Cats Prepped for First Roadtrip at WVU

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State is set for its first roadtrip of the season, as the Wildcats travel to take on West Virginia in a two-match series beginning Thursday at WVU Coliseum.

K-State (1-1, 1-1 Big 12) earned a series split with Iowa State at Bramlage Coliseum last weekend, rebounding from a five-set loss Friday to claim a four-set victory on Saturday. Brynn Carlson racked up a team-high 34 kills in the two matches as she eclipsed the 500-kill mark for her career.

The Wildcats also saw five players make their K-State debut, including Aliyah Carter who ranks second on the team with 29 kills (3.22 per set) and Mackenzie Morris who paces the Cats in digs with 28 (3.11 per set).

West Virginia (1-1, 1-1 Big 12) opens its home schedule Thursday after a road series split at Texas Tech to begin the season. Senior Briana Lynch leads the team in kills (26), hitting efficiency (.489) and blocks (8).

The Cats own a 9-7 edge in the all-time series and are 4-4 in Morgantown. WVU claimed both matchups a year ago and has taken five of the last six in the series.

Thursday's match will be broadcast to a national television audience on ESPNU, with first serve scheduled for 6 p.m. CT. Friday, which will start at 5 p.m. CT, will stream live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Both matches are available on 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 #3
K-STATE (1-1, 1-1 BIG 12) at WEST VIRGINIA (1-1, 1-1 BIG 12)
Thursday, October 1 // 6 p.m. CT // WVU Coliseum // Morgantown, W.Va.
Watch: ESPNU // Courtney Lyle (pxp), Jenny Hazelwood (analyst)
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats

MATCH #4
K-STATE (1-1, 1-1 BIG 12) at WEST VIRGINIA (1-1, 1-1 BIG 12)
Friday, October 2 // 5 p.m. CT // WVU Coliseum // Morgantown, W.Va.
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State opened its 47th volleyball season by hosting Iowa State last weekend.
The Wildcats rebounded from a five-set loss Friday to earn a four-set victory Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.
The Wildcats snapped an eight-game losing skid to the Cyclones, a streak that equaled K-State's longest in the Big 12 era.
Five players made their K-State debut over the weekend, including Aliyah Carter, Kadye Fernholz, Shelby Martin, Mackenzie Morris and Jayden Nembhard.
Brynn Carlson, K-State's kills leader a season ago, registered a team-high 19 kills Friday and tied for the team lead with 15 on Saturday (Carter).
Friday, Carlson eclipsed the 500-kill plateau as the redshirt junior now has 515 career kills.
In Friday's match, the Cats clawed back from a two-set deficit to force a winner-take-all fifth set.
In the match, four Wildcats reached double-digit kills, including 14 by Carter and 13 by Holly Bonde (tying her career high).
Martin, a senior transfer, handed out a career-high 60 assists to go with 12 digs Friday in her first match in a K-State uniform.
Morris, a freshman getting the start at libero, led the Cats in digs in both outings with 15 and 13, respectively.

SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA

West Virginia (1-1, 1-1 Big 12) earned a road series split at Texas Tech last week.
The Mountaineers were swept in their season opener on Thursday before claiming a four-set victory Friday at United Supermarkets Arena.
WVU, who finished 12-17 (3-13 Big 12) a season ago, retained four starters, including the libero, and eight letterwinners from a year ago.
Briana Lynch was the Mountaineers' lone selection on the 2020 Preseason All-Big 12 Team.
Lynch, a senior middle blocker, led WVU with 26 kills (3.71 per set) and a .489 hitting percentage to go with a team-high eight blocks (1.14 per set).
The Mountaineer offense ranks second in the Big 12 with 15.14 kills per set and 13.57 assists per set.
Alexa Hasting ranks second in the conference with 4.86 digs per set, including 23 in West Virginia's four-set win over TTU on Friday.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State leads the all-time series 9-7, dating back to 2012 when WVU joined the Big 12.
West Virginia swept the season series in 2019 and has won five of the last six matchups overall.
K-State is 4-4 all-time on the road vs. WVU and have dropped the last three meetings in Morgantown.
The Cats and Mountaineers have split the last 10 matchups in the series.
K-State last defeated the WVU on Nov. 3, 2018, a 3-0 decision at home.
K-State has swept the season series against West Virginia in 2012, 2015 and 2016.
WVU claimed both matchups during the 2017 and 2019 seasons.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is 9-7 in her career against WVU and 4-4 on the road.

TALENT PIPELINE

K-State was tabbed with the 23rd-best recruiting class in 2020, according to PrepVolleyball.com.
It marked the third consecutive season in which the Cats earned a top-30 national ranking.
K-State is one of just three teams in the Big 12 to be ranked in the country's top 30 in each of the last three seasons.
The 2020 class includes Carter, Fernholz, Mati, Morris and Nembhard.

IMMEDIATE IMPACT

Five players made their K-State debut over the weekend: Carter, Fernholz, Martin, Morris and Nembhard.
Four newcomers led the Wildcats in at least one statistical category against Iowa State.
Martin led the team in assists in both matches while Carter tied for the team lead with 15 kills Saturday.
Morris was the team leader in digs in both matches and Fernholz had a team-best five blocks in Saturday's win.
Carter's 3.22 kills per set is tied for third nationally among freshmen.
Martin, a senior transfer from East Carolina, produced the 29th double-double of her career while her 60 assists Friday were a career high.
Morris, who registered 15 and 13 digs, respectively. is ninth among freshmen in the country with 3.11 digs per set.

YOUNG GUNS

With a dozen underclassmen on its roster freshman and sophomores accounted for 79 of K-State's 121 kills in two matches (65%).
Bonde, a redshirt sophomore, matched her career high with 13 kills Friday while hitting .370.
Saturday, Bonde hit .400 while picking up nine kills and has a season hitting percentage of .383.
Abigail Archibong set career highs with 11 kills at a .562 clip and five blocks Friday night.
Archibong, who was limited to just 10 sets last season due to injury, leads the team in blocks (9), blocks per set (1.00) and hitting percentage (.407).
Underclassmen tallied 85 of 132 digs over the weekend (64%).

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Players Mentioned

Abigail Archibong

Holly Bonde

Brynn Carlson

Aliyah Carter

Kadye Fernholz

Shelby Martin

Mackenzie Morris

Jayden Nembhard

Kansas State University Athletics