Strong Veteran Leadership

By: D. Scott Fritchen

They sat together in a row at the Kansas State volleyball media day event, five senior leaders speaking about their hopes and dreams inside the Morgan Family Arena, which is certain to bustle with excitement when the Wildcats open their regular season next Friday against UMBC in the K-State Invitational.

Seniors Ava LeGrand, Jordyn Williams, Brenna Schmidt, Shaylee Myers and Aniya Clinton have been pondering this final season, this final chance to represent the purple and white, and they have individual goals, and they have team goals, and it all boils down to one thing.

"Being with this strong group of seniors, I'm really excited to finish strong," senior setter Ava LeGrand said.

K-State fell short of its team goals a year ago, finishing 10-17 overall and 8-10 in the Big 12 Conference during the second season under head coach Jason Mansfield. It represented the program's first losing record in five seasons.

So, the seniors got together. They trained during the offseason. They worked individually on their craft. When the six-member freshman class arrived, they indoctrinated them into the K-State culture and introduced them to the hard work necessary to survive the grueling Big 12 season.

"All of us started this back when we came here," Clinton said. "We're ready to put a bow on it and make it what we know it can be."

Clinton, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter and opposite, was selected to the 2025 Preseason All-Big 12 Team. In 2023, she was named to the All-Big 12 Rookie Team. A native of Midland, Texas, Clinton has 448 kills, a .204 hitting percentage and 87 total blocks.

"It's not just working super hard in the spring but working out in the summer and training as much as I could to put my body in the best shape," Clinton said. "I've mentally prepared myself for this season. I want to give it my all for my last year."

The leadership of Clinton and her teammates looks to pay dividends. They'll face their first competition in the Purple & White intrasquad scrimmage on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at Morgan Family Arena. Then the Wildcats visit Oklahoma for an exhibition match on Saturday. Then comes the season opener against UMBC next Friday and a date against Delaware to close out the annual K-State Invitational.

"These five athletes up here worked really hard for the last couple years but specifically starting in January," Mansfield said. "Fall camp has been the best and the most organized in my 25 years of coaching. Just a lot of really good intention every day. It starts with good leadership. The five seniors up here have led the way for the last week and a half.

"We're excited to get started. It's going to be an exciting week starting off at home on Wednesday and then going to Norman on Saturday. We're very hopeful for the season and really excited to get started."

K-State was picked eighth in the Big 12 volleyball preseason poll, but showed progress in the spring volleyball session, beating Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas.

There's optimism in the K-State camp, as every eligible player is returning from a year ago — nobody transferred to another school — and that the incoming freshman class is eager and talented.

While K-State returns eight letterwinners from last year's squad, the Wildcats added six to the 2025 roster with incoming freshmen Alex Klukvin (Olathe, Kansas), Lauren Latham (Hot Springs, Arkansas), Candence Lundgren (Bozeman, Montana), Sydney McDermott (Pickering, Ontario), Caleigh Ponn (Roanoke, Virginia), and Avery Stones (Queen Creek, Arizona).

Mansfield, who led K-State to a school record-setting five top 25 wins in 2023 and saw his team finish excruciatingly short of a NCAA Tournament berth that same year, made changes to his staff after last season. He added Kelly O'Connor as assistant coach and Andrew Mabry as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

Mansfield and his new staff have been impressed during practice, which got underway on August 8.

"We want to play fast offensively," Mansfield said. "We're setting it faster. We have great attackers in all spots. We're looking to set anyone at any given time. Those are the best offenses. It's very unpredictable who's going to get set. You have to control the ball first in order to do that and have the setter who can set every set, and we have that. We want to play fast and be balanced offensively and very hard to predict any given point."

In the spring, Mansfield was impressed with LeGrand's sets while Clinton and Myers were dynamic on the outside. Symone Sims took her game to another level as an elite defender along with serve/receive and system setting. Mansfield compared Schmidt and Williams to offensive linemen in that they do a lot of things nobody sees but they jump really quick and close the block.

Other lesser-known players have stepped up as well. Regan Fox could key the right side after redshirting two years ago and playing limited action last season. Emerson Van Lannen redshirted last year and is stepping into more of a role as a setter and defender. Lauren Schneider is a dynamic, smaller attacker.

"It starts with our first contact," Mansfield said. "Our ball control, whether it's passing or defending, or serving as well. We've improved a lot this spring. You can tell a lot of players worked on it over the summer. Our ball control is drastically improved both passing and defending, and our setters – starting with Ava – are really locating well. Those two things give you a shot to win. When you're athletic, which we are in attacking positions, it gives us the best chance to score. The ball control side has been the most pleasant surprise."

As for what Mansfield wants to see from his team?

"Just a lot of carryover from what we've seen every day in practice," he said. "It's been really impressive how hard they've gone and how much they've competed and how the communication has gone up. They've learned to play together. I expect Wednesday to see really good volleyball and people being themselves. Then we go on the road, different environment, different team, different style. We just want to make sure we're taking care of the ball on our side of the net and doing the system stuff we want to do offensively and defensively."

The Wildcats' schedule includes 10 matches against eight teams that went to the NCAA Tournament and features five teams that finished in the 2024 AVCA Top 25 Poll — Kansas, Arizona State, Baylor, Utah and TCU.

For now, the focus remains on getting better. And it starts with the seniors who love the K-State program and sought to help change fate following last season. For that, Mansfield is grateful.

"It starts with K-State being a special place and Manhattan being a special place as well," Mansfield said. "The players who have come back and who have been here their whole career, they really enjoy being around each other and they feel how special Manhattan and K-State is. The arena is a special place.

"They're excited to continue those memories we've had so far."

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Aniya Clinton

Alex Klukvin

Lauren Latham

Ava LeGrand

Sydney McDermott

Shaylee Myers

Caleigh Ponn

Brenna Schmidt

Lauren Schneider

Symone Sims

Avery Stones

Emerson Van Lannen

Jordyn Williams

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