K-State Faces TCU to Open Big 12 Slate

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State begins its Big 12 Conference schedule Thursday at Morgan Family Arena when the Wildcats host TCU with first serve set for 6:30 p.m. in Manhattan.

The second match of the two-match season series is slated for 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Thursday's match marks the 23^rd meeting between the Wildcats (6-3) and Horned Frogs (7-4) with K-State leading the all-time series 13-9. TCU claimed the season series last year with a pair of wins, including a five-set victory in Manhattan.

The two-match series can be seen on the Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with the broadcast team of Brian Smoller and former Wildcat and two-time All-American Liz Wegner-Busch calling the action along with Hannah Whetstone on the sidelines.

K-State is coming off a 1-1 weekend after the Wildcats swept Long Island in the annual K-state Invitational before falling to Rice in straight sets.

Two Wildcats received all-tournament recognition with outside hitter Aniya Clinton and libero Mackenzie Morris. Clinton was second on the team with 17 kills with a .157 attack percentage while Morris averaged 4.67 digs per set.

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State begins its Big 12 Conference schedule Thursday at Morgan Family Arena when the Wildcats host TCU with first serve set for 6:30 p.m. in Manhattan.
The second match of the two-match season series is slated for 6:30 p.m. Friday.
The Wildcats ended non-conference action 6-3, after starting off the year 4-0.
Thursday's match marks the 23^rd meeting between the Big 12 opponents with K-State leading the all-time series 13-9.
TCU (7-4) claimed the season series last year with a pair of wins, including a five-set victory in Manhattan.
K-State is coming off a 1-1 weekend after the Wildcats swept Long Island in the annual K-state Invitational before falling to Rice in straight sets.
Two Wildcats received all-tournament recognition with outside hitter Aniya Clinton and libero Mackenzie Morris.
Clinton was second on the team with 17 kills with a .157 attack percentage while Morris averaged 4.67 digs per set.
Head coach Jason Mansfield moved to 6-3 overall in his first season at the helm of the program.
K-State is in its 50^th season of Wildcat Volleyball, posting an overall 899-712-12 record.

SCOUTING TCU

TCU finished preseason action 7-4 with a current five-match winning streak and 4-4 record on the road.
The Horned Frogs last loss came on September 7 in a five-set battle against UNI at the Texas A&M Invitational.
With a 7-4 overall record, TCU received seven votes in the AVCA Top 25 rankings.
TCU finished 17-11 and 11-5 in Big 12 action last season, making an appearance in the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. The Frogs defeated No. 25 Washington in four before falling to No. 2 Wisconsin in straight sets.
Jason Williams is in his second season at the helm of the Frogs' volleyball program, compiling an overall record of 24-15.
Audrey Nalls was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team as one of five unanimous selections.
The Horned Frogs were picked fourth in the preseason poll, their highest selection since 2019 at third.
TCU returned 69 percent of its offense from 2022 including outside hitters Julia Adams and Nalls.
Melanie Parra, a junior transfer from Texas, leads the Big 12 in kills per set (4.63), seventh in total points (226.0), fifth in points per set (5.51), 13^th in total kills (190) and 10^th in attacks per set (11.85) while leading the league in each category.
Para was named the AVCA/GameChanger Division I National Player of the Week and Big 12 Offensive Player of the week after she broke the school record for a four-set match and was one kill short of the four-set Big 12 record with 34 in TCU's 3-1 win over Florida State.
Riley Buck paces the 5-1 offense with 9.32 assists per set to go with 2.63 digs per set while Parra leads with a team-high 20 aces (0.49 per set).
Junior libero Cecily Bramschreiber leads the back row with 3.39 digs per set while Brianna Green and Sarah Sylvester average 1.32 blocks per set, combining for 99 stops.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Thursday's match marks the 23^rd meeting between the Wildcats and Horned Frogs
K-State leads the all-time series 13-9 and 8-3 at home.
The Horned Frogs claimed the 2022 season series, 2-0.
In the last meeting, TCU won in four sets (25-20, 25-14, 23-25, 25-21)
Former Wildcat Elena Baka clinched her ninth double-double of the season in the final meeting while Kadye Fernholz recorded a career-high 14 kills.
Sydney Bolding recorded a career-high 10 blocks, becoming the first Wildcat to produce double figure blocks since Fernholz in 2021.

