Cats Finish Big 12 Play with Colorado and BYU

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State travels west down I-70 to take on Colorado in the final regular season road trip of the 2024 season Wednesday at 2 p.m. CT, before hosting BYU in the season finale at Morgan Family Arena Friday at 6:30 p.m.

K-State (10-15, 8-8 Big 12) looks to bounce back after dropping the second edition of the 2024 Dillons Sunflower Showdown to KU in four. Aliyah Carter, who repeated as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, reached her 2,000^th career point to become just the second player in school history to reach the milestone.

Colorado (12-16, 5-11 Big 12) has lost two straight after dropping matches to Arizona and Arizona State last week. CU owns a slim 26-23 edge in the all-time series, including a 14-10 record in Boulder. Wednesday's match marks the first meeting between the two squads since 2010.

Friday will be the seventh contest between K-State and BYU (17-9, 10-6 Big 12) and third as Big 12 rivals, as the Cats swept the Cougars twice last season to win the season series. The Wildcats victories tied the all-time series, 3-3, while K-State is 2-1 in matches played in Manhattan,

K-State will honor six seniors Friday night as part of its annual senior day celebration, honoring the careers Meg Brown, Aliyah Carter, Liz Gregorski, Ella Larkin, Molly Ramsey and Izzi Szulczewski.

Both matches will be aired on ESPN+ and ESPN.

are available for the Wildcats' regular-season finale against No. 24 BYU and can be purchased at 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 #26
K-STATE (10-15, 8-8 BIG 12) at COLORADO (12-16, 5-11 BIG 12)
Wednesday, November 27 // 2 p.m. CT // CU Events Center
Live Stats // ESPN+ //

MATCH #27
K-STATE (10-15, 8-8 BIG 12) vs. BYU (17-9, 10-6 BIG 12)
Friday, November 29 // 6:30 PM CT // Morgan Family Arena
Live Stats // ESPN+ // Tickets // Promotions

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State travels west down I-70 to take on Colorado in the final regular season road trip of the 2024 season Wednesday at 2 p.m. CT, before hosting BYU in the season finale at Morgan Family Arena Friday at 6:30 p.m.
K-State (10-15, 8-8 Big 12) is coming off a four-set loss to in-state rival #11 Kansas.
The Jayhawks defense held K-State (10-15, 8-8 Big 12) to a .147 hitting percentage, forcing 30 errors, to extend its winning streak to eight over the Cats. KU's 60 kills were a season-high allowed by the Cats in a four-set contest.
Aliyah Carter reached career point No. 2,000 in her 129^th match in a Wildcat uniform, becoming the first player to reach the milestone in the rally-scoring era and second in program history.
The graduate outside hitter finished with a match-high 24 kills for her 26^th career 20-kill outing along with 13 digs to complete her 33^rd career double-double.
Additionally, Aniya Clinton recorded her third straight match reaching double-digit kills (16).
Izzi Szulczewski turned in her team-leading 13^th double-double of the season, as the senior setter dished out 44 assists to go with 14 digs and two service aces.
Ella Larkin led all players with 24 digs while Molly Ramsey's 15 digs set a career high. Seven players contributed a block, including a team-best five from Meg Brown.
With her 11^th match with 20 or more digs, Larkin moves to third in the single-season records. The Maize, Kansas product has eclipsed the 20-dig mark in seven of the last 10 contests.
Sunday's match marked the first meeting between the in-state rivals at Morgan Family Arena. K-State is 30-23 all-time when playing KU in Manhattan.

SCOUTING COLORADO

Colorado heads into the final week of the regular season with a 12-16 record, including a 5-11 league record in its first season since returning to the Big 12. At home, the Buffaloes are 6-10.
As a team, CU is hitting .204 with 11.70 kills per set. Conversely, opponents are hitting .260 against the Buffs.
Four players are averaging over two kills a set led by 3.53 from Ana Burilovic (378), who is hitting at a .183 clip. Burilovic also paves the way with 36 service aces.
Sydney Jordan is next with 270 total kills this year (2.45 kills/set), while she is also second in total digs (224) and digs per set (2.04).
Taylor Simpson dishes out 9.21 assists a set, which ranks eighth in the league. She is one of five players from the Big 12 to total over 1,000 assists this season (1,032).
Colorado is sixth in the league in service aces per set (1.47), while its 165 total aces is second to Arizona State (171).
Defensively, Cayla Payne is seventh in the Big 12 with 1.11 blocks per set, as the Buffs average 1.97 as a team. Sarah Morton leads the Buffs with 332 total digs (3.19 digs/set).

INSIDE THE SERIES

Colorado holds a 36-23 edge in the all-time series with K-State, dating back to 1986.
The Wildcats are 10-14 in Boulder, while Wednesday marks the first meeting since 2010.
The Cats have a 14-10 lead in matches that go at least four sets.
K-State is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.

SCOUTING BYU

BYU comes to Manhattan with a 17-9 overall record, that includes a 10-6 record in league matches.
Heather Olmstead has guided the Cougars to an overall 255-45 record in her 10 seasons at the helm of the organization.
BYU is fourth in the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.190) and in hitting percentage (.262), while they lead the league in total blocks (260.5).
Posting 1.46 blocks per set, Brielle Kemavor leads the Big 12 and sits at No. 11 nationwide and is 12^th overall in Division I in total blocks (149).
Kemavor earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors twice this season, while freshman setter Alex Bower picked up the Rookie of the Week award on October 1.
Claire Little averages 3.97 kills per set at .293 a clip followed by Elli Mortensen (2.74) and Kjersti Strong (2.19).
Bower dishes out 9.92 assists per set – good for fifth in the league – to go with 26 service aces.
Four players average over two digs a set led by Lulu Uluave, who leads the backrow with 3.04.

