Cats Set for Home-Opening Weekend at K-State Invitational

Friday, August 28

Manhattan, Kan.

6:30 p.m.

Kansas State University

Texas A&M - Corpus Christi

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Cats Set for Home-Opening Weekend at K-State Invitational

Aug 27, 2026 | Volleyball

Watch (ESPN+) - vs. TAMUCC Watch (ESPN+) - vs. Campbell Match Notes (PDF)Live Stats Buy Tickets

MATCH #1
K-STATE (0-0, 0-0 BIG 12) vs. TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI (0-0, 0-0 SOUTHLAND)
Friday, August 28 // 6:30 PM CT // Morgan Family Arena (Manhattan, Kan.)
Watch: ESPN+ // Brian Smoller, Liz Wegner-Busch, Riley Schalk
Live Stats: kstate.statbroadcast.com

MATCH #2
K-STATE (0-0, 0-0 BIG 12) vs. CAMPBELL (0-0, 0-0 CAA)
Sunday, August 30 // 12:30 PM CT // Morgan Family Arena (Manhattan, Kan.)
Watch: ESPN+ // Brian Smoller, Liz Wegner-Busch, Addison Lowe
Live Stats: kstate.statbroadcast.com

FIRST SERVE

K-State officially opens the 2026 volleyball season Friday, as the Wildcats host the annual K-State Invitational at Morgan Family Arena in Manhattan, Kan.
The Wildcats will take on Texas A&M Corpus Christi at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, before wrapping up the three-day event against Campbell at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
K-State, who is receiving votes in the season's initial AVCA Coaches Poll, swept past Oklahoma (29-27, 25-21, 25-14) last Saturday in its final exhibition match of the preseason.
Reagan Fox and Addison Massey each recorded nine kills against the Sooners.

FOLLOW THE CATS

Both matches against the Islanders and Camels will broadcast on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
Live stat links can be found on the K-State volleyball schedule page on kstatesports.com, while fans can find live game updates all season long on the Wildcats social media pages (@KStateVB).

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

K-State is set to enter its 53^rd season of volleyball and fourth under head coach Jason Mansfield at the annual K-State Invitational in Manhattan.
Over three days, the Wildcats will take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Friday and Campbell on Sunday.
K-State finished tied sixth in the Big 12 a season ago, matching the highest team finish in the Mansfield era.
The Cats retain seven letterwinners that played in 369 sets from last season's NCAA Tournament squad, while adding five freshmen and three transfers.
Caleigh Ponn returns after seeing action in 27 matches (14 starts) and recording 201 digs for K-State in 2025 as a true freshman.
Emerson Van Lannen, who finished second in service aces (28), and Reagan Fox, who was fifth in blocks, also return for 2026.
In K-State's final exhibition against Oklahoma, Fox and freshman Addison Massey tallied nine kills each, followed by seven from freshman Skylar Brady.
Van Lannen and transfer Camdyn Stucky paced the 6-2 offense to a team .287 hitting percentage, totaling 27 assists.
Defensively, UTEP transfer Fuka Sekita recorded eight digs while Van Lannen and Massey had seven.
Freshman Reese Resmer led the defense with six blocks to go along with a pair of kills.
The defense limited OU to a .096 efficiency with 38 digs and eight blocks.

SCOUTING TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI

The Islanders are coming off a season where they finished 13-17 overall with an 8-8 record in league action, reaching the semifinals of the Southland Conference Volleyball Championship for the eighth time in 10 years under head coach Steve Greene.
TAMUCC has made five trips to the finals of the conference tournament and won four conference titles under Greene.
The Islanders returned 11 players from last season, including reigning SLC Libero of the Year Brooklyn Jaeger and First Team All-Conference setter Virginia Van Der Werff.
Last season Jaeger finished seventh in the nation in digs per set (5.18) and 10^th overall in total digs (570), while Van Der Werff was second in the league and25th nationally in assists per set (10.31).
The Islanders were picked third in the Southland Conference Preseason Poll behind Stephen F. Austin and UTRGV.
Friday marks the first meeting between the Wildcats and Islanders.

