SE: Senior Night Ends with Signature Win for K-State Volleyball
Mar 22, 2021 | Volleyball, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
Suzie Fritz said it was a match that gave K-State its best chance of the spring to earn a shot at the NCAA Tournament.
So, when her Wildcats rolled past No. 24 Creighton on Saturday in a four-set victory, Fritz was happy to talk about her team's improved hitting efficiency or its dangerous back-row attack.
But she could also talk, for considerably longer, about two players - one who didn't play against the Bluejays and another who finished fourth on the team in kills. That would be Abigail Archibong and Megan Vernon, who the Wildcats honored on Senior Night after the match.
"I could be here for a while talking about those two," Fritz said. "They're both really unique and special human beings. It's been a difficult and challenging year for everyone, not just if you play volleyball, but in life. This team has stuck together under their leadership."
The thing about this spring season is that, when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, it's tough to determine where the Wildcats stand.
There's no tournament bracketology or nationally televised rankings show every week. The Wildcats finished third in the Big 12, beat a ranked team on Saturday and can't say for sure whether they will take part in the reduced, 48-team NCAA Tournament in Omaha next month.
But if that's the only reason this team was still playing, and sticking together, into late March, it's hard to imagine them coming out and beating a team like No. 24 Creighton in four sets.
And that bring us back to Vernon and Archibong, two players who made sure that winning a lot of volleyball matches is what this program does, but not who they are.
"Megan for us is kind of this voice of reason. She's one of those people you just trust to do a lot of things right," Fritz said. "Everybody loves her…She's majoring in genetics so she's going to go change the world. Probably going to go cure cancer. She's got bigger things ahead of her."
Before Vernon discovers the next great medical breakthrough, she helped the Wildcats solve a Creighton offense that, down a few outside hitters, was still capable of taking over a match.
Playing up front alongside Kadye Fernholz, Vernon helped the Wildcats out-block the Bluejays and hit a more-than-efficient .500 when she got involved in the K-State attack.
"I appreciated Shelby (Martin) throwing some of those up to me in transition," she said. "It felt great. I felt like everybody on the court was really connected. We all contributed to that win."
Archibong has been sidelined throughout the spring, after she collected Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors in October during the fall season.
"Abigail is on her second significant surgery," Fritz said. "To look at what she's been able to do after her redshirt year and bounce back from a torn labrum in her shoulder this past fall, then suffer a knee injury that doesn't allow her to play in the spring, she's had to endure a lot of hardships."
It hasn't slowed her impact off the court - not only for the volleyball team, but through Archibong's work as the SAAC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Executive Officer at K-State Athletics.
Archibong stepped into the role in the summer of 2020, balancing the volleyball season with the responsibilities of student-athlete leadership.
"She's been a tremendous advocate for the black student community and the black student-athlete community on campus," Fritz said. "She's made some necessary changes in our athletic department that I think will, in some ways, be her legacy."
In the Senior Night ceremony that followed the win over Creighton, every member of the Wildcats gathered around Vernon and Archibong for one more team photo at Bramlage Coliseum.
With players on the roster from nine different states and three countries, COVID-19 has made it difficult for many members of the Wildcats to go home and see their families this season.
One of Vernon's teammates once compared K-State Volleyball to the United Nations, and for that group to finish third in the Big 12 this season speaks volumes about the culture that Vernon and Archibong helped foster within the program.
"Since I've been here, I've only been able to go home about twice a year," Vernon, a native of Mississauga in Ontario, Canada, said. "Suzie and the coaches, they became like my parents away from home and my teammates are like my sisters. They're my family."
Even with the win over Creighton on Saturday, K-State volleyball still has to determine where exactly this journey will end. Could be in Omaha. Could be in Bramlage Coliseum next week.
But with help from Vernon and Archibong, it's already clear that for the Wildcats, the 2020-21 season has been a journey worth going on.
"They're incredible human beings," Fritz said. "What they have done as volleyball players has been incredibly special, but they have applied themselves in a lot of areas in life during their time here."
Suzie Fritz said it was a match that gave K-State its best chance of the spring to earn a shot at the NCAA Tournament.
So, when her Wildcats rolled past No. 24 Creighton on Saturday in a four-set victory, Fritz was happy to talk about her team's improved hitting efficiency or its dangerous back-row attack.
