Balanced Effort Helps K-State Fend Off Cincinnati - Kansas State University Athletics

Friday, November 6

Manhattan, Kan.

5 p.m.

Kansas State University

11-9,3-9Big 12

Cincinnati

11-10,4-7Big 12

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Cincinnati	19	22	25	25	10	2
Kansas St.	25	25	17	17	15	3

Box Score (PDF)

Nov 06, 2026 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Double-doubles by Fuka Sekita and Emerson Van Lannen, along with 21 kills by Addison Massey, highlighted K-State's five-set victory, 25-19, 25-22, 17-25, 17-25, 15-10, over Cincinnati at Morgan Family Arena Friday night.

After Cincinnati (11-10, 4-7 Big 12) rallied to force the final frame, the two opponents went back-and-forth with neither gaining a substantial lead until K-State utilized a 5-0 scoring run to secure the win. With the victory, the Wildcats improved to 11-9 overall with a 3-9 mark in Big 12 play.

Massey turned in her sixth match with 20 or more kills, as she put down 21 kills on 57 swings, while Skylar Brady added 13 kills. Sekita paced the defense with 23 digs as part of the team's season-high 70 digs, to go along with 12 assists for the double-double, and Van Lannen recorded her third of the season with a team-high 18 assists and 15 digs.

FROM THE CATS
JASON MANSFIELD, K-STATE HEAD COACH
Opening statement…
"Really proud of our team. I love the way that we prepared this whole week. I thought we had our best week of practice. Our coaching staff did a great job of getting them ready in prep and scouting, and then I love the way we started the match. I think that we played really gritty volleyball in the second set to kind of come back and be up 2-0. [Cincinnati] is a good team and they serve really well. [Sydney Nolan] is as good as it gets in our conference offensively, so I'm not surprised she was tough to slow down. But I just love our bounce back in the fifth and I thought we showed a lot of heart. Obviously, we needed to make plays and we needed them to give us some plays. Things went our way with some challenges. So I think everything kind of lined up in the fifth. But again, it is really difficult to win in this conference as we know, but I'm really proud of our effort."

On what he said to build the team's momentum going into the fifth set…
"I really wanted us to start at 0-0 and not try to take anything or leave anything on the court and kind of bring it from the other two sets that we had just lost. So, whether they did that or not. I mean I tried a lot tonight to try to pump them up and try to get them to play hard and get the crowd more involved. The crowd was pretty quiet in the third and fourth, and part of that was that we just weren't playing great and we couldn't get into rhythm. But it's about them making plays. It's not really about what I say. Again, I'm really proud of just the way that they fought in the fifth."

On what made Cincinnati difficult to slow down in the third set…
"Yeah, I mean that's probably my fault. We tried a bunch of different serve-receive patterns to try to get them out of it, but again, they're a really good serving team. But besides that 6-0 run, we kind of hung with them the rest of the set. We just couldn't go on our run ourselves."

On what was the most impressive part of the win…
"I think there's 143 digs between the two teams. The style of volleyball that we play defensively says a lot. They're again really a good defensive and offensive team, specifically with [Sydney Nolan]. But I just like how we're getting better defensively, starting with our serve and getting good touches of the net. I thank our back row defense, there was a lot of long rallies today and I felt like we won a bunch of them, so I'm just I'm proud of those moments."

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

The two squads went point-for-point until K-State pulled ahead behind a 5-1 scoring run to take a 19-15 lead, highlighted by an ace from libero Fuka Sekita – her 12^th of the season.
Leading 21-17, the Wildcats scored four of the final six points to put away Set 1, which included three kills from Skylar Brady, Ellah Derrer and Addison Massey.
The Cats hit at a .250 clip (13 kills, 5 errors, 32 swings), led by five kills from Massey, while Cincinnati was held to nine kills on 25 attempts with four errors.

Set 2 – K-State 25, Cincinnati 22

Cincinnati opened the second set with a 13-7 lead before the Wildcats trimmed the deficit to three after putting down consecutive kills from Sydney Maue, Brady and Derrer.
The Bearcats immediately responded and scored six of the next eight to expand their lead, 18-12, forcing a timeout.
The Wildcats used a late rally, highlighted by kills from Brady and Sydney Maue, along with a pair of Cincinnati attack errors, to erase the deficit and even the score at 22-22.
Maue delivered a pair of kills to give K-State a 24-22 advantage before a Cincinnati attack error sealed the Wildcats' 25-22 set victory.

Set 3 – Cincinnati 25, K-State 17

Cincinnati opened the second set with a commanding 6-0 run and maintained control throughout, building a 16-9 advantage midway through the frame.
K-State attempted to rally behind a pair of kills from Massey and Brady, but the Bearcats continued to answer offensively, closing out with a 4-0 run that included back-to-back service aces by Nina Scrucca.

Set 4 – Cincinnati 25, K-State 17

Cincinnati used an early run to take control of the fourth set, building a 9-5 advantage and extending its lead to 15-9.
K-State stayed within striking distance behind kills from Massey, Brady and Lauren Latham, but the Bearcats held off the rally to force the fifth and final set.

Set 5 – K-State 15, Cincinnati 10

After a back-and-forth battle, Van Lannen sparked a key run with consecutive service aces, giving the Wildcats a 10-7 lead and forcing a Cincinnati timeout.
K-State extended its advantage to 12-7 behind a kill from Cadence Lundgren and a Cincinnati attack error.
The Bearcats responded with a series of kills to trim the deficit, but the Wildcats closed out the match, 15-10.

INSIDE THE BOX

K-State defeated Cincinnati in five sets – 25-19, 25-22, 17-25, 17-25, 15-10.
K-State recorded 53 kills, 46 assists, seven service aces and a season-high 70 digs.
Massey and Nolan led all players with 21 kills each, while Nolan hit at a .340 clip with just three errors.
Brady contributed 13 kills and two blocks.
Sekita led K-State with 23 digs and added 12 assists and one service ace.
Van Lannen paced the offense with 18 assists and added 15 digs and two service aces.
Maue and Lundgren led the Cats at the net with three blocks each, while Maue and Ellah Derrer each added five kills.
K-State hit .163 as a team (53 kills, 26 errors, 166 attempts), including a .250 hitting percentage in the opening set.
The Wildcats recorded five total team blocks compared to Cincinnati's seven.
Cincinnati produced a .236 hitting percentage with 56 kills on 161 attempts with 18 errors, while the Bearcats had 20 service errors.

TEAM NOTES

K-State owns a 4-2 advantage in the all-time series with Cincinnati, that includes a 2-1 lead in matches played in Manhattan.
With the win, the Cats evened the season series with the Bearcats at 1-1.
The Wildcats improve to 6-4 overall at home this season, earning their second consecutive Big 12 home victory.
The team surpassed its previous season high of 66 digs, set on Sept. 18 at Creighton.

PLAYER NOTES

Massey turned in her sixth 20-kill match of the season. She has recorded double-digit kills in all but three matches this season.
Sekita recorded her second double-double of the season with her third 20-dig performance, while Van Lannen collected her third of the season – the most by any Wildcat this season.
Brady reached double figure kills for the second consecutive outing, compiling eight total 10-kill performances in her freshman campaign.
Van Lannen registered her 30^th service ace of the season and recorded her ninth match with multiple aces.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats continue their three-game home stand on Sunday, as they face No. 24 Baylor (13-8, 5-6 Big 12) at Morgan Family Arena. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT and can be seen on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

– k-statesports.com –

How to follow the Cats: For complete information on K-State Volleyball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.