Cats, Mountaineers Set for Big 12 Action Wednesday Night

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Fresh off a five-set victory over TCU, K-State is set to take on West Virginia Wednesday night at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W.Va., with first serve slated for 5 p.m. CT.

The Wildcats (7-4, 1-1 Big 12) led off conference play 1-1 after dropping the league opener in straight sets against TCU before taking down the Horned Frogs in five for the program's 900^th victory and first Big 12 win in the Mansfield era.

Wednesday's match marks the 23^rd meeting between K-State and West Virginia (6-8, 0-2 Big 12) with the Wildcats leading the all-time series 14-8, including a 7-4 lead in Morgantown.

The match can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State will take on West Virginia Wednesday night at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W.Va., with first serve slated for 5 p.m. CT.
The Wildcats moved to 7-4 after opening Big 12 play 1-1
K-State dropped league opener in straight sets against TCU before taking down the Horned Frogs in five for the program's 900^th victory and first conference win under Jason Mansfield
West Viriginia is 6-8 overall and 0-2 in league play.
Wednesday's match marks the 23^rd meeting with the Wildcats leading the all-time series 14-8, including a 7-4 lead in Morgantown.
Head coach Jason Mansfield moved to 7-4 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 900-713-12 record.

SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA

WVU moved to 6-8 after opening Big 12 play 0-2 with losses against Iowa State.
The Mountaineers are 2-3 when playing in Morgantown
WVU concluded the 2022 campaign with a 7-22 mark and 0-16 in Big 12 action last season.
Reed Sunahara is in his ninth season at the helm of the Mountaineers volleyball program with a record of 103-142 (.420), and 24^th season overall at 428-306 (.583)
The Mountaineers returned four starters and six letterwinners from last year's roster
Outside hitter Bailey Miller leads the returners as she contributed 293 kills (2.76/set), 328.5 points (3.10/set), 20 service aces, 26 blocks and 223 digs in 2022.
WVU add four transfers in the off-season with Lauren Delo (Rutgers), Camillia Covas (South Carolina), Hailey Green (Denver), and Lauren Bodily (Iowa Western CC).
Green's average of 3.92 kills per set leads the way for the offense that is hitting .235 while the defense holds opponents to a .206 hitting efficiency.
Miller is the second Mountaineer to average three kills while Maddy McGarth is hitting a team-high .330.
DeLo paces the 5-1 offense with 10.35 assists per set to go with a team-high 17 aces (0.35 per set)
Fifth-year libero Camilla Covas leads the back row with 3.90 digs per set while Tiereny Jackson and Nele Broszat average a block a set.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Wednesday's match marks the 23^rd meeting between the Wildcats and Mountaineers
K-State leads the all-time series 14-8 and 7-4 in Morgantown
The Wildcats swept the 2022 season series 2-0 and have won six straight sets

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

K-State is 4-1 when playing on the road this season, after starting the season with a perfect 3-0 record in Portland, Ore.
In five matches on the road, K-State is hitting .314 while limiting opponents to a .147 hitting efficiency.
Carter is averaging 3.00 kills per set and hitting .269 on the road followed by Clinton hitting .344 with 2.86 kills a clip
Bolding has produced 31 total blocks (1.82 per set) with a an incredible .534 hitting efficiency.
The Cats have served up 35 aces on the road, with Gregorski accounting for 10 of them and Carter with nine.
K-State is 230-284-0 all-time when playing on the road, excluding neutral games.

THE WEEKEND REVIEW

The Wildcats moved to 7-4 on the year after splitting the season series with TCU
K-State dropped the Big 12 opener in straight sets before defeating the Horned Frogs in five to capture the program's 900^th win and first conference victory under Jason Mansfield.
K-State tallied 12 services aces, including 11 on Friday to match a season-high
The Cats 11 aces was three short of matching a program record for team aces in a five-set match
Carter and Clinton combined for 57 of the team's 98 kills while Bolding hit a team-high .290
K-State moved to a 6-2 offense where Loren Hinkle and Izzi Szulczewski guided the offense with 86 assists
Bolding and Schmidt totaled eight blocks on the weekend
The Wildcats hit .145 while opponents averaged a .123 hitting efficiency.

