K-State Returns Home to Face Mizzou Wednesday

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Off to a 5-1 start to the season, K-State returns to Bramlage Coliseum for a Wednesday night matchup with former conference rival Missouri, with first serve set for 6 p.m.

K-State comes home after a 2-1 weekend at the UCF Challenge. The Wildcats claimed victories over Syracuse in four sets in addition to a sweep of North Florida before a five-set setback at host and future Big 12 member UCF, who is receiving votes in the latest AVCA coaches' poll.

Elena Baka and Mackenzie Morris earned spots on UCF Challenge All-Tournament Team after leading the Cats in kills and digs, respectively. Baka put down 50 kills (4.17 per set) while hitting .269 and turned in a 14-kill, 14-dig double-double against UNF. Morris averaged 4.42 digs per set, including a career-high 25 against the Knights.

Through the season's first two weeks, K-State leads the Big 12 total service aces with 51 (2.32 per set). Baka's team-leading 14 are tied for the most in the conference while Loren Hinkle and Sydney Bolding are tied for fifth with eight aces apiece.

Wednesday's match can be seen on Big 12 Now ESPN+ and the ESPN app with the broadcast team of Brian Smoller and Liz Wegner-Busch. Rob Voelker will be on the call on News Radio KMAN (93.3FM) with free, live audio at K-StateSports.com/Watch and on the K-State Sports app.

Fans can purchase a Wildcat 4-Pack for just $40 and receive four general-admission tickets and four $10 concessions vouchers – a savings of $20. General-admission tickets can be purchased in advance for just $5 at K-StateSports.com/tickets, by calling 800-221-CATS or by stopping by the K-State Athletics Ticket Office at Bramlage Coliseum.

MATCH #7
K-STATE (5-1, 0-0 BIG 12) vs. MISSOURI (4-2, 0-0 SEC)
Wednesday, Sept. 7 // 6 p.m. // Bramlage Coliseum // Manhattan, Kan.
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ // Brian Smoller, Liz Wegner-Busch
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM) // Rob Voelker
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Promotion: 4-for-$40 Pack / Throwback Night
Live Stats
Tickets

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State returns to Bramlage Coliseum for a midweek matchup with former conference rival Missouri.
The Wildcats come home after winning two of three matches at the UCF Challenge last week, taking down Syracuse (3-1) and North Florida (3-0) before falling in five sets to host UCF.
Elena Baka and Mackenzie Morris earned all-tournament honors after leading K-State in kills and digs, respectively.
Baka produced 50 kills (4.17 per set) while hitting .269 and added six aces and seven blocks for the weekend.
Morris added three straight matches with 10 or more digs, capped by a career-high 25 in the Wildcats' five-set match at UCF.
The Cats opened the tournament with a four-set win over Syracuse, as Aliyah Carter led the way with a season-high 20 kills at a .366 clip.
Baka added 17 kills and Morris had a team-high 17 digs.
Baka produced a 14-kill, 14-dig double-double to go with four aces in K-State's straight-set win over North Florida.
In a matchup with future Big 12 foe UCF, Baka led the Cats with 19 kills while Carter added 18, as K-State's season-opening five-match winning streak came to an end.
The 5-0 start marked the Wildcats' longest winning streak to start a season since 2013 when they opened the year 7-0.
Over three matches, K-State served up 28 aces while committing just 11 service errors, led by six aces each from Baka and Morris.
Sydney Bolding finished the weekend with 14 block assists to pace the Cats' defense.

SCOUTING MISSOURI

Missouri (4-2) enters Wednesday's matchup having won its last three matches after going 3-0 at its home Mizzou Invitational.
The Tigers defeated Abilene Christian in four sets before sweeping both Missouri State and Northwestern State
Kaylee Cox was tabbed Mizzou Invitational MVP and was joined on the all-tournament team by Riley Buckley.
Cox is the Tigers' leader with 86 kills and 3.74 kills per set, hitting .271 with 13 aces.
Buckley averages 9.70 assists per set along with 2.00 digs a set as MU's setter.
Mizzou allows teams to hit just .165 against them while hitting .253 as an offense.
The Tigers' roster features two former Wildcats in outside hitters Brynn Carlson and Anna Dixon.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State and Missouri face off for the second straight season after a 10-year absence in the rivalry.
A season ago, the Wildcats swept the Tigers in Columbia in the first meeting between the former conference rivals since 2011.
In the contest, Aliyah Carter put down 16 kills at a .433 efficiency to go with five digs and five blocks.
All-time, K-State owns a 42-34 edge in the series, dating back to 1974.
The Cats are 22-12 at home vs. Mizzou and last hosted the Tigers in 2011.
K-State has taken the last three matches in the series, last falling in 2010 in Columbia.
Overall, the Wildcats have claimed eight of the last 11 meetings, going back to 2007.
Head coach Suzie Fritz is 16-7 in her career against MU and 41-23 against current members of the Southeastern Conference.

