Wildcats Trek to Arizona for Pair of Big 12 Matchups

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State heads west for a pair of Big 12 road tests, as the Wildcats face Arizona on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT before facing No. 11 Arizona State at 8 p.m. Friday.
The Wildcats (8-11, 6-4 Big 12) are coming off their second consecutive win after defeating West Virginia in five Thursday night to complete the season series sweep. With the win, K-State moves to 5-2 in five-set matches and seventh in the league standings.

In its first season in the Big 12, Arizona is 13-8 overall this season that includes a 2-8 league record. UA leads the all-time series 3-1 with the Wildcats, while Wednesday's match marks the first meeting between the two schools in Tucson and first in Conference play.

ASU (22-2, 10-1 Big 12), another Big 12 newcomer, is ranked 11^th in the AVCA national standings with a current 10-match winning streak. This season, the Sundevils are undefeated at home that includes a 12-set win streak. K-State owns a 1-0 edge in the series against ASU, since the first meeting in 2008.

K-State returns to Morgan Family Arena for two Top 25 matches, as the Cats take on No. 17 Baylor (November 13) and No. 18 TCU (November 15).

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 #20
K-STATE (8-11, 6-4 BIG 12) at ARIZONA (13-8, 2-8 BIG 12)
Wednesday, November 6 // 7 PM CT // McKale Center
Live Stats // ESPN+

MATCH #21
K-STATE (8-11, 6-4 BIG 12) at #11 ARIZONA STATE (22-2, 10-1 BIG 12)
Friday, November 8 // 8 PM CT // Desert Financial Arena
Live Stats // ESPN+

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State heads west for a pair of Big 12 road tests, as the Wildcats face Arizona on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT before facing No. 11 Arizona State at 8 p.m. Friday.
Two Wildcats (8-11, 6-4 Big 12) turned in double-doubles to help K-State to a five-set win over West Virginia Thursday night at Morgan Family Arena – 25-18, 22-25, 25-20, 14-25, 15-10.
A crucial call was overturned in favor of K-State in the final set to push ahead 9-7, before the Wildcats used a 4-0 scoring run to put the match away.
K-State produced a higher hitting efficiency in three of the five sets, including a match-high .353 in the fifth.
K-State has now won five straight in the all-time series after completing the season series sweep over WVU.
Carter, last week's Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, led the Wildcats offense with 20 kills followed by Meg Brown (11) and Shaylee Myers (10). Carter added 11 digs to tally her 29^th career double-double.
Utilizing a 5-1 lineup, Izzi Szulczewski punched in her 11^th match with 40 or more assists, tallying 41 on the night with 11 digs to complete her team-best 10^th double-double of the year.
Senior libero Ella Larkin guided the backrow with her seventh 20-dig match, finishing with a match-leading 23. Symone Sims followed Larkin with 13 digs while Molly Ramsey added a season-high nine.
With the win, K-State moved 5-2 in five-set matches, including four five-set wins in October.

SCOUTING ARIZONA

Arizona (13-8, 2-8 Big 12) is 2-8 after starting off its 2024 campaign 11-0.
UA picked up its second conference win against Houston in four sets, however, the Wildcats have lost three straight with just two set wins.
Arizona is 7-3 at home this season, including a 2-3 in conference matches.
As a team, Arizona posts a .252 hitting percentage with 13.71 kills a set, while the defense holds opponents to a .200 efficiency.
Jaelyn Hodge leads the Wildcat offense at 3.91 kills per set while Jordan Wilson adds 3.44 kills followed by Carlie Cisneros (2.64).
Kari Robey is hitting at a team-best .367 efficiency with 58 blocks (1.04/set). Four players average over two digs per set led by Cisneros (3.08/set).
Charita Stubbs is in her second season as the Wildcats' head coach, guiding UA to a 21-31 overall record.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Arizona leads the all-time series 3-1 with all wins coming in sweeps, while all matches took place at a neutral location.
In the last meeting in 2016, K-State picked up its first win of the series in four-sets.

