Cats Trek to Morgantown for Sunday Matchup

Sunday, October 13

Morgantown, W.V.

12 p.m.

Kansas State University

West Virginia

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Oct 12, 2024 | Volleyball

Match Notes Live Stats Watch

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State brings a season-best, two-match win streak to Morgantown, W.V., as the Wildcats prepare to take on West Virginia at the WVU Coliseum Sunday at noon CT.

K-State (5-9, 3-2 Big 12) is coming off its second five-set victory after coming back to defeat Cincinnati Thursday night. Four players reached double figure kills led by 20 from Aliyah Carter while Liz Gregorski and Izzi Szulczewski both notched double-doubles to help K-State to its third Big 12 win of the season.

The Wildcats are tied fourth in the league standings alongside No. 17 TCU (11-4), No. 23 BYU (10-5), and Houston (8-7).

West Virginia (6-10, 0-5) is coming off its fifth consecutive loss, after dropping a three-setter to No. 8 Kansas. The Mountaineers have won three sets in that time span. K-State leads the all-time series 15-8, that includes a 8-4 record in Morgantown.

Saturday's match can be seen ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

After the match with WVU, K-State will prepare to face Big 12 leader and eighth-ranked KU (13-1, 4-0 Big 12) Thursday at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence for the first Dillons Sunflower Showdown of the season.

Single match tickets for all Wildcat home matches are available through the K-State Athletics ticket office at 1-800-221-CATS and www.kstatesports.com/tickets, starting at just $10 when purchased in advance.

MATCH #15
K-STATE (5-9, 3-2 BIG 12) at WEST VIRIGNIA (6-10, 0-5 BIG 12)
Sunday, Oct. 13 // 12 PM CT // WVU Coliseum
Live Stats // ESPN+

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State (5-9, 3-2 Big 12) brings a season-best, two-match win streak to Morgantown, W.V., as the Wildcats prepare to take on West Virginia at the WVU Coliseum Sunday at noon CT.
The Cats are coming off their second five-set victory after coming back to defeat Cincinnati Thursday night.
The Wildcats are tied fourth in the league standings alongside No. 17 TCU (11-4), No. 23 BYU (10-5), and Houston (8-7).
Four players reached double figure kills led by 20 from Aliyah Carter followed by Liz Gregorski (19), Shaylee Myers (11) and Meg Brown (10).
The Wildcat defense forced Cincinnati (11-4, 2-2 Big 12) into 15 attacking errors in the final three sets.
Carter secured her 20^th kill in the fifth and final set, becoming the fourth Wildcat in school history to record 20 matches with 20 or more kills.
Two players notched double-doubles in the Cats victory with Gregorski (19 kills, 16 digs) and Izzi Szulczewski (51 assists, 13 digs).
Defensively, Brenna Schmidt totaled a match-high eight blocks – all block assists – while Ella Larkin ended with 20 digs.

SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA

West Virginia (6-10, 0-5 Big 12) enters Sunday having dropped five consecutive matches to open Big 12 play.
The Mountaineers suffered a three-set loss at home against Kansas.
WVU is 0-2 at home with a 0-2 record during league play, after Cincinnati swept the Mountaineers in the Big 12 opener.
Cassidy Trenton spearheads the Mountaineer offense with 3.38 kills per set (216 total kills) while Maddy McGarth is next at 2.33 kills per set.
Trenton is first in the league with 26 service aces (0.41 per set).
WVU's offense has a team efficiency of .205, which ranks 13^th in the Big 12.
West Virginia also ranks 14^th offensively in kills per set (12.25) and 13^th in assists per set (11.48).
Trenton also ranks 10^th in the league, respectively, in kills per set.
Head coach Jen Greeny was appointed as the Mountaineers fifth head coach in December 2023. Greeny came to Morgantown following 13 seasons at the helm of the Washington State volleyball program.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State leads the all-time series 15-8 with a current three-match win streak, dating back to the first meeting in 2012.
The Wildcats own an 8-4 edge in Morgantown, that includes four sweeps over the Mountaineers.
Overall, K-State is 9-3 in three-set matches, 1-3 in four-set matches, along with a 5-2 lead in five-set matches.
Head coach Jason Mansfield is 1-0 against WVU, after sweeping the Mountaineers last season in Morgantown.

