K-State Faces Final Road Test at No. 2 Texas

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State's final Big 12 road series features No. 2-ranked Texas, as the Wildcats and Longhorns will meet Thursday and Friday at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Texas.

K-State (15-8, 6-6 Big 12) has won four of its last five conference matches after earning a weekend split at Iowa State last week. The Cats snapped a 13-match road losing streak to the Cyclones, picking up their first win at Hilton Coliseum since 2007.

Libero Mackenzie Morris, who led the Big 12 with 4.29 digs per set last week, took home her second Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week award Tuesday. Morris tallied 16 digs in K-State's straight-set victory Saturday and ranks fourth in the league with her season average of 4.15 digs per set.

Texas (20-1, 11-1 Big 12) spent the first 11 weeks of the season as the nation's No. 1 team and boast a 12-0 home record this season. The Longhorns have won 57 straight home conference matches, dating back to the 2014 season.

Since 2016, the Cats have pushed UT to five sets four times, the most of any Big 12 team in that span. The Longhorns lead the overall series, 45-7, as K-State last defeated Texas in 2003.

The two-match set will air on the Longhorn Network and the ESPN app. Both contests can also be heard on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) with live, streaming audio available at K-StateSports.com/Watch.

MATCH #24
K-STATE (15-8, 6-6 BIG 12) at #2 TEXAS (20-1, 11-1 BIG 12)
Thursday, November 18 // 7 p.m. // Gregory Gymnasium // Austin, Texas
Watch: Longhorn Network // ESPN app
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats

MATCH #25
K-STATE (15-8, 6-6 BIG 12) at #2 TEXAS (20-1, 11-1 BIG 12)
Friday, November 19 // 7 p.m. // Gregory Gymnasium // Austin, Texas
Watch: Longhorn Network // ESPN app
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 concludes its final road trip of the season with two matches at No. 2 Texas starting Thursday.
The Wildcats, who are in a fourth-place tie in the Big 12 standings, are coming off a road series split at Iowa State last week.
The Cats rebounded from a four-game setback Thursday with a straight-set victory Saturday, their first road win against the Cyclones since 2007.
In the victory, Aliyah Carter and Holly Bonde led the offense with 15 and 10 kills, respectively.
K-State owned a 43-32 edge in kills in Saturday's victory after being out-killed 60-44 in four sets Thursday.
Defensively, K-State registered a dozen blocks over three sets with a career-high coming from Sydney Bolding.
Bonde added five while Kadye Fernholz and Haley Warner each added four, helping limit Iowa State to a .133 team hitting percentage.
Libero Mackenzie Morris led the back row with 14 digs Thursday before a match-high 16 on Saturday.
Morris led the Big 12 with her 4.29-digs-per-set average last week, more than 0.50 digs a set more than any other player, on her way to earning her second Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honor.

SCOUTING TEXAS

Texas (20-1, 11-1 Big 12), ranked No. 2 in the country, is coming off back-to-back sweeps at home over Oklahoma.
The Longhorns sit atop the Big 12 standings and are 12-0 at home this season.
UT has lost just two sets at home in 2021, and none in conference action, as it has won its last 55 Big 12 home contests.
Brionne Butler leads the league with her .447 hitting percentage while Logan Eggleston is third in at 3.89 kills per set.
Asjia O'Neal ranks second with 1.27 blocks per set.
As a team, Texas is the Big 12 leader in hitting percentage (.334), opponent hitting percentage (.156), assists per set (12.70), kills per set (13.66), blocks per set (2.67) and aces per set (2.23).
The Longhorns rank in the nation's top five in aces per set and hitting percentage.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Texas leads the all-time series, 45-7, dating back to 1981.
A season ago, Texas won two matchups at Bramlage Coliseum as the No. 1 team in the country.
The Wildcats took the Longhorns to five sets in last season's series opener and have pushed UT to five sets four times since 2016 - the most of any Big 12 team in that span.
During the five-set defeat to UT, Aliyah Carter put down 26 kills, which was then a freshman program record (Carter later broke her own freshman record with 27 kills).
On the road, K-State is 3-22 all-time at Texas and has dropped its last 18 matches in Austin, last winning at Gregory Gymnasium in 2001 (3-1).
Overall, the Longhorns have won 35 straight in the series, marking the Cats' longest losing streak to any single opponent.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is 3-37 in her career against the Longhorns and 1-18 on the road.

