K-State Downs No. 20 Colorado in Straight Sets

MANHATTAN, Kan. – In front of a sold-out crowd, Aniya Clinton knocked down 17 kills to power K-State to a straight-set victory over 20^th-ranked Colorado Saturday afternoon at Morgan Family Arena, 25-20, 26-24, 25-18.

K-State (14-7, 7-6 Big 12) rallied behind a .324 hitting percentage and 28 combined kills from Clinton and Shaylee Myers to capture the team's third upset over a Top 25 opponent this season, improving to 3-4 on the year.

The victory marked the fifth sweep over a ranked opponent under head coach Jason Mansfield, as the Wildcats improved to 9-17 overall in the Mansfield era.

In her first match back since October 29, Clinton turned in a dominant performance, as she paced both squads with 17 kills at an incredible .536 clip with just two errors. The native of Midland, Texas, registered her 700^th career kill with her first of the match in Set 1.

Myers recorded her 18^th consecutive match with double-digit kills, totaling 11 in the win. Reagan Fox added eight kills followed by Jordyn Williams with six, who also recorded a match-leading six blocks (1 solo, 5 assists).

Ava LeGrand handed out 39 assists to go along with nine digs and four blocks, while Symone Sims tallied a match-high 12 digs.

The Cats' defense held Colorado (20-5, 10-3 Big 12) to a .172 team efficiency behind nine blocks, handing the Buffs their first Big 12 loss to an unranked team. Ana Burilovic, the Big 12 Player of the Week, was the only player in the double figures for kills for CU (10).

FROM THE CATS
JASON MANSFIELD, K-STATE HEAD COACH
Overall Statement…
"We competed really well against, obviously, a really good team, but I feel like we can compete against anyone. When we get our players healthy, we're kind of cooking on all cylinders."

On Aniya Clinton's impact…
"It was great to have Aniya back. We're just a different team with her on the court and we just haven't played a lot of games with all of our starters."

On the Cats' defense…
"We just need to be great defensively against every team that we play and we have been. I think that's what we kind of hang our hat on, and we practice it throughout the week. Steve Astor, our associate head coach, does a phenomenal job of scouting the other team. The girls are prepared, but we have to play relentless defense. We have to scrap and keep the ball off the floor, and aggressive swings after we dig balls. Just a good defensive performance for us today."

SET-BY-SET
Set 1 – K-State 25, #20 Colorado 20

Tied 9-9, K-State scored three consecutive points with kills by Myers and Clinton and held on to lead by three at the media timeout, 15-12. The Buffs managed to claw within a two-point score, 22-20, but was immediately answered with back-to-back kills from Clinton and ace from LeGrand to deliver the final blow.
The Wildcats produced a .343 hitting percentage in Set 1 on 16 kills with four errors, that included a set-high seven from Clinton. CU hit .312 (13 kills, 3 errors, 32 attempts) led by four kills from Ana Burilovic and Cayla Payne.
K-State held a 4.0-0.0 lead in blocks, along with a 15-11 edge in dig production.

Set 2 – K-State 26, #20 Colorado 24

The Cats carded a 5-0 scoring run to take a 7-2 lead and force a timeout from the Buffs. Both squads went back-and-forth with neither taking a substantial lead, until the CU tallied four straight points to lead 20-18.
Behind kills from Williams and Clinton, the Wildcats locked the score at 23-all. Schmidt put down her third kill of the match before LeGrand's second ace secured the 2-0 lead.
Clinton led all players with seven kills in the set, followed by Fox, Myers and Schmidt each with three. As a team, K-State hit .297 (18 kills, 7 errors, 37 attempts) against CU's .185 (9 kills, 4 errors, 27 swings).

Set 3 – K-State 25, #20 Colorado 18

An overturned call awarded K-State a 10-5 advantage in the third set. CU rallied to cut the gap down to two, 18-16, but was met with a 6-1 closing run, that included five points from Williams (2 kills, 3 blocks).
K-State held Colorado to a match-low .029 hitting percentage, as the defense forced eight errors behind six blocks. Myers put down five of the team's 14 kills (.333).

INSIDE THE BOX

K-State swept past #20 Colorado Saturday afternoon – 25-20, 26-24, 25-18 – at Morgan Family Arena.
The Cats hit .324 (48 kills, 15 errors, 102 swings) compared to Colorado's .172 (31 kills, 15 errors, 93 attempts).
Two Wildcats tallied double-digit kills with Clinton leading all players with 17 and Myers adding 11.
LeGrand dished out 39 assists to go with nine digs and four blocks, along with a match-high two service aces.
Defensively, K-State out-blocked CU, 9.0-4.0, with six from Williams (1 solo, 5 assists) while Sims totaled 12 digs.
Burilovic recorded 10 kills for the Buffs and Sydney Jordan had nine.
In total, the match had 17 tied scores with six just six lead changes.

BEYOND THE BOX

CU leads the all-time series, 27-24, since its start in 1986.
The Wildcats are 13-12 against the Buffs in matches played in Manhattan.
Clinton captured her 700^th career kill in the opening set.
The Wildcats improve to 3-4 when playing vs. Top 25 teams this season and boast an overall mark of 9-17 in the Mansfield era.
K-State has recorded five sweeps over ranked opponents under Mansfield.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats play host at Morgan Family Arena to No. 23 Baylor on Wednesday, November 12, before the second edition of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown with No. 13 Kansas Saturday, November 15. Both matches can be seen on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

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 –

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.

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Team Stats

Aniya Clinton

Shaylee Myers

Reagan Fox

Jordyn Williams

Players Mentioned

Aniya Clinton

Reagan Fox

Ava LeGrand

Shaylee Myers

Symone Sims

Jordyn Williams

Players Mentioned

Aniya Clinton

Reagan Fox

Ava LeGrand

Shaylee Myers

Symone Sims

Jordyn Williams

Kansas State University Athletics