K-State Tangles with No. 17 Baylor, No. 18 TCU in Manhattan

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State returns to the Little Apple to host a pair of Top 25 competitors, as the Wildcats prepare to face No. 17 Baylor on Wednesday and No. 18 TCU on Friday.

Both matches are slated for 6:30 p.m. CT at Morgan Family Arena and can be seen on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

The Wildcats (9-12, 7-5 Big 12) are coming off a split week against Big 12 newcomers, where they swept past Arizona before falling to then-11^th ranked Arizona State in four. Aliyah Carter and Izzi Szulczewski each produced double-doubles against the nationally ranked Sun Devils.

Baylor (17-6, 9-3 Big 12) and TCU (17-5, 9-3 Big 12) are tied third in the league standings, with Baylor bringing a seven-match winning streak to Manhattan.

Last season, K-State split the season series with both TCU and Baylor. The Wildcats picked up the first Big 12 win of the Mansfield era against TCU, while the victory at Baylor marked the first Top 25 win under Mansfield.

Following the match against the Horned Frogs, K-State heads to UCF (8-13, 1-11 Big 12) on Wednesday, November 20. The Big 12 matchup is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at The Venue at UCF.

With just four home matches left of the regular 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 #22
K-STATE (9-12, 7-5 BIG 12) vs. #17 BAYLOR (17-6, 9-3 BIG 12)
Wednesday, November 13 // 6:30 PM CT // Morgan Family Arena
Live Stats // ESPN+ // Tickets // Promotions

MATCH #23
K-STATE (9-12, 7-5 BIG 12) vs. #18 TCU (17-5, 9-3 BIG 12)
Friday, November 15 // 6:30 PM CT // Morgan Family Arena
Live Stats // ESPN+ // Tickets // Promotions

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State (9-12, 7-5 Big 12) returns to the Little Apple to host a pair of Top 25 competitors, as the Wildcats prepare to face No. 17 Baylor on Wednesday and No. 18 TCU on Friday.
The Wildcats are coming off a 1-1 weekend in Arizona, where the Cats swept past Arizona before falling to then-11^th ranked Arizona State in four.
The sweep over UA marked just the third three-set victory for K-State this season, and second on the road.
In their last outing, two Wildcats recorded double-doubles.
The Sun Devils forced 33 errors and totaled 15.0 blocks, while K-State managed 11.0 blocks, paced by Meg Brown with five.
Aliyah Carter eclipsed the 20-kill mark for the sixth time this season, as the outside hitter led all players with 22 kills to go along with 12 digs for her 31^st career double-double. Shaylee Myers was next with 10 kills while Aniya Clinton added nine.
Izzi Szulczewski dished out a match-high 46 assists. The senior setter added 10 digs for her team-leading 11^th double-double of the season, while Ella Larkin led with 20 digs followed by Molly Ramsey (10) and Symone Sims (10).

SCOUTING #17 BAYLOR

Baylor (17-6, 9-3 Big 12), who ranks 17^th in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll, enters Week 12 tied in third place of the Big 12 standings alongside TCU.
The Bears bring a seven-match winning streak to Manhattan, that includes a 10 consecutive set victories.
Outside of a 14-3 record at home this season, Baylor is just 3-3 when playing on the road including three conference road losses.
Baylor is fourth in the Big 12 in three categories: aces per set (1.59), opponent hitting percentage (.193), and blocks per set (2.32).
Elise McGhee is second in the conference with 36 total aces and is third in aces per set (0.44). She is also fourth in the league in points per set (4.41).
The outside hitter posts the fifth-best kills average in the league with a team-leading 3.71. Kendal Murphy is next with 2.51 kills per set with Allie Szech adding 2.40.
Jackie Barrett Frazier leads the Bears with 8.01 average assists and adds 22 aces on the year.
Libero Lauren Briseño holds a conference fifth-ranked 4.11 digs per set while middle blockers Manuela Bibinbe and Alicia Andrew have combined for 124 blocks.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State leads the all-time series 30-28, which began in 1993.
Both schools were inaugural members of the Big 12 when it began in 1996.
The Wildcats are 17-11 at home against the Bears.
K-State's last win at home was in 2016 (3-1 on Oct. 29).
The two squads split the 2023 season series with K-State snapping a 10-match losing streak.
K-State's upset over No. 18 Baylor marked the first Top 25 win in the Mansfield era.
The Cats are 1-9 in the last ten matches against BU.

SCOUTING #18 TCU

Coming in at No. 18 in the newest AVCA poll, TCU (17-5, 9-3 Big 12) comes to Manhattan tied third in the league standings with Baylor.
Melanie Parra, the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, has earned five Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week accolades this season and is the first player in division I history to win back-to-back AVCA Player of the Week honors.
The senior outside is one of only three Power 4 players with at least 400 kills this season, as she is fourth in Division I in kills per set (5.08) and points per set (5.86). She leads the league with 37 service aces.
Lily Nicholson dishes out 10.76 assists per set to pace an offense that is hitting the leagues third-best efficiency at .264.
Five everyday players are posting at least two digs per set, led by Jalyn Gibson, who is second on the team in kills per set (3.40) and service aces (19).
TCU is looking to break a program record of most wins in a single season (19).

