K-State Welcomes No. 21 Utah to Morgan Family Arena Thursday

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State volleyball returns to Morgan Family Arena Thursday to take on the No. 21 Utah Utes, with first serve scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT.

K-State (6-10, 4-3 Big 12) suffered a five-set loss at nationally ranked Kansas in the first round of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown last week. The Cats held a 2-1 edge in the match before dropping Set 4 and 5.

Utah (15-3, 5-2 Big 12), who ties 21^st in the AVCA national coaches' poll, makes its first-ever trip to the Little Apple as the Utes are one of four newcomers to join the Big 12 in the 2024-25 academic year. The Utes are coming off a five-set loss at then-No. 24 BYU last week, snapping Utah's nine-set win streak.

With a 4-3 league record, K-State ranks sixth in the Big 12 Conference standings, while Utah is fourth. Thursday's contest marks the second meeting in school history between the two squads, with the Utes holding a 1-0 edge in the series.

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

The Wildcats will next take on Iowa State (9-8, 3-3 Big 12) on Sunday at noon at the James H. Hilton Coliseum and will be nationally televised on ESPN2.

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 #17
K-STATE (6-10, 4-3 BIG 12) at #21 UTAH (15-3, 5-2 BIG 12)
Thursday, October 24 // 6:30 PM CT // Morgan Family Arena
Live Stats // ESPN+ // Tickets

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State returns to Morgan Family Arena Thursday to take on the No. 21 Utah Utes, with first serve scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT.
K-State (6-10, 4-3 Big 12) suffered a five-set loss at nationally ranked Kansas in the first round of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown last week. The Cats held a 2-1 edge in the match before dropping Set 4 and 5.
With a 4-3 league record, K-State ranks sixth in the Big 12 Conference standings, while Utah is fourth.
With her second kill of the match vs. KU, Aliyah Carter recorded her 1,612^th career kill to move to third all-time in school history. The Dubuque, Iowa product surpassed K-State Hall of Fame honoree Dawn Cady (1996-99).
Now with 1,625 career kills, she is 21 away from tying second all-time alongside Kim Zschau (1995-98). Carter finished the night leading all players with 15 kills to go with five digs and three blocks.
Senior Meg Brown accounted for 10 kills – her ninth match reaching double-figures – in the first meeting with the Jayhawks in 2024.
Brenna Schmidt hit a team-leading .385 clip with seven kills on 13 swings, while Shaylee Myers added nine.
Senior libero Ella Larkin turned in her fourth match with 20 or digs, finishing the night with a match-high 26 followed by Symone Sims with 15.

SCOUTING #21 UTAH

Utah (15-3, 5-2 Big 12), who ties 21^st in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll alongside BYU, makes it first trip in school history.
UU is coming off a 3-2 loss at BYU, that snapped the Utes nine-set win streak.
In its first season in the Big 12, Utah has produced one of the top offenses in the league ranking first in kills per set (14.67), points per set (18.65), second in assists per set (13.52) and is third in the Conference in hitting percentage (.274).
The Utes' 14.67 kills average is second in the nation while they are fifth in assists per set.
Four players average over two kills per set led by Kamryn Gibadlo (3.40) and Lauren Jardin (3.02).
Gibadlo earned the first Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors for the program since joining the new conference and the first weekly award of her career last week, helping the Utes secure a pair of top 20 sweeps, defeating #17 TCU and #18 Baylor.
The duo, along with Emrie Satuala (2.47 kills per set), have each turned in over 100 kills this season.
Satuala leads the team in total blocks (72), while her 1.20 blocks average is fourth in the league.
Utah's defense limits opponents to a .159 hitting percentage which is second-best in the Conference, while they are third in blocks per set (2.40) and fourth in digs per set (15.57).

INSIDE THE SERIES

Thursday's contest marks the second meeting in school history between the Wildcats and Bearcats, with the Utes holding a 1-0 edge in the series.
The two squads last met on December 5, 2014, in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Utah swept past K-State to advance to the Second Round – 25-16, 25-16, 25-17 – to go on to play Nebraska.