But she could also talk, for considerably longer, about two players - one who didn't play against the Bluejays and another who finished fourth on the team in kills. That would be Abigail Archibong and Megan Vernon, who the Wildcats honored on Senior Night after the match.
All 💜
— K-State Volleyball (@KStateVB) March 21, 2021
🏐 @_MeganVrn x @AbigailA15 🏐#KStateVB pic.twitter.com/nuql3HgmW5
"I could be here for a while talking about those two," Fritz said. "They're both really unique and special human beings. It's been a difficult and challenging year for everyone, not just if you play volleyball, but in life. This team has stuck together under their leadership."
The thing about this spring season is that, when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, it's tough to determine where the Wildcats stand.
There's no tournament bracketology or nationally televised rankings show every week. The Wildcats finished third in the Big 12, beat a ranked team on Saturday and can't say for sure whether they will take part in the reduced, 48-team NCAA Tournament in Omaha next month.
But if that's the only reason this team was still playing, and sticking together, into late March, it's hard to imagine them coming out and beating a team like No. 24 Creighton in four sets.
And that bring us back to Vernon and Archibong, two players who made sure that winning a lot of volleyball matches is what this program does, but not who they are.
"Megan for us is kind of this voice of reason. She's one of those people you just trust to do a lot of things right," Fritz said. "Everybody loves her…She's majoring in genetics so she's going to go change the world. Probably going to go cure cancer. She's got bigger things ahead of her."
Before Vernon discovers the next great medical breakthrough, she helped the Wildcats solve a Creighton offense that, down a few outside hitters, was still capable of taking over a match.
Playing up front alongside Kadye Fernholz, Vernon helped the Wildcats out-block the Bluejays and hit a more-than-efficient .500 when she got involved in the K-State attack.
"I appreciated Shelby (Martin) throwing some of those up to me in transition," she said. "It felt great. I felt like everybody on the court was really connected. We all contributed to that win."
Archibong has been sidelined throughout the spring, after she collected Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors in October during the fall season.
"Abigail is on her second significant surgery," Fritz said. "To look at what she's been able to do after her redshirt year and bounce back from a torn labrum in her shoulder this past fall, then suffer a knee injury that doesn't allow her to play in the spring, she's had to endure a lot of hardships."
It hasn't slowed her impact off the court - not only for the volleyball team, but through Archibong's work as the SAAC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Executive Officer at K-State Athletics.
Archibong stepped into the role in the summer of 2020, balancing the volleyball season with the responsibilities of student-athlete leadership.
"She's been a tremendous advocate for the black student community and the black student-athlete community on campus," Fritz said. "She's made some necessary changes in our athletic department that I think will, in some ways, be her legacy."
In the Senior Night ceremony that followed the win over Creighton, every member of the Wildcats gathered around Vernon and Archibong for one more team photo at Bramlage Coliseum.
With players on the roster from nine different states and three countries, COVID-19 has made it difficult for many members of the Wildcats to go home and see their families this season.
One of Vernon's teammates once compared K-State Volleyball to the United Nations, and for that group to finish third in the Big 12 this season speaks volumes about the culture that Vernon and Archibong helped foster within the program.
"Since I've been here, I've only been able to go home about twice a year," Vernon, a native of Mississauga in Ontario, Canada, said. "Suzie and the coaches, they became like my parents away from home and my teammates are like my sisters. They're my family."
Even with the win over Creighton on Saturday, K-State volleyball still has to determine where exactly this journey will end. Could be in Omaha. Could be in Bramlage Coliseum next week.
But with help from Vernon and Archibong, it's already clear that for the Wildcats, the 2020-21 season has been a journey worth going on.
"They're incredible human beings," Fritz said. "What they have done as volleyball players has been incredibly special, but they have applied themselves in a lot of areas in life during their time here."
Players Mentioned
K-State Men's Basketball | Postgame Press Conference at Colorado
Thursday, February 26
K-State Rowing | Media Day
Tuesday, February 24
K-State Rowing | Weights Practice
Tuesday, February 24
K-State Tennis | Weekend Recap vs Old Dominion & Minnesota
Tuesday, February 24
