Cats Handed First Home Loss of the Season Friday

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State's Aniya Clinton and Ava LeGrand registered double-doubles in the Wildcats four-set loss against Arizona Friday night at Morgan Family Arena, 19-25, 25-19, 14-25, 25-27.

Arizona (7-4, 1-0 Big 12) held a 9.0-8.0 edge in block production and limited K-State (7-2, 0-1 Big 12) to a team .194 hitting percentage, handing the Wildcats their first home loss of the season and end their four-match losing streak.

FROM THE CATS
JASON MANSFIELD, K-STATE HEAD COACH
Overall comments…
"Congrats to Arizona, they came to play tonight and were good both offensively and defensively. [Jordan] Wilson is a special attacker, and we didn't slow her down enough, but [Ana] Heath was the difference in the match for them. We are still searching for a more balanced offense, Shaylee [Myers] and Aniya [Clinton] taking 97 swings for us is too much. We have to find ways to set and connect with other attackers, and it starts with our passers who battled tonight and got better as the match went on. The Big 12 is tough this year and every night is going to be a battle. We need to learn from this match and move on and be ready to compete on Sunday vs. ASU."

SET-BY-SET
Set 1 – Arizona 25, K-State 19

After three tie scores and three lead changes, Arizona utilized an early 3-0 scoring run to take
K-State suffered its first set loss at home this season, snapping a 12-set winning streak.
Arizona led at the net with four blocks to hold K-State to a .233) hitting percentage (13 kills, 6 errors.
Clinton led all players in the set, totaling seven kills on 11 swings and three errors for a .364 hitting efficiency, while Arizona's Jordan Wilson tallied six kills.

Set 2 – K-State 25, Arizona 19

K-State immediately responded in Set 2, scoring six consecutive points to start off the set, led by a block assist from LeGrand and Williams.
Arizona closed the gap to two, 15-13, with back-to-back kills by Sydnie Vanek, but was answered with a 6-0 scoring run and led to a Set 2 victory.
The Cats produced a 5.0-1.0 advantage in block production to limit Arizona to a -.024 hitting percentage with four players registering multiple blocks.

Set 3 – Arizona 25, K-State 14

K-State managed to trim the gap to three with Myers 10^th kill of the match but was answered with a 7-2 scoring run to put the set away.
Arizona hit .355 (13 kills, 2 errors) in the set, led by five kills from Wilson and Ana Heath, while the defense held K-State to a team .053 efficiency behind four blocks.

Set 4 – Arizona 27, K-State 25

K-State rallied and overcame a six-point deficit to close the gap to one, 22-21, forcing a timeout from Arizona.
Down 25-24, Arizona fought off set-point and gained the lead with back-to-back kills from Wilson before a service ace secured the win.

INSIDE THE BOX

Arizona won in four sets – 25-19, 19-25, 25-14, 27-25.
Arizona had two players reach double-digit kills: Wilson (21), Heath (11).
UA forced 22 attack errors and out-blocked K-State, 9.0-8.0, led by five from Adrianna Bridges, while Cadence Lundgren led K-State with four.
Clinton produced a team-high 18 kills while Myers was next with 16 kills. The dup combined for 97 swings.
LeGrand dished out a match-high 41 assists, as the team hit .194 (49 kills, 139 attempts).
Sims led all players with 21 digs while LeGrand added 18.
Two Wildcats had double-doubles: Clinton (18 kills, 10 digs) and Szulczewski (41 assists, 18 digs).
In total, there were just nine tie scores and seven lead changes.
Both teams combined for 22 service errors.

BEYOND THE BOX

Arizona leads the all-time series, 4-2, while Friday's match marks the first meeting between the two squads in Manhattan.
K-State's Set 1 loss snapped a 12-set winning streak at home, while the team suffered its first home loss of the season.
LeGrand registered her sixth-career double-double, and third of the season.
K-State dropped its sixth consecutive Big 12 opener.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats return to Morgan Family Arena on Sunday at 2 p.m. to face eighth-ranked Arizona State (10-2, 1-0 Big 12), who is coming off a 3-2 win over No. 18 Kansas. The Sun Devils topped K-State 3-1 last season, evening the all-time series at 1-1, while Sunday marks the first meeting between the two squads in Manhattan.

– k-statesports.com –

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Team Stats

Aniya Clinton

Shaylee Myers

Jordyn Williams

Reagan Fox

Players Mentioned

Aniya Clinton

Ava LeGrand

Cadence Lundgren

Players Mentioned

Aniya Clinton

Ava LeGrand

Cadence Lundgren

Kansas State University Athletics