K-State Volleyball Hosts West Virginia on Halloween

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State returns to Morgan Family Arena to conclude the season series with West Virginia on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

K-State (7-11, 5-4 Big 12) is coming off a historic five-set win at Iowa State that included 55 tie scores, 15 lead changes and the first 20-point fifth set since 2008.

Three Wildcats were in double-figure kills, led by Aliyah Carter with a career-high 32, as she became just the seventh player in school history to produce a 30-kill match.

West Virginia (8-12, 2-7 Big 12) looks to split the season series, after dropping a five-set match at home against the Cats two weeks ago. K-State owns a 16-8 lead in the all-time series, which started when WVU joined the Big 12 Conference ahead of the 2012 season. The Cats are 7-4 all-time at home against the Mountaineers and have won four of the last five in the series overall.

Thursday's match will air on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

K-State's Aliyah Carter garnered her 10^th weekly Conference award as she was honored for her record-breaking performances last week by being named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week announced Tuesday.

The Wildcats will embark on a two-match road trip in Arizona next week as they take on Big 12 Newcomers Arizona (November 6) and 13^th-ranked Arizona State (November 8).

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 #19
K-STATE (7-11, 5-4 BIG 12) vs. WEST VIRGINIA (8-12, 2-7 BIG 12)
Thursday, October 31 // 6:30 PM CT // Morgan Family Arena
Live Stats // ESPN+ // Tickets

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

Kansas State returns to Morgan Family Arena to conclude the season series with West Virginia on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
K-State (7-11, 5-4 Big 12) is coming off its five-set defeat over Iowa State that saw 55 tie scores and 15 lead changes. The victory extended the Cats' winning streak to six against Iowa State.
K-State collected a season-high 77 kills and hit .221
Izzi Szulczewski dished out a career-high 56 assists and added 14 digs for her ninth double-double of the year.
The Cats held an 89-85 edge in dig production, led by 21 Larkin followed by Sims with a career-high 17.
ISU out-blocked the Cats, 13.0-11.0, that included four total blocks in the third set alone.
Three players reached double-figure kills: Aliyah Carter (32), Shaylee Myers (13) and Meg Brown (12). Brown totaled a match-high seven blocks (2 solo, 5 assists).
In total, Sunday's matchup had 55 tie scores and 15 lead changes.

Sunday's win stretched the Cats win streak out to six – their second longest win streak in the series. Sunday also marked the first 20-point, five-set match since Oct. 25, 2008 at Baylor.
Carter became the first player since September 12, 2011, to tally 30 or more kills in a match (Kaitlynn Pelger, 32 v. Drake).
Carter's 87 swings marks just the fourth time in K-State history a player recorded 87 or more attacks in a match.

SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA

West Virginia (8-12, 2-7 Big 12) is coming off a five-set loss against Texas Tech. The Mountaineers outperformed Tech with 74 digs, 61 kills, and 14 blocks, and held the Red Raiders to a .127 hitting percentage.
Since their last meeting against K-State, WVU picked up victories over UCF and Colorado to snap a six-match losing streak.
WVU is 7-8 on the road this season, including a 4-5 record in true road matches.
Cassidy Tanton spearheads the Mountaineer offense with 3.41 kills per set (280 total kills) while Hailey Green is next at 2.48 kills per set.
Tanton is third in the league with 33 service aces (0.40 per set) and ranks ninth in kills per set.
WVU's offense has a team efficiency of .210, which ranks 13^th in the Big 12.
West Virginia also ranks 13^th offensively in kills per set (12.50) and 13^th in assists per set (11.61).
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 16-8 with a current three-match win streak, dating back to the first meeting in 2012.
The Wildcats own a 7-4 edge at home, that includes five sweeps over the Mountaineers.
Overall, K-State is 9-3 in three-set matches, 1-3 in four-set matches, along with a 6-2 lead in five-set matches.
Head coach Jason Mansfield is 2-0 against WVU, after defeating the Mountaineers in five earlier this month.

