K-State Tops San Diego, Advances to the Second Round

LINCOLN, Neb. – Shaylee Myers' 26 kills and double-doubles from Aniya Clinton and Ava LeGrand fueled K-State to overcome a 2-1 deficit and defeat San Diego in five sets Friday night, advancing to the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats topped the Toreros 21-25, 25-17, 26-28, 25-22, 15-12 at Bob Devaney Sports Center.

In its first postseason appearance since 2021, K-State (18-9, 10-8 Big 12) secured its first tournament victory since 2016. The win also marked the Wildcats' first 18-plus-win season since 2016.

Attack errors proved to be the difference maker, as the Wildcats defense forced 30 attack errors behind a season-best 13.0 blocks, led by seven from senior middle blocker Jordyn Williams. The victory handed San Diego its first loss since September 20, snapping an 18-match winning streak.

As a team, the Wildcats produced a .276 hitting percentage with 61 kills on 152 swings and 19 errors.

LeGrand, a native of Papillion, Nebraska, ended the night with 49 assists and 14 digs for her sixth consecutive double-double. Now with 17 on the year, she becomes just the ninth player in school history to reach the mark and first since 2016. She also notched her first career 1,000-assist season, reaching the milestone with her fifth assist of the match, and added a career-high six blocks.

Myers' 26 kills set a rally-scoring era record for single-season 20-kill matches, earning her 12^th of the year. She also became the 20^th player in school history to eclipse 1,000 career kills, hitting the milestone with her third kill of the match.

Clinton picked up her ninth double-double of the year with 19 kills and 13 digs, while Symone Sims registered a team-high 17 digs and Brenna Schmidt added five blocks.

San Diego (25-5, 18-0 WCC), the No. 8 seed in the quadrant, was led Nemo Beach with 22 kills. The West Coast Conference Player of the Year added 12 digs for a double-double and delivered a match-high three service aces. Isabel Clark contributed 20 kills, while the WCC Libero of the Year Olivia Bennett led all players with 25 digs.

FROM THE CATS
JASON MANSFIELD, K-STATE HEAD COACH
Overall Statement…
"I just want to congratulate San Diego on a great season. They went 18-0 in their conference season, so we knew they were going to be a really tough team offensively, and they were. I'm really proud of our team and how we battled, especially after that first set. I think our offense really got going in the first set and we finally slowed them down. We've played a lot of five-set matches this season, so we were pretty confident as a group heading into that fifth set it showed with our start in the fifth set."

On the team pushing through to five sets…
"There's been times this year we've struggled to sideout. We've been in that situation before where we've been up and the other team has come back, but I think it says a lot about their composure. We've got a veteran group up there with a bunch of juniors and seniors that have played together for a while. I think that their poise at the end there in making a couple plays to win the match was pretty special."

On playing in Lincoln and in the NCAA Tournament…
"We try really hard to make everything the same with how we practice and how we prepare, but there's no preparing for how you're going to feel in your first NCAA match of your career. I think there were some nerves, and we weren't quite ourselves, but proud of how we bounced back and played like we wanted to play. We were flying around and playing with passion, and I think that says a lot about their resilience."

SET-BY-SET
Set 1 – (8) San Diego 25, K-State 21

USD utilized a 9-3 scoring run to jump out to a 12-8 lead – the first substantial lead of the set – forcing a K-State timeout.
Down 14-10, a service error and block by LeGrand and Williams shifted momentum to the Wildcats.
Schmidt put down her first kill of the match followed by a solo block to level the score at 16-all.
USD scored four unanswered points to stretch their lead back out to four until a kill from Reagan Fox snapped the run and kicked off a 3-1 scoring run, bringing the score within two, 22-20.
USD hit at a .250 clip (15 kills, 7 errors, 32 swings) in the opening frame, led by four kills from Clark and Beach. The Toreros committed four service errors in the first set

Set 2 – K-State 25, (8) San Diego 17

The Wildcats trailed 8-5 and clawed their way to take their first signifcant lead with the help of an 8-2 scoring run.
A block by Williams and Fox handed the Wildcats an 18-13 lead.
Backed by three kills from Clinton and a service ace by LeGrand, K-State put the set away, 25-17 to jump back into the match.
Clinton knocked down six kills in Set 2 followed by five from Myers.
As a team, K-State produced a match-best .542 hitting percentage with 14 kills on 34 attempts and just one error.
Myers and Clinton each reached double-digit kills in Set 2.

Set 3 – (8) San Diego 25, K-State 21

Tied 10-10, the Wildcats produced a three-point spurt to take a 15-12 lead behind a 5-2 scoring run.
USD managed to overcome the deficit and take back the lead, highlighted by four kills from Beach.
A crucial call was overturned that awarded the Wildcats, making it a 24-22 score.
K-State fended off set-point by the second consecutive kill from Clinton before an attack error tied the set at 24-24.
Both squads exchanged blows, as USD fended off set-point twice before closing the set with three consecutive points with straight kills from Beach and Clark.
Myers knocked down eight kills in Set 2, hitting at a .533 clip with no errors.