ACES IN SPADES

Through the first two weeks of the 2022 season, K-State has racked up 51 service aces, which is tops in the Big 12 and ranks 12th nationally.
Elena Baka is the team leader with 14 aces to pace the Big 12 and currently ranks 21st in the country.
Baka turned in multiple service aces in each of the first five matches of the season, twice registering four aces.
The team's 2.32 aces per set also is best in the league while ranking 16th nationally.
Three times the Cats have eclipsed double-figure aces, 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 marked the first time with consecutive matches with at least 10 aces since 2007.
Last season, K-State finished with 10 or more aces just twice.
Additionally, three matches with 10 or more aces are the most since 2012 (3) while the most 10-ace matches in a season is 2007 with seven (rally-scoring era).
Currently, three Wildcats rank in the Big 12's top 10 in aces per set: Baka (second), Hinkle (fourth) and Bolding (seventh).

IMMEDIATE IMPACT

Senior transfer Elena Baka has had an immediate impact through six matches with the Wildcats.
Playing six rotations, Baka leads the team in total kills with 76 while hitting at a .2687 efficiency along with a team-high 14 aces.
The Saint Mary's transfer set a career-high with 19 kills against UCF on Saturday on the way to her second straight all-tournament team selection.
She has two double-doubles on the season, including 14 kills, 14 digs and four aces against North Florida.
Her 14 aces are tops in the Big 12, as she served up multiple aces in each of K-State's first five contests.
In the season opener against Sam Houston, Bolding put down six kills on 12 attacks and added a pair of aces.
Additionally, she ranks seventh in the Big 12 at 0.38 per set).

DEFENSIVE CATS

The Wildcats have held their opponents to a .156 hitting percentage on the season - second-best in the Big 12 - and have allowed opponents to break the .200 mark just twice.
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, a 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.
Fernholz (fifth) and Bolding (seventh) each rank in the top 10 in the Big 12 in blocks per set.
The team's 2.48 blocks per set and 13.23 digs per set each rank fourth in the Big 12.
Mackenzie Morris set a career high with 25 digs against the Knights on Saturday 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).

NEW POSITION, WHO DIS?

K-State senior Loren Hinkle made the switch of defensive specialist to setter ahead of the 2022 season.
She earned the start in each of the Wildcats' first six matches, handing out 200 assists (10.00 per set) in leading her team to a 5-1 start.
Hinkle recorded her first 50-assist match Saturday at UCF, picking up 53 assists along with five digs and two blocks.
In addition to setting career-high assist totals, Hinkle has also tallied 12 total blocks, including six against NC State on August 26, for the first stuffs of her collegiate career.
Hinkle led the offense to a .313 efficiency over three matches at the K-State Invitational, with a season-best .357 mark against Sam Houston the opener.

1K IN A HURRY

Juniors Aliyah Carter and Mackenzie Morris are each approaching the 1,000 club in kills and digs, respectively.
In just over two seasons, Carter has racked up 828 kills while Morris has accumulated 865 digs.
Each have played in just 55 career matches, including the shortened 2020-21 season which featured only 21 contests.
If both remain at their current pace, they would be the fastest players in K-State history in the rally-scoring era to reach the 1,000-kill and -dig milestones.

Currently, Carter's career average of 4.02 kills per set is tops in program history during the rally-scoring era while Morris is second at 4.04 digs a set

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Players Mentioned

Elena Baka

Sydney Bolding

Aliyah Carter

Loren Hinkle

Mackenzie Morris

Kansas State University Athletics