a lot better in a short amount of time," Fritz said. "The way they approach it, the competitiveness, they want to be great and they're young enough to be able to make really significant jumps in really short windows of time."
On Saturday, K-State made a significant jump in about 24 hours.
During a COVID-adjusted season, the Wildcats will play a round robin schedule with back-to-back weekend matches against the other eight teams in the Big 12.
On Friday night, the Wildcats rallied from two sets down against Iowa State, only to fall 16-14 in a fifth-set heartbreaker.
In that final set, players like Carter were making their college debut and taking some big swings down the stretch against the Cyclones.
"I was excited. I was nervous. The beginning of the game for me really didn't go as planned, I hit it out a couple times, but that's just part of being a freshman," Carter said. "What really helped me settle in was just finally being able to play against another team."
One night later, Carter and redshirt junior Brynn Carlson led the Wildcats with 15 kills apiece.
Carter also came up with the winning block in the second set – teaming up with fellow freshman Kayde Fernholz – and the match-winning stuff in the fourth set.
"She was really good tonight. I think the whole challenge for a young player, and not just Carter, is going to be consistency," Fritz said. "I don't see us as a mature volleyball team yet, but I think we've made up a lot of ground from August 5. I think this team could be pretty special."
Fritz said the challenge for players like Carter and Morris will be reaching the point when their instincts can take over during a match.
They play two completely different positions – Carter is a high-flying outside hitter, Morris is a libero and defensive specialist – but both freshmen will need to adjust to what Fritz called an "incredibly instinctive" game.
"When you're a young player, often times you have to think a lot," she said. "You expend a great amount of energy trying to do what you need to do. The older players, the more mature you get, the less you have to think."
Carter and Morris were locked in on Saturday night, finishing with the team lead in kills and digs, respectively. It was a milestone weekend for the freshmen.
And that meant phone calls that have been two months and a global pandemic in the making.
"Probably going to call up my Dad," Carter said.
"I called my Mom," Morris said. "She was so proud of me and it was just a really great feeling."
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