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State leads the all-time series with TCU, 14-10, which began when the Horned Frogs joined the Big 12 Conference in 2012.
After dropping the first match of the season series (0-3) last year, K-State came back to win in five to split the series and grab the first Big 12 victory in the Mansfield era.
K-State's five-match winning streak from 2018-2020 is the longest by either team in the series history.
The Cats are 9-4 at home against the Frogs.
K-State is 6-4 in the last 10 meetings in the series.

VS. RANKED OPPONENTS

All nine of K-State's victories have come against unranked opponents, while the Cats are 0-6 against Top 25 foes.
Carter is averaging an impressive 4.71 kills per set against ranked teams followed by Myers (2.68) and Brown (2.08).
Defensively, the Cats lead their opponents with a 16.17 digs average, however, opponents post a 3.48-1.9 edge in blocks per set.
The Cats are 5-11 against nationally ranked programs under Mansfield.
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 6-26 against Top 25 teams, and is 50-233 all-time.

TEAM LEADERBOARD

Carter is currently the team kills-leads with 358 kills, averaging 4.26 per set. Brown is next in line with 199 kills (2.37 kills/set), while Myers follows closely behind (2.21 kills/set).
Larkin is averaging 4.55 digs per set to lead the Cats statistically, posting 382 total digs on the year.
Schmidt is leading the block with 1.06 blocks per set, followed by Williams (0.97) and Brown (0.77).
Brown is the 10^th player during the rally-scoring era to record 15 solo blocks in a season. She is tied sixth in the rally-scoring records in the category, while she is the fastest Wildcat to post 15 solo blocks in a single season.

HOME COOKIN'

The Wildcats are 417-217-5 all-time when playing at home, including a 4-5 record at home this season.
Under Mansfield, the Cats are 13-9 overall at home, that includes a 10-4 record in Big 12 play.
In nine home matches this season, the Wildcats are hitting .189 paced by 8.38 assists from Szulczewski.
Carter averages a team-leading 4.00 kills per set, followed by Brown (2.94), who is hitting at a team-best .289.
Two players average over a block a set: Williams (1.31) and Schmidt (1.06).
K-State has served up 34 aces at home, with Larkin accounting for eight of them.

CATS Vs. THE BIG 12

K-State is tied sixth in the league with a 7-5 conference record, that includes a 3-2 record at home.
In Big 12 matches, the Cats' offense is led by Carter, who now leads the league in total kills in conference matches (224). Carter is second with 4.39 kills per set in Big 12 matches, total points (244), and points pet set (4.78).
K-State is the Big 12 leader in digs per set in overall matches (16.85) and second in conference games only (16.76), guided by Larkin who is third overall in the league (4.55).
Schmidt and Williams lead K-State at the net, both averaging over one per match, while Brown has totaled 10 solo blocks in Big 12 matches alone.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

The Wildcats are 7-1 when hitting a higher efficiency and 7-6 when producing more kills than their opponents.
Additionally, the Cats are 6-1 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 four victories when trailing in blocks (4-9).
The Cats have led in digs in 16 of 21 matches this season and have won eight matches when leading in total digs and are 8-8 overall in the category.
K-State has won five of its seven five-set matches in 2024, while it is 1-6 in four-setters.

DOUBLE DOWN

Four Wildcats have recorded double-doubles this season, led by setter Izzi Szulczewski with 11. Szulczewski has totaled 21 in her career at K-State.
Carter has turned in 31 double-doubles in her career, including seven this season.
Szulczewski and Carter each posted double-doubles against nationally-ranked Arizona State.
Ava LeGrand owns three-career double-doubles along with Liz Gregorski, with both earning all three this season.

AROUND THE BIG 12

A new team arose to the top of the Big 12 standings after Kansas dropped a pair of league matches last week.
Arizona State (24-2, 12-1 Big 12) jumped ahead of KU (20-3, 11-2 Big 12) in league standings with TCU (17-5, 9-3 Big 12) and Baylor (17-6, 9-3 Big 12) tied at third.
Six schools rank in the latest AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll– No. 9 Arizona State, No.12 KU, No. 17 Baylor, No. 18 TCU, No. 20 Utah and No. 24 BYU.
Arizona's Jordan Wilson (offensive) and Avery Scoggins (rookie) joined Arizona State's Claire Jeter (defensive) to collect weekly Conference volleyball awards following their efforts during the 11th week of the season.

K-State Tangles with No. 17 Baylor, No. 18 TCU in Manhattan

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Meg Brown

Aliyah Carter

Aniya Clinton

Liz Gregorski

Ella Larkin

Ava LeGrand

Shaylee Myers

Molly Ramsey

Symone Sims

Izzi Szulczewski

Kansas State University Athletics

K-State Tangles with No. 17 Baylor, No. 18 TCU in Manhattan

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Meg Brown

Aliyah Carter

Aniya Clinton

Liz Gregorski

Ella Larkin

Ava LeGrand

Shaylee Myers

Molly Ramsey

Symone Sims

Izzi Szulczewski

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