Wildcats Top Utah in Four Sets Wednesday

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – A double-double from Ava LeGrand and 23 kills by Shaylee Myers led K-State to a 3-1 victory over Utah Wednesday night at Huntsman Center, 25-16, 25-21, 24-26, 25-23.

With the win, K-State improved to 12-6 overall with a 5-5 mark in Big 12 play, as the Wildcats picked up their first victory over Utah.

LeGrand recorded her 10^th double-double of the season, as the senior setter dished out 48 assists to go along with 11 digs. A native of Papillion, Nebraska, LeGrand has registered a double-double in nine of the last 11 matches.

With her 23 kills, Myers becomes the eighth player in school history – and just the third in the rally-scoring era – to achieve eight or more 20-kill matches in a single season. The senior from Lincoln, Nebraska capped the night with 15 digs for her third double-double of the year.

Utah (10-10, 2-7 Big 12) had two players reach double-digit kills led by Kamryn Gibadlo with 17 and 15 from Emrie Moea'i. Gibadlo added 11 digs for the double-double, while setter Leah Wilton -LaBoy handed out 40 assists with 12 digs.

FROM THE CATS
Jason Mansfield, K-State Head Coach
Overall comments…
"Anytime you can get a win in this conference it's special, especially on the road. Really proud of how the girls responded after Aniya [Clinton] went down in the first set. Shaylee really stepped up offensively and I thought our team defense was exceptional tonight led by Symone [Sims]. Ava ran a really good offense tonight getting more people involved, we really were more balanced in lots of ways and that's big for us."

SET-BY-SET
Set 1 – K-State 25, Utah 16

K-State utilized a 6-0 scoring run to take a 9-2 lead in Set 1. Utah bridged the gap to four, 20-16, but was answered with five consecutive points to hand the Cats the set victory.
The Wildcats hit at an incredible .571 – the second-best mark in a set this season – in Set 1 with just 1 error and 13 kills. Myers produced a set-high six kills.

Set 2 – K-State 25, Utah 21

Utah used a 3-0 scoring run to make it 21-20, but the rally was short lived, as K-State rounded out a 4-1 closing run.
K-State put together 17 kills and hit at a .239 clip with six errors in Set 2, led by six kills from Myers.

Set 3 – Utah 26, K-State 24

Down 10-7, Utah scored three consecutive points to tie the score for the first time since Set 1 before grabbing its first lead of the set with back-to-back aces from Leah Wilton-LaBoy.
K-State leveled the score at 23-all, but the Utes held on with a pair of kills before a block by Emrie Moea'I and Neea-Maria Joki secured win.
In total, Set 3 featured 10 tie scores and 3 lead changes.

Set 4 – K-State 25, Utah 23

The Wildcats held off the Utes late 6-0 scoring run that brought the score within one, 24-23, as a kill from Jordyn Williams delivered the final blow to capture the win.
Kills were evenly matched between the two squads, with both collecting 14 kills, while Utah had nine errors against K-State's six.

INSIDE THE BOX

K-State defeated Utah 3-1 – 25-16, 25-21, 24-26, 25-23.
Seven different players recorded a kill for K-State, as the team produced a .275 hitting percentage (59 kills, 18 errors, 149 swings).
Myers led all players with a match-high 23 kills and had three service aces and three blocks for 28 total points. She recorded 15 digs for her third double-double of the season.
Reagan Fox and Lauren Schneider each added eight kills.
LeGrand recorded a double-double with 48 assists and 11 digs.
Sims registered a match-leading 23 digs to go along with seven assists.
Two Utes reached double-digit kills: Gibadlo (17) and Moea'I (15).
In total, the match featured 12 tie scores with just three lead changes.
Utah out-blocked K-State, 7.0-5.0, while the Wildcats had a 72-59 advantage in digs.

BEYOND THE BOX

Utah leads the all-time series 2-1, while K-State claimed the first match held in Salt Lake City.
K-State earned its first four-set victory of the season, moving to 6-4 in matches over three sets.
LeGrand recorded her 10^th double-double of the season
Myers became the eighth player in school history to record eight or more 20-kill matches in a single season.

UP NEXT
K-State rounds out their Utah trip on Friday night, as the Wildcats take No. 17 BYU (17-5, 5-5 Big 12) at Smith Fieldhouse. First serve is set for 7 p.m. CT in Provo.

Single-match tickets are available for all K-State home matches through the K-State Athletics ticket office at 1-800-221-CATS and www.kstatesports.com/tickets.

– k-statesports.com –

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Team Stats

Shaylee Myers

Jordyn Williams

Lauren Schneider

Reagan Fox

Players Mentioned

Reagan Fox

Ava LeGrand

Shaylee Myers

Lauren Schneider

Jordyn Williams

Players Mentioned

Reagan Fox

Ava LeGrand

Shaylee Myers

Lauren Schneider

Jordyn Williams

Kansas State University Athletics