Wildcats Ready for No. 3 Longhorns

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State begins its final home stretch of its 2023 campaign, with a Big 12 match-up with No. 3 Texas Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. inside Morgan Family Arena.

K-State (13-10, 7-7 Big 12) forced a fifth set against rival No. 14 Kansas, but the Jayhawks would ultimately claim the final set before defeating the Cats in straight sets to take the season series.

Three Wildcats turned season-best performances with outside hitter Aliyah Carter, setter Izzi Szulczewski, and libero Mackenzie Morris. Carter produced a season-best 24 kills to lead the Cats and posted 24^th career double-double of the season (14 digs). With 24 kills, Carter generated her 16^th career 20-kill match to become the rally-scoring era 20-kill match leader.

Szulczewski added a season-high 51 assists leading to back-to-back double-double performances while Morris turned in her third career 30-dig match with 34. Middle blocker Sydney Bolding boasted 15 kills Friday night – her most as a Wildcat – totaling 18 kills (.400) with seven blocks.

Texas (18-3, 13-0 Big 12) moved to No. 3 in this week's AVCA poll and comes to Manhattan with a 13-match win streak. The reigning national champions have won 12 straight sets and are 8-1 on the road this season, including a perfect 7-0 slate in Big 12 matches.

The Longhorns lead the all-time series 49-7 after taking the 2022 series, stretching their win streak out to 39 against the Cats. Head coach Jason Mansfield is 4-4 against ranked opponents in his first campaign with K-State.

Saturday's match will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

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

Kansas State begins its final home stretch of its 2023 campaign, with a Big 12 match-up with No. 3 Texas Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. inside Morgan Family Arena.
K-State (13-10, 7-7 Big 12) forced a fifth set against rival No. 14 Kansas, but the Jayhawks would ultimately claim the final set before defeating the Cats in straight sets to take the season series.
Three Wildcats turned season-best performances with outside hitter Aliyah Carter, setter Izzi Szulczewski, and libero Mackenzie Morris.
Carter donned a season-best 24 kills to lead the Cats and posted 24^th career double-double of the season (14 digs).
Szulczewski added a season-high 51 assists leading to back-to-back double-double performances while Morris turned in her third career 30-dig match with 34.
Middle blocker Sydney Bolding boasted 15 kills Friday night – her most as a Wildcat – totaling 18 kills (.400) with seven blocks.
K-State has won three-straight matches at home, all against ranked opponents.
Texas (18-3, 13-0 Big 12) moved to No. 3 in this week's AVCA poll and comes to Manhattan with a 13-match win streak.
The reigning national champions have won 12 straight sets and are 8-1 on the road this season, including a perfect 7-0 slate in Big 12 matches.
The Longhorns lead the all-time series 49-7 after taking the 2022 series, stretching their win streak out to 39 against the Cats.
Head coach Jason Mansfield is 4-4 against ranked opponents in his first campaign with K-State.
Saturday's match will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
K-State is in its 50^th season of Wildcat Volleyball, posting an overall 906-719-12 record and 410-212-5 at home.

SCOUTING #3 TEXAS

The reigning national champion Texas Longhorns rank third in the latest AVCA/Taraflex Coaches Top 25 Poll with an 18-3 overall record, while UT leads the league with a perfect 13-0 conference record.
Texas looks to continue its 13-match winning streak that dates back to Sept. 15 against then No. 11 Washington State. During the stretch, eight of the seven wins have come on the road.
UT is led by Jerritt Elliot, who is in his 23^rd season at the helm of the Longhorns program and 25^th overall as a head coach.
Elliott has guided UT to an overall 579-113 (.837) with 19 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and two national titles (2012, 2022).
The Longhorns have won 38 of their last 41 road matches dating back to the 2019 season. Since the 2011 season Texas has produced a 119-21 (.850) record in true road matches, with only six of those losses coming to unranked teams.
Texas enters the midweek nightcap boasting a .270 hitting percentage which is good for second in the league, while the Longhorns 2.93 blocks per set ranks fourth in the nation.
All-American Madisen Skinner leads the offense, averaging 5.18 points per set and a league-high 4.52 kills per set at a .275 pace.
Ella Swindle has guided the 5-1 offense with 9.56 assists a set to go along with 23 service aces and 2.05 digs.
Sophomore libero Emma Halter averages 3.77 assists a set with a team-high 26 aces.
All-American Asjia O'Neal leads the league and is 19^th in the nation with a .404 hitting percentage.
The middle blocker has totaled 98 blocks this season and leads the Big 12 with 1.51 blocks per set.
Skinner has been named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week twice this season while O'Neal has received Defensive Player of the Week recognition on three occasions.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Wednesday's contest will mark the 56^th all-time meeting between K-State and Kansas.
Texas leads the all-time series 49-7, which began on Oct. 9, 1981.
The Wildcats are 4-23 in Manhattan, banking the last win in 2003 (3-2).
With two victories against the Cats last season, UT stretched its win streak out to 39
K-State's last win against the Longhorns came in 2003 when the Wildcats banged out a five-set victory at home.