CHASING 900

In the 50^th season of Wildcat volleyball, K-State boasts an overall 899-712-12 (.558) record.
The Wildcat's are 380-259 all-time in three-set matches, 204-191 in four-sets, and 136-108 in five set matches.
K-State has compiled an overall record of 318-362 (.468) in conference action.

HOME COOKIN'

K-State began its home schedule 2-2 with sweeps over Omaha and Long Island.
In four home matches this season, the Wildcats are hitting .32 while opponents post a .148 team efficiency.
Carter is averaging 3.50 kills per set and hitting .130 at home while Fernholz is hitting .231 with 1.45 kills per set.
Bolding has produced 15 total blocks (1.67 per set) at home with a .135 hitting efficiency.
The Cats have served up 18 aces at home, with Szulczewski accounting for five of them and Carter four.
K-State is 405-209-5 all-time when playing at home.

HONOR ROLL

Clinton and Morris were placed on the K-State Invitational All-Tournament team after helping the Wildcats to a 1-1 weekend.
Bolding and Carter were named to the all-tournament team following the conclusion of the Lippy Invitational, marking their second all-tournament honors this season as they received recognition at the Rose City Showdown in Portland.
Szulczewski joined Bolding and Carter on the Rose City Showdown All-Tournament Team, earning her first all-tournament recognition as a Wildcat.
Carter and Bolding both were named to the 2023 Preseason All-Big 12 Team
The preseason selection marked the third for Carter as she was named a unanimous selection in 2021 and 2022.

THE WEEKEND REVIEW

The Wildcats moved to 6-3 on the year after going 1-1 at the annual K-State Invitational
K-State defeated Long Island in straight sets (25-20, 25-1, 25-10) before dropping the tournament finale to Rice (15-25, 23-25, 21-25).
K-State tallied nine services aces, including three from Szulczewski against the Sharks.
Carter and Clinton combined for 36 of the team's 72 kills while Myers hit a team-best .231.
Bolding registered 11 blocks to bring her season total to a team-leading 51.0.
The Wildcats hit .145 while opponents averaged a .123 hitting efficiency.

DOUBLE-TROUBLE

Two Wildcats have registered three double-doubles this season with Szulczewski and Carter
Szulczewski, a native of Beaverton, Ore., generated her first double-double with the Wildcats in the season opener with a team-best 41 assists.
Preseason All-Big 12 honoree Aliyah Carter brought her career total to 18 after tallying a season-best 17 kills with 14 digs against Lipscomb.
Carter is 17 double-doubles away from joining the Wildcats double-double club
Former Wildcat Kim Zschau holds the program's career double-double record with 69 across 457 sets during 1995-98.

BEING BOLD

Senior middle blocker Sydney Bolding continues to be a threat at the net for the Wildcats as she ranks second in the league and third nationally with 1.76 blocks per set.
The Pickens, S.C., produce has totaled 92.0 points this season, just 23 behind team leader Aliyah Carter, while her 1.86 kills per set is third on the team.
She was named to the Lippy Invitational All-Tournament Team, her fourth all-tournament team selection and second of the season as she was also tabbed to the Rose city Showdown all-tournament team.
Bolding is 29 blocks away from reaching her 300^th career block at K-State
In just three years at K-State, she has compiled over 300 kills, 500 points, and 50 service aces.

KILLER CARTER

Aliyah Carter is the fastest player to each 1,000 kills as she became the 19^th player in program history to reach the milestone in the season opener at Portland State on Aug. 25, 2023.
The two-time All-Region section has produced double-figure kills in five of the Wildcats' nine preseason matches, including season-best 17 at Lipscomb.
Carter ranks in the top 15 of the Big 12 leaderboards in three offensive categories: aces per set (0.45), points per set (3.98) and kills per set (3.21)
Additionally, she is just the second player in program history to earn back-to-back unanimous first-team accolades, joining Kaitlynn Pelger (2012-13).
Carter's current career average of 3.65 kills per set ranks third in K-State history during the rally-scoring era and fourth overall.
She now has 13 career matches with 20 or more kills, ranking second in program history during the rally-scoring era and sixth overall.
Carter last eclipsed the 20-kill plateau on Oct. 27, 2021, against Texas Tech (21 kills).
The 2020 Big 12 and AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year became the first Wildcat to earn unanimous first-team honors as both a freshman and a sophomore.

