No. 23 Buffs Hold Off Wildcats in Five-Set Thriller

Sunday, October 11

Boulder, Colo.

2 p.m.

Kansas State University

9-5,1-5Big 12

Colorado

12-4,3-3Big 12

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Kansas St.	25	28	22	22	10	2
Colorado	21	26	25	25	15	3

Box Score (PDF)

Oct 11, 2026 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

BOULDER, Colo. – After jumping out to a 2-0 lead, K-State was unable to close out the match Sunday afternoon, falling to No. 23 Colorado in five sets, 25-21, 28-26, 22-25, 22-25, 10-15, at the CU Events Center.

In the five-set thriller, the nationally-ranked Buffs (12-4, 3-3 Big 12) came out on top in kills (61), hitting percentage (.273), blocks (14.0), and service aces (8). Three players reached the 10-kill mark for CU led by Ana Burilovic, a Preseason All-Big 12 pick, with a match-high 25 kills. Cayla Payne added 10, and Ines Losada had 11 to go with a match-leading five service aces.

K-State (9-5, 1-5 Big 12) hit at a .214 clip with 60 kills – the second-highest total of the season – with freshman Addison Massey leading the way with 25. The freshman from Las Cruces, N.M., surpassed her previous career mark and became the 22^nd player in school history to reach the feat. She has recorded 10 or more kills in all but one match this season, including each of the last 10 matches.

Skylar Brady produced 14 kills and led the Wildcats defensively with a career-high 12 digs for her first collegiate double-double, along with a career-high three service aces. Cadence Lundgren added eight kills and four blocks, while Ellah Derrer led at the net with seven blocks. Fuka Sekita followed Brady with 11 digs.

FROM THE CATS
JASON MANSFIELD, K-STATE HEAD COACH
Overall statement…
"Congrats to Colorado. They're a well-coached, veteran team, and I thought they played really good volleyball after the first set. I'm really proud of how we came ready to play today. We've had a rough stretch, but I loved how connected the girls were early in the match, and I thought that showed in the way we competed. Winning the first two sets on the road against a team as talented as Colorado is a big step in the direction we want to go.

Addison [Massey] and Skylar [Brady] really stepped up for us offensively and defensively. Combining for 39 kills against that team is incredible. I thought Emerson [Van Lannen] and Camdyn [Stucky] set a really good offense for us today, getting more attackers involved. We knew from watching film that their offense would be tough to slow down, and I thought we did a great job limiting most of their attackers. Ana Burilovic is a special player, though, and she really carried them in the second half of the match.

I told the team after our last match that I believe we're close to playing better volleyball and ultimately winning matches. It starts with playing good enough volleyball to win sets, and we did that today. That's a big step forward, and I'm proud of how we competed together."

SET-BY-SET
Set 1 – K-State 25, #23 Colorado 21

Down 6-4, the Wildcats rallied behind a kill from Cadence Lundgren and opened a 6-1 scoring run, highlighted by back-to-back kills from Reagan Fox.
Lundgren converted her second kill of the match to hand K-State a two-point lead at the media timeout.
K-State stretched its lead to 22-18 before the Buffs scored three straight points to force a Wildcat timeout.
The Wildcats immediately answered as Massey connected on a pair of passes from Van Lannen before a service error handed K-State the set win, snapping a seven-set losing streak.
Massey led all players with six kills in the set on 13 swings with two errors for a .308 hitting percentage, as the Wildcats out-hit the Buffs, .370-.115.
K-State put down 15 kills on 27 swings, while the defense held a 3-0 advantage in team blocks and led 10-5 in digs.

Set 2 – K-State 28, #23 Colorado 26

A kill from Skylar Brady pulled the Wildcats within one, but Colorado answered with a 5-1 scoring run to push the Buffs ahead, 13-8.
The Wildcats trimmed the deficit to one before tying the set, 19-19, with a solo block and kill by Lundgren.
After back-and-forth action, K-State defended set-point twice behind a double block by Brady and Ellah Derrer and kill from Massey.
Tied 26-26, Massey's 13^th kill and an attack error gave the Cats to a 2-0 match lead.
K-State hit .385 (15 kills, 5 errors, 26 attempts) in Set 2, led by eight kills from Massey.

