Wildcats Host Bearcats on Saturday

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State looks to extend its win streak out to three, as the Wildcats welcome the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday inside Morgan Family Arena with first serve slated for 4:30 p.m.

Saturday's contest marks the first meeting in school history between the Wildcats and Bearcats.

K-State (8-4, 2-1 Big 12) defeated West Virginia in straight sets Wednesday to pick up their third consecutive victory over the Mountaineers, 27-25, 25-19, 25-20.

Cincinnati (7-5, 0-2 Big 12) makes its first-ever trip to the Little Apple as the Bearcats are one of four newcomers to join the Big 12 in the 2023-24 academic year. The Bearcats dropped a two-match series against UCF to open league action, moving to 39-38 overall against Big 12 opponents.

With a 2-1 league record, K-State ties fourth in the Big 12 standings alongside No. 9 BYU, and TCU.

The match can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with the broadcast team of Brian Smoller and former Wildcat two-time All-American Liz Wegner-Busch are back to call the action.

Single-match tickets can be purchased at the K-State Athletics ticket office at 1-800-221-CATS and www.kstatesports.com/tickets. Tickets start at just $8 when purchased in advance.

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

K-State looks to extend its win streak out to three, as the Wildcats welcome the Cincinnati Bearcats Saturday at Morgan Family Arena with first serve slated for 4:30 p.m.
The Wildcats moved to 8-4 after opening Big 12 play 2-1 under first-year head coach Jason Mansfield.
K-State defeated West Virginia in straight sets Wednesday to pick up their third consecutive victory over the Mountaineers, 27-25, 25-19, 25-20.
With a 2-1 league record, K-State ties for fourth in the Big 12 standings alongside No. 9 BYU, and TCU.
Cincinnati is 7-5 overall and 0-2 in league action after dropping a two-match series to UCF.
Saturday's match marks the first meeting between the Wildcats and Bearcats.
K-State is in its 50^th season of Wildcat Volleyball, posting an overall 901-713-12 record.

SCOUTING CINCINNATI

In its first season in the Big 12, Cincinnati comes to Manhattan with an overall 7-5 record and 0-2 in league play to open a three-match road swing.
The Bearcats dropped a two-match series against UCF to open conference action.
Cincinnati is 39-38 overall against Big 12 opponents and will face four conference opponents for the first time this season with K-State, Kansas, Texas Tech and TCU.
Molly Alvey is in her 12^th season as the Bearcats head coach, guiding the team to a 182-160 (.532) record.
A Centre alum, Alvey is in her 15^th season overall and has compiled a record of 244-191 (.613 with stops at Southern Indiana and Houston.
Freshman middle blocker Zeta Washington was named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week after leading the conference in both points per set (5.86) and kills per set (5.00)) in week two action.
The Cats are averaging a .236 hitting efficiency led by Jadyn Bauss who averages four kills a set.
Bauss, a product of Frisco, Texas, is leading the offense in six offensive categories including a team-best 21 service aces (0.53 per set).
Katelyn Lefler guides the 5-1 offense with 10.35 assists per set which is good for fourth in the league.
Graduate student Carly Skarbak is averaging 4.20 digs per set – good for third in the Big 12 – leading the team in digs in all but one match.
Cincinnati was picked to finish 12^th in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll. The Bearcats finished 11-19 and 9-11 in their final season in the AAC.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Saturday's match marks the first-ever meeting between the Wildcats and Bearcats

LAST TIME OUT

K-State won its second straight match in straight sets, 27-25, 25-19, 25-20
The Cats hit .324 (46 kills, 10 errors)
Two Wildcats reached double figure kills
Myers tallied a team-high 11 kills followed by Carter with 10
WVU hit a match-high .412 in the first set
K-State had a match-high 19 kills in the first set
Hinkle guided the offense with 23 assists
Bolding totaled four block assists
K-State out-blocked West Virginia 6.0-4.0
Green had a match-high 16 kills on the night
K-State leads the all-time series 15-8 against WVU, winning their third straight match against WVU.
The Wildcats move to 2-1 in conference action
On the road, the Wildcats are 5-1 including 2-1 in true road matches

HOME COOKIN'

K-State is 3-3 overall when playing at Morgan Family Arena, including a 1-1 record in Big 12 play.
In six home matches this season, the Wildcats are hitting .141 while opponents post a .160 team efficiency.
Carter is averaging 3.75 kills per set and hitting ..147 at home while Fernholz is hitting a team-best .213 with 1.26 kills per set.
Bolding has produced 22 total blocks (1.40 per set) at home with a .193 hitting efficiency.
The Cats have served up 30 aces at home, with Szulczewski and Gregorski each accounting for seven of them.
K-State is 407-211-5 all-time when playing at home

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 1.58 blocks per set.
The Pickens, S.C., product's 3.04 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 17 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.
Totaling 1,130 career kills, Carter ranks 14^th overall and fourth in the rally-scoring era
The 2020 Big 12 Freshman of the Year has led the Wildcats offense in nine matches this season, including a season-high 18 kills against TCU.
Carter ranks in the top 10 of the Big 12 leaderboards in three offensive categories: attacks pers set (9.62), points per set (4.08) and kills per set (3.40)
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 1,209 assists and 937 total digs.
Senior libero Mackenzie Morris' leads the Big 12 in digs per set (4.85) 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 in the rally-scoring era at 1,464 and fifth overall.
Morris has produced four 20 or more dig matches this season with a season-best 30 to bring 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 4.27 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 won the first set against West Virginia, marking the first first-set win since Sept. 14 against LIU.
The Cats have won the opening set in six matches this season, going 6-0.
The Wildcats are 8-1 when leading in attack percentage and 7-0 when producing more kills than their opponents.
Additionally, the Cats are 6-0 when limiting opponents to a hitting efficiency under .200.
K-State is 7-0 when leading opponents in blocks and 6-1 when leading in digs
The Wildcats are 5-4 in the month of September
Carter totals 136 kills (3.40 per set) this season followed by Clinton at 2.61 kills per set
On defense, Morris averages a league-high 4.85 digs per set with Bolding is second in the conference with 1.58 blocks per set, ranking fifth in the nation.
Currently, the Big 12 ranks fourth in RPI (rating percentage index) with an average RPI of .6034 with five programs ranked the top 20 of the national polls.

BRICK WALL

K-State is averaging the league's fourth-best 2.79 blocks per set which ranks 12^th among Division I.
The team's 114.5 total blocks 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 fifth in the nation in blocks per set (1.58).
Kadye Fernholz is on pace to join the program's 400-block club as she earned her 300^th career block against UT Martin, totaling 309.0 in her career.
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 four blocks against TCU, Bolding is now 17 blocks away from her 300^th career stop at K-State.

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.

AROUND tHE BIG 12

UCF and Texas are off to a 3-0 start in Big 12 action.
UCF leads the league overall with a 12-2 record.
Texas handed BYU its first loss in the Big 12, as the Longhorns claimed a four-set win in the series opener Thursday.
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

K-State will take on nationally-ranked 18^th Baylor (6-5, 0-1 Big 12) in Waco, Texas in a two-match series on Oct. 5-6 with both matches scheduled for 7 p.m.
Baylor is one of five teams from the Big 12 ranked in the national standings.
The Cats lead the all-time series 29-27 against the Bears.
Both contests can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Bolding

Aliyah Carter

Kadye Fernholz

Loren Hinkle

Mackenzie Morris

Kansas State University Athletics