Rakhmanchik’s 32 Kills Lifts No. 24 Baylor Past K-State

Sunday, November 8

Manhattan, Kan.

2 p.m.

Kansas State University

11-10,3-10Big 12

Baylor

14-8,6-6Big 12

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Baylor	33	28	25	25	3
Kansas St.	31	30	20	13	1

K-State Volleyball vs #24 Baylor, Sunday, November 8, 2026, Morgan Family Arena, Manhattan, KS Final Score: KSU 1, BU 3

Nov 08, 2026 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State battled No. 24 Baylor in two challenging opening sets but ultimately fell in four sets, 31-33, 30-28, 20-25, 13-25, Sunday afternoon at Morgan Family Arena.

Baylor (14-8, 6-6 Big 12) sophomore Ksenia Rakhmanchik, a native of Minsk, Belarus, spearheaded the offense with a match-leading 32 kills – the most kills in a match by any Big 12 player this season. The Big 12 In-Season Challenge Offensive Player of the Month finished the match hitting .406 on 64 swings with just six errors.

Addison Massey paced K-State (11-10, 3-10 Big 12) with 25 kills and added 11 digs for her third double-double of the season, while Skylar Brady contributed 10 kills. Emerson Van Lannen recorded her fourth double-double, dishing out 32 assists with 12 digs. Senior libero Fuka Sekita paced the Wildcats defensively with 20 digs, while Ellah Derrer added nine kills and a team-high five blocks.

FROM THE CATS
JASON MANSFIELD, K-STATE HEAD COACH
Opening statement…
"Congrats to Baylor, specifically their offensive performance was really good in three of the four sets. I thought we did a great job in the second set containing them, and they made a lot of errors as well, so that helped. But I don't know if I've seen someone get 15 kills in a set. So, [Ksenia Rakhmanchik] for them was special early and often, and she was a lot to deal with, and we kind of knew that. But we had our opportunities in the first set. We had a couple of set points that if we found a way to make a play here or there who knows what happens in that match. But I think we figured out how to play first sets, so I'm really happy about that. I'm really, really proud of the girls for coming and competing. We've done that in a bunch of matches the last couple of weeks, and then to lose a set 33-31 and to come back and win 30-28 is a huge improvement for us. We've been struggling in second sets just in general, so it's an absolute battle out there, and I think we probably ran out of gas in the middle of the third, unfortunately, but it wasn't for lack of effort."

On Ksenia Rakhmanchik's performance for Baylor…
"The thing that makes her special and unique is that they can set her all six rotations, so front row and back row. She's very dangerous in both the front and back row. She's just always available and that's the difficult part. But they set it really low, which challenges our block to get there and be on time. And she has a fast arm, and those two things are pretty dangerous to play against. She's one of the best outsides in our conference, we knew that she was great going in, and we did our job of slowing down most everybody else, but she was a lot to handle."

On starting the match with two 30-point sets and any fatigue the team felt…
"I think there's fatigue. I think there's fatigue on both sides. We try to prepare them the best we can. Obviously, giving them a pregame meal and hoping that they sleep well and they hydrate. I mean, that's the best that we can do in situations like that where we're playing so hard, we're playing with so much emotion. The crowd was incredible today, and really, really got behind us those first two sets. So, there's not much you can say to them. I just try to stay positive. And going into this match, ironically, this morning, this is exactly what I talked about. I talked about this being the type of match that I felt, if we were going to win it was going to be a battle. I didn't think it was gonna be a 33-31, 28-30 battle, but that's certainly the way it was. And I just reminded them throughout the match that this is great for us, and we can do this, and we can stay tough."

On where the momentum of the game shifted…
"I thought they served really well in the third, really aggressively. I think that our passers just got worn down. Passing and certainly serving are two mental skills and I think when a team is serving really aggressively at you or changing depths which they were really good at, I just thought we lost focus. And I think when you lose focus the energy level being down probably has something to do with it but yeah, I just thought they served well and they defended us well. I mean, we hit really well in the second set and in the first set, and they kind of slowed us down in the third and fourth with just the amount of errors we made, offensively, in the third and fourth, I think that's just not winning volleyball."

On preparing for TCU later this week…
"I thought we played TCU tough the first time that we played them. I thought we had a good scouting report and we played well. They have two outsides that are exceptional. So I think that's the biggest difference, one of them is always in the front row, and then one of them is always in the back row, and they set back row pretty effectively as well. So slowing those girls down, we could not do that last time we played them, and that's going to be the goal again. We'll prepare for it and have a good week of practice. The best thing we're doing right now is getting better every week, going into the gym, and being really intentional about what we need to get better at, and they're really doing a good job of staying with it and improving. I think it's showing up on the court. I think we're playing better volleyball, and they're definitely improving individually."

