K-State Faces Texas Tech in First Big 12 Road Test

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State embarks on its first Big 12 road match Thursday, taking on Texas Tech at 6 p.m. at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas.

Following the match against TTU (8-6, 0-2 Big 12), the Cats will return to Morgan Family Arena to face the Iowa State Cyclones (7-5, 1-0 Big 12) on Saturday at 4 p.m.

The Wildcats (3-8, 1-1 Big 12) opened their conference slate at home against Houston and UCF. The Cats bounced back from a straight-set loss against UH and earned their first conference victory of 2024 with a sweep over UCF.

Texas Tech began its Big 12 schedule at Utah and BYU, earning on one set victory in opening week. The Wildcats lead the all-time series 45-15 and have won the last three matchups in the series. The Cats are 17-10 all-time in Lubbock while head coach Jason Mansfield is 2-0 in his career against TTU.

Iowa State leads the series 60-43, while K-State is on a four-match winning streak that includes three sweeps over the Cyclones. ISU picked up a five-set win in its Big 12 opener against West Virginia in Ames, moving to 4-1 overall at home.

Both matches will air on ESPN+ and the ESPN app, with Brian Smoller and Liz Wegner-Busch on the call for Saturday's match against the Cyclones.

Single match tickets 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 #12
K-STATE (3-8, 1-1 BIG 12) at TEXAS TECH (8-6, 0-2 BIG 12)
Thursday, Oct. 3 // 6 PM CT // United Supermarket Arena
Live Stats // ESPN+

MATCH #13
K-STATE (3-8, 1-1 BIG 12) vs. IOWA STATE (7-5, 1-0 BIG 12)
Saturday, Oct. 5 // 4 PM CT // Morgan Family Arena
Live Stats // Tickets // ESPN+

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

After opening its Big 12 schedule at home with a loss to Houston and straight-set victory over UCF, K-State (3-8, 1-1 Big 12) hits the road for its first Big 12 road tilt at Texas Tech Thursday before facing Iowa State at home Saturday.
With 103 kills in her first season with K-State, senior Meg Brown has amassed 1,000 kills in her collegiate career, totaling 1,033.
In their last outing, seniors Liz Gregorski and Meg Brown combined for 26 kills and double-doubles by Izzi Szulczewski and Ava LeGrand highlighted the Wildcats victory over UCF – 25-23, 30-28, 25-13 – snapping a four-match losing streak.
Wildcats produced a 47-39 advantage in kill production and out-blocked the Knights 7.0-5.0 with a 56-49 edge in digs.
Szulczewski and LeGrand both notched double-doubles, as the setters piloted Wildcats 6-2 offense to a .263 clip. Szulczewski had a match-high 20 assists to go with her 10 digs to tally her 15^th career double-double at K-State. LeGrand registered 13 assists and 10 digs for the first of her career.
Defensively, K-State held UCF to a .198 hitting percentage led by a match-high 17 digs from Ella Larkin. The libero's 17 digs marked her sixth match with 15 or more digs this season.
Currently, the Big 12 is the fourth ranked RPI (rating percentage index) conference in the country with an average RPI of .5940 following behind Big10, ACC and SEC.

SCOUTING TEXAS TECH

Texas Tech is off to an 8-6 start after dropping a pair of matches in opening week of Big 12 action with losses against Utah (1-3) and BYU (0-3).
TTU is 13-6 at home over the past two seasons, including a perfect 3-0 record at home this season.
The Red Raiders held a five-match winning streak from Aug. 31-Sept. 12, dropping only four sets in that time frame.
Overall, Tech has lost four of its last five contests and have only won a match against FIU in straight sets.
The Red Raiders are second to K-State with a 16.73 digs per set rate and are fifth in the league with 2.22 blocks per set
As a team, TTU is hitting .196 and is paced by Hanna Borer, who is inching towards her 2,000^th career assist. She posts 8.17 assists per set.
Mia Wesley averages 3.66 kills a set at a .157 clip while Brynn Williams adds 2.39 and Emily Merrick 2.25.
Maddie Correa is leading the Red Raiders with 4.16 digs per set and Aliyah McDonald's 1.17 blocks average is seventh in the league.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State holds a 45-15 lead in the all-time series with Texas Tech, dating back to 1982.
The Wildcats are 17-10 in Lubbock while head coach Jason Mansfield is 2-0 against the Red Raiders.
The Cats have swept TTU 22 times in the series, with an 21-12 record in matches four or more sets.
K-State has won the last three matchups in the series and 15 of the last 20, going back to 2014
K-State last went to Lubbock during the 2022 season, falling in three before defeated the Red Raiders in five sets at home to split the season series.