KILLER CARTER

Carter, the all-time rally-scoring era kills leader, ranks fourth all-time in K-State history with 1,593.
The senior from Dubuque, Iowa has turned in 95 matches with 10 or more kills, along with a team-leading 27 career double-doubles.
After picking up her third 20-kill match of the season at Cincinnati, Carter ties third all-time with 20 matches posting 20 or more kills, ranking first in the rally-scoring era.
She also stands alone as the rally-scoring era kills career average leader at 3.81.

CATS vs. THE BIG 12

K-State is 3-2 in Conference play this season with a two-match conference win streak.
Liz Gregorski leads the offense, hitting .256 and averaging 3.85 kills per set to go along with 2.40 digs, five aces and 11 blocks.
Carter adds 3.75 kills a set in Big 12 play followed by Meg Brown (2.95), while Jordyn Williams posts a team-leading .317 hitting efficiency.
Defensively, K-State averages a league-high 17.95 digs per set in Big 12 play led by 4.35 from Ella Larkin.
The Cats have totaled 48 blocks this season (2.40) with Brenna Schmidt and Williams combining for 44 and both averaging over one block a set.
On the other side of the ball, the Wildcats are fourth in kills per set (14.15) in Big 12 matches.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

The Wildcats are 5-1 when hitting at a higher hitting percentage and 4-4 when producing more kills than their opponents.
Additionally, the Cats are 4-1 when they have limited their opponents to a hitting efficiency under .200.
K-State has out-blocked opponents in five matches going 4-1, while Thursdays win over Cincinnati marked the first victory when trailing in blocks (1-8).
Currently, the Big 12 has the fourth RPI (rating percentage index) conference in the country with an average RPI of .6013 ahead of the Big 10 in second at .5952. K-State has an RPI of 119, which is 11^th in the Big 12.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

K-State 2-5 (1-1 Big 12) when playing on the road this season and 1-3 when playing in true road games after its five-set victory over Cincinnati.
On the road, the Wildcats are hitting .200 with opponents hitting at a .207 efficiency.
Larkin guides the defense with 4.46 digs per set while Schmidt has totaled 30 blocks (1.11 per set) with a team-leading .333 hitting percentage.
Carter averages 4.29 kills per set (.211) to lead the offense followed by Gregorski (2.39) and Shaylee Myers (1.95).
The Cats have served up 33 aces with Gregorski accounting for nine of them, with Symone Sims adding eight.
Szulczewski has turned in 9.71 assists on the road with 17 total blocks and four service aces.
K-State is 456-436-2 all-time when playing on the road, and 235-295 in true road matches.

DEFENSIVE CATS

As a team, K-State is the Big 12 leader in digs per set (17.34) and has led in digs in 10 of 14 matches this season, dropping only three matches when trailing in digs.
The Wildcats are seventh in the league with a rate of 2.28 blocks per set, totaling 121 overall, and are fourth in conference games alone (2.40).
K-State has held its opponents under a .200 hitting efficiency five matches this season, going 4-1.
K-State accumulated 100 digs in a five-setter against UC Davis (Aug. 31), marking the first 100-dig match since 2019.
K-State generated season-high 21.0 blocks led by 11 from Schmidt, who is the first Cat to produce 11 since 2016 (Bryna Vogel v. Ohio State).
K-State's 21.0 total blocks is the highest block production since Sept. 19, 2014, against Michigan (23.5), while it marks the sixth time in school history K-State reached 21.0 blocks in a five-setter.