Cats Stun No. 25 Cyclones in Four Sets

AMES, Iowa – Despite a quick recover time and a tough match-up, Kansas State pulled out a 3-1 (17-25, 25-13, 25-22, 28-26) upset over No.25-ranked Iowa State Friday night at Hilton Coliseum in Ames.

K-State (13-11, 4-7 Big 12) had multiple Wildcats in double-figure kills, led by senior Sydney Bolding with career-high 14 kills at a .414 clip. Senior Elena Baka earned her eighth double-double of the season with 13 kills and digs on the night.

Setter Loren Hinkle also collected a double-double, posting 46 assists and 15 digs for the Cats. Senior Haley Warner notched six blocks while libero Mackenzie Morris completed 15 digs. Middle blocker Kayde Fernholz and freshman Shaylee Myers combined for 22 of K-State's 56 kills (.207).

Iowa State (17-8, 8-3 Big 12) cut an eight-match win streak and dropped just its third conference match of the season. The Cyclones put together 46 kills at a .127 pace, led by senior Eleanor Holthaus with 15 kills and 19 digs.

Libero Brooke Stonestreet led the match with 25 digs as setter Morgan Brandt picked up 27 assists. Freshman Maya Duckworth completed her double-double with 11 kills and ten digs.

The Wildcats held the Cyclones to .140 hitting percentage or lower in the final three sets of the match. K-State solidified a .438 output in set two for a match-high.

FROM THE HEAD COACH
Head coach Suzie Fritz

Overall thoughts from the match…
"It's a huge win for us. Coming off of Wednesday night, only having a day to turn it back around to beat a top-25 team on the road, I think says a lot about what we are capable of doing. I thought we played extremely well. Iowa State is a terrific team and has done wonderful things this far in the season so the win feels pretty good."

On the difference in the match…
"One of the primary objectives going into the match was to be the better transition team. As the rallies got long we wanted to control the ball, play cleaner and get better swings. I thought we were better in transition and won the serving and passing battle. Our serving in particular was very disruptive."

On who stood out…
"From a ball control perspective, I thought Mackenzie Morris and Elena Baka did a really nice job. They took care of the ball and did their job. Loren Hinkle and Sydney Bolding also had a good night. Sydney did really good on both sides of the ball."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set One – Iowa State 25, K-State 17
ISU opened with three consecutive points as Solei Thomas inked a kill and block assist. KSU stayed within 3-4 points until the Cyclones' 9-5 lead.

Elena Baka kill spurred five point run with three kills, which included a Loren Hinkle ace, to gain K-State's first lead of the set (10-9). Haley Warner and Sydney Bolding added kills to give the Cats a two point cushion.

Cyclones rebounded with eight straight points on three Wildcat errors to push to the 25-17 set win. The Wildcats picked up five more points on kills by middle blockers Sydney Bolding and Kayde Fernholz.

K-State carried a .073 efficiency as Baka led with four kills. Maya Duckworth and Eleanor Holthaus also picked up four kills each while Iowa State tallied a .297 hitting percentage. Kelsey Perry tallied four block assists.

Set Two – K-State 25, Iowa State 13
After getting down two points, K-State rolled to eight straight points starting with back-to-back blocks by Bolding and Haley Warner. The Cyclones posted four attack errors in the run.

Iowa State cut the lead to three with kills by Annie Hatch.

The Cats turned on the jets again, posting a 10-2 spurt with Baka clinching two kills and an ace. Fernholz's two kills helped seal the deal for the 25-13 win.

K-State earned a match-high .438 hitting percentage. Shaylee Myers led the Wildcats with five kills (.556) and Loren Hinkle picked up 11 assists and six digs. Bolding and Warner combined for six block assists.

ISU posted nine kills and nine errors (.000) as Duckworth collected three kills and Morgan Brandt picked up five assists. Libero Brooke Stonestreet notched seven digs for the Cylones.

Set Three – K-State 25, Iowa State 22
The Cats and the Cyclones were back and forth up to six points until the Wildcats posted a three point roll on kills by Myers and Fernholz to take a two-point lead.

ISU then found a run of its own with Holthaus collecting a kill and solo block, propelling the Cyclones to a 11-9 lead.

Sydney Bolding's kills tied the set at 13 and 14 before ISU secured a four-point lead at 18-14. Alexis Englebrecht tallied two kills in the spurt.

K-State came back with a 7-1 run as Bolding earned her first ace of the match. Fernolz posted three kills to turn the favor for the visitors in a set three victory.

Bolding (.625) and Fernholz (.364) each collected five kills in the set as a the Wildcats tallied 17 kills (.200). Baka landed eight digs and Hinkle saw 15 assists.

Holthaus grabbed four of the Cyclones ten kills (.139) and picked up seven digs. Engelbrecht notched three block assists in the set.

Set Four – K-State 28, Iowa State 26
Iowa State rushed to the front and secured a 4-2 lead on Holthaus' ace. The senior continued her run as the home side donned a ten-point cushion at 20-10.

Not out of hustle, the Wildcats put together an 8-1 run to cut the lead to three. Molly Ramsey and Aliyah Carter grabbed aces. K-State continued the fight as Bolding put down a kill and block assist to even the set at 24-24.

Holthaus propelled ISU to match the Wildcats at 26s. Fernholz slammed down the final kill to clinch the set at 28-26.

Bolding and Baka combined for eight kills as Hinkle tallied ten assists and six digs. K-State put down 13 kills at a .171 pace.

Holthaus led with six kills while Thomas added four as Iowa State totaled 13 (089). Brandt clinched four assists as Jaden Newsome contributed five.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

K-State swung at a .207 pace, with the best hitting percentage in set two (.438).
The Wildcats collected 56 kills, the second-highest total of four-set matches.
Bolding led with 14 kills, a career-best (.414).
Baka followed with 13 kills and secured her eighth double-double with 13 kills.
Hinkle collected her sixth double-double (46 assists, 15 digs).
The setter added two aces to her career (105).
Fernholz (.417) and Myers (.154) gathered 11 kills each.
Warner led both teams with six blocks.
Morris picked up 17 digs, donning five of the last six matches with 17+ digs.
Iowa State hit a fourth-worst .127 on the night with 46 kills.
Holthaus picked up a double-double with 15 kills, 19 digs (.333 hitting percentage).
Thomas followed with ten kills and four block assists.
Engelbrecht led with five blocks for the Cyclones.
Brandt collected 27 assists, Newsome donned 13 assists.
Duckworth gathered 11 kills, ten digs, and two aces.

NOTES

K-State trails the all-time series with Iowa State 57-45.
The Cats swept the Cyclones in early October, securing the first straight-set victory since 2015.
The last time the Wildcats won both matches in the series was 2007.
Last season, K-State snapped a 12-year road skid in Ames a season ago, picking up its first win at Hilton Coliseum since 2007.
The Cats last collected back-to-back wins in Ames was in 2003-2004.
The Wildcats are 16-29 on the road against ISU while head coach Suzie Fritz is 21-23 in her 22-year career vs. Iowa State.

UP NEXT
Kansas State returns to Bramlage Coliseum for a two-match home streak. The Wildcats host West Virginia on Thursday, November 10, for Women's Empowerment Night. The Big 12 battle kicks off at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Rob Voelker will be on the call online at K-StateSports.com/watch and the K-State Sports app.

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Team Stats

Sydney Bolding

Elena Baka

Kadye Fernholz

Shaylee Myers

Kansas State University Athletics