VS. THE TOP 25

This season, K-State is 0-4 against Top 25, after taking KU to five sets last week.
Carter is averaging an impressive 4.00 kills per set against ranked foes followed by Brown (2.25) and Shaylee Myers (2.18).
Defensively, the Cats lead their opponents with a 15.88 digs average, however, opponents post a 3.91-1.81 edge in blocks per set.
The Cats are 5-9 against nationally ranked programs under head coach Jason Mansfield.
The Wildcats 2024 campaign features a challenging schedule that features seven opponents that were ranked in the AVCA preseason poll – Purdue, USC, Creighton, KU, Arizona State, BYU, and Baylor – with three receiving votes.
A season ago, K-State finished 5-5 against ranked opponents, that included 12 straight set wins with sweeps over BYU (twice) and Texas.
K-State was last ranked in 2020.
Since 2020, K-State is 6-24 against Top 25 teams, and is 50-231 all-time.

GOING THE DISTANCE

Through 16 matches, 10 of K-State's matches this season have gone at least four sets.
After the five-setter against KU, five matches have gone the full five sets (3-2).
K-State have played four consecutive five-set matches, going 3-1.
The Cats have also played four four-set matches (1-4) in addition to the four five-setters (3-1).
The Cats played just three five-set matches a season ago - equaling the lowest such matches in a single season.
K-State has won the opening set six times, going 3-3 in those matches.

LAST FIVE

With the help of a three-match winning streak, K-State is 3-2 in its last five outings.
K-State is averaging 12.88 kills per set while hitting at a .198 clip.
Carter leads the Wildcats with 3.63 kills per set while Gregorski is second at 3.36 kills per set during the stretch.
Schmidt is hitting at a team-leading .381 over the last five matches, while totaling 32 blocks (1.33 per set).

CATS VS. THE BIG 12

K-State is 4-3 in Conference play, that includes a three-match win streak from Oct. 5-13.
Carter leads the offense with 3.57 kills per set at a .146 hitting efficiency with 15 blocks.
K-State is second in the league in digs per set (16.30) in Big 12 play led by 4.24 from Ella Larkin (4.40), who is fifth in the league.
During Conference play, the Cats have totaled 122 blocks this season (2.40), which is third in the league. Schmidt and Williams lead K-State at the net, both averaging over one per match.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

The Wildcats are 6-1 when hitting a higher efficiency 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 six matches going 5-1, while the win over Cincinnati marked the first victory when trailing in blocks (1-9).
The Cats are 5-6 overall when leading in digs.

HOME COOKIN'

K-State is 3-4 when playing at Morgan Family Arena this season.
Under Mansfield, the Cats are is 12-8 overall at home, that includes a 9-3 record in Big 12 play.
In seven home matches this season, the Wildcats are hitting .177 while opponents have produced a .209 efficiency.
Carter averages a team-leading 3.56 kills per set, followed by Brown (3.28) and Gregorski (2.36). Brown is hitting at a team-best .307 clip.
Two players average over a block a set: Williams (1.31) and Schmidt (1.23).
K-State has served up 27 aces at home, with Gregorski accounting for seven of them.
The Wildcats are 416-216-5 all-time when playing at home.

DEFENSIVE CATS

As a team, K-State is the Big 12 leader in digs per set (16.65) and has led in digs in 11 of 16 matches this season, dropping four matches when trailing in digs.
The Wildcats are fifth in the league with a rate of 2.30 blocks per set, totaling 145 overall, and are third in conference games alone (2.40).
K-State has held its opponents under a .200 hitting efficiency in 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.

AROUND THE BIG 12

KU (16-1) remains the only undefeated team in Conference games with a perfect 7-0 league record.
Arizona State (19-2, 7-1 Big 12) ranks second in the league followed by TCU (14-4, 6-2 Big 12)
Six schools were ranked in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll following week one action – No. 9 KU, No. 13 Arizona State, No. 18 TCU, tied-No. 21 Utah, tied-No. 21 Baylor, and No. 23 BYU.
TCU's Melanie Parra (offensive), Houston's Kate Georgiades (defensive) and Arizona's Avery Scoggins (rookie) earned weekly league volleyball accolades for their play during week eight.

K-State Welcomes No. 21 Utah to Morgan Family Arena Thursday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Meg Brown

Aliyah Carter

Ella Larkin

Shaylee Myers

Brenna Schmidt

Symone Sims

Kansas State University Athletics

K-State Welcomes No. 21 Utah to Morgan Family Arena Thursday

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Meg Brown

Aliyah Carter

Ella Larkin

Shaylee Myers

Brenna Schmidt

Symone Sims

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