Wildcats Head into Key Final Weekend in Houston

MANHATTAN, Kan. – In the regular season finale and with both teams having postseason dreams, K-State faces No. 22 Houston Saturday at Fertitta Center with first serve scheduled for 2 p.m.

K-State (16-10, 10-7 Big 12) and Houston (17-9, 10-7 Big 12) are each seeking an at-large bid into the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship, as they find both themselves within the nation's top 60 in RPI. The Wildcats and Cougars, along with Iowa State are in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Big 12 Conference standings.

Driving the Wildcats to their sixth consecutive sweep at home, Mackenzie Morris was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week while Aniya Clinton was tabbed Big 12 Rookie of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday.

Morris became the first player this season to win Defensive Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks as she earned her fifth career weekly defensive honor, which ties for the sixth most all-time.

The Wildcats hold a 4-3 edge in the all-time series with a four-match winning streak, after earning their first win over the Cougars in 2001. K-State is 1-1 when playing in Houston.

Saturday's match can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

Following the match in Houston, K-State will await its postseason fate on Sunday, November 26, with the NCAA Volleyball Selection Show at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN. The first round of the 2023 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship begins Thursday, November 30 on campus sites.

How to follow the Wildcats: Stay up to date on K-State volleyball online at www.kstatesports.com and on the team's social media channels on X (formally Twitter) and Instagram.

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

In the regular season finale and with both teams having postseason dreams, K-State faces No. 22 Houston Saturday at Fertitta Center with first serve scheduled for 2 p.m.
K-State (16-10, 10-7 Big 12) and Houston (17-9, 10-7 Big 12) are each seeking an at-large bid into the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship, as they find both themselves within the nation's top 60 in RPI.
The Wildcats and Cougars, along with Iowa State are in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Big 12 Conference standings.
Driving the Wildcats to their sixth consecutive sweep at home, Mackenzie Morris was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week while Aniya Clinton was tabbed Big 12 Rookie of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday.
Morris became the first player this season to win Defensive Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks as she earned her fifth career weekly defensive honor, which ties for the sixth most all-time.
The Wildcats hold a 4-3 edge in the all-time series with a four-match winning streak, after earning their first win over the Cougars in 2001.
K-State is 1-1 when playing in Houston.
Saturday's match can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
Following the match in Houston, K-State will await its postseason fate on Sunday, November 26, with the NCAA Volleyball Selection Show at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN. The first round of the 2023 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship begins Thursday, November 30 on campus sites.
K-State is in its 50^th season of Wildcat Volleyball, posting an overall 909-719-12 record and 233-289 on the road.

SCOUTING #22 HOUSTON

Houston enters the final week of the regular season at No. 22 in the latest AVCA national Top 25 polls.
The Cougars hold an overall record of 17-9, including a 10-7 Big 12 record in its first season in the conference.
UH has a two-match losing streak after suffering a pair of losses to Iowa State and No. 25 Baylor Wednesday.
David Rehr, who is in his 12^th season overall, has led the Cougars to an overall 101-43 (.701) record in his five seasons at Houston, following a seven-year stint at Arkansas State.
Abbie Jackson, a 2022 AVCA All-American Honorable Mention selection, leads the Cougars offense as the graduate student has amassed a team-high 311 kills (3.57 per set) and 360.0 points (4.14 per set).
Annie Cooke and Morgan Janda have paced the 6-2 offense with Cooke averaging 5.60 assists followed by Janda at 4.97.
Cooke has posts a team-high .431 hitting percentage while Jackson leads with a team-high 25 aces.
Defensively, Kellen Morrin averages a team-best 1.23 blocks per set while the 2022 unanimous American Athlete Conference Libero of the Year Kate Georgiades averages 4.53 digs per set to lead the backrow.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State holds a 4-3 edge in the all-time series with Houston, dating back to 1977.
The Wildcats are 1-1 on the road against the Cougars
The Cats and Cougars last met on August 28, 2007, with K-State earning a straight set victory.
K-State snapped a three-match losing streak with Houston in the 2001, with the Cats winning four straight.

LAST TIME OUT

Wildcats completed the season series over Texas Tech (25-23, 25-14, 25-20)
K-State hit .252 (48 kills, 19 errors)
The match had 16 scores and nine lead changes
Carter turned in a match-high 12 kills (.207).
Carter added 11 kills followed by Szulczewski and Schmidt with eight each.
Szulczewski had a team-high .583 hitting percentage
The Beaverton, Ore., product had 31 assists and 10 digs for her 10^th double-double
Morris had a match-high 21 digs, her 29^th career 20-dig match
Bolding turned in a match-high four blocks followed by Szulczewski and Schmidt with three
The Cats out-blocked the Red Raiders, 8-6.
TTU hit .153 (28 kills, 13 errors)
Dugan and Williams led with seven kills each.
The Wildcats have won 18 straight sets at home
K-State finished 9-4 overall at home, including 7-2 in Big 12 action
The Cats are 13-4 in three-set matches with eight sweeps at home
In 28 matches, K-State is 14-1 when winning the first set
K-State has won six straight matches at home, with four straight sweeps over Top 25 opponents
K-State leads the all-time series 45-15, and 26-3 at home

POSTSEASON HOPES

K-State eyes its first postseason bid since the 2021 season, when the Cats fell to Florida State in the opening round.
Eight Big 12 teams seek at-large bids into the 2023 NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship, as each team finds themselves within the top 64 of the latest RPI poll.
Despite a third-place finish in the competitive Big 12 last season, K-State was the final team left out of the 48-team field, which is reduced from the traditional 64 teams.
In its history, K-State has made the NCAA Tournament 18 times, advancing to a Regional Semifinal three times.

