Cats’ Non-Con Slate Wraps Up at K-State Invitational

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State will complete its 2024 non-conference schedule this weekend, as the Wildcats host the annual K-State Invitational, starting Thursday at 6:30 p.m. against UC Santa Barbara at Morgan Family Arena.

The Wildcats (2-5) will round out their non-conference slate Sunday when they face former Big 12 competitor Oklahoma at 4 p.m., which will be televised on ESPNU.

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

K-State continues its homestand on September 25, as the Cats open Big 12 action against Houston, before hosting UCF on September 26. Both Conference matches are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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.

MATCH #8
K-STATE (2-5, 0-0 BIG 12) vs. UC SANTA BARBARA (2-8, 0-0 BIG WEST)
Thursday, Sept. 19 // 6:30 PM CT // Morgan Family Arena
Live Stats // Tickets // ESPN+

MATCH #9
K-STATE (2-5, 0-0 BIG 12) vs. OKLAHOMA (5-1, 0-0 SEC)
Sunday, Sept. 22 // 4 PM CT // Morgan Family Arena
Live Stats // Tickets // ESPNU

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State continues its six-match homestand this weekend, as the Wildcats face UC Santa Barabara and Oklahoma in the annual K-State Invitational.
K-State (2-5) will face UCSB Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. before concluding the tournament Sunday against OU at 4 p.m.
The Cats concluded the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Classic 1-1, picking up a four-set victory over Lipscomb.
Meg Brown and Aliyah Carter earned All-Tournament honors, while Izzi Szulczewski, who earned her 1,000^th assist at K-State, drew double-doubles in each match.
Carter became the fifth player in program history to amass 1,500 career kills Sunday. She is 11 kills from becoming the program's rally-scoring era career kills leader.

SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA

UCSB, who enters the tournament with an overall record of 2-8, comes to Manhattan with a five-match losing streak.
UCSB is 0-5 against Power 4 schools this season, with losses Georgia, Florida State, Arizona State, Stanford, and Pittsburgh.
The Gauchos, the reigning Big West Regular Season Champions, were selected to finish fourth in the Conference's preseason coaches' poll.
Offensively, UCSB has a .178 hitting efficiency with three players averaging over two kills a set while Harper Hall and Grace McIntosh run the 6-2 offense, each boasting over four kills per set.
Eva Travis, a redshirt-freshman outside, has compiled 113 total kills (2.76 kills/set) this season, and averages a team-best 3.23 points per set.
Andi Kreiling has 33.0 total blocks on the year and Laynna Green and Lois Hansen have 27.0 each.
Matt Jones is in his second season as the head coach of the UCSB volleyball program and has led the team to an overall 29-13 record that included a run in the NCAA Tournament in his first season.

INSIDE THE SERIES

The series is tied 1-1 between the Cats and Gauchos, with both matches held on the road.
UCSB picked up a sweep in the first meeting of the series in 1989, while K-State earned its first win in 2021.
In the last meeting, the Cats won in five sets – 25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 23-25, 15-13.

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA

Under eighth-year head coach Aaron Mansfield, OU is on a five-match winning streak after dropping its season opener to TCU in four. Mansfield has guided the Sooners to an overall 16-18 record in his two seasons with the program.
Oklahoma was picked 11^th in the SEC preseason coaches poll.
Oklahoma (5-1) is hitting .275 as a team, averaging 13.91 kills per set led by Alexis Shelton.
Shelton, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter, generates a team-best 5.09 kills per set at a .297 efficiency with 2.13 digs and 22 total blocks.
Last season, Shelton earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors after her breakout season with a team-leading 400 kills (4.26 per set).
Payton Chamberlain and Leah Wilton-LaBoy have combined for 263 assists, with Chamberlain averaging 10.38 assists.
Defensively, Callie Kemohah leads the back row with a 3.48 digs per set, while Lydia Martyn totals 36 blocks and leads the league with 1.57 blocks.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Sunday's match marks the 101^st meeting between the Wildcats and Sooners, and first in Manhattan since October 23, 2020.
OU leads the all-time series 6-39-1 and owns a 22-20 edge in matches held in Manhattan, while K-State leads 20-17 in three-set matches.
Under Mansfield, the Cats are 1-1 against OU after picking up a sweep last season.

CLIMBING THE LADDER

Carter became the fifth player in program history to achieve 1,500 career kills on Sunday.
A product of Dubuque, Iowa, Carter tallied her 15^th kill of the match in the fourth set to reach the milestone and ended the day with 16 kills and seven digs.
With 1,501 career kills, Carter ranks fifth all-time in K-State history, while she is 11 kills away from surpassing former Wildcat Kaitlynn Pelger as the all-time rally-scoring era leader.
Carter's 16 kills Sunday also marked her 18^th consecutive match with 10-plus kills.
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. She also stands alone as the rally-scoring era kills average leader with an average of 3.83.

MS. 1,000

Szulczewski recorded her 1,000^th career assist with the program Thursday night in the Cats victory over Lipscomb.
The senior from Beaverton, Ore., entered the night needing 43 assists to reach the milestone and tallied her 43^rd 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 2,662 assists in her collegiate career.

HOME COOKIN'

K-State began its home schedule 1-1 with a four-set victory over Lipscomb, before falling to North Carolina.
Under Mansfield, K-State owns a home non-conference regular-season record of 3-3, and is 10-5 overall at home.
In two home matches this season, the Wildcats are hitting .131 while opponents have produced a .170 team efficiency.
Brown and Carter averaged 4.13 kills per set through the first two home matches.
Brown is hitting a team-leading .324 at home while Schmidt is hitting .114 with 1.13 kills per set and team-best six blocks.
The Cats have served up seven aces at home, with Gregorski accounting for three of them and Sims with two.
K-State is 414-213-5 all-time when playing at home.

HONOR ROLL

Brown and Carter were each named to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Classic All-Tournament Team last weekend, as the duo each totaled 33 kills (4.13 per set) to lead the Cats' offense.
Larkin was tabbed to the Creighton Classi All-Tournament Team, 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

Two members of the Big 12 remain undefeated, led by league newcomer Arizona (9-0) and KU (7-0)
Five schools were ranked in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll following week one action – No. 10 KU, No. 14 Arizona State, No. 19 BYU, No. 20 Baylor, and No. 23 TCU, while Houston is receiving votes.
TCU's Melanie Parra (offensive), Arizona State's Mary Shroll (defensive) and Cincinnati's Faith Frame (rookie) procured Conference honors for the third week of the season.
Parra is the first player to win three consecutive Offensive Player of the Week titles to start the season since 2020 and is one of just three players in Conference history to accomplish the feat. Parra was also named the AVCA/GameChanger Division I Player of the Week for the second consecutive week, making her the first player in Division I women's volleyball history to win the award in back-to-back weeks.
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 includes Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah, turning the league into a 15-member volleyball conference.

Cats’ Non-Con Slate Wraps Up at K-State Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Meg Brown

Aliyah Carter

Izzi Szulczewski

Kansas State University Athletics

Cats’ Non-Con Slate Wraps Up at K-State Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Meg Brown

Aliyah Carter

Izzi Szulczewski

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