Kansas State University Athletics
Thursday, September 12
Manhattan, Kan.
6:30 p.m.
Kansas State University
2-4,0-0Big 12
3
vs
1
Lipscomb
3-4,0-0ASUN
1
2
3
4
F
Lipscomb
25
25
22
22
1
Kansas St.
20
27
25
25
3
Szulczewski Notches 1,000th Assist, Wildcats Top Bisons in Four
Sep 12, 2024 | Volleyball
MANHATTAN, Kan – K-State volleyball's Izzi Szulczewski recorded her 1,000th career assist with the program Thursday night, as the Wildcats topped Lipscomb in four sets, 20-25, 27-25, 25-22, 25-22, in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Classic opener at Morgan Family Arena.
Szulczewski, a senior from Beaverton, Ore., entered the night needing 43 assists to reach the milestone and tallied her 43rd in the final set. Szulczewski ended the night with a match-high 47 assists and 12 digs to register her third double-double of the year. With her 1,617 assists from Oregon State, Szulczewski has totaled 2,621 assists in her collegiate career.
K-State (2-4) used 20 kills from newcomer Meg Brown, while Aliyah Carter added 17. Brown's kill total marked a career-best, as the senior transfer from Pepperdine hit .471 (4 errors, 34 swings) to go with four blocks.
The Wildcats limited Bisons (3-4) to a .087 hitting efficiency behind a season-high 13.0 blocks, including four total blocks from Brown and Brenna Schmidt. The Wildcat offense hit .157 (54 kills, 153 attempts) as a team and owned a 53-42 edge in total kill production.
Senior libero Ella Larkin turned in 19 digs in four sets, her fourth match with 15 or digs.
Lipscomb was led by Meg Mersman and Karlie McNabb, who each had eight kills, while Mersman totaled a match-high eight blocks. Sophia Hudepohl registered a team-high 17 digs with 25 assists to complete the double-double.
K-State will conclude the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Volleyball Classic Sunday, as the Wildcats face North Carolina (4-1) at 12:30 p.m. at Morgan Family Arena. Sunday's match can be seen on ESPN+.
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.
FROM THE CATS
Jason Mansfield, K-State Head Coach
Overall Thoughts…
"I mean the first thing is, it's great to be at home. We've missed the crowd and the excitement which the arena provides for us. And to be on the road the last couple weeks was challenging, but we were really excited to get back home. So, it felt good to be back here right from the beginning. And the girls that were returning were really excited, and the girls that played their first match here, like the one next to me [Meg Brown], were really excited, so I'm glad they got a chance to experience it. And then, just like I told the girls, just a really gritty win. It wasn't perfect, but we responded really well after the first set and made a lot of plays to win the next three sets. So really proud of them."
Meg Brown, Senior
On playing at home for the first time…
"It was pretty surreal to have so many fans cheering us on, especially in the moments where we weren't doing super well, and we were struggling. The fan support was what was necessary in those moments to look around and say 'hey, this is bigger than us, and we're here to compete and play for y'all.' So that was just a really cool experience overall."
SET-BY-SET
Set One – Lipscomb 25, K-State 20
Lipscomb's defense held K-State to a .051 attack efficiency in the first, led by five blocks from Mersman, that included three solo stops. Brown and Aniya Clinton each totaled four kills in the initial set.
Set Two – K-State 27, Lipscomb 25
K-State posted six straight points to the board behind serves from Szulczewski to taking a 12-8 lead. Lipscomb used a 5-1 scoring run to tie the set 16-16, before adding three consecutive points to take the lead. With a fearsome swing from Schmidt, K-State completed its rally and leveled the set 22-all, forcing a Lipscomb timeout.
The Cats held a 4.0-3.0 advantage in blocks, while hitting a match-high .229 with seven errors on 48 swings
Set Three – K-State 25, Lipscomb 22
Brown committed no errors in the third set, as she totaled six blocks and hit an incredible .857 clip in seven swings. Carter added five (one error, 13 swings), while K-State out-blocked the Bisons 4.0-1.0 to limit Lipscomb to .051 hitting efficiency.
Set Four – K-State 25, Lipscomb 22
Following five consecutive serves from Lipscomb's Hudepohl, K-State snapped the run and put together a 6-2 closing run to take the final set. The Wildcats hit .129 (11 kills, 7 errors, 31 swings) in the fourth led by five from Brown.
INSIDE THE BOX
Szulczewski, a senior from Beaverton, Ore., entered the night needing 43 assists to reach the milestone and tallied her 43rd in the final set. Szulczewski ended the night with a match-high 47 assists and 12 digs to register her third double-double of the year. With her 1,617 assists from Oregon State, Szulczewski has totaled 2,621 assists in her collegiate career.
