‘The Hard Work Has Paid Off’
Dec 03, 2025 | Volleyball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
One-hundred and nine days ago, Kansas State head coach Jason Mansfield and his senior players sat on swivel chairs in a news conference on the second level of the Morgan Family Arena, as the Wildcats prepared to embark upon the 2025 season. They discussed their central goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament. On Tuesday, Mansfield, senior setter Ava LeGrand and senior outside hitter Shaylee Myers returned to the exact same spot inside the arena where the story of the season began, and where they vocalized their main goal of reaching the postseason.
On Tuesday, the head coach and his star senior players wore smiles.
They're eager to write another chapter.
"I'm just so excited," Myers said. "The hard work has paid off."
For the first time since 2021, K-State earned an at-large bid to the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Sunday, as the committee announced the 64-team bracket during the NCAA Volleyball Selection Show on ESPN. Mansfield, his coaching staff, the support staff, and the players gathered at the Shamrock Zone, sat together, and as the selection show began, they waited for K-State to flash upon the bracket on the screen.
The Wildcats didn't have to wait long. They were the third team called.
They were officially in.
Their season goal realized, the Wildcats, 17-9 overall and 10-8 in the Big 12, who finished in a four-way tie for sixth in the Big 12 standings, will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, to face San Diego, 25-4 overall and 18-0 in the WCC, at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the NCAA Tournament opening round at John Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
"We're super excited for the week and grateful our names got called on Sunday," Mansfield said. "We started the preparation Monday, and we'll watch film, and practice today and Wednesday, and then be off to Lincoln. I'm really proud of what the team has accomplished this season and how consistent we've been. We've grown a lot and we're as healthy as we've been."
K-State was one of a nation-leading 10 Big 12 teams selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament. The Big 12 was the top RPI conference with nine teams — Arizona State (4), Kansas (15), BYU (17), TCU (20), Colorado (24), Iowa State (26), Baylor (28), K-State (34) and Utah (39) — in the Top 40 of RPI.
"The Big 12 tested us a lot," Mansfield said. "It felt like a NCAA Tournament match in every match that we played, and hopefully that helps us on Friday."
K-State tied the school record with five Top 25 victories in the regular season, keyed by a 3-2 win at No. 25 North Carolina on September 19, and that carried on with wins at No. 14 Kansas, No. 20 Colorado, No. 21 Baylor, and a 3-0 sweep of No. 21 Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, on Saturday.
The win at No. 21 Iowa State gave K-State its 17th victory, the most wins under Mansfield, and the most season wins by the Wildcats since 2016.
"We felt it pretty early in the spring that something special was happening," Mansfield said. "They built trust in themselves in the spring, and it carried into the summer and into fall camp. I believed that this team could be great pretty, pretty early, and well before the season started. I liked how we played together. When we beat North Carolina, that's the match where it gave everybody a lot of confidence that we could compete at a really high level against a good team.
"At that point, I knew special things could happen."
K-State suffered back-to-back losses just twice all season, which is admirable while battling nightly in the nation's top league. Although K-State suffered a 3-1 loss at No. 20 Baylor on October 15, a possible turning point arrived after a 3-1 loss at No. 11 TCU two nights later.
"Those were tough back-to-back matches on the road," Mansfield said. "We played so hard. We were right there. In the locker room after the TCU match, I was pretty passionate because I wanted them to win a match like that because they deserved it with how they were playing. We were right there against those teams. We had a lot of belief. Even in a loss, I felt if we stayed the course, we could do it.
"We did a great job of not looking too far ahead and talking about the NCAA Tournament but just staying present. After the TCU match, that's exactly what we did."
K-State went onto win five of its next six matches. The Wildcats found their groove. Then they finished out the regular season winning five of their last seven.
"I don't think there was a time when I didn't think we'd make the NCAA Tournament," LeGrand said. "I was pretty confident from the beginning. Everyone bought in, and I knew if we stayed healthy and committed it was always a possibility."
Myers tried to identify the exact time that she believed the Wildcats would make the NCAA Tournament. Finally, she said, "There wasn't a moment."
"Before the season, in the summer, we wrote things on the white board, and we stuck with it the whole year," Myers said. "That helped us so much. We were so dedicated that it should've happened, and it did."
