| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 13 | 16 | (0) | |
| 25 | 25 | 25 | (3) |
MANHATTAN, Kan. (Kansas State Athletics) – Behind 18 kills at a .516 clip from freshman Shaylee Myers, K-State rolled to a straight-set victory over Florida A&M, 25-14, 25-13, 25-16, to complete an undefeated season-opening weekend and claim the K-State Invitational title Saturday afternoon at Bramlage Coliseum.
The Wildcats (3-0) never trailed in beginning their season with three straight wins for the first time since 2013, holding Florida A&M (0-3) to a -.041 team hitting percentage. K-State’s offense owned a 42-18 edge in total kills while hitting at a .395 pace.
Playing six rotations and averaging 2.60 kills per set and 1.90 digs a set in addition to eight service aces, senior transfer Elena Baka was named K-State Invitational MVP. Baka was joined on the all-tournament team by senior middle blocker Sydney Bolding, who hit .537 in averaging 2.44 kills per set and producing 10 total blocks.
Myers, in her first extended action at outside hitter, turned in 11 kills in the third set alone, needing just 18 swings in committing one error (.556). The Lincoln, Nebraska, product added six kills in the second set and finished the match with four of the Wildcats’ eight aces.
Freshman setter Ava LeGrand also saw action in all three sets, handing out a career-best 31 assists along with five digs. Freshman Brenna Schmidt turned in her first collegiate kill and blocks, as K-State utilized 12 of 13 players on its roster Saturday.
Kadye Fernholz and Haley Warner tied for second on the team with seven kills apiece. Fernholz, who needed just nine attacks, also had a team-high six blocks (five assists, one solo).
As a team, K-State held its opponents to a combined .049 hitting percentage at the K-State Invitational.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set One
K-State tallied the first four points of the match behind the serve of Baka on its way to opening an 11-4 lead over FAMU. Six different Wildcats produced kills in the opening set, with three coming from Baka.
The Cats strung together four different scoring runs of at least three points, including a four-point spurt that included two aces by Myers.
Behind three team blocks, Florida A&M was forced into seven errors while it tallied just seven kills for a .000 team efficiency. Dominique Washington was responsible for five of her team’s seven kills in the stanza.
Set Two
K-State used an early seven-point run to create a 10-3 advantage. The stretch featured kills by four different players in Bolding, Fernholz, Myers and Warner. The Wildcats’ lead swelled to 12 points, 19-7, after another four-point run.
Myers led the offense with six kills on 11 attacks with just one error (.455) while Fernholz added three kills on three swings.
Fernholz and LeGrand each racked up three blocks in helping the Cats to five total blocks, forcing the Rattlers into 10 errors against three kills for a -.280 team hitting percentage. Morris piled up eight of K-State’s 12 digs.
Set Three
Baka’s serve against sparked an early rally, as K-State tallied the first three points of the final set. The Cats’ lead later pushed to nine points at 18-9 following a 4-1 burst, while FAMU managed to string together consecutive points just twice in the third set.
Eleven more kills from Myers upped her match-high total to 18, which equaled the Ratter’s total for the entire match. Myers hit .556 in the final set.
The Cats totaled 18 kills in the frame and hit .417. Warner compiled three kills on just four swings while Fernholz added two kills on three attempts.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
Head coach Suzie Fritz
On using her team’s depth against Florida A&M…
“It’s a good weekend for us. Twenty-four hours to try and play three matches is pretty difficult on a team, so the thing I was most grateful for was we did our job early in the games and use our team and use our personnel and get sone people in the match. That was incredibly beneficial for us and then to sustain a level of consistent level of play as we worked people in and out of the match, that was the part for me that felt really good. It allowed us to put some rested people in and I thought they took advantage of their opportunities.”
On freshman Shaylee Myers’ performance…
“Shaylee does that every day. That doesn’t surprise us because that what’s doing every day. She’s making a run every day and making the outside hitter position really competitive. I think to do that as a freshman, to be able to come in and challenge in the way that she does, they all give us a little bit something different, but I don’t have any doubt she’s going to be in the mix for us.”
On K-State’s offensive balance and setters in the first weekend…
“The better teams we face, you can’t really rely on one or two, but balancing your offense matters a lot. It’s a lot harder to defend, of course, if you can get everyone rolling at the same time. I think we are getting pretty good production. I am really happy with our setters right now. I thought Loren Hinkle was wonderful in the first couple of matches. I think [Ava] LeGrand came in and got us rolling as well. We are really happy. Distribution, a lot of times, is based on two things: your ability to handle the ball and then your setter’s ability to distribute it. I think we are in a good place for this early in the season.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- K-State hit .395 as a team (42 kills, 10 errors, 81 attacks).
- Florida A&M turned in a -.041 hitting percentage (18 kills, 21 errors, 74 swings).
- Myers led all players with 18 kills while hitting .516 (2 errors, 31 swings).
- Myers also added four service aces.
- Baka and Hinkle each served up a pair of aces, as K-State finished with eight in the match.
- Fernholz and Warner each added seven kills, with Fernholz hitting at a .778 clip.
- LeGrand dished out 31 assists along with five digs in her first extended action of the season.
- Morris produced a team-leading 14 digs, finishing with 46 for the weekend.
- The Cats totaled nine team blocks, with Fernholz leading the way with six (five assists, one solo).
- Schmidt recorded her first kill and first blocks of her career.
- K-State utilized 12 of 13 players on its roster.
- Washington led FAMU with nine kills.
- Aja Jones was second for the Rattlers with three kills.
- Libero Brooke Hudson led FAMU with 13 digs.
- Nina Sharpton tallied 16 assists.
NOTES
- K-State leads the all-time series with Florida A&M 3-0.
- K-State starts the season 3-0 for the first time since 2013.
- Morris, a junior, surpassed 800 career digs (812) atter recording 46 over three matches in the opening weekend.
- Hinkle’s five aces this weekend pushed her over 80 career aces, as the senior now sits at 84 career service aces.
K-STATE INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Elena Baka, K-State (MVP)
Sydney Bolding, K-State
Ava Brizard, NC State
Kristen McDaniel, NC State
Madison Dyer, Sam Houston
Dominique Washington, Florida A&M
UP NEXT
K-State heads to Orlando, Florida, for the UCF Challenge, where it will take on Syracuse, North Florida and UCF over three days beginning Thursday. The Cats’ contest at UCF on Saturday will be streamed live on ESPN+ while all three contests will have radio coverage on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM) and online at K-StateSports.com/watch.