Set 3 – #23 Colorado 25, K-State 22

Following a challenge by K-State, a call was reversed in favor of the Wildcats that kept the score within two, 10-8.
The Wildcats erased a three-point deficit with a 4-0 scoring run that included a pair of kills by Sydney Maue to take a 13-12 lead over the Buffs.
CU immediately answered and scored four straight points following a timeout, highlighted by three kills from Payne.
The Buffs broke away from an 18-18 tie and put together a 7-4 closing run to avoid a sweep.

Set 4 – #23 Colorado 25, K-State 22

The Wildcats jumped out of the gate with a five-point lead, scoring six of the first seven points of the set. The run included back-to-back solo blocks from Derrer and Brady's third ace.
CU knotted the score 9-9 with the help of three service aces, including consecutive aces by Avery Bolles, before taking the lead with a 5-1 run.
The Buffs held a one-point advantage before they rattled off four straight points to extend their lead to 20-15.
Two kills by Massey and service ace from Chandler Carter pulled K-State within two, 23-21, but CU fended off the rally and forced the match to Set 5.

Set 5 – #23 Colorado 15, K-State 10

A double block from Derrer and Reagan Fox opened the fifth set before Brady and Massey each registered a kill to open with a 3-1 lead.
The Buffs clawed their way to take a 7-5 edge, forcing a timeout from K-State.
Brady put down her 14^th kill to bridge the gap to one, 9-8, until CU scored six of the final eight points to complete the reverse sweep and avoid the upset.
CU recorded five blocks in the final set with nine digs to limit K-State to a .080 hitting percentage.

INSIDE THE BOX

CU defeated the Wildcats in five sets – 21-25, 26-28, 25-22, 25-22, 15-10.
CU held a 61-60 edge in total kills and hit at a .273 clip with 23 errors on 139 attempts, while K-State hit .241 with 26 errors on 141 swings.
The Buffs out-blocked the Cats, 14-10, led by nine from Payne, while K-State's Derrer had a team-leading seven.
Massey and CU's Ana Burilovic put down a match-high 25 kills on 57 swings apiece.
Brady added 14 kills and hit at a .407 clip with three service aces and a team-best 12 digs for her first career double-double.
Fuka Sekita finished with 11 digs.
Van Lannen dished out 30 assists followed by Camdyn Stucky with 17.
CU's Ines Losada recorded a match-high five service aces and added 11 kills, while Payne was the third Buff with double-digit kills at 10.
Libero Tinons Munar Galmes led all players with 17 digs.
Both squads combined for 34 service errors, with each recording 17.

TEAM NOTES

Colorado leads the all-time series 28-24, including a 16-10 record in matches played in Boulder. The Wildcats last defeated the Buffs on the road on October 21, 2009.
Under Mansfield, K-State is 1-2 against the Buffs.
Sunday's contest marked K-State's fourth match against a Top 50 opponent and third against a Quad-2 opponent.
K-State's Set 1 victory snapped a seven-set losing streak, marking the Wildcats' first set win since October 1 vs. No.18 BYU.
Sunday marked the first time since the Big 12 opener at UCF (Sept. 24) K-State won back-to-back sets, while the Cats recorded their first Set 2 win since a four-set win over No. 20 Creighton on September 18.
The Wildcats last suffered a reverse sweep defeat on Oct. 19, 2023, at Oklahoma.

PLAYER NOTES

Massey achieved her fourth 20-kill match of the season and surpassed her previous career-mark of 23 (Oct. 1 vs. #18 BYU). She has reached double figures in kills in all but one match of her college career, reaching the mark in all of the last 10 matches.
Massey became the 22^nd player in K-State history to record a 25-kill match, while the performance is the 77^th time a player has achieved the mark.
Brady became the fifth player this season to record three or more service aces in a single match, while also recording her fifth match with double-digit kills. She also became the fifth Wildcat to register a double-double this season.
Over the last six matches, Derrer has registered five or more blocks in three of those.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will return to Morgan Family Arena for the first round of the 2026 Dillons Sunflower Showdown, when they take on in-state rival No. 19 Kansas (11-4, 4-1 Big 12) on Thursday, October 15. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., with the match broadcasted on ESPN+ and the ESPN app can be seen.

– k-statesports.com –

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