SET-BY-SET
Set 1 – #24 Baylor 33, K-State 31

The two teams went back-and-forth with neither gaining a substantial lead.
Tied 15-15, Baylor rattled off four consecutive points capped by back-to-back aces from libero Morgan Madison.
With a kill and ace by Reagan Fox, K-State bridged the gap to one before Skylar Brady connected on a pass from Emerson Van Lannen to level the score at 22-all.
With the score knotted at 30-30, Massey delivered her 12^th kill of the set to give K-State a one-point edge, however, the Bears put down a pair of kills and block by Lacy Tinnell and Isabela Haggard to win the set.
Rakhmanchik led all players with 15 kills in the first set, while Massey hit at a .500 clip, compiling 12 kills on 22 attempts with just one error.
As a team, K-State hit .327 and racked up a season-high 22 kills in the set.

Set 2 – K-State 30, #24 Baylor 28

Highlighted by a 6-2 scoring run, K-State quickly pulled ahead with a 12-6 lead.
The Bears scored four straight points before coming out of a K-State timeout with a 5-2 scoring run to erase the deficit and take a lead 15-14.
K-State overcame a 22-19 deficit and battled through seven ties before ultimately taking the set with a Baylor service error and block assist by Massey and Ellah Derrer.
The Wildcats outhit the Bears .184-.100 in the second set, as the defense forced 12 Baylor errors that included six team blocks.

Set 3 – #24 Baylor 25, K-State 20

K-State took an early 13-9 lead in Set 3 before Baylor utilized a 6-1 scoring run to push ahead at the media timeout.
Baylor extended its lead, 18-14, before putting the set away with a 7-6 closing run.
The Bears produced a .324 hitting percentage with 14 kills and two errors on 37 attempts, out-blocking the Wildcats, 4-0.

Set 4 – #24 Baylor 25, K-State 13

K-State struggled to find its rhythm early, as Baylor used a 6-0 run to build an 8-2 advantage.
The Wildcats were unable to overcome the early deficit, with the Bears extending their lead to 15-7 and eventually closing out the set, 25-13.
Rakhmanchik put down six kills in the final set, hitting at a .417 clip on 12 attempts with one error.
The Bears' defense limited K-State to a .088 hitting percentage, allowing 11 kills and forcing eight errors behind four team blocks and 13 digs.

INSIDE THE BOX

Baylor defeated K-State in four sets – 33-31, 28-30, 25-20, 25-13.
The Bears hit at a .278 clip (64 kills, 19 errors, 162 attempts), while K-State hit .205 (57 kills, 24 errors, 161 attempts).
BU's Rakhmanchik led all players with 32 kills (.406), while Bailey Warren added 14 kills.
Massey recorded a team-high 25 kills followed by Brady (10) and Derrer (9).
Derrer led the Cats at the net with five blocks (2 solo, 3 assists), followed by Cadence Lundgren with three.
Baylor had nine service aces led by three from both MJ McCurdy and Madison.
Sekita recorded 20 digs with Van Lannen adding 12 and Massey contributing 11.
Van Lannen dished out a career-high 32 assists for her fourth double-double, while Massey earned her third.
Haggard paced the Bears' offense with a match-high 49 assists, while Madison led all players with 26 digs.
Haggard and Tinnell combined for 10 blocks, with Haggard leading Baylor with two solo stops.
The match featured 36 tied scores and 11 lead changes, including 18 tie scores and six lead changes in Set 1.

TEAM NOTES

With the loss, the all-time series between the teams is tied at 31-31, while K-State still owns an 18-13 advantage in matches played in Manhattan.
Under Mansfield, K-State is 2-4 against the Bears.
Set 1 featured K-State's highest scoring set since Oct. 17, 2025, at TCU, 34-32.
It marked the first match that featured two 30-point sets since Dec. 1, 2007, vs. No. 13 Oregon.
This season, K-State has recorded 55 or more kills in four matches, all coming in four- or -five-set matches, while the Wildcats have surpassed the 60-dig mark in three matches.

PLAYER NOTES

Massey notched her seventh 20-kill match of the season, reaching the 20-kill mark in four of her last eight matches.
Van Lannen has dished out 30 or more assists five times this season, setting a new career high with 32.
Sekita tallied her fourth 20-dig match of the season and third in the last five matches.
Van Lannen has posted a double-double in three of the last four matches and four times overall this season, while Massey earned her third double-double.
Derrer paced the Wildcats at the net for the ninth time this season, highlighted by her fifth outing with five or more blocks.
Brady reached double-digit kills for the third consecutive match and ninth time this season.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will wrap up their three-game homestand Friday night, when they take on No. 16 TCU (18-5, 9-3 Big 12). First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT at Morgan Family Arena and can be seen on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

– k-statesports.com –

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