SCOUTING #11 ARIZONA STATE

Arizona State (22-2, 10-1 Big 12), who was ranked 11^th in the latest AVCA Top 25 Poll, enters the week second in the league standings.
After dropping a four-setter against then-19^th-ranked Baylor, the Sundevils have won 10 in a row with a perfect 9-0 record at home.
ASU made its 20^th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, led by three All-Americans, including Claire Jeter.
JJ Van Niel spearheads the Sundevils' volleyball program, leading the squad to an overall 50-9 record in two seasons.
The Sundevils are averaging 14.2 kills per set, which is third in the league, at a Big 12 second-best .286 hitting efficiency.
Four players are producing at least two kills per set led by Geli Cyr (3.66).
Mary Shroll, who leads the Big 12 in digs per set (5.02), orchestrates a defense that is second in the league in digs per set and has held opponents to a .160 hitting percentage.
ASU's .160 opponent hitting percentage leads the Big 12 and is 20^th nationally.
K-State owns a 1-0 edge in the all-time series, picking up the first meeting between the two squads in 2008.

VS. THE TOP 25

This season, K-State is 0-5 against Top 25, after dropping the first Big 12 meeting against Utah in four.
Carter is averaging an impressive 4.55 kills per set against ranked foes followed by Myers (2.73) and Brown (2.15).
Defensively, the Cats lead their opponents with a 15.95 digs average, however, opponents post a 3.43-1.75 edge in blocks per set.
The Cats are 5-10 against nationally ranked programs under head coach Jason 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 6-25 against Top 25 teams, and is 50-232 all-time.

GOING THE DISTANCE

Through 19 matches, 13 of K-State's matches this season have gone at least four sets.
After the five-setter against West Virginia, seven matches have gone the full five sets (5-2), including six 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).
K-State has recorded a program record 10 five-set matches twice (2017, 2019).

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

K-State 4-6 (3-2 Big 12) when playing on the road this season.
On the road, the Wildcats are hitting .203 with opponents hitting at a .217 efficiency.
Larkin guides the defense with 4.44 digs per set while Schmidt has totaled 45 blocks (1.07 per set) with a team-leading .405 hitting percentage.
Carter averages 4.28 kills per set (.183) to lead the offense, after accumulating a career-high 32 kills at Iowa State.
The Cats have served up 46 aces with Gregorski and Sims both accounting for 11 of those.
Szulczewski paces the offense and dishes out 10.07 assists per set on the road and is third in total blocks (27).
K-State is 458-437-2 all-time when playing on the road, and 236-296 in true road matches.

LAST FIVE

With a five-set home victory against West Virginia, 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 13.58 kills per set during that time span, while hitting at a .216 clip paced by 10.50 assists from Szulczewski.
Carter leads the Wildcats with 4.63 kills per set during that stretch, followed by Myers (2.50) and Brown (2.25).
Schmidt is hitting at a team-leading .474 over the last five matches, while totaling 21 blocks (0.88/set).
Brown has totaled 27 blocks (1.13/set) and is seven away from earning her 400^th career.

CATS VS. THE BIG 12

K-State ranks seventh in the league with a 6-4 Conference record, that includes a 3-2 record in matches on the road.
The Cats' offense is led by Carter, who now second in the league with 4.16 blocks per set and attacks per set (12.13), third in total kills (320), and third in points per set (4.51).
K-State is the Big 12 leader in digs per set (16.64), guided by 4.45 from Ella Larkin, who is third overall in the league.
During Conference play, the Cats average 2.23 blocks per set (98.0 total) 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 6-5 when producing more kills than their opponents.
Additionally, the Cats are 5-1 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 three victories when trailing in blocks (3-9).
The Cats are 7-7 overall when leading in digs.

DEFENSIVE CATS

As a team, K-State is the Big 12 leader in digs per set (16.64) and has led in digs in 14 of 19 matches this season, dropping four matches when trailing in digs.

The Wildcats are seventh in the league with a rate of 2.22 blocks per set, totaling 171 overall, and are fourth in conference games only (2.23).
K-State has held its opponents under a .200 hitting efficiency in six matches this season, going 5-1.
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 CARTER

Carter was honored by the Big 12 Conference last week for her record-breaking performances in week nine.
It was 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.
Her 1,704 career kills is second all-time in K-State history.

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Players Mentioned

Meg Brown

Ella Larkin

Shaylee Myers

Molly Ramsey

Symone Sims

Izzi Szulczewski

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