And now K-State prepares to face San Diego and head coach Jennifer Petrie, who has led the Toreros to the NCAA Tournament 22 times with five Sweet 16s and an appearance in the 2022 Final Four. The Toreros have a built-in scout in assistant coach John Dunn, who joined San Diego in May 2024 after serving on Mansfield's staff at K-State from 2023-24.
"I've known the program for a long time and have followed it a lot closer because of John," Mansfield said. "They're a team that's won that conference a lot over the last 20 years. They're a really good offensive team. They have the WCC Player of the Year on the outside, the WCC Setter of the Year and WCC Libero of the Year. They have a lot of first-team players. They went 18-0 in conference and no matter what conference you're in, that's consistent. I've watched a lot of film on them the last couple days."
K-State players prepare for their big chance to put on a show — and hopefully begin a NCAA Tournament tradition of their own.
"This is a new experience for everybody on the team," LeGrand said. "As much as we are here for the younger girls, we're going through it together, and we hope that it's more of a together experience that becomes a tradition.
"We are a team and it's going to be a tradition from here on out."
If K-State gets past San Diego, No. 1 overall seed Nebraska will likely be waiting along with its 30-0 overall record. The Huskers play before crowds of 8,300 nightly and owns the longest sellout streak of any women's program in the nation, which began on September 25, 2001.
The trip to Lincoln will serve as a homecoming of sorts for three seniors as they play in the NCAA Tournament in their home state. Middle blocker Brenna Schmidt is from Eagle, LeGrand is from Papillion and Myers is from Lincoln and grew up 20 minutes from the Bob Devaney Center.
"I'm just so excited for us to go to Nebraska," LeGrand said. "We have three of us from Nebraska. I know how their fans are. It's such a great environment in Bob Devaney, and it'll be such an awesome experience and hopefully the start of what's a tradition for this program. What a better way to start that than in Lincoln."
Myers is anxious to revisit the volleyball arena where she participated in youth camps growing up — and she wants to bring her eager K-State teammates along with her to make some noise in the NCAA Tournament.
"Going to Lincoln, Nebraska, in general is fun," Myers said. "I live 20 minutes from Bob Devaney. That's going to be so exciting. A bunch of my hometown friends will be there in the crowd. We're going to convince them to wear purple. It'll be fun."
And perhaps a memorable chapter to a special story for the Wildcats in 2025.
One-hundred and nine days ago, Kansas State head coach Jason Mansfield and his senior players sat on swivel chairs in a news conference on the second level of the Morgan Family Arena, as the Wildcats prepared to embark upon the 2025 season. They discussed their central goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament. On Tuesday, Mansfield, senior setter Ava LeGrand and senior outside hitter Shaylee Myers returned to the exact same spot inside the arena where the story of the season began, and where they vocalized their main goal of reaching the postseason.
On Tuesday, the head coach and his star senior players wore smiles.
They're eager to write another chapter.
"I'm just so excited," Myers said. "The hard work has paid off."
For the first time since 2021, K-State earned an at-large bid to the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Sunday, as the committee announced the 64-team bracket during the NCAA Volleyball Selection Show on ESPN. Mansfield, his coaching staff, the support staff, and the players gathered at the Shamrock Zone, sat together, and as the selection show began, they waited for K-State to flash upon the bracket on the screen.
The Wildcats didn't have to wait long. They were the third team called.
They were officially in.
Their season goal realized, the Wildcats, 17-9 overall and 10-8 in the Big 12, who finished in a four-way tie for sixth in the Big 12 standings, will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, to face San Diego, 25-4 overall and 18-0 in the WCC, at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the NCAA Tournament opening round at John Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
"We're super excited for the week and grateful our names got called on Sunday," Mansfield said. "We started the preparation Monday, and we'll watch film, and practice today and Wednesday, and then be off to Lincoln. I'm really proud of what the team has accomplished this season and how consistent we've been. We've grown a lot and we're as healthy as we've been."
K-State was one of a nation-leading 10 Big 12 teams selected to compete in the NCAA Tournament. The Big 12 was the top RPI conference with nine teams — Arizona State (4), Kansas (15), BYU (17), TCU (20), Colorado (24), Iowa State (26), Baylor (28), K-State (34) and Utah (39) — in the Top 40 of RPI.
"The Big 12 tested us a lot," Mansfield said. "It felt like a NCAA Tournament match in every match that we played, and hopefully that helps us on Friday."