AWARD WINNER

K-State graduate outside hitter Aliyah Carter was honored for her record-breaking performances last week by being named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week announced Tuesday.
It is Carter's 10^th weekly Conference honor of her respective career and ninth-most in league history, after she picked up a pair of offensive honors last season.
The AVCA All-American honorable mention selection led all Big 12 players in Week 9 in kills (59), kills per set (6.56), points (63.5) and points per set (7.06).
Carter's 27 kills against nationally ranked Utah set the school record for most kills in a four-set match during the rally-scoring era, while she also moved to second all-time in career kills.
She became the first player since 2011 to tally 30 or more kills in a match (Kaitlynn Pelger, 32 v. Drake), totaling 32 kills and a career-high 36.0 points – fourth-most all-time in K-State history.
Carter is one of only seven players in school history to produce a 30-kill match, while her 87 attacks shattered a rally-scoring era, five-set match program record. She is also one of only four players in the Big 12 to achieve a 30-kill match this season.

GOING THE DISTANCE

Through 18 matches, 12 of K-State's matches this season have gone at least four sets.
After the five-setter against Iowa State, six matches have gone the full five sets (4-2), including five in the October.
K-State played four consecutive five-set matches from October 5-17, going 3-1.
The Cats have also played six four-set matches (1-5).
The Cats played just three five-set matches a season ago - equaling the lowest such matches in a single season.

HOME COOKIN'

K-State is 3-5 when playing at Morgan Family Arena this season.
Under Mansfield, the Cats are 12-9 overall at home, that includes a 9-4 record in Big 12 play.
In eight home matches this season, the Wildcats are hitting .192 paced by 8.41 assists from Szulczewski.
Carter averages a team-leading 4.00 kills per set, followed by Brown (3.07), who is hitting at a team-best .297 percent.
Two players average over a block a set: Williams (1.31) and Schmidt (1.12).
K-State has served up 28 aces at home, with Liz Gregorski accounting for seven of them.
The Wildcats are 416-217-5 all-time when playing at home.

LAST FIVE

With a five-set win at Iowa State, K-State moved to 3-2 in its last five outings, that includes four five-set matches.
K-State is averaging nearly one kill better than opponents at 13.83 kills per set during that time span, while hitting at a .222 clip paced by 262 assists (10.92) from Szulczewski.
Carter leads the Wildcats with 4.63 kills per set during that stretch, followed by Myers (2.55) and Brown (2.21).
Schmidt is hitting at a team-leading .460 over the last five matches, while totaling 25 blocks (1.04 per set) followed by Brown with 22 (1.00 per set).

CATS VS. THE BIG 12

K-State ranks seventh in the league with a 5-4 Conference record, that includes a 2-2 record in matches at home.
With her 32 kills at Iowa State, Carter now leads the offense with 4.26 kills per set at a .183 hitting efficiency with 18 blocks.
K-State is second in the league in digs per set (16.49) in Big 12 play led by 4.49 from Ella Larkin, who is fourth in the league.
During Conference play, the Cats have totaled 89 blocks this season (2.28), 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 5-5 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, with two victories when trailing in blocks (2-9).
The Cats are 6-7 overall when leading in digs.

DEFENSIVE CATS

As a team, K-State is the Big 12 leader in digs per set (16.71) and has led in digs in 13 of 18 matches this season, dropping four matches when trailing in digs.

The Wildcats are fifth in the league with a rate of 2.25 blocks per set, totaling 162 overall, and are third in conference games alone (2.28).
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 (18-1) remains the only undefeated team in Conference games with a perfect 9-0 league record.
Arizona State (20-2, 8-1 Big 12) ranks second in the league followed by Utah (16-4), TCU (14-5), and BYU (13-6), who all own a 6-3 league record.
Six schools were ranked in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll following week one action – No. 8 KU, No. 13 Arizona State, No. 17 Baylor, No. 18 TCU, No. 20 BYU, and No. 22 Utah.

K-State's Aliyah Carter (offensive), BYU's Brielle Kemavor (defensive) and Iowa State's Rachel Van Gorp (rookie) claimed weekly league volleyball accolades for the ninth week of the 2024 season.

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Players Mentioned

Meg Brown

Aliyah Carter

Liz Gregorski

Ella Larkin

Shaylee Myers

Izzi Szulczewski

Kansas State University Athletics