K-State Concludes Regular Season Saturday at #17 Baylor

MANHATTAN, Kan. – For the regular season finale, Kansas State will travel to #17 Baylor for the conclusion of the Big 12 conference schedule. The Wildcats and the Bears battle at Ferrell Center on Saturday.

K-State (15-13, 6-9 Big 12) clinched an energizing five-set win against Texas Tech Wednesday night in the team's last match in Bramlage Coliseum with the opening of the new arena next season.

Senior Elena Baka collected a career-high 23 kills and added 13 digs for her tenth double-double performance of the year. Setter Loren Hinkle also inked a double-double, her seventh on the season, with 50 assists and 13 digs.

Libero Mackenzie Morris recorded a career-best 36 digs, which is tied for the most in a single match of any Big 12 team this season.

Baylor (22-6, 13-1 Big 12), currently sitting second in the league standings, are 2-2 in the last four matches. BU dropped to TCU and #1 Texas on the road. At home, the Bears are 13-1 on the season and 6-1 in conference play, losing only to Texas on Oct. 15.

The Wildcats lead the all-time series with BU 29-26 and are 12-15 on the road against the Bears. Baylor has won the last nine matchups between the two teams after securing a 3-1 win in Manhattan on Oct. 15. Head coach Suzie Fritz owns a 22-22 record against Baylor.

Saturday's match will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Fans can also listen to Rob Voelker online at K-StateSports.com/watch and the K-State Sports app.

MATCH #29
K-STATE (15-13, 6-9 BIG 12) at #17 BAYLOR (22-6, 11-4 BIG 12)
Saturday, November 26 // 1 p.m. // Ferrell Center // Waco, Texas
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 Baylor meet for the second time this season and the first time in Waco.
The Wildcats secured their third five-set win of the season against Texas Tech Wednesday night.
K-State swung at a .208 pace with 60 kills and 19 blocks.
Baka led with 23 kills (.322), a career best.
She added 13 digs for her tenth double-double.
Carter collected 13 kills and seven digs.
Warner added nine kills while Bolding handed in six.
Bolding led with nine blocks (eight assists, one solo) for the most of any 5-set match in the conference.
Fernholz chipped in seven block assists.
Morris' 36 digs tied for most in a single match of any Big 12 team this season.
Hinkle donned her seventh double-double on 50 assists and 13 digs.
Hinkle, Morris and Ramsey posted two aces each.
After a season-best 19 team blocks Wednesday night, K-State leads the Big 12 with 2.62 blocks per set.
The Cats also lead the conference with 1.68 average aces after collecting eight against the Red Raiders.
The team is second and third in the league with 14.21 digs per set and 16.73 points per set.
The nine three-set wins is the most by the Wildcats since they collected 12 during the 2015 season.
K-State is 13-1 when holding opponents to below .200 hitting percentage, with the only loss coming at TCU on Nov. 19.

SCOUTING BAYLOR

Baylor (22-6, 11-4) enters the final conference match in second place in the Big 12 standings.
The Bears are coming off a four-set fall to Texas last Saturday in Austin.
BU is 13-1 at home and 6-1 in league play, dropping only to Texas (Oct. 15).
Baylor is second in the Big 12 in four categories: points (17.57/set), hitting percentage (.262), assists (12.34/set) and kills (13.62/set).
Kara McGhee leads the conference with 1.50 blocks per set and is tied for the most blocks in a single match of any Big 12 team this season (11).
The middle blocker posts the sixth-highest hitting percentage in the league at .382 while fellow middle Mallory Talbert comes in third with a .403 clip.
Averi Carlson leads the Bears and is second in the league with 10.79 average assists and adds 29 aces on the year.
Lauren Harrison ranks sixth in the Big 12 with 3.60 kills per set and 3.93 points per set.
Libero Lauren Briseño holds a conference seventh-ranked 3.33 digs per set and ninth-best 0.30 aces per set to lead BU.
Against Texas, Elise McGhee topped Baylor with 15 kills while Briseño racked up 14 digs and Carlson posted 41 assists.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State leads the all-time series 29-26, which began in 1993.
Both schools were inaugural members of the Big 12 when it began in 1996.
The Wildcats are 12-15 on the road against the Bears.
K-State's last win in Waco was in 2018 (3-0 on Oct. 20).
Baylor took both matches in the 2021 series 3-0 on Oct. 25 and 26.
The Cats are 1-9 in the last ten matches against BU.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is 22-22 versus the Bears.

