AUSTIN, Texas (Kansas State Sports Information) – No. 2 Texas’ offense hit at a .398 clip, led by Skylar Fields’ .448 efficiency, as the Longhorns picked up a three-set victory (25-16, 25-16, 25-15) over K-State Thursday night at Gregory Gymnasium.
Fields led all players with her 13 kills, while teammate Logan Eggleston put down a dozen kills at a .400 pace. The .398 team efficiency by Texas (21-1, 12-1 Big 12) equaled a season high by a K-State (15-9, 6-7 Big 12) opponent.
The Wildcats were led by 10 kills apiece from Holly Bonde and Aliyah Carter. Bonde and Carter accounted for 20 of K-State’s 27 kills on the night, as UT limited the Cats to a .099 hitting percentage.
“Serving wise, we felt like we needed to take some chances a little bit to try and keep them out of system as much as we could,” said head coach Suzie Fritz. “On the season, they’re hitting in the upper .300’s and siding out at better than 70 percent. The goal was to try get them down to about .300, so we knew we had to take some chances with our serving.
“Thinking about tomorrow, we are going to have to be better in serve and pass, for sure, and find ways to slow them down. Which is, I think, a difficult challenge.”
K-State finished with eight service errors against three aces, while Texas tallied nine aces in the match.
Bonde’s .241 attacking efficiency led the Cats. Through two sets, the redshirt junior posted eight kills on 18 swings with a single error for a .389 mark.
“I thought Holly Bonde had good night and I was excited to see her perform well,” Fritz added. “She continues to be creative with her swings and find ways to create offense. Her kill production was really good tonight.”
Bonde has turned in double-digit kills 10 times this season and in four of her last five contests. Her 205 kills on the season are a career high and ranks second on the team (Carter).
Texas extended its home winning streak against Big 12 foes to 56 matches, a span that stretches to 2014. UT, who has not lost a set at home this season to a conference opponent, improved to 13-0 at home.
Texas collected four service aces and four blocks during its opening-set victory, as the Longhorns put together three different scoring runs of three points before closing the set with five consecutive points.
The Wildcats were hurt by five service errors in the set, as the Longhorns tallied just one more kill than K-State, 12-11. Bonde picked up four kills in the set, hitting .300, while Carter added three. Eggleston led UT with four kills.
The Longhorns’ offense hit at a .500 pace in leading throughout the second set, picking up 14 kills with just one error on 26 swings. Eggleston and Fields each posted seven kills through two sets to lead the UT offense.
In the second, Texas used an early four-point burst to claim a 5-1 lead. The Cats’ deficit reached eight points, 18-10, after a second four-point run that featured a pair of Fields kills. K-State fended off three set-point tries with kills from Teana Adams-Kaonohi and Bonde.
The Cats were held to a .152 mark, committing six errors while registering 11 kills. Carter accounted for five kills while Bonde put down four, needing just eight swings in hitting .500.
After K-State tallied the first two points of the third, Texas went on the score nine of the next 10, including a string of seven straight points to stake a 9-3 edge.
Fields picked up six kills in the final set while Eggleston tallied five. Texas hit .323 in closing out the match while the Cats committed more errors (8) than kills (5) for a -.103 mark. Bonde and Carter each registered two kills.
Texas setter Jhenna Gabriel turned in a double-double, handing out 22 assists to go with a match-best 10 digs.
Adams-Kaonohi dished out 20 assists along with two digs and an ace.
The Longhorns finished with seven total blocks to K-State’s two. Kadye Fernholz was in on both Wildcat blocks.
Adams-Kaonohi, Fernholz and Haley Warner all finished with two kills each.
The sides conclude the two-match series Friday at 7 p.m.