Set 4 – K-State 25, (8) San Diego 22

USD scored six unanswered points before Clinton's 15^th kill of the match snapped the run.
Myers turned in a pair of kills to bridge the gap to one, 11-10, until a block by Schmidt and Clinton tied the score at 15.
Tied 18-18, the Wildcats put together a 5-0 scoring run, highlighted by kills from Myers and Fox.
San Diego came out with a 4-0 run before Myers delivered her 22^nd kill to take set-point, leading the deciding final set.
K-State hit .262 in Set 4 with 16 kills on 42 swings with five errors, led by seven kills from Myers.

Set 5 – K-State 15, (8) San Diego 12

A service ace from Sims and kills by Myers sparked an 8-2 lead, that was led off with 5-0 scoring run.
The Toreros clawed back into the set with a 6-1 scoring run to make it a one-point set, before tying the score 10-10.
K-State took the lead back before Myers delivered the final blow with back-to-back kills to secure the win.
The Wildcats tallied four service aces in Set 5, led by two from freshman Caleigh Ponn.

INSIDE THE BOX

K-State came back to defeat San Diego in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in five sets – 21-25, 25-17, 26-28, 25-22, 15-12.
The Cats hit .276 (61 kills, 19 errors, 152 swings) with two players reaching double digit kills led by Myers with 26 and Clinton adding 19.
USD produced a .276 team efficiency behind 67 kills on 168 attempts and 30 errors.
The Cats defense out-blocked USD, 13.0-10.0, while the Toreros held a 65-61 edge in total digs.
LeGrand handed out 49 assists with 14 digs for her 17^th double-double of the season while Clinton added 13 for her ninth.
Sims led the defense with 17 digs – her 19^th match in double figures.
Williams recorded a match-high seven blocks, leading K-State to match its season-high mark (13.0). LeGrand totaled six blocks followed by five blocks from LeGrand (1 solo, 5 assists).
USD had two players eclipse the 20-kill mark – Beach (22), Clark (20).
Olivia Bennett had a match-high 25 digs while Beach added 12 digs to record the lone double-double for the Toreros.
K-State led in service aces (6-4) with two from Caleigh Ponn and LeGrand.
Staters: Reagan Fox, Aniya Clinton, Symone Sims, Ava LeGrand, Shaylee Myers, Brenna Schmidt and Jordyn Williams.
The two teams combined for 25 service errors, that included seven in Set 1 and 2.
In total, the match had 34 tied scores and 13 lead changes.

BEYOND THE BOX

In its history, K-State has made the NCAA Tournament 19 times, advancing to the Regional Semifinal three times (2000, 2003, 2011).
K-State is 16-18 overall in the tournament, that includes a 13-6 record in the opening round while the Cats are 3-9 in the second round.
The Wildcats advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016, making the program's 12^th overall appearance in the round.
The 2025 postseason run marks K-State's sixth time being sent to Lincoln for the first-round in school history (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2025).
LeGrand recorded her 17^th double-double of the year, becoming the ninth player in program history to register the mark in a single-season.
Myers achieved her 12^th match of the season with 20-plus kills. She becomes just the second player in school history to register the 20-kill mark in 12 or more matches – first in the rally-scoring era.
The win marked the first 18-plus-win season since 2016, where K-State went 21-10.
Friday's contest marked just the fourth five-set postseason match in the program's history and third in the first round.
San Diego leads the all-tie series 2-1, with all three matches set in at neutral sites.
The two squads first met during the 1997 NCAA Tournament in Los Angeles, California.
In 2025, K-State is 6-2 in five-set matches.

AROUND THE TOURNAMENT

The Big 12 had 10 programs in the 2025 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship, which is the most of any conference and the most in Big 12 history, surpassing the previous high of eight in 2001.
Arizona State and Kansas have each advanced to the Reginal Semifinal round (Sweet 16).
Of the league's 10 selections, eight advanced to the second round.
There have been eight five-set matches in the opening round thus far of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

UP NEXT
Nebraska (31-0, 20-0 Big Ten), the No. 1 overall national seed, swept Long Island (15-18, 10-4 NEC) – 25-11, 25-15, 25-17 – to advance to Saturday's second round at 7 p.m. The second round match will be streamed on ESPN+.

Saturday's match will mark the third contest between the Wildcats and Cornhuskers in the postseason, each boasting a win. In their last postseason meeting on December 2, 2011, K-State pulled off a historic five-set upset over then-No. 3 Nebraska, defeating the Huskers 25-22, 22-25, 31-29, 22-25, 15-11 to advance to the program's third Regional Semifinal (Sweet 16).

– 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.

Next Event

Team Stats

Shaylee Myers

Aniya Clinton

Reagan Fox

Ava LeGrand

Players Mentioned

Aniya Clinton

Reagan Fox

Ava LeGrand

Shaylee Myers

Caleigh Ponn

Brenna Schmidt

Symone Sims

Jordyn Williams

Players Mentioned

Aniya Clinton

Reagan Fox

Ava LeGrand

Shaylee Myers

Caleigh Ponn

Brenna Schmidt

Symone Sims

Jordyn Williams

Kansas State University Athletics