LAST TIME OUT

Kansas swept past the Cats, 25-19, 26-24, 25-23
K-State hit .216 (39 kills, 14 errors)
Carter had 14 kills to lead the offense followed by Clinton with 12
Morris recorded a season-best 34 digs for her third career 30-dig match.
Szulczewski dished out a season-best 51 assists with 14 digs.
Schmidt turned in five blocks while Szulczewski with four.
Szulczewski served up a pair of aces.
KU hit .213 (45 kills, 19 errors)
Bien was the lone Jayhawk to reach double figure kills with 14
The match had 17 tie scores with nine lead changes.
K-State is 2-9 when dropping the first set
The Cats are 4-4 against ranked opponents, 1-3 vs. Top 25 teams on the road
K-State is 7-6 when playing on the road this season, 4-6 in true road games
In Big 12 action, the Cats are 3-5 on the road
K-State is 10-4 in three-set matches.
The Wildcats lead the all-time series 67-60-1 and are 30-24 in Lawrence

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 4-4 against ranked opponents this season, and 0-1 against Top5 foes
The Cats recorded back-to-back straight set wins over then-No. 8 BYU to earn their third straight ranked victory 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.

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.

HOME COOKIN'

Wildcats are on a three-match winning streak at home, with all three wins coming against ranked opponents.
K-State is 6-4 when playing at home and 4-2 in Big 12 matches.
The Cats are hitting .177 while opponents hold an edge in attach percentage at .155
Carter has been the force behind the Cats offense, as the senior has totaled 136 kills (.168) at home this season, averaging 4.12 kills per set.
Aniya Clinton is hitting a team-high .253 efficiency, while averaging three kills per set.
Izzi Szulczewski dishes out 7.61 assists per set to pace the Wildcats with a team-high 11 aces alongside Liz Gregorski.
Defensively, Morris guides the back row with 4.91 digs per set while Bolding averages 1.41 blocks per set at home with a .212 hitting efficiency.
K-State is 410-212-5 all-time when playing at home.

IT'S THE BREAKDOWN

As a team, K-State is hitting .221 (12.55 kills per set) while limiting opponents to a .169 hitting efficiency, which ranks second in the league and ranks 39^th nationally.
The Cats have won the opening set in 12 matches this season, going 11-1.
Conversely, K-State is 2-9 when dropping the first set
The Wildcats are 13-3 when leading in attack percentage and 12-2 when producing more kills than their opponents.
Additionally, the Cats are 10-2 when limiting opponents to hitting efficiency under .200, with a 6-0 record when holding teams to under .100
K-State is 11-3 when leading opponents in blocks and 11-3 when leading in digs
Carter leads the Cats' offense and is sixth in the conference with 327 total kills (3.94 per set) this season followed by Clinton at 2.76 kills per set
On defense, Morris leads the back row with a league-high 4.67 digs per set, while she also leads the league in total digs (392)
Bolding is second in the conference with 1.37 blocks per set, ranking 17^th overall in the nation.
Currently, the Big 12 ranks third in RPI (rating percentage index) with an average RPI of .5961 with five programs ranked the top 25 of the national polls and one receiving votes.
The Wildcats are 62^nd in the latest RPI standings.

UP NEXT

K-State closes out the home slate at Morgan Family Arena for a two-match series with Texas Tech, starting November 17 at 6:30 p.m.
The finale is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
Friday's match will feature Senior Night where the Cats will honor Sydney Bolding, Aliyah Carter, Mackenzie Morris, Kadye Fernholz, and Loren Hinkle.
The conference series can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Bolding

Aliyah Carter

Aniya Clinton

Kadye Fernholz

Liz Gregorski

Loren Hinkle

Mackenzie Morris

Izzi Szulczewski

Kansas State University Athletics