K-State Volleyball Ready for Creighton Classic

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State continues its non-conference slate this weekend in Omaha, Neb., as the Wildcats face top 25 competition at the Creighton Classic at D.J. Sokol Arena.

The three-day event begins Thursday with a matchup against No. 20 USC (2-0) and host #11 Creighton (3-0) at 6 p.m. CT. K-State (1-2) will take on the Trojans Friday at 4 p.m., before facing the Bluejays Saturday at 2 p.m.

Both K-State matches can be seen on FloSports.com with announcers only provided for the match against Creighton. Friday's match is free admission while tickets for Saturday can be purchased through Creighton's ticket office.

Following the tournament in Omaha, the Cats will host the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Classic on September 12-15, where K-State will host Lipscomb and North Carolina.

MATCH #4
K-STATE (1-2, 0-0 BIG 12) vs. #20 USC (2-0, 0-0 BIG TEN)
Friday, September 6 // 4 PM CT // D.J. Sokol Arena
Watch: FloSports
Live Stats // Free Admission // USC Notes

MATCH #5
K-STATE (1-2, 0-0 BIG 12) at #11 CREIGHTON (3-0, 0-0 BIG EAST)
Saturday, September 7 // 2 PM CT // D.J. Sokol Arena
Watch: FloSports
Live Stats // Tickets // Creighton Notes

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State continues its non-conference slate this weekend in Omaha, Neb., as the Wildcats face top 25 competition at the Creighton Classic at D.J. Sokol Arena.
K-State (1-2) will take on two strong opponents during the tournament, as the Cats face the #20 USC Trojans and host #11 Creighton Bluejays.
The Cats are coming off a season opening weekend where they went 1-2 at the Stacey Clark Classic at Purdue.
The win over UMBC marked the 14^th sweep in the Mansfield era.
K-State big numbers in Indiana, that included 100 digs against UC Davis, a 33-dig performance from Larkin, double-doubles by Carter and Szulczewski, and an impressive .459 hitting percentage in the weekend finale.
Carter put together two 20-kill matches, bringing her career 20-kill match total to 19 – ranks fourth all-time.
Szulczewski picked up all-tournament honors in Indiana, as she led the Big 12 in total assists (130), while averaging 10.83 a set and pacing a 5-1 offense that hit .234.

SCOUTING #20 USC

USC, who enters its first season as a member of the Big Ten Conference in 2024, enters the tournament ranked No. 20 in the latest AVCA coaches' poll after starting the year 2-0.
The Trojans were picked to finish seventh in the league's preseason coaches' poll.
Brad Keller is in his fifth season at the helm of the volleyball program, guiding the Trojans to a 65-47 overall record with two appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
USC is hitting .281 at 14.9 kills a set, while the defense is averaging 16 digs per set along with 2.2 blocks.
Offensively, outside hitter Ally Batenhorst averages a team-high 4.36 kills a set at a .219 efficiency, followed by London Wijay with four kills per set.
Senior setter Mia Tuaniga, who was selected to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team, amassed 3,400 career assists last weekend.

INSIDE THE SERIES

USC holds a 2-0 edge in the all-time series since the first meeting on Dec. 8, 1977.
The Cats and Trojans last met on Dec. 3, 2004, with USC earning a three-set win in California.

SCOUTING #11 CREIGHTON

Creighton jumped one spot in the AVCA coaches poll following a 3-0 start to its 2024 campaign, after the Bluejays swept NC State, Missouri and Drake in the Bluejay Invitational.
The Bluejays are led by Kirsten Bernthal Booth, who is in her 22^nd season with the program, and has led Creighton to an overall 473-189 (.715) record with 10 straight Big East regular-season titles.
Setter Kendra Wait, the 2023 Big East Player of the Year, collected MVP tournament honors at the invitational. Wait is averaging 11.22 assists per set, and led the Bluejays offense to hit .323 last weekend.
Three players are averaging over three kills per set with Norah Sis (3.44), Ava Martin (3.00), and Elise Goetzinger (3.00).
Goetzinger and Kiara Reinhardt have combined for 23 blocks for a Bluejay squad that is out-blocking opponents 24-11.
Creighton returned four starters from last seasons quad that finished 29-5 and reached its 13^th NCAA Tournament in the last 14 years.
Creighton swept Minnesota to advance to its third NCAA Sweet 16. The Bluejays fell to No. 7 Louisville, snapping a 17-match winning streak.

INSIDE THE SERIES

K-State leads the all-time series, 8-2, including a 1-2 record at Creighton.
In the last meeting on Sept. 17, 2022, the Bluejays defeated the Cats in four sets at the Adidas Invitational II in Houston, Texas.
The Wildcats are 8-2 in the last 10 matches of the series, that includes a six-match win streak between 1994-2012.

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, 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 1,440 career kills and second in the rally-scoring era.

VS. RANKED OPPONENTS

K-State opened the 2024 campaign against then-No. 8 Purdue, falling in four sets.
The Cats are 5-6 against nationally ranked programs under head coach Jason Mansfield.
The Wildcats 2024 campaign features a challenging schedule that features seven nationally ranked opponents – Purdue, USC, Creighton, KU, Arizona State, BYU, and Baylor – with three opponents receiving votes.
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 6-21 against Top 25 teams, and is 50-228 all-time.

AROUND THE BIG 12

Six members of the Big 12 are off to an undefeated start, led by No. 23 Baylor and No. 13 KU at 4-0.
Four schools were ranked in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll following week one action – No. 13 KU, No. 14 BYU, No. 16 Arizona State, and No. 23 Baylor, while TCU and Houston are receiving votes.
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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