Wildcats Set to Host the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Classic

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State opens its 2024 home schedule with a six-match homestand beginning Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. against Lipscomb, as part of the three-day Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Classic held at Morgan Family Arena.

The Wildcats (1-4) will conclude the tournament Sunday when they square off with North Carolina at 12:30 p.m.

Sunday's match will be broadcast on ESPN+, as Brian Smoller and former Wildcat All-American Liz Wegner-Busch will team up to call the action.

Single match tickets 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.

K-State continues its homestand with the K-State Invitational on Sept. 19-22 with matchups against UC Santa Barbara and Oklahoma, before opening its Big 12 slate on Sept. 25 against Houston.

MATCH #6
K-STATE (1-4, 0-0 BIG 12) vs. LIPSCOMB (3-3, 0-0 ASUN)
Thursday, Sept. 12 // 6:30 PM CT // Morgan Family Arena
Live Stats // Tickets

MATCH #7
K-STATE (1-4, 0-0 BIG 12) vs. NORTH CAROLINA (4-1, 0-0 ACC)
Sunday, Sept. 15 // 12:30 PM CT // Morgan Family Arena
Live Stats // Tickets // Watch (ESPN+)

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State begins its home schedule and continues non-conference action, as the Wildcats host the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Classic on sept. 12-15.
K-State (1-4) will face Lipscomb Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. before concluding the tournament Sunday against North Carolina at 12:30 p.m.
The Cats are coming off a tough 0-2 weekend at the Creighton Classic, where they dropped a pair of matches against nationally ranked foes then-No. 20 USC and then-No. 11 Creighton.
Two players turned in double-doubles against USC: Carter (17 kills, 13 digs) and Szulczewski (41 assists, 13 digs).
Larkin picked up all-tournament honors, after totaling a team-leading 26 digs (3.71 per set) with three service aces and nine assists.
Carter led the offense last weekend with 4.00 kills per set while Williams led with a .333 hitting percentage.
Carter has reached double-digit kills in all five matches this season, including a season-high 21 in the 2024 opener at Purdue.

SCOUTING LIPSCOMB

Lipscomb, who enters the tournament with an overall record of 3-3, is coming off a straight-set victory over Belmont.
Lipscomb is 0-3 against Power 4 schools this season, with losses against Arizona State, BYU and Georgia Tech. The Bisons took a set against BYU last weekend at the BYU Nike Invitational.
The Bisons were selected to finish first in the ASUN's preseason coaches' poll with Meg Mersman named the unanimous Preseason Player of the Year and Sophia Hudepohl earning Preseason Setter of the Year honors. Outside hitter Jada DiVita also was named to the Preseason All-ASUN Team.
Courtney Jones leads offense with 3.40 kills a set and a team-high 13 aces, while Mersman, the reigning ASUN Player of the Year, is second on the team with 2.05 kills per set.
Hudepohl spearheads an offense that is hitting .205 as a team with 8.65 assists a set.
Four players are averaging over two digs a set, while Berkley Mischler and Mersman have combined for 20 blocks this season.
Brandon Rosenthal is in his 22^nd season as the head coach of the Lipscomb volleyball program, guiding the Bisons to an overall 385-248 record, with eight NCAA Tournament appearances and seven ASUN Tournament Championships.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State holds a 2-1 edge in the all-time series since the first meeting on Sept. 1, 2006..
The two squads met last season with the Bisons claiming a five-set thriller – 25-17, 25-18, 19-25, 17-25, 17-15.
Outside of last season's loss, K-State has swept Lipscomb.

SCOUTING NORTH CAROLINA

UNC moved to 4-1 on the year after suffering its first loss of the season Sunday. The Tarheels fell to South Carolina in straight sets in Columbia.
The Tarheels are led by second-year head coach Mike Schall, who has compiled a 17-15 overall record.
Senior Mabrey Shaffmaster was voted to the Preseason ALL-ACC Team for the third year in a row, while UNC was picked to finish 10^th in the coaches preseason poll.
Shaffmaster, a three-time All-ACC honoree, including first team selections in 2022 and 2023, leads the Tar Heels in kills (58), kills per set (3.63) and service aces (12) last season, along with a team-leading .304 hitting percentage.
Emani Foster averages 3.40 kills per set, which is second on the team, with six blocks.
Setters Zoe Behrendt (7.25 assists/set) and Taylor Eisert (4.44 assists/set) pace an offense that is hitting .256 while opponents are held to a .146 attack efficiency.
Defensively, the Tarheels are averaging 14.56 digs a set and 2.38 blocks. Libero Maddy May is posting 3.94 digs per set while Alexis Engelbrecht totals 18.0 blocks.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Sunday's match marks the first meeting between the Cats and Tarheels in 30 years and only second overall in school history.
The two squads last met on Oct. 2, 1994, with UNC picking up a five-set win – 15-9, 15-6, 10-15, 12-15, 15-11.

KILLER CARTER

Carter returns to the court for her fifth and final season with the Wildcat volleyball program.
With two 20-kill matches following opening weekend, Carter continues her dominance as the rally-scoring 20-kill match leader with 19 and is fourth all-time in school history.
The Dubuque, Iowa product also stands alone as the rally-scoring era kills average leader with an average of 3.82.
Carter is the 19th player in program history to achieve 1,000 career kills and ranks fifth all-time with 1,468 career kills and second in the rally-scoring era.

HOME COOKIN'

K-State finished its 2023 home slate 9-4, that included four wins over nationally ranked foes.
The Cats hit .204 while the defense held opponents to a .158 attack efficiency.
Carter led the offense at home, averaging 4.38 kills per set, followed by Clinton at 3.17.
Szulczewski dished out 8.29 assists per set at home with 13 service aces.
K-State is 413-212-5 all-time when playing at home.

HONOR ROLL

Larkin was tabbed to the Creighton Classi All-Tournament Team last weekend, as the product of Maize, Kansas, totaled a team-leading 26 digs (3.71 per set) with three service aces and nine assists.
Szulczewski received all-tournament recognition at the Stacey Clark Classic held by Purdue. The Wildcats starting setter averaged10.83 assists per set during opening weekend and led the 5-1 offense to a .234 hitting percentage, while adding eight kills, 12 digs, and nine blocks.
Szulczewski and Carter were named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team, while Carter becomes the first player in school history to earn four Big 12 preseason honors.

AROUND THE BIG 12

Six members of the Big 12 are off to an undefeated start – Arizona (6-0), Arizona State (6-0), KU (6-0) and UCF (4-0).
Five schools were ranked in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll following week one action – No. 11 KU, No. 14 Arizona State, No. 17 BYU, No. 18 Baylor, and No. 25 TCU.
TCU's Melanie Parra (offensive), Baylor's Lauren Briseño (defensive) and Kansas' Zoey Burgess (rookie) claimed league honors for the second week of the volleyball season.
K-State will play 18 Big 12 matches, that includes nine at home with Houston, UCF, Iowa State, Utah, West Virginia, Baylor, TCU, KU and BYU.
K-State tied sixth in the final Big 12 standings in 2023 with a record of 10-8 alongside Baylor.
With new league alignments, the Big 12 welcomed four new members to the 2024-25 academic year that include Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah, turning the league into a 15-member volleyball conference.

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