MANHATTAN, Kan. –K-State enters its final week of non-conference action, starting with a Wednesday night stop in Kansas City to take on the Roos at Swinney Center at 7 p.m.
K-State (8-2) won three of its four games last week, including a home victory over rival Missouri to go with a 2-1 weekend at the Rambler Challenge in Chicago. Both Sydney Bolding and mackenzie morris earned Team All-Tournament honors at the Rambler Challenge, as Bolding led the team in blocks and aces while Morris was the team leader in digs.
The Wildcats rank among the nation’s leaders in service aces, with a total of 81 aces ranked ninth nationally and leading the Big 12. Three Cats find themselves in the league’s top 10 in aces per set: Bolding ( fourth), Elena Baka (fifth) and Loren Hinkle (eighth).
Following Wednesday’s game against the Roos, K-State travels to Houston, Texas for matchups with Rice (Friday) and No. 17 Creighton (Saturday) at the Adidas Invitational hosted by the Owls.
Fans can watch Wednesday’s contest on KCRoos.com while Rob Voelker will have the call on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM). Live audio is also available at K-StateSports.com/watch and through the K-State Sports app.
GAME #11
K-STATE (8-2, 0-0 BIG 12) at KANSAS CITY (3-6, 0-0 SUMMIT)
Wednesday, September 14 // 7 p.m. // Swinney Center // Kansas City, Mo.
Watch: KCRoos.com
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM) (Rob Voelker)
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live statistics
K-STATE AT A GLANCE
- K-State enters its final week of non-conference play, starting with a Wednesday night stoppage in Kansas City.
- The Wildcats went 3-1 last week after securing a five-set home win over Missouri before winning two of three Rambler Challenge games over the weekend.
- K-State swept both Rutgers and St. Thomas while dropping a four-set decision against host Loyola Chicago.
- Sydney Bolding and mackenzie morris both earned All-Tournament Team accolades, each earning their second honor of the season.
- Bolding led K-State in blocks (14) and aces (5), as she matched her career high with four service aces against St. Thomas – all in the game’s opening set.
- Morris recorded 48 digs in 10 sets (4.80 per set) to lead the back row and extended his streak to 10 straight outings with 10 or more digs to start the season.
- A different player led the Cats in wins in all three games at the Rambler Challenge.
- Aliyah Carter had a team-best 13 against Rutgers, Bolding finished with 11 against Loyola and both Elena Baka and Shaylee Myers recorded 11 against St. Thomas.
- Bold move. 391 at the Ramblers and Myers hit .474 against the Tommies.
- With the pair of sweeps last weekend, K-State improved to 5-0 in three-set matches, surpassing last season’s three-game winning streak.
SCOUTING KANSAS CITY
- Kansas City (3-6) enters Wednesday night’s game on a three-game losing streak, dropping two games in its home tournament to Northern Illinois and Wichita State.
- Prior to their home tournament, the Roos won Kansas’ first set before ultimately falling in four sets at Swinney Center.
- Odyssey Warren leads the Roos in kills (85), kills per set (2.74) and aces (12) while ranking second with 83 digs (2.68 per set).
- Kimora Whetstone boasts a better hitting efficiency of .321 while leading her team with 27 total blocks.
- Libero Kennedy Schritenthal ranks second in the Summit League with 4.26 digs per set.
IN THE SERIES
- K-State and Kansas City will meet for the 36th in series history, with the Wildcats winning 32 of 25 all-time meetings.
- The Wildcats have defeated the Roos 30 straight – K-State’s longest active winning streak against a single opponent.
- The streak dates back to 1974, with Kansas City’s last victory in 1977.
- K-State is 19-0 on the road and made a trip to the Swinney Center in 2018 (won 3-0).
- The head coach Suzie Fritz is 22-0 in his career against Summit League teams, including a 1-0 record this season.
ACES OF SPADES
- In the first three weeks of the 2022 season, K-State racked up 81 service aces, which tops the Big 12 and ranks ninth nationally.
- Elena Baka is the team leader with 18 aces to rank second in the Big 12 and 22nd in the nation while by Sydney Bolding 17 aces is third in the league and 28th nationally.
- Baka has recorded multiple aces six times this season while Bolding has produced a career-best four aces twice this season.
- The team’s 2.19 aces per set is also the best in the league while ranking 17th nationally.
- The Cats have eclipsed the 10 aces mark five times, including in back-to-back UCF Challenge games with 11 against Syracuse and a season-high 12 against North Florida.
- The 12 aces were the most in a three-set match since the 2007 season and tied for fourth in the rally scoring era.
- It was the first time K-State had produced consecutive games with at least 10 aces since 2007.
- Last season, K-State finished with 10 or more aces just twice.
- Additionally, five games with 10 or more aces is the highest since a record seven games in 2007.
- Currently, three Wildcats rank in the top 10 of the Big 12 for aces per inning: Bolding (fourth), Baka (fifth) and Loren Hinkle (eighth).
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
- Senior transfer Elena Baka had an immediate impact through 10 games with the Wildcats.
- Playing six rotations, Baka leads the team in total eliminations with 122 while hitting .202 efficiency with a team-best 18 aces.
- The transfer from Saint Mary’s set a career high with 19 kills against UCF en route to his second straight All-Tournament team selection.
- She has three double-doubles this season, including 16 kills and a career-high 17 digs against Mizzou last Wednesday.
- Her 18 aces are the best in the Big 12, as she has served multiple aces six times – including in each of K-State’s first five contests.
BOLDING OUT
- Senior Medium Blocker Sydney Bolding got off to a fast start for K-State in 2022, hitting .344 and averaging 1.97 kills per set with 1.26 blocks per set and 17 aces.
- Bolding has produced four aces twice in the last four games, including four against Missouri and four in the opening set against St. Thomas on Saturday.
- The four aces was a career high, as she has five games with multiple aces this season (two such games last season).
- She was named to the Rambler Challenge All-Tournament Team, her second All-Tournament Team selection after also being voted to the K-State Invitational All-Tournament Team.
- Bolding, who missed the first three weeks of the 2021 season due to injury, had a .537 hit percentage in the first weekend and currently leads the team at .344 for the season (eighth in the Big 12 ).
- The Pickens, South Carolina product has eclipsed double-digit wins three times this season and hit .350 or better four times.
- Against NC State, she set a career high with 13 eliminations while totaling seven blocks.
IN THE NUMBERS
- K-State have won the first set in nine of 10 outings to start the campaign, going 7-2 in those games.
- The Wildcats are undefeated (7-0) when hitting a higher hitting percentage and producing more kills than their opponents.
- Additionally, the Cats won all seven games in which they limited opponents to below .200 hitting efficiency.
- With five straight wins this season, K-State has already surpassed its total from last season (3).
- Next three-set win will be 200th sweep under head coach Suzie Fritz.
- Fritz earned his 200th career home win over Missouri last Wednesday and is 14 shy of his 400th career victory in charge of the Wildcats.