Cats Start 2026 Campaign with Season-Opening Sweep

Friday, August 28

Manhattan, Kan.

6:30 p.m.

Kansas State University

1-0,0-0Big 12

Texas A&M - Corpus Christi

0-1,0-0Southland

Team	1	2	3	Final F
A&M-Corpus Christi	15	14	24	0
Kansas St.	25	25	26	3

Aug 28, 2026 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State volleyball opened its 2026 season with a straight-set victory Friday night, downing Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (25-15, 25-14, 26-24) in the first match of the K-State Invitational at Morgan Family Arena.

The Wildcats' (1-0) offense hit .247 in the sweep while the defense logged 10.0 blocks and 40 digs to hold the Islanders (0-1) to a .090 efficiency. Highlighted by a match-leading 14 kills from freshman Addison Massey, the victory marked the 45^th win under head coach Jason Mansfield and the team's sixth consecutive home-opening win.

FROM THE CATS
JASON MANSFIELD, K-STATE HEAD COACH
Overall Statement…
"I think the first two sets we played well enough to win, but it just didn't feel like us. We were making a lot of uncharacteristic errors and hesitations. I think the nerves were real. We're excited to play in front of our crowd and our band. Obviously, made really, really good plays defensively. And then the third set [TAMUCC] just kind of settled in and started to pass really well. Their offense was kind of clicking, and we couldn't slow them down. And then we were just searching for answers, but to come back the way we did at the end of the third is really special and I'm proud of them for that. Just a lot of learning moments in our first match. The goal was to win three sets. We did that. I think we all have higher standards. We want to try to play a little cleaner volleyball."

On the play of newcomers and freshmen, particularly Addison Massey…
"She settled in after the first set. She's such a special talent, and there's lots of swings she took. She made seven hitting errors. That's not something that she does very often. But I think the adrenaline was pumping, and she was trying to pop the ball pretty much every time she swung at it. But I thought she settled in and played really well. Took a lot of really good swings. All of our freshmen are really special, and we got 16 talented players, but it's nice to see those freshmen finally be here and play in a match that matters and be successful."

On the first regular season home game…
"It was great. The crowd is great. It's great to be home. It was great to play the purple white and Oklahoma at home to try to get a little bit more comfortable. I'm really excited to start the season at home and have four matches to start the season here."

SET-BY-SET
Set 1 – K-State 25, A&M-Corpus Christi 15

Highlighted by three service aces from sophomore Emerson Van Lannen, K-State quickly jumped out of the gate with a nine-point lead before reaching double figures with a set-point kill from Cadence Lundgren.
Van Lannen and newcomer Camdyn Stucky paced the offense that hit .167 in Set 1 (11 kills, 7 errors), as the duo combined for nine assists.
Five different players registered a kill led by four from Massey.
Defensively, senior libero Fuka Sekita led both squads with four total digs, while Sydney Maue and Lundgren each recorded a pair of blocks as K-State limited TAMUCC to a .034 hitting percentage (7 kills, 6 errors).

Set 2 – K-State 25, A&M-Corpus Christi 14

The Islanders caught fire in Set 2 and bridged the gap to five, 17-12, with a 6-2 scoring run to force a K-State timeout.
Cats were able to kill the visitor's momentum and immediately answered with five consecutive points, headlined by four straight points from freshman Skylar Brady and Ellah Derrer.
Leading 23-14, K-State put the set away with a solo block by Massey and ace from Caleigh Ponn.
K-State hit at a .257 clip (15 kills, 6 errors), led by four from senior Reagan Fox, while TAMUCC was held to a -.0333 hitting percentage as the Cats out-blocked the Islanders, 5-0.

Set 3 – K-State 26, A&M-Corpus Christi 24

After a back-and-forth start, TAMUCC took its first substantial lead of the match in Set 3, 16-10, before expanding its lead behind a pair of kills from Hadley Burger.
Trailing 20-14, the Wildcats overcame the deficit with an incredible 9-3 scoring run to tie the set.
The two squads exchanged a point before K-State broke away with back-to-back kills from Sydney Maue to complete the comeback.
Massey put down seven kills in Set 3, followed by four from Maue and three by Brady.
K-State hit at a .289 clip (16 kills, 5 errors), spearheaded by seven assists from Van Lannen.

INSIDE THE BOX

K-State hit .247 as a team (42 kills, 18 errors, 97 attacks).
A&M-Corpus Christi turned in a .090 hitting percentage (28 kills, 19 errors, 100 swings).
Massey, in her first collegiate start, led all players with 14 kills in addition to a match-high four blocks.
Fox hit .400 with eight kills and Brady was next with seven.
Sekita paced the Cats with 12 digs along with five assists.
Van Lannen handed out 31 assists with four service aces, while Stucky followed with 12 assists and four digs.
Lundgren added three blocks with four kills.
Burger and Ally Saleh led the Islanders with six kills each, while Saleh hit at a .385 pace.
Brooklyn Jaeger, the reigning Southland Libero of the Year, picked up 12 digs and three assists.
Sekita, Ponn, Maue, Stucky, Massey, Lundgren and Derrer earned the Match 1 starting roles.

BEYOND THE BOX

Seven players made their K-State debuts Friday night, including collegiate debuts by Brady, Massey, Deerer and Reese Resmer.
K-State recorded its 45^th victory and 27^th sweep in the Mansfield era.
The victory marked the sixth consecutive home-opening victory.
Under Mansfield, K-State is 27-15 in three-set matches.
K-State recorded the series-opening win over TAMUCC, moving to 6-1 against members of the Southland Conference.

UP NEXT
K-State concludes the 2026 K-State Invitation against Campbell at 12:30 p.m. CT on Sunday. The match can be seen on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

– k-statesports.com –

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