Cats, Sooners Set for Big 12 Battle in Bramlage

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State finishes a two-match home stretch with a Big 12 battle against Oklahoma at Bramlage Coliseum.

K-State (14-11, 5-7 Big 12) is looking for a trifecta after defeating #25 Iowa State and West Virginia in the last two weeks. The Wildcats swept the Mountaineers Thursday at home.

The Cats were led offensively by outside hitter Elena Baka and middle blocker Kayde Fernholz with six kills apiece. Fernholz and senior Haley Warner led both teams at a .333 clip as Warner picked up five kills and Fernolz tallied seven blocks.

Senior Sydney Bolding matched her career-high of four aces while libero Mackenzie Morris drummed up a match-high 15 digs from the back line.

Oklahoma (14-11, 4-9 Big 12) cut its three-match conference winning streak Saturday after dropping in three sets to No.1-ranked Texas.

K-State is 38-58-1 in the series, which began in 1975. The Cats are 20-21 at home against the Sooners, winning the last two matchups. K-State pulled off the reverse sweep earlier this season when the two teams met in Norman.

Wednesday's match will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Fans can also listen to Rob Voelker's call on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM), online at K-StateSports.com/watch and on the K-State Sports app.

MATCH #26
K-STATE (14-11, 5-7 BIG 12) vs OKLAHOMA (14-11, 4-9 BIG 12)
Wednesday, November 16 // 6:30 p.m. // Bramlage Coliseum // Manhattan, Kansas
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // ESPN app
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM) // Rob Voelker
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State and Oklahoma meet for the second time this season and the first time in Manhattan.
The Wildcats are coming off a home sweep of West Virginia last Thursday.
K-State swung at a .131 pace, the lowest output of any win since 2013 (.094 vs Cal State Fullerton).
The Wildcats collected 29 kills, tying the least number of kills this season (Texas, 10/12).
Baka and Fernholz led with six kills each at .042 and .333 hitting percentages.
Fernholz tallied a match-best seven blocks.
Warner gained five kills at a .333 clip.
Bolding also donned five kills and added four aces, tying her career-high for the fourth time this season.
Morris led both teams with 15 digs, securing 15+ digs in six of the previous seven matches.
Hinkle tallied 22 assists and four blocks.
K-State sits third in the Big 12 with a 2.52 per set average in blocks.
The Cats lead the conference with 1.71 average aces after collecting eight against WVU.
The team's 13.96 digs per set ranks second in the league.
The nine three-set wins is the most by the Wildcats since they collected 12 during the 2015 season.
K-State is 12-0 when holding opponents to below .200 hitting percentage.

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA

OU (14-11, 4-9 Big 12) enters Wednesday one place behind K-State in the Big 12 standings.
After beating Texas Tech at home in five sets, the Sooners have dropped to #1 Texas in three sets in Norman.
Oklahoma is 5-4 on the road this season.
OU's collected Big 12 wins over West Virginia (twice), Kansas and Texas Tech.
The Sooners are last in the conference with a 1.46 opponent average ace pace.
Their offense is powered by sophomore Megan Wilson, who tops the conference with 0.57 aces per set and is second with 4.57 points per set.
Her average aces rank ninth in the NCAA while her total aces (51) earns 13th-best in the nation.
The Kingwood, Texas product sits sixth in the Big 12 with 3.61 kills per set.
Libero Callie Kemohah is the league leader with 4.75 average digs, sitting 46th in the NCAA ranks.
Sophomore Payton Chamberlain owns a 9.64 assist average, ranking fourth in the Big 12.
Freshman Morgan Perkins was named Big 12 Rookie of the Week on Sept. 20.
The Rosharon, Texas, native has paces the Sooners with a .401 hitting percentage and a 1.31 block average (ranks third and fourth in the Big 12 in each category).
Oklahoma sits fourth in the Big 12 with a team hitting percentage of .249 and 2.46 blocks per set.
The team's average blocks holds 44th in the national rankings.
The Sooners raked up a conference third-highest 1.43 aces per set (133 total).

INSIDE THE SERIES

Oklahoma leads the all-time series K-State leads the all-time series 58-38-1, which began in 1975.
The Wildcats have a chance to even their home record against the Sooners at 20-21.
K-State won the 2020 home series 3-0 and 3-2, the last time the two teams met in Manhattan.
The two teams split the 2021 series in Norman.
The Wildcats and the Sooners are 5-5 in the last ten matches.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is 25-18 in her career against the Sooners.

