K-State Wraps Up Non-Con Slate at Rice Adidas Invitational

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State concludes its non-conference schedule at the Rice Adidas in Houston, Texas, as the Wildcats will take on the Rice Owls Friday and 17^th-ranked Creighton Saturday at Tudor Fieldhouse.

K-State (9-2) has won four of its last five matches following its sweep at Kansas City Wednesday. Saturday's matchup with the Bluejays will be the Wildcats' first ranked matchup of the season.

The Cats rank among the nation's leaders in service aces, with their 817 total aces being third-best nationally and tops in the Big 12. Four players find themselves in the league's top 10 in aces per set: Sydney Bolding (fourth), Elena Baka (fifth), Loren Hinkle (eighth) and Mackenzie Morris (ninth).

Fans can watch Friday's contest on YouTube while Rob Voelker will be on the call for both matches at K-StateSports.com/watch and via the K-State Sports app.

MATCH #12
K-STATE (9-2, 0-0 BIG 12) at RICE (8-1, 0-0 C-USA)
Friday, Sept. 16 // 6 p.m. // Tudor Fieldhouse // Houston, Texas
Watch: YouTube
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats

MATCH #13
K-STATE (9-2, 0-0 BIG 12) vs. No. 17 CREIGHTON (7-2, 0-0 BIG EAST)
Saturday, Sept. 17 // 2 p.m. // Tudor Fieldhouse // Houston, Texas
Watch: N/A
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State heads into its final weekend of nonconference play at the Rice Adidas Invitational hosted by the Rice Owls.
While in Houston, the Wildcats will take on No. 17 Creighton Friday before finishing with the host Owls, who are receiving votes in the latest AVCA top 25.
The Cats began the week with a sweep at Kansas City Wednesday night, as they earned their first true road victory of the season.
In the win against the Roos, K-State's defense totaled 15 blocks and held KC to a .018 team hitting efficiency.
Elena Baka led the offense with 10 kills and Haley Warner hit a season-high .455 in registering six kills.
Sydney Bolding equaled her career-best effort and set a season high with her eight blocks, as seven players finished with multiple stuffs.
The Wildcats went 3-1 last week after picking up a five-set home win against Missouri before winning two of three contests at the Rambler Challenge during the weekend.
K-State swept both Rutgers and St. Thomas while dropping a four-set decision at host Loyola Chicago.
Bolding and Mackenzie Morris both earned all-tournament team accolades, as each picked up their second such honors of the season.
Bolding led K-State in both blocks (14) and aces (5), as she matched her career-high with four service aces against St. Thomas - all coming in the match's opening set.
Morris logged 48 digs over 10 sets (4.80 per set) to lead the back row and extended her streak to 10 straight outings with 10 or more digs to begin the season.
A different player led the Cats in kills in all three matches while at the Rambler Challenge.
Aliyah Carter turned in a team-high 13 against Rutgers, Bolding finished with 11 against Loyola and both Baka and Shaylee Myers logged 11 against St. Thomas.
Bolding hit. 391 at the Ramblers and Myers hit .474 against the Tommies.
With the pair of sweeps last weekend, K-State improved to 5-0 in three-set matches, which surpasses last season's total of three straight-set victories.

SCOUTING The Field

Rice is on a four-match winning streak and has suffered just one loss this season, sitting at 8-1.
The Owls' lone loss came at then-17th-ranked Oregon in five sets.
Danyle Courtley paces Rice's offensive attack with a team-leading 102 kills (3.09 per set) while Nia McCardell leads the back row with 180 digs (5.45 per set).
The Owls are allowing teams to hit just .145 against them, averaging 18.00 digs per set and 1.88 blocks a set.
Creighton enters the weekend 7-2, with its only two losses coming to teams ranked in the nation's top 25 (No. 16 Kentucky, No. 2 Nebraska).
The Bluejays are 1-2 against ranked teams this season, earning a four-set win over then-25th-ranked USC at home.
CU's last three matches have all gone to five sets (2-1).
Norah Sis leads Creighton's offense with her 154 kills and 4.16 kills a set.
Keeley Davis is next on the team at 2.76 kills per set with a team-leading 14 aces.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State and Rice will meet for the first time since 1996, with the Wildcats winning all five previous matchups in the series.
Friday's match will be the second road meeting in the series' history after the Wildcats swept the Owls in the last meeting in 1996.
The Cats own an 8-4 edge in the all-time series with Creighton.
The last meeting came during the altered 2020-21 season, with the Wildcats winning a four-set decision at home against a then-top-25 Creighton squad on March 20, 2021.
K-State has won eight of the last nine against CU and this will be the first neutral-site meeting in the series.
In her career, head coach Suzie Fritz is 9-0 against teams from Conference USA and 6-2 against the Big East.

