Kansas State University Athletics
Saturday, September 30
Manhattan, Kan.
4:30 p.m.
Kansas State University
8-5,2-2Big 12
1
vs
3
Cincinnati
8-5,1-2Big 12
1
2
3
4
F
Cincinnati
25
18
25
25
3
Kansas St.
21
25
16
19
1
Bearcats Earn Four-Set Win Saturday
Sep 30, 2023 | Volleyball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State got double-doubles from outside hitter Aliyah Carter and setter Izzi Szulczewski, however, Cincinnati handed the Wildcats a four-set defeat to pick up its first victory in the Big 12 Saturday at Morgan Family Arena, 21-25, 25-18, 16-25, 19-25.
In the program's first-ever match against the Bearcats, Carter recorded a match-high 17 kills to go with 11 digs to earn her 19th career double-double. Szulczewski tallied her fifth double-double of the season at K-State – a team-best – with 29 assists with 10 digs.
K-State (8-5, 2-2 Big 12) was held to a .118 hitting efficiency as Cincinnati's (8-5, 1-2 Big 12) defense forced the Wildcats' 30 errors. The Bearcats hit .204 with each team totaling 48 kills.
Cincinnati out-blocked the Wildcats 12.0-10.0, led by Ligia Williams with a match-high eight.
Sydney Bolding turned in her 34th match with five or more blocks and ninth of the season as the Pickens, S.C. native tallied six.
Mackenzie Morris led the back row with 16 digs with a pair of service aces alongside Szulczewski.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
Head Coach Jason Mansfield
On overall game thoughts…
"I thought Cincinnati played extremely well. We knew what they were capable of, having seen some really good things on film from them offensively. I thought [Zeta] Washington did a great job. She's a tough player to stop, [Abby Walker] as well. We knew going in that those two attackers were going to be tough. I thought they played great defense. Their libero [Carly Skrabak] had 22 digs, and out-dug us by seven. I think that's probably where the match was won; our inability to slow them down offensively at times was a decisive factor."
On staying composed during games…
"It's happened a lot. I think that we know that losing one set is not losing the match, and we've come back from that before. We did it last weekend against TCU. I liked the girl's mentality. After we lost the first set, I thought we responded really well in the second with how we wanted to play. It's difficult when you are going down 0-1 as much as we have this month, but I'm proud of how we battled."
On creating momentum in tough sets…
"We're trying to move on from good plays, bad plays, celebrate, focus on the next play, and try to be great on the next play because that's all that matters. Just reminding them sometimes when things are getting tough, and we're feeling down, that we can do it. Let's move on to the next play."
SET-BY-SET
Set One – Cincinnati 25, K-State 21
The Bearcats opened the match with a 7-1 scoring run before kills by Schmidt and Carter cut the Bearcats lead to three. UC strung together a 3-0 lead behind a block assist by Washington and Lefler to expand its lead out to six.
Carter came from the back row to connect on a pass from Hinkle to ignite a 8-2 run with the help of back-to-back service aces by Morris to level set at 13-all. With the first tied 16-16, Cincinnati put together a successful 9-5 closing run to take the lead.
The first set saw six tie scores with the Cats held to a .119 hitting efficiency. Carter led the set with five kills while Bolding led the defense with three blocks.
Set Two – K-State 25, Cincinnati 18
Set two saw a change of tempo from the K-State bench as the Wildcats opened with a 12-5 lead led by a pair of kills from both Carter and Bolding.
Cincinnati brought the score within two, 12-10, adding five consecutive points to the board to force a Wildcat timeout. Following the break, the Cats responded with a 6-1 run to push the lead out to eight – the largest lead of the night.
K-State had a match-high .286 hitting percentage with 15 kills against the Bearcats .179 and nine kills.
Set Three – Cincinnati 25, K-State 16
After nine tie scores, Cincinnati broke away with a 9-1 scoring run to take control of the third set led by four kills from Zeta Washington.
The Bearcats defense forced nine errors from K-State as the Wildcats were held to a .081 hitting efficiency in the set. With six kills in the third, Carter reached double figures for the ninth time of the season.
Set Four – Cincinnati 25, K-State 19
The Wildcats were left with a flat .000 hitting percentage in the final set, tallying nine kills with nine errors. Three players added a pair of kills to the board while sophomore Brenna Schmidt led with three with two block assists.
INSIDE THE BOX
K-State will take on No. 18 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. 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.
In the program's first-ever match against the Bearcats, Carter recorded a match-high 17 kills to go with 11 digs to earn her 19th career double-double. Szulczewski tallied her fifth double-double of the season at K-State – a team-best – with 29 assists with 10 digs.
