K-State Opens Big 12 Play with No. 10 Baylor

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Following its 11-match non-conference slate, K-State begins the Big 12 portion of its schedule against No. 10 Baylor, as the teams square off for two matches at Bramlage Coliseum beginning Saturday.

K-State (9-2, 0-0 Big 12) extended its season-long winning streak to eight matches after claiming a pair of victories in the final non-conference weekend at the Omaha Challenge. The Wildcats' winning streak equals their longest since the 2018 season.

Aliyah Carter was named MVP of the Omaha Invitational, as she registered a pair of double-doubles against Weber State and Omaha. Carter put down a season-high 22 kills with a .422 hitting percentage against Weber State. She finished the weekend with 4.62 kills per set at a 359 efficiency and 3.62 digs per set.

Carter was joined on the all-tournament team by Teana Adams-Kaonohi and Mackenzie Morris. Adams-Kaonohi produced a double-double against WSU while Morris matched her career high with 24 digs.

Baylor (5-3, 0-0 Big 12) has won its last four matches, including a pair of victories at No. 7 Florida. Yossiana Pressley is the Big 12 leader with 4.42 kills per set while Kara McGhee is third in the conference with 1.44 blocks a set.

The Bears mark the third nationally ranked opponent the Cats will face this season. K-State leads the all-time series, 29-23.

Saturday's match, which begins at 4 p.m., is the program's Diversity and Inclusion Anti-Bullying Match. The first 200 fans will receive a Better Together Anti-Bullying bracelet. Fans can also purchase a $10 t-shirt ticket package and receive an exclusive K-State volleyball t-shirt and general admission ticket.

The conference opener will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app with radio coverage available on Sunny 102.5 FM. Sunday's match is set to start at 5 p.m. and will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU and can be heard on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM). Both matches will have live, streaming audio available at K-StateSports.com/Watch.

MATCH #12
K-STATE (9-2, 0-0 BIG 12) vs. #10 BAYLOR (5-3, 0-0 BIG 12)
Saturday, September 25 // 4 p.m. // Bramlage Coliseum // Manhattan, Kan.
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // Brian Smoller, Liz Wegner-Busch
Radio: Sunny 102.5 FM // Rob Voelker
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats | Tickets

MATCH #13
K-STATE (9-2, 0-0 BIG 12) vs. #10 BAYLOR (5-3, 0-0 BIG 12)
Sunday, September 26 // 5 p.m. // Bramlage Coliseum // Manhattan, Kan.
Watch: ESPNU // Courtney Lyle, Missy Whittemore
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM, 1350 AM) // Rob Voelker
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch
Live Stats | Tickets

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

After an 11-match non-conference slate, K-State begins Big 12 play against No. 10 Baylor, as the Wildcats host the Bears for a pair of matches at Bramlage Coliseum starting Saturday.
The Cats extended their season-long winning streak to eight matches after going 2-0 at the Omaha Challenge last weekend, picking up four-set wins over Weber State and host Omaha.
Aliyah Carter was tabbed MVP of the Omaha Challenge after she averaged 4.62 kills per set at a .359 efficiency.
Carter, who earned her second tournament MVP honor of the season, also added 3.62 digs per set in turning in a pair of double-doubles.
She was joined on the Omaha Challenge all-tournament team by Teana Adams-Kaonohi and Mackenzie Morris.
Against Weber State, Carter produced a season-high 22 kills at a .422 clip while Jayden Nembhard added 20 kills for her season-high output.
Adams-Kaonohi logged a double-double with 51 assists and 13 digs to go with four blocks vs. WSU.
Morris matched her career high with 24 digs while also serving up three aces against Weber State.
Morris picked up 5.12 digs a set over the two-match tournament, adding 17 against the Mavericks.
The Cats' eight-match winning streak equals their longest since the 2018 season (K-State won 10 in a row in 2016).

SCOUTING BAYLOR

Baylor (5-3) enters the opening weekend of conference play ranked as the No. 10 team in the county.
The Bears, ranked as high as ninth this season, are on a four-match winning streak, a streak that includes a pair of victories at No. 7 Florida.
Seven of BU's eight matches have been against the AVCA top 25 or teams receiving votes in the polls.
Baylor has defeated then-seventh-ranked Minnesota and Florida (twice) with losses to No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 7 Pittsburgh.
Yossiana Pressley spearheads the Bears' offense with her 4.42 kills per set (leads Big 12) and .310 hitting percentage.
Kara McGhee ranks third in the league with her 1.44 blocks per set.
As a team, Baylor leads the Big 12 with 3.23 blocks a set while opponents hit just .183 against them.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State leads the all-time series with Baylor, 29-23, dating back to 1993.
The Bears have claimed the last six matches in the series, marking their longest winning streak in the series' history.
K-State and Baylor squared off three times last season, including in a non-conference contest in Waco on March 31.
The Wildcats are 17-8 at home against BU, last winning in 2016 in four sets.
The Cats are 2-8 in the last 10 matches against Baylor while the Bears have won 10 of the last 12 matchups.
Baylor has been ranked in the nation's top 10 in each of the last five meetings and in the top 25 in eight of the last nine, dating back to 2017.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is 22-19 against Baylor in her 21-year career and 13-6 at home.

