Stout Defense Propels Cats to Sweep of Roos

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Kansas State Athletics) – K-State picked up 15 total blocks and held Kansas City to a .018 team efficiency Wednesday night, as the Wildcats swept the Roos 25-14, 25-13, 31-29 at Swinney Center.

K-State (9-2) was led by Sydney Bolding’s season-high eight blocks, as she was one of seven players with multiple blocks in the contest. Bolding also added six kills and an ace.

Eight blocks and four aces came in the opening set. The Cats held Kansas City (3-7) to a negative team hitting percentage in each of the first two frames.

The Cats’ offense was led by Elena Baka’s 10 kills, as she picked up seven kills in the second set alone. Shaylee Myers chipped in eight kills off the bench and Haley Warner hit a team-high .455 in tallying seven kills.

K-State owned a 41-27 edge in total kills and a 15-4 advantage in total blocks. Wildcat setter Loren Hinkle and Ava LeGrand dished out 15 assists apiece.

Kansas City’s Odyssey Warren led her team with 10 kills while Carly Gillen was next with six.

Roos libero Kennedy Schritenthal led all players with 17 digs.

FROM THE HEAD COACH
Head coach Suzie Fritz

On K-State’s defensive presence …
“I thought the effort was good. We look a little fresher today than we were last weekend, I think. Defense is so determined by the connectivity between serve productivity, which I think we are really good at right now, to block productivity, which I think we are pretty far ahead, and into that dig to transition phase. Where I thought we weren’t really clean last weekend was that dig to transition phase. It felt pretty good to get some decent swings in transition.”

On K-State’s offensive productivity…
“We still have some personnel I am excited for. I am excited about our outside hitting core. Sydney is wonderfully consistent, in terms of what she’s doing. I think we have two setters who are getting better and better by the day, I think we are growing there but I like the progress that we are making.”

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set One – K-State 25, Kansas City 14
K-State’s defense, behind seven blocks, held Kansas City to a -.143 hitting percentage in the opening set, forcing the Roos into nine errors while allowing only five kills. Kadye Fernholz was a part of four blocks while Baka, Bolding and Hinkle chipped in three blocks apiece.

Four different Wildcats tallied an ace in the set and the offense was led by Bolding’s four kills at a .667 clip. Aliyah Carter added three kills and an ace.

With the score sitting at 14-10 in favor of the Wildcats, a 10-2 scoring run grew to the lead to 23-12. The stretch included four unanswered points behind Mackenzie Morris’ serve. K-State finished the set with a .182 team hitting percentage with eight kills on 22 swings.

Set Two – K-State 25, Kansas City 13
K-State’s offense doubled its kill total from the first, putting down 16 while hitting .452. Baka picked up seven of her 10 kills in the second while hitting .538. Warner added three kills on four attacks and Carter needed five attempts in recording three kills.

The Cats never trailed and, for the second straight set, forced the Roos into more errors (8) than kills (7) for a -.031 team efficiency.

Morris served a five-point run that featured back-to-back kills from Baka. Later, an ace from Morris and a kill from Baka delivered a two-set lead for the Cats.

Set Three – K-State 31, Kansas City 29
The night’s final set held 10 tie scores and four lead changes, as the teams needed extra points to finish the third. K-State fended off three set-point opportunities from the Roos and later converted its fourth set-point attempt to seal the straight-set win.

The Wildcats’ largest lead was just four points at 20-16 before Kansas City rallied to tie the score at 21.

The third set was the only frame in which Kansas City hit at a positive efficiency, producing a .135 mark in recording 15 kills.

K-State turned in a match-high 17 kills and hit .151, with Myers’ six kills leading the team. Baka and Warner each added three kills while the defense picked up five more blocks.

Bolding added three block assists and a solo stuff and LeGrand and Warner pitched in a pair of tandem blocks.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• K-State hit .245 as a team (41 kills, 15 errors, 106 attacks).
• Kansas City finished with a .018 hitting percentage (27 kills, 25 errors, 112 swings).
• K-State has held its opponents below the .200 mark eight times this season and under .100 in four matches.
• Baka led the offense with 10 kills at a .286 efficiency.
• Warner hit a team-best .455 in picking up seven kills.
• Five Wildcats finished with at least five kills.
• Molly Ramsey logged a career-high 10 digs, as she was the only Wildcat in double figures.
• Morris picked up two of K-State’s six aces.
• The Cats have turned in at least five aces in all but out outing this season.
• Bolding’s eight blocks were best among all players, setting a season high.
• Hinkle and LeGrand each handed out 15 assists.
• Hinkle now sits at 91 career service aces.
• Warren led Kansas City with 10 kills and Gillen finished with six.
• Schritenthal carded a match-high 17 digs

NOTES

• K-State leads the all-time series 33-3, dating back to 1974.
• The Wildcats have won the last 30 meetings in the series, their longest active streak against a single opponent.
• Kansas City last defeated K-State in 1977.
• Fritz is 7-0 against the Roos and 23-0 in her career against teams from The Summit League.
• Morris
• The Cats are 6-0 in three-set matches this season (three three-set victories in 2021).
• K-State finished with at least 10 blocks for the fifth time this season and the fourth time over its last five matches.

UP NEXT
K-State makes its way to Houston for the final non-conference weekend at the Adidas Invitational, hosted by the Rice Owls. Over two days, the Wildcats will meet Rice (Friday) and No. 17 Creighton (Saturday). Friday’s contest can be seen free on YouTube while fans can listen to both online at K-StateSports.com/watch and the K-State Sports app.