SCOUTING IOWA STATE

Iowa State (7-5, 1-0 Big 12) is fresh off its five-set defeat over West Virginia in its Big 12 opener.
The Cyclones finished the match with a .340 team efficiency and held a 70-55 edge in total kills.
Nayeli Gonzolez leads the Cyclones with a 3.30 kills average and is hitting at a .238 efficiency, while Morgan Brandt guides the offense that is hitting .254 with 10.06 assists a set.
Defensively, Pam McCune's 1.10 blocks per set is 10^th in the Conference and Rachel Van Gorp's 3.78 digs is eighth.
Iowa State has won three of its last five matches, suffering losses to South Dakota (1-3) and Syracuse (2-3).
ISU has played just three three-set matches this season (2-1) and have played two consecutive five-set matches.
The Cyclones fell in four sets in the NCAA First Round in 2023 against Hawaii.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State trails the all-time series with Iowa State 60-43, going back to 1976.
The Cats are on a four-match winning streak, after sweeping past the Cyclones first meeting under Mansfield.
The two squads are 5-5 in in the last 10 meetings overall.
The Wildcats are 16-29 on the road against ISU.
The teams last played in Ames during the 2022 season, picking up a top 25 sweep over the Cyclones.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

K-State 1-4 (0-0 Big 12) when playing on the road this season and 0-2 when playing in true road games.
The Cats last time out featured a pair of Top 25 losses at the Creighton Classic, falling to then-No. 20 USC and then-No. 11 Creighton.
On the road, the Wildcats are hitting .201 while limiting opponents to a .191 attack percentage.
Larkin has guided the defense with 4.63 digs per set while Schmidt has totaled 20 blocks (1.11 per set) with a team-leading .355 hitting percentage.
Carter averages 4.42 kills per set (.220) to pace the offense followed by Myers (2.14) and Williams (1.67).
The Cats have served up 23 aces with Gregorski each accounting for eight of them, with Sims and Larkin adding five each.
Szulczewski has turned in 194 assists (10.21 per set) on the road with 14 total blocks.
K-State is 455-435-2 all-time when playing on the road, and 234-294 in true road matches

DEFENSIVE CATS

As a team, K-State is the Big 12 leader in digs per set (17.49) and has led in digs in eight of 11 matches this season and has only lost three matches when trailing in digs.
Conversely, the Wildcats are fifth in kills per set (13.59) and is 3-3 when leading in kills.
K-State has held its opponents under a .200 hitting efficiency four matches this season, going 3-1.
The Cats held UCF to a .198 hitting percentage in their straight-set win Friday. K-State is 2-2 when hitting over .200.
K-State accumulated 100 digs against

AROUND THE BIG 12

Four schools opened the Big 12 schedule 2-0 led by Utah (12-1), who stretched its winning streak to eight. KU follows (11-1), Baylor (10-3), and BYU (9-3), while Cincinnati (10-2) and Iowa State (7-5) started off 1-0.
Five schools were ranked in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll following week one action – No. 8 KU, No. 14 Baylor, No. 15 Arizona State, No. 20 BYU, and No. 22 TCU, while Utah is receiving votes.
Arizona State's Geli Cyr (offensive), Baylor's Lauren Briseño (defensive) and BYU's Alex Bower (rookie) earned weekly Big 12 volleyball awards following the first week of Conference action.

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Players Mentioned

Meg Brown

Liz Gregorski

Ella Larkin

Ava LeGrand

Izzi Szulczewski

Kansas State University Athletics