K-State Drops Five-Setter to Jayhawks on Senior Night

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Teana Adams-Kaonohi and Aliyah Carter each recorded double-doubles, but Kansas climbed out of a two-set hole to hand K-State a five-set defeat on Senior Night, 25-21, 25-20, 16-25, 21-25, 12-15, at Bramlage Coliseum.

K-State (15-12, 6-10 Big 12) hit above .260 in the claiming the night's first two sets, as Carter logged 12 of her match-leading 18 kills in that stretch. KU (16-11, 8-8 Big 12) recorded 35 kills to the Wildcats' 16 in winning the next two frames and forcing a decisive set.

"I thought (sets) one, two and five were maybe some of the best volleyball we've played," said head coach Suzie Fritz. "We were pretty good in game five. We hit over .300 and lost the game. A pretty significant upgrade on their part in (sets) three and five in particular.

"Pretty disappointing to be able to be up two at home with a lot of implications, if you will, and not be able to close that one out. We've kind of said all along that we're in a fight with consistency and I think that has continued. Really good volleyball teams play good volleyball for a really long time."

In the fifth, the Jayhawks jumped out to a 7-2 lead after rattling off four straight points. The Cats clawed within two, 8-6, after a three-point run of their own, capped by a block from Adams-Kaonohi and Sydney Bolding.

Later in the set, a Haley Warner kill brought the Cats within two again at 13-11. However, a two-point gap would be as close as K-State would come, as the sides alternated the match's final nine points.

K-State hit .304 in the final frame, as each team registered nine kills. Kansas got a pair of service aces while the Wildcats committed one service error.

"I think there was a significant difference in what we were getting out of our serving in the first two games and maybe we let up, didn't stay quite as aggressive," Fritz said of what changed after two sets. "Now they're in system a little bit more so you're seeing a little bit more quick and right.

"London Davis was a difference maker. They brought in a different opposite, maybe a little bit more offensive and now all of a sudden you get a whole other element over there that you have to contend with.

Davis came off the bench for KU and logged 13 kills at a .417 clip, with all of her kills coming after the second set. The freshman put down six kills on eight swings in the third, helping the Jayhawks to a 17-6 advantage in kills.

Davis added six more kills, on 10 attempts, in the fourth, while Caroline Crawford added five. KU owned an 18-10 lead in kills, while the Cats hit .119 in the fourth.

Late in set four, Holly Bonde brought the Cats within a point at 20-19. Kansas responded by scoring four of the next five, a span that included kills from Crawford and Davis.

Bonde ended the night with 11 kills while middle blocker Kadye Fernholz turned in 10 at a .333 efficiency. Bolding and Fernholz led the way with five block assists each.

Bonde was one of three graduating Wildcats to be recognized after the match on Senior Night, along with Kayley Hollywood and Jacque Smith.

Smith's night ended with 10 digs and two aces.

"It's hard to express the love and appreciation that I have for that group of seniors," Fritz said of her senior class. "You know, it's a little rare these days where somebody sticks with you for four or five years and that group did. They all went through, at any given time, they all went through pretty significant injuries at different times that were months of recovery at different times. They all had to go through a redshirt or not playing or waiting their turn and they stayed at it. Now look at them, so the love and the appreciation and the pride that I have for them, for the work and really the women that they have become is unmeasurable.

In K-State's regular season finale, it suffered its first five-set defeat of the season. Both the Wildcats and Jayhawks are in search of an at-large bid into this year's NCAA Volleyball Championship, with the bracket being announce Sunday evening.

"We had an opportunity to kind of have it in our control, and now I think it'll just be up to how they judge your resume and the teams, what it looks like and what's around us and we will clearly be a bubble team going into it," added Fritz on her team's postseason chances. "I personally believe that we're an NCAA tournament team. I believe that there's a pack of five teams in the conference that should all be getting in. I think there's a reason we've been beating each other up is because they're all good."

The Wildcats will await their postseason fate on Sunday, with the NCAA Volleyball Selection Show at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU. The first round of the 2021 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship begins Thursday, December 2 on campus sites.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

K-State turned in a .206 hitting percentage (56 kills, 20 errors, 175 attempts).
KU finished with a .222 efficiency (71 kills, 29 errors, 189 attempts).
Carter led all players with 18 kills and added 15 digs.
It marked her 13^th double-double of the season.
Bonde (11) and Fernholz (10) each reached double-digit kills.
Adams-Kaonohi turned in a double-double with 48 assists and 12 digs.
Mackenzie Morris led the Wildcats with 20 digs, her sixth 20-dig outing of the season and 12^th of her career.
Loren Hinkle finished with 14 digs while Smith added 10.
Hinkle and Morris led K-State with two aces each.
The Cats reached 10 or more blocks for the 14^th time this season.
Bolding and Fernholz both produced five block assists.
Adams-Kaonohi and Warner finished with four blocks apiece.
KU's Camryn Turner turned in her second straight double-double with 59 assists and 20 digs.
Turner flirted with a triple-double, logging eight kills on 16 swings (.533).
Four Jayhawks reached double-figure kills, led by 17 from Caroline Bien.
Crawford finished with 15 kills, Davis 13 and 11 came from Jenny Mosser.
Mosser also recorded a double-double with 19 digs.
Crawford registered a match-high six blocks.

NOTES

K-State leads the all-time series, 67-59-1, dating back to 1974.
The Wildcats are 30-21 at home against KU.
Fritz is 23-19 against the Jayhawks in her career.
The Cats and Jayhawks have split the last 38 matchups in the series overall, going back to 2003.
K-State lost its first five-set match of the season (4-1).
The Wildcats have won eight of their last 10 five-set contests, going back to last season.
The four-match losing streak marks the Wildcats' longest of the season.
The match was the first this season in which K-State led 2-0 and lost.
During the match, K-State Athletics announced the naming of K-State volleyball's new home, Morgan Family Arena, which is scheduled to be completed ahead of the 2023 season.

Love our Seniors 💜#KStateVB x Family pic.twitter.com/X5uaJxpHCS
— K-State Volleyball (@KStateVB) November 28, 2021

Players Mentioned

Teana Adams-Kaonohi

Sydney Bolding

Holly Bonde

Aliyah Carter

Kadye Fernholz

Loren Hinkle

Kayley Hollywood

Mackenzie Morris

Jacque Smith

Haley Warner