K-State (8-5, 2-2 Big 12) was held to a .118 hitting efficiency as Cincinnati's (8-5, 1-2 Big 12) defense forced the Wildcats' 30 errors. The Bearcats hit .204 with each team totaling 48 kills.
Cincinnati out-blocked the Wildcats 12.0-10.0, led by Ligia Williams with a match-high eight.
Sydney Bolding turned in her 34th match with five or more blocks and ninth of the season as the Pickens, S.C. native tallied six.
Mackenzie Morris led the back row with 16 digs with a pair of service aces alongside Szulczewski.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
Head Coach Jason Mansfield
On overall game thoughts…
"I thought Cincinnati played extremely well. We knew what they were capable of, having seen some really good things on film from them offensively. I thought [Zeta] Washington did a great job. She's a tough player to stop, [Abby Walker] as well. We knew going in that those two attackers were going to be tough. I thought they played great defense. Their libero [Carly Skrabak] had 22 digs, and out-dug us by seven. I think that's probably where the match was won; our inability to slow them down offensively at times was a decisive factor."
On staying composed during games…
"It's happened a lot. I think that we know that losing one set is not losing the match, and we've come back from that before. We did it last weekend against TCU. I liked the girl's mentality. After we lost the first set, I thought we responded really well in the second with how we wanted to play. It's difficult when you are going down 0-1 as much as we have this month, but I'm proud of how we battled."
On creating momentum in tough sets…
"We're trying to move on from good plays, bad plays, celebrate, focus on the next play, and try to be great on the next play because that's all that matters. Just reminding them sometimes when things are getting tough, and we're feeling down, that we can do it. Let's move on to the next play."
SET-BY-SET
Set One – Cincinnati 25, K-State 21
The Bearcats opened the match with a 7-1 scoring run before kills by Schmidt and Carter cut the Bearcats lead to three. UC strung together a 3-0 lead behind a block assist by Washington and Lefler to expand its lead out to six.
Carter came from the back row to connect on a pass from Hinkle to ignite a 8-2 run with the help of back-to-back service aces by Morris to level set at 13-all. With the first tied 16-16, Cincinnati put together a successful 9-5 closing run to take the lead.
The first set saw six tie scores with the Cats held to a .119 hitting efficiency. Carter led the set with five kills while Bolding led the defense with three blocks.
Set Two – K-State 25, Cincinnati 18
Set two saw a change of tempo from the K-State bench as the Wildcats opened with a 12-5 lead led by a pair of kills from both Carter and Bolding.
Cincinnati brought the score within two, 12-10, adding five consecutive points to the board to force a Wildcat timeout. Following the break, the Cats responded with a 6-1 run to push the lead out to eight – the largest lead of the night.
K-State had a match-high .286 hitting percentage with 15 kills against the Bearcats .179 and nine kills.
Set Three – Cincinnati 25, K-State 16
After nine tie scores, Cincinnati broke away with a 9-1 scoring run to take control of the third set led by four kills from Zeta Washington.
The Bearcats defense forced nine errors from K-State as the Wildcats were held to a .081 hitting efficiency in the set. With six kills in the third, Carter reached double figures for the ninth time of the season.
Set Four – Cincinnati 25, K-State 19
The Wildcats were left with a flat .000 hitting percentage in the final set, tallying nine kills with nine errors. Three players added a pair of kills to the board while sophomore Brenna Schmidt led with three with two block assists.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Cincinnati picked up a four-set win in its first Big 12 win, 25-21, 18-25, 25-16, 25-19
- K-State was held to a .118 hitting efficiency (48 kills, 30 errors)
- Szulczewski and Carter each tallied a double-double
- Carter recorded a match-high 17 kills
- Two Bearcats reached double figures with Washington (12) and Walker (10)
- Morris and Szulczewski each served up a pair of aces
- Szulczewski dished out 29 assists
- Bolding turned in her ninth match with five or more kills
- Saturday marked the first meeting in school history between K-State and Cincinnati
- The Wildcats move to 2-2 in conference action
- K-State moves to 3-4 overall when playing at Morgan Family Arena, 1-2 in Big 12 play
- Carter reached double figures for the ninth time of the season
- The Iowa product recorded her 19th career double-double
- Szulczewski leads the Wildcats with five double-doubles this season
K-State will take on No. 18 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. 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.
Team Stats
UC
KState
Kills
48
48
Errors
19
30
Attempts
142
152
Hitting %
.204
.118
Points
66.0
63.0
Assists
45
43
Aces
6
5
Blocks
12
10
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
MB
/ VolleyballOH/OPP
/ Volleyball
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/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
S
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