SE: Last Chance to Dance – K-State Volleyball Hoping Steady Play Leads to Postseason
Mar 29, 2021 | Volleyball, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
The biggest match of the season for K-State Volleyball is less than 72 hours away.
It would seem, based on the unique requirements of a COVID-19 season, that adding a match with No. 6 Baylor to their schedule on Wednesday afternoon means the 'Cats are going all in.
The bracket for the 48-team NCAA Volleyball Tournament comes out on Sunday, and a win in Waco would give K-State their second victory over a ranked opponent this spring. Welcome to life on the bubble.
Before they get to Baylor, the Wildcats had to get through Wayne State on Sunday afternoon. In their final match of the season in Manhattan, K-State grabbed a commanding three-set win.
"I liked our defensive effort," head coach Suzie Fritz said. "From that perspective, we did a nice job, generated productive touches at the net and handled the off-speed stuff in a way that allowed us to get a swing."
The formula against Wayne State was the same one K-State has used throughout the spring: a steady dose of Aliyah Carter, consistency from Mackenzie Morris and the team's libero/DS core, plus a rotation of players off the bench that helped K-State hold on down the stretch.
The challenge on Sunday, facing a Division II team the 'Cats knew they should beat and one they had to in order to keep their postseason hopes alive, was a new one for K-State.
"We tried to caution against any complacency," Fritz said. "I can remember several plays from the match where a back row effort play really sparked the momentum that we needed. All of the liberos and Carter played back there. There are a number of skills required to be a good defender, and I feel like we kind of had to bring them all out in that one."
As she has all season, Carter delivered the highlights with a team-high 22 kills for the Wildcats, keeping K-State on schedule when the offense was searching for consistency.
Carter is writing one of the most impressive freshman campaigns in program history. She begins the last week of the season as a four-time Big 12 Rookie of the Week and an Offensive Player of the Week award winner.
It's easy to forget in March, but when K-State Volleyball returned to campus in the fall, the 'Cats brought back just one of their top four attackers from a team that finished eighth in the Big 12.
Carter's ability to step into a lead role on offense has been huge for K-State this season. Against Wayne State, she rarely came off the floor, even stepping into the back row when Fritz rotated in another outside hitter. That's a part of her game that Carter has developed this spring.
"One of her big advantages was that she came in last spring, so she's not a first semester freshman," Fritz said. "I think for a lot of players in terms of adjusting to speed and power and those types of things, she had a semester to be able to do that. We had a pretty good idea that she was going to be an impactful part of the team."
Another new arrival for the Wildcats this season was graduate transfer Shelby Martin. After a decorated career with East Carolina, Martin has split time with Teana Adams-Kaonohi at setter this spring, with both players sharing the role against Wayne State on Sunday afternoon.
When she was on the sidelines, Martin said she took on more of a big picture view of the match, looking for ways to help the Wildcats hold off a Wayne State team that didn't go away.
"When you're out there, you kind of just go with the flow of the game and you're really paying attention to what's open on the other side," Martin said. "I think when you're taking a step back and looking at the court from that different perspective, you can tell who's performing well."
For K-State, many of those crucial performances came from the back row. Morris snagged 22 digs to keep the Wildcats from dropping points against Wayne State, while Loren Hinkle and Dru Kuck combined for 16 digs to round out the DS/liberos on Sunday.
Even in a sweep, K-State had to battle all afternoon and came back in the third set to put away Wayne State.
The Wildcats were more often the underdogs looking to spring an upset in the fall, after they were picked to finish second-to-last in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll.
It's a role the Wildcats will be cast in again when they face No. 6 Baylor on Wednesday.
Riding a three-game winning streak and with everything to play for against the Bears, Martin is betting on her team's growth this spring.
"I think we've definitely proven ourselves to be less emotional and more steady," she said. "I know that Wayne State really gave us a run for our money and were awesome on their side, so we had to step our game up, play to our level and just play our game as much as we could."
The biggest match of the season for K-State Volleyball is less than 72 hours away.