K-State tied the school record with five Top 25 victories in the regular season, keyed by a 3-2 win at No. 25 North Carolina on September 19, and that carried on with wins at No. 14 Kansas, No. 20 Colorado, No. 21 Baylor, and a 3-0 sweep of No. 21 Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, on Saturday.
The win at No. 21 Iowa State gave K-State its 17th victory, the most wins under Mansfield, and the most season wins by the Wildcats since 2016.
"We felt it pretty early in the spring that something special was happening," Mansfield said. "They built trust in themselves in the spring, and it carried into the summer and into fall camp. I believed that this team could be great pretty, pretty early, and well before the season started. I liked how we played together. When we beat North Carolina, that's the match where it gave everybody a lot of confidence that we could compete at a really high level against a good team.
"At that point, I knew special things could happen."
K-State suffered back-to-back losses just twice all season, which is admirable while battling nightly in the nation's top league. Although K-State suffered a 3-1 loss at No. 20 Baylor on October 15, a possible turning point arrived after a 3-1 loss at No. 11 TCU two nights later.
"Those were tough back-to-back matches on the road," Mansfield said. "We played so hard. We were right there. In the locker room after the TCU match, I was pretty passionate because I wanted them to win a match like that because they deserved it with how they were playing. We were right there against those teams. We had a lot of belief. Even in a loss, I felt if we stayed the course, we could do it.
"We did a great job of not looking too far ahead and talking about the NCAA Tournament but just staying present. After the TCU match, that's exactly what we did."
K-State went onto win five of its next six matches. The Wildcats found their groove. Then they finished out the regular season winning five of their last seven.
"I don't think there was a time when I didn't think we'd make the NCAA Tournament," LeGrand said. "I was pretty confident from the beginning. Everyone bought in, and I knew if we stayed healthy and committed it was always a possibility."
Myers tried to identify the exact time that she believed the Wildcats would make the NCAA Tournament. Finally, she said, "There wasn't a moment."
"Before the season, in the summer, we wrote things on the white board, and we stuck with it the whole year," Myers said. "That helped us so much. We were so dedicated that it should've happened, and it did."
And now K-State prepares to face San Diego and head coach Jennifer Petrie, who has led the Toreros to the NCAA Tournament 22 times with five Sweet 16s and an appearance in the 2022 Final Four. The Toreros have a built-in scout in assistant coach John Dunn, who joined San Diego in May 2024 after serving on Mansfield's staff at K-State from 2023-24.
"I've known the program for a long time and have followed it a lot closer because of John," Mansfield said. "They're a team that's won that conference a lot over the last 20 years. They're a really good offensive team. They have the WCC Player of the Year on the outside, the WCC Setter of the Year and WCC Libero of the Year. They have a lot of first-team players. They went 18-0 in conference and no matter what conference you're in, that's consistent. I've watched a lot of film on them the last couple days."
K-State players prepare for their big chance to put on a show — and hopefully begin a NCAA Tournament tradition of their own.
"This is a new experience for everybody on the team," LeGrand said. "As much as we are here for the younger girls, we're going through it together, and we hope that it's more of a together experience that becomes a tradition.
"We are a team and it's going to be a tradition from here on out."
If K-State gets past San Diego, No. 1 overall seed Nebraska will likely be waiting along with its 30-0 overall record. The Huskers play before crowds of 8,300 nightly and owns the longest sellout streak of any women's program in the nation, which began on September 25, 2001.
The trip to Lincoln will serve as a homecoming of sorts for three seniors as they play in the NCAA Tournament in their home state. Middle blocker Brenna Schmidt is from Eagle, LeGrand is from Papillion and Myers is from Lincoln and grew up 20 minutes from the Bob Devaney Center.
"I'm just so excited for us to go to Nebraska," LeGrand said. "We have three of us from Nebraska. I know how their fans are. It's such a great environment in Bob Devaney, and it'll be such an awesome experience and hopefully the start of what's a tradition for this program. What a better way to start that than in Lincoln."
Myers is anxious to revisit the volleyball arena where she participated in youth camps growing up — and she wants to bring her eager K-State teammates along with her to make some noise in the NCAA Tournament.
"Going to Lincoln, Nebraska, in general is fun," Myers said. "I live 20 minutes from Bob Devaney. That's going to be so exciting. A bunch of my hometown friends will be there in the crowd. We're going to convince them to wear purple. It'll be fun."
And perhaps a memorable chapter to a special story for the Wildcats in 2025.
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