K-State (2-4) used 20 kills from newcomer Meg Brown, while Aliyah Carter added 17. Brown's kill total marked a career-best, as the senior transfer from Pepperdine hit .471 (4 errors, 34 swings) to go with four blocks.
The Wildcats limited Bisons (3-4) to a .087 hitting efficiency behind a season-high 13.0 blocks, including four total blocks from Brown and Brenna Schmidt. The Wildcat offense hit .157 (54 kills, 153 attempts) as a team and owned a 53-42 edge in total kill production.
Senior libero Ella Larkin turned in 19 digs in four sets, her fourth match with 15 or digs.
Lipscomb was led by Meg Mersman and Karlie McNabb, who each had eight kills, while Mersman totaled a match-high eight blocks. Sophia Hudepohl registered a team-high 17 digs with 25 assists to complete the double-double.
K-State will conclude the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Volleyball Classic Sunday, as the Wildcats face North Carolina (4-1) at 12:30 p.m. at Morgan Family Arena. Sunday's match can be seen on ESPN+.
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.
FROM THE CATS
Jason Mansfield, K-State Head Coach
Overall Thoughts…
"I mean the first thing is, it's great to be at home. We've missed the crowd and the excitement which the arena provides for us. And to be on the road the last couple weeks was challenging, but we were really excited to get back home. So, it felt good to be back here right from the beginning. And the girls that were returning were really excited, and the girls that played their first match here, like the one next to me [Meg Brown], were really excited, so I'm glad they got a chance to experience it. And then, just like I told the girls, just a really gritty win. It wasn't perfect, but we responded really well after the first set and made a lot of plays to win the next three sets. So really proud of them."
Meg Brown, Senior
On playing at home for the first time…
"It was pretty surreal to have so many fans cheering us on, especially in the moments where we weren't doing super well, and we were struggling. The fan support was what was necessary in those moments to look around and say 'hey, this is bigger than us, and we're here to compete and play for y'all.' So that was just a really cool experience overall."
SET-BY-SET
Set One – Lipscomb 25, K-State 20
Lipscomb's defense held K-State to a .051 attack efficiency in the first, led by five blocks from Mersman, that included three solo stops. Brown and Aniya Clinton each totaled four kills in the initial set.
Set Two – K-State 27, Lipscomb 25
K-State posted six straight points to the board behind serves from Szulczewski to taking a 12-8 lead. Lipscomb used a 5-1 scoring run to tie the set 16-16, before adding three consecutive points to take the lead. With a fearsome swing from Schmidt, K-State completed its rally and leveled the set 22-all, forcing a Lipscomb timeout.
The Cats held a 4.0-3.0 advantage in blocks, while hitting a match-high .229 with seven errors on 48 swings
Set Three – K-State 25, Lipscomb 22
Brown committed no errors in the third set, as she totaled six blocks and hit an incredible .857 clip in seven swings. Carter added five (one error, 13 swings), while K-State out-blocked the Bisons 4.0-1.0 to limit Lipscomb to .051 hitting efficiency.
Set Four – K-State 25, Lipscomb 22
Following five consecutive serves from Lipscomb's Hudepohl, K-State snapped the run and put together a 6-2 closing run to take the final set. The Wildcats hit .129 (11 kills, 7 errors, 31 swings) in the fourth led by five from Brown.
INSIDE THE BOX
- K-State picked up a four-set win – 20-25, 27-25, 25-22, 25-22.
- K-State finished with a team efficiency of .157 (54 kills, 30 errors, 153 attacks).
- Lipscomb hit .087 as a team (42 kills, 28 errors, 149 attacks).
- Brown led K-State with 20 kills and Carter added 17.
- The 20 kills marked a career high for Brown
- Szulczewski dished out 47 assists with 12 digs for her third double-double of the year.
- Larkin finished the night with 19 digs, her fourth match with 15 or more digs.
- K-State matched a season-high 13.0 team blocks with Brown and Schmidt each totaling four.
- Carter reached double digit kills for the 17th consecutive match.
- K-State leads the all-time series 3-1, including three straight wins at home.
- The Wildcats are 10-4 at home under head coach Jason Mansfield.
- Thursday win marked the teams first four-set victory of the season, moving to 1-2.
- Szulczewski reached 1,000th assists with her 43rd assist in the final set.
- Makinsey Jones made her collegiate debut in set two.
– k-statesports.com –
How to follow the Cats: For complete information on the K-State Volleyball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
How to follow the Cats: For complete information on the K-State Volleyball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
Team Stats
Lips
KState
Kills
42
54
Errors
28
30
Attempts
149
153
Hitting %
.094
.157
Points
62.0
68.0
Assists
39
52
Aces
9
2
Blocks
11
12
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
OH
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
S
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