FEELIN ACE-Y

K-State has racked up 180 service aces, the most in a single season since 2007 (225).
This ranks first in the Big 12 and 73rd in the NCAA.
The team's 1.68 average also leads the conference and is 63rd nationally.
Sydney Bolding sits third in the conference with 38 total aces and ranks fifth with a 0.37 average.
Bolding has nine matches with multiple aces and has equaled her career high of four aces four times.
Loren Hinkle recently moved into second on the team and fifth in the league with 34 aces, tying her single-season record of 34 (2021).
The senior collected nine consecutive matches recording at least one ace and has two aces in each of the last five matches.
Hinkle and Baka's 0.34 average aces post sixth 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 (1424 total).
The Wildcats accrued 97 digs Wednesday versus Texas Tech, the second-highest dig total in a single match for a Big 12 team this season (TTU's 102 digs was the most).
The team's 72 digs 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 491 digs.
Her average of 4.59 per set leads the Big 12 and ranks 52nd nationally.
Morris set a career-high 36 digs Wednesday 29 digs, tying the highest single-match dig total in the league this season (West Virginia's Skye Stoke vs Iowa State on Oct. 12).
36 digs is the most by a Wildcat since 2019 (Dru Kuck vs Oklahoma, Oct. 16).
She has carded at least 15 digs in nine of her last ten matches.
The Dallas native owns 19 career matches with at least 20 digs and holds sole possession of third place in program history.
Loren Hinkle is just shy of 900 career digs, needing 28 to reach the mark.
Aliyah Carter sits at the 482-career dig mark – 18 away from reaching 500.

BRICK WALL

K-State is impressive on the net, collecting a conference second-best 280.5 blocks, only trailing Iowa State's 291.5 total.
The team's total sits 36th in the NCAA and the 2.62 block average leads the Big 12 and is 26th-best in the nation.
The Wildcats collected a season-best 19 blocks versus Texas Tech Wednesday, tied for the third-highest output in program history.
The team has accumulated 19 blocks three other times, the latest in 2017 against Texas Tech.
Sydney Bolding led the Cats with nine blocks against the Red Raiders and tallied a career-high 10 stops at TCU last week.
Her nine-block performance is the most in any five-set match of any Big 12 team this season.
Bolding's 10 blocks in a four-setter are tied for fourth in program history in the rally scoring era, last hit by Kadye Fernholz in 2021 (at TCU).
She has at least seven blocks in the last three matches.
Bolding is two block assists from tying the tenth-most block assists in a single season for the Wildcats (134 by Natali Jones, 2014).
Fernholz is one solo block away from tying the tenth-most solo blocks in a single season for the Wildcats (14 by Megan Farr, 2007)
Fernholz is second on the team with 108 blocks and a 1.01 per set average.
She set a career-high nine blocks against North Carolina State earlier this season (Aug. 26).

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

K-State has won the opening set in 18 of 28 outings to begin the campaign, going 12-6 in those matches.
The Wildcats are 13-2 when hitting at a higher hitting percentage and 12-3 when producing more kills than their opponents.
Additionally, the Cats are 13-1 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 seven away from her 400th career win at the helm of the Wildcats.
She claimed the 200th Big 12 win in her career on Nov. 10 against West Virginia.
Currently, the Big 12 has the top RPI (rating percentage index) conference in the country with an average RPI of .6026, ahead of the Big 10 in second at .5972.

K-State Concludes Regular Season Saturday at #17 Baylor

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Bolding

Aliyah Carter

Kadye Fernholz

Loren Hinkle

Mackenzie Morris

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K-State Concludes Regular Season Saturday at #17 Baylor

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Sydney Bolding

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Loren Hinkle

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