VS. RANKED OPPONENTS

This weekend's series with No. 10 Baylor will mark the Wildcats' third ranked opponent this season.
K-State lone two losses have come against ranked teams in No. 5 Nebraska (3-1) and No. 21 Pepperdine (3-0).
Last season, K-State finished 1-4 against ranked teams, picking up a four-set victory over No. 24 Creighton on March 20.
The victory over the Bluejays marked the program's first ranked win since the 2018 season.
The Cats seek their first top-10 victory since defeating No. 6 Hawaii on the road in 2016.
K-State last defeated a top-10 team at home in 2003, a four-set win over No. 10 Nebraska.
All-time, the Cats have seven wins against the AVCA's top 10 (7-124).

IT'S A PARTY

K-State has reached double-digit blocks in seven of 11 matches to begin the year, including a season-high 15 blocks in its last match at Omaha.
Additionally, the Cats have out-blocked each of their 11 opponents this season.
Against the Mavericks, Kayley Hollywood turned in a career-high 10 blocks to become the first Wildcat this season to reach double figures.
Kadye Fernholz has a team-high 47 total blocks her 1.31 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.
A Wildcat has reached at least five blocks in a match 18 times this season, led by Fernholz's six five-block outings.
Hollywood, in her first season as a starter, is second on the team with 45 total blocks and has posted multiple blocks in nine contests.
Six Wildcats average over 0.50 blocks per set (Fernholz, Bolding, Warner, Hollywood, Adams-Kaonohi, Carter).

HALEY'S ROCKET

Haley Warner, in her first season at K-State after transferring from Florida, ranks second on the team with 2.88 kills a set and her .326 hitting percentage.
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 and added a career-best eight blocks against the Ramblers at the K-State Invitational.
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 11 matches as a Wildcat, Warner has reached double-figure kills seven times.

RECORD PACE

In just 32 career matches, Aliyah Carter notched career kill No. 500 and equaled the program record as the fastest Wildcat to 500 career kills in the rally-scoring era (since 2001).
Carter matched the record previously held by Natalya Korbkova, a junior transfer who played during the 2007-08 seasons.
Carter also tied Korbkova as the fastest Wildcats to 400 career kills, needing just 26 matches to reach the plateau.
Carter is the fastest to reach the milestone beginning as a true freshman, as she was seven matches faster Kylee Zumach's 39 contests.
Carter's nine matches with at least 20 kills are tied for fourth-most during the rally-scoring era, as she is more than halfway to Kaitlynn Pelger's record of 15 20-kill performances.

MACK ATTACK

Mackenzie Morris, who has played every set in her career as the Wildcat libero, is fifth in the Big 12 with her 3.86 digs per set and eighth at 0.39 aces a set.
Morris picked up career dig No. 500 against Omaha Saturday, the same match Carter logged her 500th kill.
Her career average of 3.97 digs per set is only behind all-time leader Angie Lastra's 4.37 (rally scoring).
Morris served up four aces in back-to-back contests against UCSB and San Diego State, equaling her career high.
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.

CARDIAC CATS

In 2020, K-State went to five sets in nine of 21 matches, going 6-3 in five-setters.
This season, the Cats are 3-0 in five-set contests after back-to-back five-set wins over Loyola Chicago and Fresno State to end the K-State Invitational.
The Cats have won seven of their last eight and nine of their last 11 five-set matches, dating back to last season.
The Wildcats went 4-0 in five-set matches last season on the road and twice came back from 1-2 deficits.
Since 2017, K-State has played 35 five-set matches, going 18-17.

ACE IN YO' FACE

The Cats have served up five or more aces in eight consecutive matches, and in 10 of 11 contests this season.
The stretch is the longest since the Cats' stretch of 11 matches in a row with at least five aces during the 2007 season.
From 2008-20, K-State never had a streak of more than five straight matches with five or more service aces.
Loren Hinkle has an ace in each of the last six matches, including multiple aces in five outings.
Mackenzie Morris has four matches with at least three aces, including back-to-back outings with four aces to equal her career high.
K-State tallied a season-high 10 aces in a five-set win at UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 4.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

The Wildcats are 6-0 this season when winning the first set and 5-0 when leading 2-0.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is 297-58 (.837) in her career when leading a match 1-0.
K-State has hit over .300 in a match twice this season, with both being five-set contests.
It marks the first time in program history (rally-scoring era) that the Cats have two five-set matches with better than a .300 efficiency.
The last time K-State hit .300 or better in a five-set match was the 2017 season.
The Cats' .321 clip in their five-set win at UCSB marked the second-best percentage in five sets in the rally-scoring era and highest since 2008.
In her career, Fritz is 135-3 when her team hits north of .300 while she is 71-0 when holding opponents under .100.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Teana Adams-Kaonohi

Aliyah Carter

Kadye Fernholz

Loren Hinkle

Kayley Hollywood

Mackenzie Morris

Jayden Nembhard

Haley Warner

Kansas State University Athletics