SCOUTING CAMPBELL

Campbell is coming off one of its best seasons in program history after posting a 23-7 record and going 13-3 in league play for a share of the CAA regular season title and winning the CAA Championship title.
The Camels return nine players from a season ago, including four of the seven players that played more than 100 sets last season.

Key returners include Hailey Heyvelt, the team's blocks leader (95), and outside Victoria Tupy, who finished third on the team with 225 kills at a .240 clip.
Eight newcomers will look to serve as reinforcements, with six freshmen and two transfers.

Emma McCartney headlines the group of newcomers after posting 300 kills last season at Northern Illinois.
Greg Goral enters his 14^th season at the helm of Campbell volleyball, leading the Camels to an overall record of 201-178 (.530).

Sunday marks the first meeting between the Wildcats and Camels.

MANSFIELD ERA

Jason Mansfield, who was appointed as the ninth head coach on Dec. 27, 2022, is in his fourth season at the helm of the Kansas State volleyball program.
In three seasons, Mansfield boasts a career mark of 44-38 (.537) and owns a 28-26 (.519) record in Big 12 action, including 11 wins over Top 25 opponents.
Most notably, he led K-State to a historic sweep over No. 3 and national champion Texas in 2023 – the Longhorns only Big 12 loss in their final season in the conference.
During his time in Manhattan, Mansfield has overseen nine All-Big 12 selections, six All-Region honorees, two All-Americans, one Big 12 All-Rookie Team selection, and the 2025 AVCA Region Player of the Year in Shaylee Myers.
In 2025, K-State matched a program record, originally set by Mansfield's 2023 squad, with five top-25 wins. The school record included a five-set triumph over in-state rival No. 14 Kansas in Lawrence.

CHECKING IN

For the second time under Mansfield and first since 2024, K-State is receiving votes in the season's first AVCA Coaches Top-25 Poll, checking in with 10 points.
In 2025, the Wildcats received votes in six AVCA Fall Coaches' Polls, including over consecutive weeks (November 10-December 22)
The Wildcats were last ranked in the coaches' poll in 2020.

HOME COOKIN'

K-State boasted an 8-5 record at home in 2025, that included a perfect 4-0 record in non-conference games.
The Wildcats are 426-225-5 all-time when playing at home.
Under Mansfield, the Cats are 22-17 overall at home, that includes a 15-12 record in Big 12 play.
In 13 home matches last season, K-State registered four-match win streaks twice, including ranked wins over No. 20 Colorado and No. 21 Baylor.

GOING THE DISTANCE

In 2025, K-State went to five sets in eight of 28 matches, going 6-2 in five-setters.
The Wildcats went 6-0 in five-set matches last season on the road and twice came back from 1-2 deficits.
K-State's six five-set wins were the highest single-season total since the 2020 season (6).
Since 2018, K-State has played 72 five-set matches, going 38-34 in the stretch.

A FRIDAY NIGHT VICTORY WOULD…

Hand K-State its 45^th victory under head coach Jason Mansfield, and 23^rd at Morgan Family Arena.
Mark the Wildcat's first victory over TAMUCC.
Give K-State its fourth season-opening victory over the last five years – third in the Mansfield era.
Be the sixth consecutive home-opening victory.

2025 RECAP

K-State finished the 2025 season with an 18-10 overall record and a 10-8 mark in Big 12 play, earning the program's first at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship since 2021.
The team tied a program record with five Top 25 wins last season with victories over No. 14 Kansas, No. 20 Colorado, No. 21 Baylor, No. 21 Iowa State and No. 25 North Carolina.
Shaylee Myers wrapped up her collegiate career as the 12^th player in program history to earn AVCA All-America honors and the second under Mansfield.
She became the first player in school history to be named the AVCA Region Player of the Year, earning AVCA First Team All-Region and was a unanimous First Team All-Big 12 pick.
Ava LeGrand earned Second Team All-Region accolades along with Second Team All-Big 12 honors alongside Aniya Clinton.
The Wildcats limited opponents to a .198 hitting percentage last season, their third-lowest allowed efficiency over the last nine seasons.
K-State was awarded an at-large bid to the 2025 NCAA Tournament, marking the program's 19^th postseason appearance.
The Cats defeated San Diego in five sets in the opening round – the team's first postseason victory since 2016 – before falling to No. 1 overall seed Nebraska.

