K-State Closes Non-Conference Action at Omaha Challenge

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State, winners of six straight matches, concludes its non-conference schedule at the Omaha Challenge, taking on Weber State Friday before host Omaha Saturday at Baxter Arena.

K-State (7-2) extended its season-long winning streak after a Tuesday sweep at Missouri, marking its longest winning streak since eight consecutive wins during the 2018 season.

Against the Tigers, Jayden Nembhard put down a season-high 17 kills while Aliyah Carter added 16. Teana Adams-Kaonohi (35 assists, 11 digs) produced her second double-double in the last three contests.

Weber State (5-3) is coming off an NCAA Tournament run to the Round of 32 and boasts a pair of All-Americans from a season ago in Rylin Adams and Dani Nay. WSU was picked as the preseason favorite in the Big Sky Conference.

Omaha (2-6) enters its home-opening weekend having dropped its last three matches. The Wildcats and Mavericks meet for the fourth time in the last five seasons, while the Cats have claimed the last four matchups in the series.

Both matches at the Omaha Challenge will be streamed live on Mavs All-Access at OMavs.com with free, live audio available at K-StateSports.com/watch. Friday's contest can be heard on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM), with Rob Voelker on the call.

MATCH #10
K-STATE (7-2, 0-0 BIG 12) vs. WEBER STATE (5-3, 0-0 BIG SKY)
Friday, September 17 // 1 p.m. // Baxter Arena // Omaha, Neb.
Watch: Mavs All-Access // OMavs.com
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats

MATCH #11
K-STATE (7-2, 0-0 BIG 12) at OMAHA (2-6, 0-0 SUMMIT)
Saturday, September 18 // 1 p.m. // Baxter Arena // Omaha, Neb.
Watch: Mavs All-Access // OMavs.com
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch // Rob Voelker
Live Stats

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State heads into its final non-conference weekend at the Omaha Challenge, as the Wildcats will face Weber State and host Omaha Friday and Saturday.
The Cats extended their season-long winning streak to six matches with a sweep at Missouri on Tuesday.
In Tuesday's contest, Jayden Nembhard (17) and Aliyah Carter (16) combined for 33 of the Wildcats' 46 kills.
The duo's kill total exceeded the Tigers' kill production as a team (32).
Teana Adams-Kaonohi turned in her second double-double in her last three matches with 35 assists and 11 digs.
At the K-State Invitational last weekend, 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.
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.
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.
As a team, the Wildcats totaled 29 service aces over the last four matches (16 sets), led by Loren Hinkle's 11.
Hinkle has recorded multiple aces in four straight matches, with a career-high four coming against Missouri.
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' six-match winning streak is their longest since the 2018 season (eight straight).

SCOUTING THE FIELD

Weber State enters the weekend with a 5-3 record and have won two of its last three matches.
The Wildcats were voted as the preseason favorite in the Big Sky Conference after reaching the Round of 32 in the last season's NCAA Championship.
Rylin Adams leads the Big Sky in kills (124) and kills per set (4.00).
Dani Nay is ranked third in the country with 23 service aces and 0.74 aces per set.
Adams and Nay represent WSU's first-ever All-Americans, earning honorable mention honors in 2020.
Omaha (2-6) enters its home-opening weekend on a three-match skid after dropping matches to Illinois, SMU and Creighton.
The Mavericks are led by Sadie Limback and her 3.41 kills per set at a .325 efficiency.
Rachel Fairbanks is second with 2.63 kills a set while Marriah Buss averages 2.48 kills per set.
As a team, UNO's offense owns a .171 hitting percentage while opponents are hitting .229.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State has won two of three all-time meetings with Weber State.
WSU claimed a four-set victory in the previous matchup in 2019.
Friday's match will be the fourth neutral-site contests between the teams.
K-State leads the series with Omaha 12-6, going back to 1975.
The Cats and Mavs will meet for the fourth time in the last five seasons and K-State has taken the last four matchups overall.
The Wildcats have won 12 of the last 13 meetings in the series, dating back to 1976.
In her career, Fritz is 1-1 against Weber State and 4-0 against the Mavericks.
Fritz is also 5-1 against teams from the Big Sky and 15-0 vs. The Summit League.

IT'S A PARTY

K-State has reached double-digit blocks in six of nine matches to begin the year.
Additionally, the Cats have out-blocked each of their nine opponents this season.
Kadye Fernholz has a team-high 47 total blocks - 15 more than any other Wildcat - and her 1.31 blocks per set rank sixth 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 or tied for the team lead in blocks in five of nine matches.
A Wildcat has reached at least five blocks in a match 14 times this season, led by Fernholz's six five-block outings.
Kayley Hollywood is second on the team with 32 total blocks and has posted multiple blocks in seven contests.
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 sixth in the Big 12 with her .358 hitting percentage and ranks third on K-State with 2.89 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 nine matches as a Wildcat, Warner has reached double-figure kills six times.

RECORD PACE

In just 30 career matches, Aliyah Carter has 463 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.

K-State Closes Non-Conference Action at Omaha Challenge

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Teana Adams-Kaonohi

Aliyah Carter

Kadye Fernholz

Loren Hinkle

Kayley Hollywood

Jayden Nembhard

Haley Warner

Kansas State University Athletics

K-State Closes Non-Conference Action at Omaha Challenge

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Teana Adams-Kaonohi

Aliyah Carter

Kadye Fernholz

Loren Hinkle

Kayley Hollywood

Jayden Nembhard

Haley Warner

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