HOME SWEET HOME

K-State began its home schedule 4-0 for the first time since 2018.
In ten home matches this season, the Wildcats are hitting .224 while limiting opponents to a .182 team efficiency.
Myers is averaging 4.09 kills per set and hitting .341 at home while Bolding is hitting .350 with 1.92 kills per set.
The Cats have served up 72 aces at home, with Bolding accounting for 20 of them and 16 coming from Hinkle.
Opponents racked up just 49 service aces at home against the Wildcats.
K-State is 36-13 (.735) in matches played at Bramlage Coliseum and head coach Suzie Fritz has a career home record of 201-91 over her 22-year career.

FEELIN ACE-Y

K-State has racked up 161 service aces, the most in a single season since 2007 (225).
This ranks first in the Big 12.
The team's 1.71 average also leads the conference and is 51st nationally.
Sydney Bolding sits third in the conference with 37 total aces and with a 0.41 average.
Bolding has nine matches with multiple aces and has equaled her career high of four aces four times this season – including Wednesday versus West Virginia.
Loren Hinkle recently moved into second on the team and seventh in the league with 28 aces while Elena Baka holds eighth in the Big 12 at 27 aces.
The senior recorded six straight matches with at least one service ace.
Hinkle and Baka's 0.32 and 0.29 average aces post eighth and tenth in the conference rankings.
Six times the Cats have eclipsed the 10-ace mark, including in back-to-back matches at the UCF Challenge with 11 against Syracuse and a season-high 12 vs. North Florida.
The 12 aces were the most in a three-set match since the 2007 season and were tied for fourth-most in the rally-scoring era.
It was the first time K-State produced back-to-back matches with at least 10 aces since 2007.
Last season, K-State finished with 10 or more aces just twice.
Additionally, the six matches with 10 or more aces are the most since a rally-scoring-record seven matches in 2007.

DIGS FOR DAYS

K-State is one of the top passing teams in the Big 12, ranking second with 13.96 digs per set (1312 total).
The team accumulated 72 digs in three matches – vs Creighton (9/17), at Oklahoma (10/19) and at Iowa State (11/04).
The Wildcats' dig totals versus Creighton and Iowa State are second and third in total for Big 12 four-set matches.
Junior libero Mackenzie Morris leads K-State with 418 digs.
Her average of 4.45 per set ranks fourth in the Big 12 and 70th nationally.
Morris set a career-high 29 digs at Oklahoma (10/19), counting as the fourth-highest single-match dig total in the league this season.
She has carded at least 17 digs in five of her last seven matches.
The Dallas native owns 18 career matches with at least 20 digs, as she now has sole possession of third place in program history.
Loren Hinkle is just shy of 900 career digs, needing 57 to reach the mark.
Aliyah Carter sits at the 460-career dig mark – 40 away from reaching 500.

GOING BOLDING

Senior middle blocker Sydney Bolding has been a hit for the Wildcats, averaging 1.93 kills per set.
Her 1.24 blocks per set is second-best in the Big 12 and ranks 47th nationally while her total (113) sits third in the conference.
The senior's hitting .313 hitting percentage tops the Wildcats for the season.
Bolding four times has produced four aces this season, including four coming in the first set alone against St. Thomas.
The four aces matched a career-high, as she has nine matches with multiple aces this season (two such matches last season).
She tied the record for a K-State middle blocker in the rally-scoring era with 37 aces, done by Lauren Goehring (2001) and Kaitlynn Pelger (2013).
She was named to the Rambler Challenge All-Tournament Team, her second all-tournament team selection after also being voted to the K-State Invitational All-Tournament Team.
Bolding notched a career-high 14 kills on Nov. 11 against the Cyclones (.414).
The Pickens, South Carolina, product has eclipsed double figure kills eight times this season.
Bolding has hit .350 or better 12 times, including a career-best .588 at Rice.
She is 20 kills from reaching the 300-career mark and eight blocks from the 200-career block achievement.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

K-State has won the opening set in 17 of 25 outings to begin the campaign, going 11-6 in those matches.
The Wildcats are 11-1 when hitting at a higher hitting percentage and when producing more kills than their opponents.
Additionally, the Cats are 11-0 when they have limited their opponents to a hitting efficiency under .200.
The Wildcats' 3-0 over Kansas City (Sept. 14) marked the 200th sweep under head coach Suzie Fritz.
Fritz collected her 200th career home win against Missouri on Sept. 7 and is nine away from her 400th career win at the helm of the Wildcats.
She claimed the 200th Big 12 win in her career on Wednesday against West Virginia.
Currently, the Big 12 has the top RPI (rating percentage index) conference in the country with an average RPI of .6057, ahead of the Big 10 in second at .6034.
K-State has the strongest strength of schedule of any team in the league.

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Bolding

Aliyah Carter

Loren Hinkle

Mackenzie Morris

Haley Warner

Kansas State University Athletics