By Chris Kutz, K-State Athletics Communications
WACO, Texas – K-State’s offense was contained by Baylor in the regular season finale as the Wildcats dropped their third consecutive match with a straight-set defeat to the Bears (25-13, 25-18, 25-22) in the Ferrell Center on Saturday.
K-State (17-11, 9-7 Big 12) was limited to a .103 hitting percentage, its third-lowest clip in a match this season, while Baylor (17-13, 5-11 Big 12) used 84 digs, a K-State opponent record in a three-set match, to slow the Wildcat attack.
The Bears also had seven blocks in addition to five aces to keep K-State’s first-swing offense out of rhythm.
Junior Brooke Sassin had 14 of K-State’s 32 kills while also adding a team-high 19 digs. The double-double for the outside hitter was her 15th this season.
The Wildcats had 72 digs as a team, its most in a three-set match since 2002. Kersten Kober (15 digs), Katie Brand (15), and Bryna Vogel (12) each tallied double-digit digs as well.
Despite the 72 digs and seven blocks by K-State, Baylor registered a .222 hitting efficiency to issue the Wildcats just their third sweep of the season.
K-State was held to a negative hitting percentage (-.139) in the first as Baylor’s five blocks and 20 digs helped limit the Wildcats to five kills against 10 attacking errors. In total, K-State had 14 errors, including three receiving and one service.
The Wildcat defense attempted to keep them in the set, holding the Bears to a .125 clip. However, an 8-1 Baylor burst midway through allowed the Bears to pull away and take an 18-7 lead.
The Wildcats overcame a 14-10 deficit midway through the second, using three kills by Sassin to help it take a 15-14 advantage. Following Baylor’s first timeout, Sassin added two more kills to give her five for the set while a kill by Alyssa Schultejans opened the Wildcats’ lead to 18-16.
The Bears successfully used their final timeout to slow the K-State momentum as the Bears closed out the set on a 7-0 run. Six straight kills by Baylor made it 22-18 while a K-State attack error and an ace by Andie Malloy, who stood on the service line for the run, gave Baylor its two-set lead in the contest.
Through the first two sets, K-State was constrained to a .023 clip thanks to Baylor’s 50 digs and seven blocks. The Bears also had all five of its aces over the first two sets.
In the third, K-State was forced to call an early timeout when it fell behind 7-2. The Wildcats eventually crawled back into the set, taking the lead at the 15-14 mark with one of their seven blocks. K-State went on to lead at 19-17 with a kill by Sassin, but following a side out on a Shelly Fanning kill, the Bears went on a 4-1 run to take a 21-20 lead. The Wildcats were within one at 23-22 after a kill by Vogel; however, back-to-back Baylor kills, their 49th and 50th of the match, completed the sweep.
The Wildcats finished the regular season in a tie for fourth in the Big 12 standings with TCU and will learn if they earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday evening with the NCAA Selection Show on ESPNU (8 p.m. CT).