INSIDE THE SERIES

The series is tied 3-3 between the Wildcats and Cougars, since the first meeting in 1998
Friday's match marks the fourth meeting in Manhattan, and third contest between the two schools in Big 12 play.
Jason Mansfield is 2-0 in his head coaching career against the Cougars.

DOUBLE DOWN

Four Wildcats have recorded double-doubles this season, led by setter Izzi Szulczewski with 13. Szulczewski has totaled 23 in her career at K-State.
Carter has turned in a team-leading 33 double-doubles in her career, including nine this season.
Szulczewski and Carter each posted double-doubles against nationally-ranked and in-state rival Kansas on Sunday.
Ava LeGrand owns three-career double-doubles along with Liz Gregorski, with both earning all three this season.

GOING THE DISTANCE

Through 25 matches, 16 of K-State's matches this season have gone at least four sets.
After the five-setter at UCF, eight matches have gone the full five sets (5-3), including six in October.
K-State played four consecutive five-set matches from October 5-17, going 3-1.
The Cats have also played eightfour-set matches (1-7).
K-State has recorded a program record 10 five-set matches twice (2017, 2019).

TEAM LEADERBOARD

Carter is currently the team kills leader with 429 kills, averaging 4.42 per set. Brown is next in line with 213 kills (2.20 kills/set), followed by Shaylee Myers (172) and Clinton (163).
Four players have turned in 20-kill matches this season, with the latest coming from Carter (24, vs. Kansas).
Larkin is averaging 4.58 digs per set, which is third in the Big 12, and lead the Cats statistically with 453 total digs on the year.
Schmidt is leading the block with 1.05 blocks per set, followed by Williams (0.98) and Brown (0.77).
Brown is the sixth player during the rally-scoring era in school history to record 18 solo blocks in a season and is the fastest Wildcat to reach 18.

DEFENSIVE CATS

As a team, K-State is the Big 12 leader in digs per set (16.82) and has led in digs in 18 of 25 matches this season.

The Wildcats are tied seventh in the league with an average of 2.20 blocks per set, totaling 218 overall.
K-State has held its opponents under a .200 hitting efficiency in eight matches this season, going 7-1.
K-State accumulated 100 digs, the second most by a Big 12 member this season,
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.

KILLER QUEEN

Carter, a native of Dubuque, Iowa, repeats as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week and sets the K-State record for most career offensive weekly honors to surpass two-time All-American Kaitlynn Pelger (2010-13).
With her five Big 12 Rookie of the Week titles in 2020, Carter has received a program record 12 weekly awards, which is seventh most all-time in league history.
Last week, Carter totaled 38 points to reach career point No. 2,000 in her 129th match in a Wildcat uniform to become the first player to reach the milestone in the rally-scoring era and second overall in program history.
Against in-state rival Kansas, Carter totaled a match-high 24 kills to register her 26^th career outing with 20 or more kills. She added 13 digs to complete her 33^rd career double-double.
Her average of 5.00 kills per set last week led all Big 12 players, while she finished second in points per set (5.43). Now with 1,813 career kills, Carter is one of five Power 4 student-athletes with at least 1,800 kills.
The 2020 Big 12 and AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year currently ranks second in the Big 12 in six offensive categories: kills per set (4.42), total kills (429), points per set (4.79), total points (465.0), attacks per set (12.65) and total attacks (1,227).
Her 12.65 attacks per set ranks sixth nationally across Division I while she currently ranks 25^th overall in kills per set.
Carter is second all-time in career kills in K-State history.

CATS vs. THE BIG 12

K-State is seventh in the league standings with an 8-8 conference record, that includes a 4-4 record on the road.
In Big 12 matches, the Cats' offense is led by Carter, who is second in the league in total kills in conference matches (295). Carter is also second with 4.61 kills per set in Big 12 matches, total points (320), and points pet set (5.00).
K-State is the Big 12 leader in digs per set in overall matches (16.82) and third in conference games only (16.53), guided by Larkin who is third overall in the league (4.58).
Schmidt and Williams lead K-State at the net, both averaging over one per match in league matches, while Brown has totaled 13 solo stops.
Offensively, the Wildcats are second in kills per set (14.06) and assists per set (13.30).

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

The Wildcats are 8-2 when hitting a higher efficiency and 8-7 when producing more kills than their opponents.
Additionally, the Cats are 7-1 when they have limited their opponents to a hitting efficiency under .200.
K-State has out-blocked opponents in seven matches, going 6-1, with four victories when trailing in blocks.
The Cats have led in digs in 18 of 25 matches this season and have won nine matches when leading in total digs and are 9-9 overall in the category.
K-State has won five of its eight five-set matches in 2024, while it is 1-7 in four-setters and 4-5 in three-set matches.

AROUND THE BIG 12

Arizona State (28-2, 16-1 Big 12) leads the way in the league standings followed closely by KU (23-3, 14-2 Big 12). Utah (23-5, 13-4 Big 12) ranks third with Baylor (20-7, 12-4 Big 12) and TCU (19-7, 11-5 Big 12) rounding out the top five.
Arizona State clinched a share of the league's title and secured the Big 12's automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Championship.
Five schools rank in the latest AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll – No. 8 Arizona State, No. 11 Kansas, No. 16 Baylor, No. 17 Utah, and No. 22 TCU while BYU is receiving votes.
K-State's Aliyah Carter (offensive), Houston's Kate Georgiades (defensive) and Cincinnati's Faith Frame (rookie) collected the

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Players Mentioned

Meg Brown

Aliyah Carter

Aniya Clinton

Liz Gregorski

Ella Larkin

Ava LeGrand

Shaylee Myers

Molly Ramsey

Izzi Szulczewski

Kansas State University Athletics