A Bittersweet Record
Sep 23, 2024 | Volleyball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Tears flowed from the eyes of Aliyah Carter as the Kansas State senior sat inside Morgan Family Arena on Sunday evening.
Carter and her K-State teammates put up a fight and fell just short again as a 3-0 loss to Oklahoma in the K-State Invitational dropped the Wildcats to a 2-7 record heading into the Big 12 Conference season.
In the process of putting up a fight, Carter put herself in the K-State record book by recording seven kills, giving her 1,518 kills in her career. It's the most kills in school history in the rally-scoring era, which began in 2001.
"It's cool," she said of the record. "I mean, it just sucks because I don't really care. I want to win."
Carter, a 5-foot-10 graduate student from Dubuque, Iowa, was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I Player of the Year Award Watch List last Thursday. She ranks in the top 10 in at least 10 different career and season categories for kills and attacks and points at K-State.
She currently stands alone atop of the rally-scoring career kills average leaderboard with 3.83, as she owns three of the Wildcats' top 10 single-season averages, along with a school-record 19 matches with 20-plus kills.
Her 1,518 kills rank fourth behind Liz Wegner (1,907), Kim Zschau (1,646), Dawn Cady (1,611) overall.
She is one of 23 active players in the nation with at least 1,500 kills.
Asked if she knew that she was close to the school mark, Carter replied, "I knew I was close."
Then she paused and wiped her eyes.
"These are happy tears," she continued. "I am proud of myself for doing it but I'm also — we've got to put the Ws behind this. It's not going to matter in two to three years if we don't win. Sure, it's nice to think about being one of the best at K-State, but I want to leave a longer impression like we were the winning team at K-State. I'm happy but also just trying to get better."
Second-year K-State head coach Jason Mansfield shortly after his hiring said that "there aren't many people I've coached who are more competitive than Aliyah."
Mansfield on Sunday applauded Carter for her perseverance and dedication.
"It speaks a lot in the transfer-portal era to have someone like Aliyah Carter stay here five years and leave the legacy she's leaving here," he said. "It says a lot about her loyalty as a person. It speaks volumes to what she thinks about her teammates and the university."
Carter, a member of the 2024 All-Big 12 Preseason Team, is the first three-time All-Big 12 First Team selection at K-State and the first player in school history and only active player in the Big 12 to capture four preseason honors in a career.
An AVCA All-American honorable mention selection last season, Carter led the Wildcats with 390 kills and 438 points. She ranked fifth in the Big 12 with 4.06 kills and 4.56 point per set.
Carter's 1,692.5 points rank fourth behind Wegner (2,161.0), Kaitlynn Pelger (1,879.0), Zschau (1,853.5) and Cady (1,804.0).
Oklahoma marked the first of three opponents that K-State will face in the span of six days. K-State begins the Big 12 season against Houston on Wednesday and then faces UCF on Friday. Both matches will be in Manhattan.
What does K-State mean to Carter?
"It means a lot," she replied. "To be here and to do everything that I've done and have experienced with all the emotions and just playing volleyball here means a lot."
Tears flowed from the eyes of Aliyah Carter as the Kansas State senior sat inside Morgan Family Arena on Sunday evening.
Carter and her K-State teammates put up a fight and fell just short again as a 3-0 loss to Oklahoma in the K-State Invitational dropped the Wildcats to a 2-7 record heading into the Big 12 Conference season.
In the process of putting up a fight, Carter put herself in the K-State record book by recording seven kills, giving her 1,518 kills in her career. It's the most kills in school history in the rally-scoring era, which began in 2001.
"It's cool," she said of the record. "I mean, it just sucks because I don't really care. I want to win."
Carter, a 5-foot-10 graduate student from Dubuque, Iowa, was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I Player of the Year Award Watch List last Thursday. She ranks in the top 10 in at least 10 different career and season categories for kills and attacks and points at K-State.
She currently stands alone atop of the rally-scoring career kills average leaderboard with 3.83, as she owns three of the Wildcats' top 10 single-season averages, along with a school-record 19 matches with 20-plus kills.
Her 1,518 kills rank fourth behind Liz Wegner (1,907), Kim Zschau (1,646), Dawn Cady (1,611) overall.
She is one of 23 active players in the nation with at least 1,500 kills.
Asked if she knew that she was close to the school mark, Carter replied, "I knew I was close."
Then she paused and wiped her eyes.
"These are happy tears," she continued. "I am proud of myself for doing it but I'm also — we've got to put the Ws behind this. It's not going to matter in two to three years if we don't win. Sure, it's nice to think about being one of the best at K-State, but I want to leave a longer impression like we were the winning team at K-State. I'm happy but also just trying to get better."
Second-year K-State head coach Jason Mansfield shortly after his hiring said that "there aren't many people I've coached who are more competitive than Aliyah."
Mansfield on Sunday applauded Carter for her perseverance and dedication.
"It speaks a lot in the transfer-portal era to have someone like Aliyah Carter stay here five years and leave the legacy she's leaving here," he said. "It says a lot about her loyalty as a person. It speaks volumes to what she thinks about her teammates and the university."
Carter, a member of the 2024 All-Big 12 Preseason Team, is the first three-time All-Big 12 First Team selection at K-State and the first player in school history and only active player in the Big 12 to capture four preseason honors in a career.
An AVCA All-American honorable mention selection last season, Carter led the Wildcats with 390 kills and 438 points. She ranked fifth in the Big 12 with 4.06 kills and 4.56 point per set.
Carter's 1,692.5 points rank fourth behind Wegner (2,161.0), Kaitlynn Pelger (1,879.0), Zschau (1,853.5) and Cady (1,804.0).
Oklahoma marked the first of three opponents that K-State will face in the span of six days. K-State begins the Big 12 season against Houston on Wednesday and then faces UCF on Friday. Both matches will be in Manhattan.
What does K-State mean to Carter?
"It means a lot," she replied. "To be here and to do everything that I've done and have experienced with all the emotions and just playing volleyball here means a lot."
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