VS. THE POLLS

The Wildcats 2023 campaign features a challenging schedule that features seven nationally ranked opponents – Nebraska, Baylor, Iowa State, BYU, Kansas, Texas, and Houston
K-State is 5-4 against ranked opponents this season, and 1-1 against Top 5 foes
The Cats have won 12 straight matches at home to earn four straight Top 25 wins at home.
A season ago, K-State went 1-4 against teams ranked in the AVCA top-25 poll.
Wildcats are 1-3 against opponents receiving votes this season
Ten of K-State's 2023 opponents competed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament
Four members of the Big 12 were featured in the AVCA Preseason Poll with four receiving votes.

WEEKLY HONORS

Mackenzie Morris was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week while Aniya Clinton was tabbed Big 12 Rookie of the Week, the conference office announced Tuesday.
Morris is the first player this season to win Defensive Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks as she earned her fifth career weekly defensive honor, which ties for the sixth most all-time.
The Dallas, Texas product led a defense that held Texas Tech to a .121 hitting percentage as the Cats starting libero handed in her 29^th career 20-dig match.
The 2022 Big 12 Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year totaled league-high 39 digs (6.50 per set) in week 13 action, bringing her career total to 1,716 which is just 39 away from tying second all-time in school history.
The Big 12 leader in digs per set (4.85) and total digs (451), is just the third player in school history to reach the 1,700-dig milestone while her career digs average of 4.34 is good for second all-time.
Additionally, Morris turned in a league-high four service aces (0.67 per set) on her way to becoming the 22^nd player in program history to reach 100 career aces.
Clinton earned her second Rookie of the Week honor this season after totaling 27 kills for a .297 hitting efficiency against the Red Raiders.
She averaged 4.50 kills a set – good for sixth in the league – to go along with three blocks and nine digs.
The Midland, Texas native was seventh in the Big 12 with 4.83 points per set, while she totaled 29 on the weekend.
Clinton has reached double figure kills in seven of the Cats' last eight matches, totaling 13 overall this season.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

K-State is 7-6 (3-5 Big 12) when playing on the road this season and 4-6 when playing in true road games.
The Cats last time out featured a pair of losses against KU in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown.
On the road, the Wildcats are hitting .252 while limiting opponents to a .179 attack percentage.
Morris has guided the defense with 4.51 digs per set while Bolding has totaled 67 blocks (1.34 per set) with a .444 hitting percentage.
Carter averages 3.82 kills per set (.211) to pace the offense followed by Clinton at 2.60 (.233)
The Cats have served up 78 aces with Gregorski each accounting for 20 of them, followed by Bolding with 19
Szulczewski has turned in 386 assists (7.57 per set) on the road with 14 service aces.
K-State is 233-289 all-time when playing on the road, excluding neutral games.

AROUND tHE BIG 12

Texas clinched its seventh consecutive Big 12 conference title with a 16-1 league record, 21-4 overall, with a lone conference loss to Kansas State.
Kansas (22-5, 13-4 Big 12) is second in the league standings followed by BYU (23-6, 12-5 Big 12) while a three-way tie is in play for fourth between Iowa State (19-9, 10-7 Big 12), Houston (17-9, 10-7 Big 12), and K-State (16-10, 10-7 Big 12).
Five programs from the Big 12 are ranked in the AVCA standings with No. 4 Texas, No. 15 Kansas, No. 16 BYU, No. 22 Houston, and No. 25 Baylor, while K-State and Iowa State are receiving votes.
Kansas' Reagan Cooper (Offensive) along with K-State's Mackenzie Morris (Defensive) and Aniya Clinton (Rookie) earned Big 12 volleyball weekly honors for the second to last week of the regular season. Cooper was also announced as the AVCA/GameChanger Division I National Player of the Week.

IT'S THE BREAKDOWN

As a team, K-State is hitting .229 overall this year, averaging 12.84 kills per set while limiting opponents to a .169 hitting efficiency, which ranks second in the league.
The Cats have won the opening set in 12 matches this season, going 14-1.
Conversely, K-State is 2-9 when dropping the first set
The Wildcats are 16-3 when leading in attack percentage and 15-2 when producing more kills than their opponents.
Additionally, the Cats are 12-2 when limiting opponents to hitting efficiency under .200, with a 7-0 record when holding teams to under .100
K-State is 13-3 when leading opponents in blocks and 14-3 when leading in digs
Carter leads the Cats' offense and is fifth in the Big 12 in kills per set (4.08), fifth in points per set (4.57), and sixth in total kills (375) this season
On defense, Morris leads the back row with a league-high 4.85 digs per set, while she also leads the league in total digs (451)
Bolding is second in the conference with 1.38 blocks per set, ranking 14^th overall in the nation.
Currently, the Big 12 ranks third in RPI (rating percentage index) with an average RPI of .5885 with seven teams ranked in the Top 50 of RPI, while five programs ranked the AVCA Top 25 with two receiving votes.
The Wildcats are 57^th in the latest RPI standings.

UP NEXT

Following the match in Houston, K-State will await its postseason fate on Sunday, November 26, with the NCAA Volleyball Selection Show at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN.
The first round of the 2023 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship begins Thursday, November 30 on campus sites.

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Players Mentioned

Aniya Clinton

Mackenzie Morris

Kansas State University Athletics