It would seem, based on the unique requirements of a COVID-19 season, that adding a match with No. 6 Baylor to their schedule on Wednesday afternoon means the 'Cats are going all in.
The bracket for the 48-team NCAA Volleyball Tournament comes out on Sunday, and a win in Waco would give K-State their second victory over a ranked opponent this spring. Welcome to life on the bubble.
Before they get to Baylor, the Wildcats had to get through Wayne State on Sunday afternoon. In their final match of the season in Manhattan, K-State grabbed a commanding three-set win.
A 3-0 sweep is in the 📚 and we closed out the 🏠 schedule with a W. #KStateVB Match Highlights vs Wayne State ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Ps3RiYTFZq
— K-State Volleyball (@KStateVB) March 28, 2021
"I liked our defensive effort," head coach Suzie Fritz said. "From that perspective, we did a nice job, generated productive touches at the net and handled the off-speed stuff in a way that allowed us to get a swing."
The formula against Wayne State was the same one K-State has used throughout the spring: a steady dose of Aliyah Carter, consistency from Mackenzie Morris and the team's libero/DS core, plus a rotation of players off the bench that helped K-State hold on down the stretch.
The challenge on Sunday, facing a Division II team the 'Cats knew they should beat and one they had to in order to keep their postseason hopes alive, was a new one for K-State.
"We tried to caution against any complacency," Fritz said. "I can remember several plays from the match where a back row effort play really sparked the momentum that we needed. All of the liberos and Carter played back there. There are a number of skills required to be a good defender, and I feel like we kind of had to bring them all out in that one."
As she has all season, Carter delivered the highlights with a team-high 22 kills for the Wildcats, keeping K-State on schedule when the offense was searching for consistency.
Carter is writing one of the most impressive freshman campaigns in program history. She begins the last week of the season as a four-time Big 12 Rookie of the Week and an Offensive Player of the Week award winner.
It's easy to forget in March, but when K-State Volleyball returned to campus in the fall, the 'Cats brought back just one of their top four attackers from a team that finished eighth in the Big 12.
Carter's ability to step into a lead role on offense has been huge for K-State this season. Against Wayne State, she rarely came off the floor, even stepping into the back row when Fritz rotated in another outside hitter. That's a part of her game that Carter has developed this spring.
"One of her big advantages was that she came in last spring, so she's not a first semester freshman," Fritz said. "I think for a lot of players in terms of adjusting to speed and power and those types of things, she had a semester to be able to do that. We had a pretty good idea that she was going to be an impactful part of the team."
Another new arrival for the Wildcats this season was graduate transfer Shelby Martin. After a decorated career with East Carolina, Martin has split time with Teana Adams-Kaonohi at setter this spring, with both players sharing the role against Wayne State on Sunday afternoon.
When she was on the sidelines, Martin said she took on more of a big picture view of the match, looking for ways to help the Wildcats hold off a Wayne State team that didn't go away.
"When you're out there, you kind of just go with the flow of the game and you're really paying attention to what's open on the other side," Martin said. "I think when you're taking a step back and looking at the court from that different perspective, you can tell who's performing well."
For K-State, many of those crucial performances came from the back row. Morris snagged 22 digs to keep the Wildcats from dropping points against Wayne State, while Loren Hinkle and Dru Kuck combined for 16 digs to round out the DS/liberos on Sunday.
Even in a sweep, K-State had to battle all afternoon and came back in the third set to put away Wayne State.
The Wildcats were more often the underdogs looking to spring an upset in the fall, after they were picked to finish second-to-last in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll.
It's a role the Wildcats will be cast in again when they face No. 6 Baylor on Wednesday.
Riding a three-game winning streak and with everything to play for against the Bears, Martin is betting on her team's growth this spring.
"I think we've definitely proven ourselves to be less emotional and more steady," she said. "I know that Wayne State really gave us a run for our money and were awesome on their side, so we had to step our game up, play to our level and just play our game as much as we could."
Players Mentioned
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