KEEP ON DIGGIN'

Senior libero Mackenzie Morris' 4.67 digs per set ranks second in the league and ranks 46^th nationally.
The Dallas, Texas product is the sixth player to generate 1,405 career digs at K-State, ranking fourth overall in the rally-scoring era.
Morris has produced three 20 or more dig matches this season, bringing her career total to 22.
Morris' 22 matches with at least 20 digs ranks third in program history.
Morris joined the 1,000-digs club last season versus Kansas on Sept. 24., 2022.
At 4.23 career digs per set, she is currently one of just two players in the rally-scoring era to average over 4.00 digs per set (Angie Lastra, 4.37).
Morris is one of just five active players in the Big 12 with at least 1,300 career digs (third among active Big 12 athletes).

IT'S THE BREAKDOWN

K-State has won the opening set in five matches this season, going 5-0.
The Wildcats are 6-1 when hitting at a higher hitting percentage and 5-0 when producing more kills than their opponents.
Additionally, the Cats are 3-3 when limiting opponents to a hitting efficiency under .200.
K-state is 6-0 when leading opponents in blocks and 5-0 when leading in digs
The Wildcats are 3-3 in the month of September
Carter totals 93 kills (3.21 per set) this season while Szulczewski has paced the 5-1 offense with 250 assists (8.33 per set).
On defense, Morris averages 4.67 digs per set with Bolding generating 1.76 blocks which ranks third in the nation.
Morris' 4.67 digs per set ranks second in the league, just .13 behind Iowa State's Brooke Stonestreet.
Currently, the Big 12 ranks fifth in RPI (rating percentage index) with an average RPI of .5891 with six programs ranked the AVCA top 25.

BRICK WALL

K-State is averaging the league's second-best 3.02 blocks per set which ranks fifth among Division I.
The team's 90.5 total ranks sixth overall in the Big 12.
The Wildcats collected a season-best 14.0 blocks in a sweep of UT Martin on Sept. 8.
Bolding is second in the the Big 12 and third in the nation in blocks per set (1.76).
Her eight-block performance is the third most in any three-set match of any Big 12 team this season.
Kadye Fernholz is on pace to join the program's 400-block club as she earned her 300^th career block against UT Martin.
Fernholz has registered 100-plus blocks the past two seasons while Bolding led the Cats last season with 141.0.
With her 11 blocks at the K-State Invitational, Bolding is now 29 blocks away from her 300^th career stop at K-State.

AROUND THE BIG 12

BYU leads the Big 12 as the first team to record double digit victories with an overall 11-1 record.
The Cougars dropped a 3-1 decision to Washington State in preseason action.
Kansas ranks second after finishing preseason play 9-1 followed by Iowa State (9-2) and UCF (9-2) to round out the top four.
Six programs from the Big 12 are ranked in the AVCA standings with No. 9 Texas, No. 10 BYU, No. 17 Kansas, No. 18 Baylor, No. 20 Houst, and No. 25 Iowa State while TCU is receiving votes.
TCU's Melanie Parra (Offensive), Texas' Asjia O'Neal (Defensive) and Baylor's Kyndal Stowers (Rookie) collected weekly Big 12 volleyball awards for the final full week of non-conference play of the regular season.
Parra was also named the AVCA/GameChanger Division I National Player of the Week.

A NEW HOME

K-State officially unveiled the Morgan Family Arena on Sept. 1, 2023 in the Wildcats defeat over Omaha in front of capacity crowd of 3,044.
Wildcats are 2-2 when playing at home this season
Morgan Family Arena will host 13 regular season games in its inaugural season.
The all-volleyball inclusive arena is the third home of Wildcat volleyball joining the Bramlage Coliseum and Ahearn Field House
K-State is 406-210-5 all-time when playing at home

UP NEXT

The Wildcats head to Morgantown, W.Va. for the first road conference match of the season as they face West Virginia (6-6), on Wednesday, Sept. 27.
First serve is slated for 5 p.m. CT/6 p.m. ET at WVU Coliseum.
The match will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Elena Baka

Sydney Bolding

Aliyah Carter

Aniya Clinton

Kadye Fernholz

Mackenzie Morris

Kansas State University Athletics