MANHATTAN, Kan. (K-State Athletics) – Senior Mackenzie Morris joined the 100 aces club Saturday in helping the Wildcats to their sixth straight victory at home, as K-State completed the series sweep over Texas Tech with a 25-23, 25-14, 25-20, win at Morgan Family Arena Saturday.
K-States home finale of the 2023 regular season was met with the Cats sixth straight match at home, including 18 consecutive set wins.
Morris, a native of Dallas, Texas, recorded her 100th career service ace in the opening set to become the 22nd player in school history to reach the milestone. With three aces in the victory, the Wildcats starting libero now ranks ninth in the rally-scoring era with 102 career aces.
Legendary.#KStateVB x @mackenzmorris22 pic.twitter.com/hPUJDD9a5y
— K-State Volleyball (@KStateVB) November 18, 2023
Two players reached double figures in the Wildcats (16-10, 10-7 Big 12) 13th sweep of the season. K-State collected 48 kills (.252), 42 assists, 51 digs, eight blocks and four service aces.
Redshirt-freshman Aniya Clinton led Cats’ offense with a match-high 12 kills (.207) to go with four digs and two blocks, followed by Aliyah Carter with 11 kills and seven digs.
Izzi Szulczewski and Brenna Schmidt each added eight kills. A product of Beaverton, Ore., Szulczewski dished out 32 assists with 10 digs for her 10th double-double of the season.
Defensively, Morris submitted her 29th career 20-dig match with 21 while senior Sydney Bolding totaled four blocks followed by Szulczewski and Brenna Schmidt with three.
Texas Tech (10-18, 3-13 Big 12) was held to a .153 efficiency with 28 kills led by Cailtin Dugan and Brynn Williams with seven kills each. Reese Rhoades posted 21 assists while Maddie Correa led the backline with 14 digs.
FROM THE WILDCATS
Jason Mansfield, K-State Head Coach
Overall Thoughts…
“It was a special way to end the seniors’ career, winning at home. I can’t remember the last set we’ve lost at home. I was thinking about it today and it’s been a while. We’ve had incredible matches here for a while with a special environment. We needed the crowd today. We didn’t play super clean. But we battled and we found ways to win the points that we needed to. I was proud of us for that. It was just really special to have the seniors win their final match here.”
SET-BY-SET
Set One – K-State 25, Texas Tech 23
Tech collected a 6-0 run to take an 11-6 edge over K-State, forcing a Wildcat timeout.
Following the Cats second timeout, Carter connected on a pass from Morris to ignite a 6-0 scoring run to even the score at 18-all.
With the score at 20-18 in favor of the Red Raiders, the Cats put together a 7-3 closing run to capture the set win.
K-State hit .209 with 17 kills on 43 swings and eight errors led by Carter and Clinton with four each.
Set Two – K-State 25, Texas Tech 14
K-State trailed 8-7 until the Wildcats put together an 11-0 run to grab a substantial 10-point lead, 18-8.
Schmidt laid down the hammer after smashing down her sixth kill of the match on a freeball to deliver the final blow.
The Cats hit .344 with 16 kills in the frame led by five kills from Schmidt.
Set Three – K-State 25, Texas Tech 20
After trailing 10-5, K-State fought its way to level the set at 12-12 before the Cats used a kill from Clinton and ace by Morris to take the go-ahead lead.
Clinton led the Wildcats, who hit .225 with 15 kills, in the third and final set with five hills (.154).
INSIDE THE BOX
- Wildcats completed the season series over Texas Tech (25-23, 25-14, 25-20)
- K-State hit .252 (48 kills, 19 errors)
- The match had 16 scores and nine lead changes
- Carter turned in a match-high 12 kills (.207).
- Carter added 11 kills followed by Szulczewski and Schmidt with eight each.
- Szulczewski had a team-high .583 hitting percentage
- The Beaverton, Ore., product had 31 assists and 10 digs for her 10th double-double
- Morris had a match-high 21 digs, her 29th career 20-dig match
- Bolding turned in a match-high four blocks followed by Szulczewski and Schmidt with three
- The Cats out-blocked the Red Raiders, 8-6.
- TTU hit .153 (28 kills, 13 errors)
- Dugan and Williams led with seven kills each.
BEYOND THE BOX
- The Wildcats have won 18 straight sets at home
- K-State finished 9-4 overall at home, including 7-2 in Big 12 action
- The Cats are 13-4 in three-set matches with eight sweeps at home
- In 28 matches, K-State is 14-1 when winning the first set
- K-State has won six straight matches at home, with four straight sweeps over Top 25 opponents
- K-State leads the all-time series 45-15, and 26-3 at home
WHAT’S NEXT
The Cats conclude the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 25 at Houston with first serve is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start at Fertitta Center. The match can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
Following the match in Houston, K-State will await its postseason fate on Sunday, November 26, with the NCAA Volleyball Selection Show at 5 p.m. CT on ESPNU. The first round of the 2023 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship begins Thursday, November 30 on campus sites.