VS. RANKED OPPONENTS

This weekend's series with No. 2 Texas will mark the Wildcats' fourth ranked opponent this season.
Four of K-State's eight losses have come against ranked teams in No. 5 Nebraska (3-1), No. 21 Pepperdine (3-0) and No. 10 Baylor (3-0, 3-0).
Texas has been ranked in the AVCA Coaches' Poll in each of the last 34 meetings, including being in the top 10 in the last 20 matchups.
Last season, K-State finished 1-4 against ranked teams, picking up a four-set victory over No. 24 Creighton on March 20.
The victory over the Bluejays marked the program's first ranked win since the 2018 season.
The Cats seek their first top-10 victory since defeating No. 6 Hawaii on the road in 2016.
K-State last defeated a top-five team in 2011, when they ousted No. 2 Nebraska in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Lincoln.
All-time, the Cats have seven wins against the AVCA's top 10 (7-124) and two against the top five (2-78).

IT'S A PARTY

K-State has reached double-digit blocks in 13 of 22 matches this year, including 10 or more blocks in six of its last eight matches.
K-State put together four consecutive matches with double-figure blocks (Oct. 2-21), marking the Cats' longest stretch of 10-block matches since 2014.
The 13 10-block contests are K-State's highest single-season total since 2016 (15).
On Oct. 21 at TCU, K-State totaled a season-best 16 team blocks with Kadye Fernholz notching a career-best 10.
Fernholz became the second Wildcat this season to reach double-figure blocks, joining Kayley Hollywood (Sept. 18 at Omaha).
Additionally, the Cats have out-blocked their opponents in 18 of 23 matches, going 14-4 in those contests.
With 10 total blocks against Iowa State, Bolding cracked the Big 12's top 10 with her season average of 1.14 (ninth).
Fernholz has registered at least three blocks in 17 of 21 matches in which she has appeared.
A Wildcat has reached at least five blocks in a match 34 times this season, led by Fernholz's 11 five-block outings.

KILLER CARTER

Aliyah Carter is one of two players in the Big 12 averaging over 4.00 kills a set at 4.11, trailing only Baylor's Yossiana Pressley (4.70).
Five times Carter has eclipsed the 20-kill plateau, with her fifth coming on Oct. 27 against Texas Tech (21 kills).
Carter has hit over .320 in four of her five 20-kill outings, including a .327 mark when she picked up a season-high 23 against TCU on Oct. 22.
She now has 11 career matches with 20 or more kills, tying her for second in program history during the rally-scoring era.
Entering the season with one double-double, Carter has produced 12 double-doubles in 23 matches this season - with a career-high 20 digs coming against Fresno State (Sept. 11).
She has carded 10 double-doubles over her last 17 contests.

MACK ATTACK

Mackenzie Morris, who has played every set in her career as the Wildcat libero, is fourth in the Big 12 with her 4.15 digs per set.
Twice she has claimed Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors, earning the award on Tuesday after leading the conference with 4.29 digs per set last week - more than .050 digs a set better than anyone in the league.
She took home her first Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week award on Oct. 19 after leading the league with 5.68 digs per set over two matches against West Virginia.
Morris led all players with 19 digs over four sets on Thursday before tallying 22 more in three sets against the Mountaineers Friday.
Her 22 digs tied the third-highest total in a three-set match during the rally-scoring era in program history.
With 22 digs in the series finale against the Red Raiders, Morris now has 11 career matches with 20 or more digs, moving her into fourth place in K-State history during the rally-scoring era.

CARDIAC CATS

This season, the Cats are 4-0 in five-set matches after hanging on to beat TTU in five on Oct. 27 at home.
The Cats have won eight of their last nine and 10 of their last 12 five-set matches, dating back to last season.
In 2020, K-State went to five sets in nine of 21 matches, going 6-3 in those contests.
The Wildcats went 4-0 in five-set matches last season on the road and twice came back from 1-2 deficits.
Since 2017, K-State has played 36 five-set matches, going 19-17.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

The Wildcats are 9-1 this season when winning the first set and 7-0 when leading 2-0.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is 300-59 (.836) in her career when leading a match 1-0.
The Wildcats are 8-2 when splitting the first two sets and 12-0 when leading the match 2-1.
K-State has hit over .300 in a match three times this season, with two of those being five-set contests.
It marks the first time in program history (rally-scoring era) that the Cats have two five-set matches with better than a .300 efficiency in the same season.
The last time K-State hit .300 or better in a five-set match was the 2017 season.
This season, K-State is 13-2 when hitting .200 or better 12-1 when holding opponents under .200.
In her career, Fritz is 136-3 when her team hits north of .300 while she is 71-0 when holding opponents under .100.

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Bolding

Holly Bonde

Aliyah Carter

Kadye Fernholz

Kayley Hollywood

Mackenzie Morris

Haley Warner

Kansas State University Athletics