K-State, Missouri Set to Battle Tuesday in Columbia

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State puts its five-match winning streak to the test Tuesday, as the Wildcats reunite with former league rival Missouri at Hearnes Center in Columbia, Missouri, at 4 p.m.

K-State (6-2) claimed the K-State Invitational title by going 3-0 against Ohio, Loyola Chicago and Fresno State over the weekend. Aliyah Carter (MVP) and Kadye Fernholz were both voted to the all-tournament team.

Carter turned in a pair of double-doubles, including a career-high 20 digs against Fresno State Saturday. Fernholz produced a team-best 15 blocks over three matches while hitting .321.

The matchup will mark the first meeting between the Wildcats and Tigers since 2011. K-State is 42-33 all-time against Mizzou with a 17-13 road record in the series.

Tuesday's match will be broadcast on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app. Rob Voelker will have the call on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) and at K-StateSports.com/Watch.

MATCH #9
K-STATE (6-2, 0-0 BIG 12) at MISSOURI (2-7, 0-0 SEC)
Tuesday, September 14 // 4 p.m. // Hearnes Center // Columbia, Mo.
Watch: SEC 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 puts its five-match winning streak to the test as it visits former conference rival Missouri Invitational Tuesday.
At the K-State Invitational, the Wildcats went 3-0 with wins over Ohio, Loyola Chicago and Fresno State.
The Cats claimed five-set victories over the Ramblers and Bulldogs to close out the annual tournament.
Aliyah Carter (MVP) and Kadye Fernholz were both voted to the all-tournament team.
Carter turned in back-to-back double-doubles, including a career-high 20 digs Saturday against Fresno State.
Carter logged 18 digs and 17 kills against Loyola.
Fernholz picked up a career-high eight blocks and tallied eight kills against the Ramblers.
She hit .321 for the weekend, with a .417 efficiency against Ohio.
Haley Warner hit .455 with 18 kills in the finale vs. the Bulldogs and added eight blocks against the Ramblers.
As a team, the Wildcats totaled 24 service aces in three matches (13 sets), led by Loren Hinkle's seven.
Fernholz tallied five aces while Carter and Mackenzie Morris added four.
K-State swept its home invitational for the third time in the last four seasons and improved its record at Bramlage Coliseum to 28-7.
The Cats' five-match winning streak equals their longest from last season.

SCOUTING MISSOURI

Missouri (2-7) enters Tuesday's matchup on a three-match skid, being swept in three straight matches at the UniWyo Invite.
The Tigers, who reached the Round of 32 in last season's NCAA Championship, are 0-3 at Hearnes Center this season.
Anna Dixon leads the Mizzou offense with her 108 kills (3.72 per set).
Dixon is hitting .263 with five aces and 16 blocks.
MU has a .205 hitting percentage while opponents hit .262.
Emily Brown leads the back row with 3.55 digs per set while Kaylee Cox is second at 2.21 pet set.
Kayla Burbage has a team-best 29 blocks (1.00 per set) to go with 2.07 kills a set at a .309 clip.
Missouri is the third team K-State has faced this season that qualified for the 2020 NCAA Championship.

INSIDE THE SERIES

In a series that dates back to 1974, K-State is 42-33 all-time against former conference foe Missouri.
Tuesday's meeting will mark the first match between K-State and Mizzou since 2011.
The Wildcats swept two matches with the Tigers in 2011, their final season in the Big 12.
K-State has won seven of the last 10 meetings in the series.
On the road, the Cats are 17-13 against MU and 7-4 in Columbia under head coach Suzie Fritz.
In her career, Fritz is 15-7 against the Tigers and 40-23 against teams from the Southeastern Conference.

IT'S A PARTY

K-State has reached double-digit blocks in six of eight matches to begin the year.
Additionally, the Cats have out-blocked each of their eight opponents this season.
Kadye Fernholz has a team-high 42 total blocks - 11 more than any other Wildcat - and her 1.27 blocks per set rank seventh in the Big 12.
Fernholz has registered at least three blocks in every match, with a career-high eight coming against Loyola.
Fernholz has led the team in blocks in four of eight matches.
A Wildcat has reached at least five blocks in a match 12 times this season, led by Fernholz's five five-block outings.
Haley Warner is second on the team with 31 total blocks and a season-high eight against Loyola.
Five Wildcats average over 0.50 blocks per set (Fernholz, Warner, Hollywood, Adams-Kaonohi, Carter).

HALEY'S ROCKET

Haley Warner, in her first season at K-State after transferring from Florida, ranks fourth in the Big 12 with her .386 hitting percentage and ranks second on K-State with 2.97 kills per set.
She registered a career-high 19 kills at UC Santa Barbara before 18 more against San Diego State.
Warner produced her 18 kills on just 22 swings against the Aztecs, turning in a season-best .636 hitting percentage.
She picked up 18 kills with a .455 efficiency against Fresno State on Saturday.
She added a career-best eight blocks against the Ramblers Friday.
She has hit .300 or better five times and hit north of .450 four times.
In three seasons at Florida, the opposite's career high was nine kills.
In eight matches as a Wildcat, Warner has reached double-figure kills six times.

RECORD PACE

In just 29 career matches, Aliyah Carter has 447 career kills and seeks to become the fastest Wildcat to 500 career kills in the rally-scoring era (since 2001).
Natalya Korbkova, a junior transfer who played during the 2007-08 seasons, holds the record at 32 matches to tally her 500th kill
Carter tied Korbkova as the fastest Wildcats to 400 career kills, needing just 26 matches to reach the plateau.
Carter's 26 matches to 400 kills broke the previous best by a freshman, which was held by Kylee Zumach's 30 matches to reach 400 career kills.
Carter's eight matches with at least 20 kills are fifth-most during the rally-scoring era, as she is more than halfway to Kaitlynn Pelger's record of 15 20-kill performances.

KILLER CARTER

Aliyah Carter has picked up right where she left off after her freshman-of-the-year campaign.
Through three weeks of the 2021 season, Carter has twice eclipsed the 20-kill plateau as she turned in 21 kills against Colgate and at UC Santa Barbara.
Her 3.70 kills per set lead the team and rank third in the Big 12.
Entering the season with one double-double, Carter has produced four double-doubles to begin the season - with a career-high 20 digs coming against Fresno State in her last match.
With her 21 kills against the Gauchos, she has now reached the 20-kill mark eight times in her career, which places her fifth in program history during the rally-scoring era.
In both times of her 20-kill performances this season have come with a hitting percentage of at least .320 (.324 and .386).

MACK ATTACK

Mackenzie Morris, who has played every set in her career as the Wildcat libero, is sixth in the Big 12 with her 3.64 digs per set and 0.42 aces a set.
Morris served up four aces in back-to-back contests against UCSB and San Diego State, equaling her career high.
She has three matches with multiple aces and has a team-high 14 aces on the year.
Against the Gauchos, Morris carded 20 digs - her seventh career outing with 20 or more digs.
Her seven 20-dig performances rank fifth in program history during the rally-scoring era.

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Players Mentioned

Aliyah Carter

Kadye Fernholz

Loren Hinkle

Mackenzie Morris

Haley Warner

Kansas State University Athletics