Wildcats Upend No. 20 Creighton Friday, 3-1

Friday, September 18

Omaha, Neb.

7 p.m.

Kansas State University

7-0,0-0Big 12

Creighton

5-6,0-0Big East

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Kansas St.	15	25	25	25	3
Creighton	25	13	22	22	1

Box Score (PDF)

Sep 19, 2026 | Volleyball

Box Score

OMAHA, Neb. – The undefeated season continues for Kansas State volleyball, as the Wildcats bested No. 20 Creighton in four sets, 15-25, 25-13, 25-22, 25-22, Friday night at D.J. Sokol Arena.

Headlined by top performances from multiple Wildcats, including a 20-kill night from freshman Addison Massey, K-State improved to a perfect 7-0 start to the season as the Big 12's last remaining undefeated team. Creighton, a 2025 NCAA Elite Eight contender and the Big East preseason favorite, fell to 5-6 with the loss.

A native of Las Cruces, N.M., Massey became the first Wildcat this season to reach the 20-kill mark, while adding a team-high 15 digs for her first collegiate double-double.

Emerson Van Lannen dished out 21 assists to go with 13 digs for her first career double-double and turned in her fourth match with three or more aces. Defensively, senior libero Fuka Sekita was the third Wildcat to register double-digit digs, totaling 15 on the night for her sixth match reaching the 10-dig mark. Middle blocker Cadence Lundgren led the Wildcats at the net with a match-high 10 blocks, becoming the first Wildcat to reach double-digit blocks since 2024.

After dropping the first set, the Wildcats dominated in Set 2, recording their largest margin of victory in a set against a Top-25 opponent since a 14-point advantage over No. 25 North Carolina on Sept. 19, 2025.

FROM THE CATS
JASON MANSFIELD, K-STATE HEAD COACH
Overall statement…
"When this match was scheduled, we knew it was probably going to be the toughest opponent we would play in non-conference, and we knew Creighton would probably be ranked. We also played them in the spring, so we knew how talented they were. I just love our bounce-back after the first set. That was a really good performance by [Creighton], and it kind of knocked us on our heels. But our response in the second set was everything to me, and to be able to do that for three straight sets when they were playing much better is really impressive. So, I couldn't be prouder of the way we stuck together and the way we competed after the first set."

On Van Lannen's double-double…
"Emerson [Van Lannen] has just been so consistent for us from the service line and defensively. She's capable of digging a lot of balls if they're hit at her, and I thought she set the tone at the beginning of the second set by just playing good defense. She obviously has been setting great for us, but she can be a great server, great defender and great setter for us, and we needed all those digs tonight."

On Sekita's leadership and defensive skills…
"I think tonight just shows why we recruited her and why she is special. Playing in big matches like this is the reason she came to K-State, and she stepped up in big moments. She puts in the work every day to be ready for moments like this. Serve-receive passing is the toughest skill in volleyball, and she does that really well. Defensively, she's so fast and is someone who can pick up balls and cover a ton of range. Again, we needed all the digs that she had, especially in the second, third and fourth sets. We needed every one of them."

On Lundgren's 10-block night…
"I think she has the ability to really touch a lot of balls at the net. We've kind of seen that this season. Obviously, stuffs happens, but she's doing a much better job of getting across, and blocking is the best thing she does for us. I thought she had some timely kills as well, and we needed those to try to balance our offense out a little bit more. But, yeah, I'm really proud of Cadence's work. We need her energy. That's why she got the start tonight. I just love her energy, and when she gets stuff blocks and fires us up, there's nothing better."

On Massey's career night…
"I mean, hopefully people understand how good Addison Massey is now after playing on ESPN2 and playing a ranked team. We've known how good she is for two years now, and her teammates have known how good she is since the spring. She's a competitive kid. She wants to be in these moments. She goes for it. She's well-trained, and she's just kind of the epitome of competition. She figures out ways to stay aggressive and be herself. But there aren't many freshmen who will come into an environment like this and do what she did."

On wrapping non-conference play…
"It's going to be a tough turnaround. It's the first time in non-conference that we've played back-to-back matches, so we've got to regroup and play a good Omaha team that does some things that are difficult to slow down offensively. We'll do the work tonight as a staff and get them ready for tomorrow. But we've got to have some energy against this team, finish it off right and give ourselves a chance to win."

SET-BY-SET
Set 1 – #20 Creighton 25, K-State 15

Led by a service ace from Emerson Van Lannen, K-State opened Set 1 with a 9-5 edge, until Creighton erased the deficit behind a 6-0 scoring run.
Creighton stretched its lead to 15-12 before putting together a 10-3 closing run to capture Set 1.
K-State was held to a -.034 hitting percentage with just five kills in the opening set (6 errors, 29 attempts), including three by Addison Massey.
Creighton hit .289 (16 kills, 5 errors, 38 swings) led by seven from Trinity Shadd-Ceres.
Both squads recorded 15 digs, while Creighton held a 3-1 edge in total blocks.