BIG 12 NOTES – WEEK 1

The Big 12 tied a Conference record with six teams named in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's (AVCA)/TARAFLEX Preseason Division I Women's Volleyball Poll.
Arizona State leads the Conference at No. 12, followed by Kansas at No. 15, TCU at No. 18, Baylor at No. 21, Colorado at No. 23 and BYU at No. 24.
Arizona, Iowa State, Kansas State and Utah received votes.
The six teams tied the Conference record from the preseason poll in 2025 and are the second-most among all Conferences.
The Conference returns six players who ranked inside the top 50 nationally during the 2025 season in kills per set.
Big 12 teams will play 14 matches against opponents that made the 2025 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship during Week 1.
The Big 12 will compete in five ranked matchups in Week 1.
ASU opened the 2026 season with a 3-1 win over #2 Texas at the Jeep AVCA First Serve in Milwaukee on Saturday, Aug. 22.
Four Big 12 athletes were named to the 2026 AVCA Division I Player of the Year Award Preseason Watch List: Arizona State's Noemie Glover, Colorado's Ana Burilovic, Iowa State's Rachel Van Gorp and TCU's Evan Hendrix.

SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN

The Wildcats' 26-match schedule features 11 opponents that qualified for last season's NCAA Tournament, including nine from the Big 12 Conference, which led the nation with 10 overall tournament qualifiers.
Eight of those opponents were ranked in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Poll, while K-State received votes.
Seven 2026 opponents were featured in AVCA Top 25 Preseason Poll, with four Big 12 schools receiving votes – Iowa State, Utah, Kansas State and Arizona.
Teams featured in the poll include No. 12 Arizona State, No. 13 Creighton, No. 15 KU, No. 18 TCU, No. 21 Baylor, No. 23 Colorado. And No. 24 BYU.

RETURN AISLE

K-State retains seven letterwinners with Caleigh Ponn, Reagan Fox, Emerson Van Lannen, Alex Klukvin, Cadence Lundgren, Avery Stones, and Lauren Latham.
Fox, Ponn and Van Lannen each saw action in over 24 of the team's 28 matches last season, combing for 29 starts.
Van Lannen finished second on the team in service aces (28), while Fox was fourth in total kills (145).
Defensively, Ponn turned in 201 digs – good for fifth-most on the team.

NEW CATS

In addition to the eight total returners, K-State welcomed eight newcomers to its 2026 roster (5 freshman, 3 transfers).
Freshmen include Skylar Brady (Bethany, Oklahoma), Chandler Carter (Spring, Texas), Ellah Derrer (Davenport, Iowa), Addison Massey (Las Cruces, New Mexico), Reese Resmer (Noblesville, Indiana), while transfers are Arkansas' Sydney Maue (Walker, Iowa), UTEP's Fuka Sekita (Hyogo, Japan), and Tennessee's Camdyn Stucky (Wichita, Kansas).

Massey was a three-time New Mexico Gatorade Player of the Year and Sekita earned NJCAA First Team All-American and AVCA Second Team All-American recognition during her time at New Mexico Military Institute.

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS

Arizona State was announced as the favorite in the 2026 Big 12 volleyball preseason poll, while Arizona State's Noemie Glover (Preseason Player of the Year) and Kansas' Taylor Stanley (Preseason Freshman of the Year) were tabbed with the preseason individual honors.
The Sun Devils have won back-to-back Big 12 titles and sit atop the preseason Conference poll for the first time in their three seasons as a Big 12 member led by Glover, the reigning Big 12 Volleyball Player of the Year.
The Big 12 concluded the 2025 regular season with seven teams in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's (AVCA)/TARAFLEX Division I Women's Volleyball Poll, tied for the most among all Conferences and the most in Big 12 history.
The league had 10 programs selected to the 2025 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship, surpassing the Conference's previous high of eight, and the most of any conference last season. Of those 10 teams, eight earned victories in the first round, the most in Big 12 history.
The Big 12 had the second-most teams ranked in the 2026 AVCA/TARAFLEX Preseason Division I Women's Volleyball Poll with six teams inside the top 25, while another four received vote