VS. RANKED OPPONENTS

Saturday's matchup with No. 17 Creighton will mark the Wildcats' first ranked opponent this season.
A season ago, K-State went 0-6 against teams ranked in the AVCA top-25 poll, including five matches against the nation's top five.
The Cats' last ranked win was against Creighton, who was ranked No. 24 when they met during the 2020-21 season (March 20, 2021) when K-State won 3-1.
The victory over the Bluejays was the team's first non-conference ranked victory since the 2016 season.
K-State last defeated a ranked opponent at a neutral site in 2012, a straight-set win over No. 20 Dayton.
The Cats are 0-6 against an opponent who is ranked 17th, with the last meeting coming in 2010 (Florida State).

ACES IN SPADES

K-State has racked up 87 service aces, which is tops in the Big 12 and ranks third nationally.
Additionally, the team's 2.18 aces-a-set average is 18th nationally and best in the conference.
Elena Baka is the team leader with 19 aces to rank second in the Big 12 and 17th in the country while Sydney Bolding's 18 aces are third in the league and 28th-most in the nation.
Baka has logged multiple aces six times this season while Bolding has produced a career-best four aces twice this season.
Five 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 five matches with 10 or more aces are the most since a rally-scoring-record seven matches in 2007.
Currently, four Wildcats make up the league's top 10 in aces per set: Bolding (fourth), Baka (fifth), Hinkle (eighth) and Morris (ninth).

IMMEDIATE IMPACT

Senior transfer Elena Baka has had an immediate impact through 11 matches with the Wildcats.
Playing six rotations, Baka leads the team in total kills with 122 while hitting at a .208 efficiency along with a team-high 19 aces.
The Saint Mary's transfer set a career-high with 19 kills against UCF on the way to her second straight all-tournament team selection.
She has three double-doubles on the season, including 16 kills and a career-best 17 digs against Mizzou last Wednesday.
Her 19 aces are tops in the Big 12, as she has served up multiple aces six times - including in each of K-State's first five contests.

BOLDING BREAKING OUT

Senior middle blocker Sydney Bolding is off to a fast start for K-State in 2022, hitting .337 and averaging 1.97 kills per set with 1.38 blocks per set and 18 aces.
Bolding twice produced four aces over the last five matches, with four against Missouri and four coming in the first set alone against St. Thomas Saturday.
The four aces were a career high, as she has five matches with multiple aces this season (two such matches last season).
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, who missed the first three weeks of the 2021 season due to injury, turned in a season-high eight blocks against Kansas City Wednesday.
The Pickens, South Carolina, product has eclipsed double-figure kills three times this season and has hit .350 or better four times.
Against NC State, she set a career high with 13 kills while also totaling seven blocks.

DEFENSIVE CATS

The Wildcats have limited their opponents to a combined .145 hitting percentage on the season - second-best in the Big 12 and 20th-best in the country - and have held opponents under a .200 efficiency in eight of 11 contests.
K-State held the Roos to a .018 team hitting percentage Wednesday, forcing them into a negative efficiency in each of the first two sets.
UCF's .268 team efficiency is the high-water mark for any K-State opponent this season.
In the season's opening weekend, K-State held its opponents to a combined .049 hitting percentage.
The Cats held Florida A&M to a -.041 team efficiency, as they forced the Rattlers into 21 errors while allowing only 18 kills.
Behind 17.5 blocks, the Wildcats held NC State to a .058 team efficiency, as the block total tied for fourth-most in program history during a four-set match during the rally-scoring era.
The 17.5 blocks also surpassed K-State's season high from last season, while five players turned in at least four blocks against the Wolfpack.
Mackenzie Morris set a career high with 25 digs against UCF for her first 20-dig outing of the season and 13th of her career.
It marked the first 25-dig performance by a Wildcat since the 2019 season (Dru Kuck).

K-State Wraps Up Non-Con Slate at Rice Adidas Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Elena Baka

Sydney Bolding

Aliyah Carter

Loren Hinkle

Mackenzie Morris

Shaylee Myers

Haley Warner

Kansas State University Athletics

K-State Wraps Up Non-Con Slate at Rice Adidas Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Elena Baka

Sydney Bolding

Aliyah Carter

Loren Hinkle

Mackenzie Morris

Shaylee Myers

Haley Warner

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