DOUBLE-TROUBLE

Three Wildcats have recorded double-doubles this season led by Szulczewski with four followed by Carter (3) and Hinkle (1)
Szulczewski and Hinkle each produced a double-double Friday night to lead the Wildcats to a five-set win over TCU
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 fifth nationally with 1.56 blocks per set.
The Pickens, S.C., product's 3.01 points per set ranks is second on the team behind team leader Aliyah Carter
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 21 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 2020 Big 12 Freshman of the Year has led the Wildcats offense in nine matches this season, including a season-high 18 kills Friday against TCU.
Carter ranks in the top 10 of the Big 12 leaderboards in three offensive categories: aces per set (0.45), points per set (4.05) and kills per set (3.41)
Carter's current career average of 3.66 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). Additionally, she is just the second player in program history to earn back-to-back unanimous first-team accolades, joining Kaitlynn Pelger (2012-13).

KEEP ON DIGGIN'

Loren Hinkle is shy of 1,000 career digs which would put her in the Cats double-grand club, becoming just the ninth player in history to reach 1,000 in two categories.
The senior from Shawnee, Kan., reached her 1,000 assists in 2022. She now has 1,186 assists and 935 total digs.
Senior libero Mackenzie Morris' leads the Big 12 in digs per set (4.84) which ranks 32^nd in NCAA.
The Dallas, Texas product is the sixth player to generate over 1,400 career digs at K-State, ranking fourth overall in the rally-scoring era at 1,449.
Morris has produced four 20 or more dig matches this season with a season-best 30 to bringing her career total to 24.
Her 30 digs against TCU is the most by any Big 12 player in any match this season, tying West Virginia's Camilla Covas.
Morris' 24 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 4.26 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 7-1 when hitting at a higher hitting percentage and 6-0 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 5-1 when leading in digs
The Wildcats are 4-4 in the month of September
Carter totals 126 kills (3.41 per set) this season followed by Clinton at 2.67 kills per set
On defense, Morris averages a league-high 4.84 digs per set with Bolding is second in the conference with 1.59 blocks per set, ranking fifth in the nation.
Currently, the Big 12 ranks fourth in RPI (rating percentage index) with an average RPI of .6012 with five programs ranked the top 20 of the national polls.

BRICK WALL

K-State is averaging the league's fourth-best 2.86 blocks per set which ranks 11^th among Division I.
The team's 108.5 total blocks ranks fifth 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 fifth in the nation in blocks per set (1.59).
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, which ranked 38^th in the nation.
With her eight blocks against TCU, Bolding is now 21 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 13-1 record.
Four teams led off league action 2-0 with BYU, Iowa State, UCF, and Texas
Five programs from the Big 12 are ranked in the AVCA standings with No. 9 BYU, No. 10 Texas, No. 18 Baylor, No. 19 Kansas, and No. 20 Houston while Iowa State and UCF are receiving votes.
BYU's Erin Livingston (Offensive) and Whitney McEwan-Llarenas (Defensive), and Kansas' Raegan Burns (Rookie) collected weekly Big 12 volleyball awards following the first week of conference play of the regular season.

UP NEXT

The Wildcats return to the Little Apple on Saturday, Sept. 30, as they take on Cincinnati (7-5, 0-2 Big 12) at Morgan Family Arena with first serve set for 4:30 p.m. CT.
The match will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
Saturday's promotions feature Spikes and Seltzers as well as Youth Team Game night.

Cats, Mountaineers Set for Big 12 Action Wednesday Night

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sydney Bolding

Aliyah Carter

Kadye Fernholz

Loren Hinkle

Mackenzie Morris

Izzi Szulczewski

Kansas State University Athletics

Cats, Mountaineers Set for Big 12 Action Wednesday Night

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sydney Bolding

Aliyah Carter

Kadye Fernholz

Loren Hinkle

Mackenzie Morris

Izzi Szulczewski

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