Cats Suffer Setback in Sunflower Showdown Opener

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Despite a match-high 16 kills from Aliyah Carter, K-State's offense sputtered in a four-set loss to Kansas Friday night in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown, 22-25, 25-21, 23-25, 14-25, at Bramlage Coliseum.

Carter was the only Wildcat to reach double-digit kills, as she hit at a .214 efficiency and added seven digs. K-State (15-11, 6-9 Big 12) hit below .100 in each of the three sets it dropped and finished with a .136 team hitting percentage.

"Just disappointing, an opportunity at home against a very good Kansas team," said head coach Suzie Fritz. "I just thought that from an execution perspective, we've got to be significantly better. We hurt ourselves way too much, too many attack errors and not necessarily managing our swings at a high level.

"In contrast, I thought we did a pretty good job with our serving and taking them out of system quite a bit, but then we've got to be able to do a better job of defending left-side attack. We missed momentum opportunities, too many errors on our side against a good team. Felt we let an opportunity get away from us at home."

KU (15-11, 7-8 Big 12) owned a 55-46 edge in kills and hit .254 on the night. Three Jayhawks cracked double-figure kills, led by 14 from Caroline Bien at a .294 pace. Jenny Mosser finished with a dozen and Caroline Crawford added 11.

Kansas hit .220 or above in each of the night's four frames, including a match-best .296 mark in closing out the contest.

With the match tied at a set apiece, the Wildcats found themselves down 15-8 following a four-point Kansas run. Behind the serve of Loren Hinkle, K-State went on a 5-0 burst that included two service aces, cutting the deficit to just two.

K-State later tied the score at 23 after back-to-back kills from Sydney Bolding. The Jayhawks earned a 2-1 match lead after tallying the third set's final two points.

Bolding led K-State with her .368 hitting percentage, as she put down nine kills on 19 swings. The junior middle blocker also added a team-high four blocks.

"Yeah, she's gotten better and better," Fritz said of Bolding, in her first year at K-State after transferring from Jacksonville. "The relationship between her and Te (Adams-Kaonohi) has evolved, and I think she is one who is starting to move the ball around a lot more. She's improved so much from where she started at the beginning of the year. No question that was a bright spot for us."

With the one-set advantage, KU raced out to an 8-2 lead in the fourth, including five unanswered points. After rattling off a 6-1 scoring run, the Jayhawks possessed a commanding 14-5 edge and later closed it out by scoring four of the night's final five points.

Carter accounted for four of the Cats' eight kills in the fourth set. Offensively, K-State hit a match-low .038, as it committed seven errors on 26 attacks.

London Davis, who came off the bench late in set two for KU, put down five kills on seven swings. Davis finished with a team-leading .538 efficiency, as she logged seven kills on 13 swings without an error.

K-State hit .324 in its second-set victory, getting five kills from Carter on nine attacks without an error. Haley Warner added four kills on just five swings and Bolding put down three kills on three swings.

Out of a timeout and training by two, 11-9, K-State went on the score eight of the next 10 points to seize a 17-12 lead. A five-point run came on the serve of Mackenzie Morris, who put together three consecutive service aces.

Morris ended the night with a career-high-tying four aces, while the Cats totaled 10 in the match to equal a season high. Morris also finished with a team-leading 16 digs.

Warner turned in nine kills and three blocks and Jayden Nembhard, who came off the bench for the Cats, ended the night with five kills.

KU held a 67-49 lead in team digs, with three Jayhawks eclipsing double figures. Setter Camryn Turner produced a double-double with her 44 assists and match-high 20 digs.

The loss extended K-State's losing streak to three matches, which equals its season long. K-State has rebounded from a series-opening loss to split a conference series three times this season.

"They have shown throughout the course of the season a pretty strong aptitude to be able to come back and be better," Fritz added of her team's resilience. "We've done that several times. I'd like them to do it the first time, but they have shown over several occurrences they've come back and been significantly better on night two. We'll try to make some changes. We'll try to coach them better."

The 2021 Dillons Sunflower Showdown wraps up Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Bramlage Coliseum, as K-State will recognize three graduating student-athletes in Holly Bonde, Kayley Hollywood and Jacque Smith. Saturday's contest will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Free, live audio is also available online at K-StateSports.com/watch.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

K-State turned in a .136 hitting percentage (46 kills, 26 errors, 147 attempts).
KU finished with a .254 efficiency (55 kills, 21 errors, 134 attempts).
Carter led all players with 16 kills while hitting .214.
Bolding led the Cats with her .368 hitting efficiency (9 kills, 19 attacks).
Warner added nine kills while Nembhard contributed five.
Morris paced K-State with 16 digs and four aces.
Morris' four aces equaled her career high and was her third four-ace outing of the season.
The Wildcats' 10 aces matched a single-match high (Sept. 4 at UCSB).
Bolding registered a team-high four blocks while Warner had three.
Teana Adams-Kaonohi handed out 37 assists to go with seven digs.
Hinkle and Smith each finished with seven digs and two aces.
KU held a 67-49 edge in digs and 11-7 lead in total blocks.
KU's Turner turned in a double-double with 44 assists and a match-high 20 digs.
Three Jayhawks reached double-figure kills, led by 14 from Bien.
Mosser finished with 12 and Crawford added 11.
Crawford recorded six total blocks (2 solo, 4 assists).
Davis led all players with her .538 hitting efficiency (7 kills, 13 swings).

NOTES

K-State leads the all-time series, 67-57-1, dating back to 1974.
The Wildcats are 30-19 at home against KU.
Fritz is 23-17 against the Jayhawks in her career.
The Cats and Jayhawks have split the last 36 matchups in the series overall, going back to 2003.
K-State is now 8-5 in four-set matches this season.
The Cats are 8-3 this season when splitting the first two sets.
The three-match losing streak equals the Wildcats' longest of the season.

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Team Stats

Aliyah Carter

Haley Warner

Sydney Bolding

Jayden Nembhard

Players Mentioned

Teana Adams-Kaonohi

Sydney Bolding

Holly Bonde

Aliyah Carter

Loren Hinkle

Kayley Hollywood

Mackenzie Morris

Jayden Nembhard

Haley Warner

Players Mentioned

Teana Adams-Kaonohi

Sydney Bolding

Holly Bonde

Aliyah Carter

Loren Hinkle

Kayley Hollywood

Mackenzie Morris

Jayden Nembhard

Haley Warner

Kansas State University Athletics