Set 2 – K-State 25, #20 Creighton 13

A pair of kills from Massey and Skylar Brady, along with Van Lannen's second ace of the night handed K-State a 6-1 lead to force a Creighton timeout.
The Wildcats stretched their lead, 8-1, with three consecutive Bluejay errors, before Brady connected on a pass from Sekita and pushed the Cats into double figures.
Creighton closed the gap to five, 12-7, but was answered with kills by Brady and Massey.
A call was overturned and ruled in favor of the Wildcats, extending the lead to 18-11.
The Wildcats went on to score seven of the next nine to put away Set 2 and tie the match.
K-State hit at a .171 clip (10 kills, 4 errors, 33 swings), led by five kills from Brady, while the defense held Creighton to a -.143 hitting percentage (6 kills, 11 errors, 25 attacks) with five blocks and 16 digs.

Set 3 – K-State 25, #20 Creighton 22

The Wildcats picked up where they left off, scoring seven of eight points out of the gate before the Bluejays got back within three with a block by Ayden Ames and Katie Dalton.
Creighton continued to chip away at the lead, until Van Lannen found Cadence Lundgren at the net to push the K-State ahead, 15-12.
The Bluejays scored three straight points to respond to the Wildcats three-point run and force a timeout from the visiting bench, before a service error handed K-State the match lead.
Massey put down a match-high eight kills in Set 3 with just two errors on 15 swings.

Set 4 – K-State 25, #20 Creighton 22

K-State utilized a 5-0 start to jump out to a 12-4 lead, highlighted by service aces from Sekita and Lauren Latham, before Creighton put together a 6-2 run to make it 14-11.
After back-and-forth action, a sneak attack from setter Katie Dalton pulled the Bluejays within one, 20-19.
K-State was able to hold off the rally with the help of three kills from Massey to secure the upset.
Five service errors by the Bluejays proved to be the difference-maker in the final set.

INSIDE THE BOX

K-State upset No. 20 Creighton in four sets – 15-25, 25-13, 25-22, 25-22.
The Wildcats hit .150 (45 kills, 23 errors, 147 attempts) against Creighton's .176 (50 kills, 24 errors, 148 swings).
Creighton held a 68-66 edge in total dig production, led by a match-leading 26 from Saige Damrow, while K-State out-blocked the Bluejays, 10-9.
K-State had three players register 10 or more digs – Massey (15), Sekita (15), and Van Lannen (13).
Ellah Derrer and Van Lannen each served up three aces, as the Cats had nine total aces while Creighton had two.
Four Wildcats turned in a block, led by Lundgren, who led all players with 10.
Massey produced a match-leading 20 kills (.312) with four blocks.
Brady added 11 kills with three blocks and two digs.
Van Lannen dished out 21 assists, while Latham had 12 with a pair of aces.
Massey and Van Lannen each had double-doubles.
Two players produced double-digit kills from Creighton as Shadd-Ceres had 19 and Ames 10.

TEAM NOTES

With its 7-0 start, K-State is one of seven undefeated Division I teams and is the last remaining undefeated team in the Big 12.
K-State leads the all-time series 9-6, including a 2-3 record in Omaha.
The win marked K-State's first victory over Creighton in Omaha since September 1, 2012.
The Cats last faced a top-20 team on November 15, 2025, vs. Kansas, while the Cats' last top-20 victory was on November 8, 2025, vs. Colorado.
K-State's eight-point Set 2 win was the largest margin of victory in a set over a Top 25 team since its 14-point advantage over No. 25 North Carolina on Sept. 19, 2025 (Set 3, 25-14).
This season, K-State is 6-3 when challenging plays.
It marked the 13^th ranked win in the Mansfield era, moving to 13-18 overall against Top 25 teams.
K-State continues its best start to a season since 2013.
The 2026 roster featured just three players that were on the 2024 team that played Creighton – Reagan Fox, Van Lannen, and Tatum Tindall.

PLAYER NOTES

Massey has eclipsed the 10-kill mark in six of seven matches this season, while the freshman achieved her 100^th kill of the season.
In her last three matches she has surpassed her season-best in kills.
With her first kill of the night, Reagan Fox earned her 200^th career kill.
Van Lannen and Massey each earned their first collegiate double-doubles in the win.
Derrer registered a career-high three service aces, becoming the second Wildcat with a three-ace performance this season.
With her 15 digs, Sekita has turned in six matches with 10 or more digs, totaling 97 on the season.
Lundgren became the first Wildcat with 10 or more blocks in a match since Brenna Schmidt in 2024 (11.0, Oct. 5, 2024, vs. Iowa State).

UP NEXT
K-State wrap up its non-conference schedule Saturday, when the Wildcats take on Omaha (6-3) at Baxter Arena. First serve is slated for 3 p.m. CT. Saturday's contest marks the first meeting since 2023, while the Wildcats lead the all-time series 14-6, that includes a 3-3 record in Omaha.

– k-statesports.com –

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