MANHATTAN, Kan. (K-State Athletics) – Aliyah Carter and Aniya Clinton combined for 35 kills Friday night, as K-State cruised past Texas Tech in a 25-20, 25-21, 25-10, victory in front of a sell-out crowd at Morgan Family Arena on Senior Night.
K-State (15-10, 9-7 Big 12) hit .316 (47 kills, 10 errors) on its way to its fifth consecutive win at home, all coming in sweeps. The Wildcats improved to 8-4 overall at home, including a 6-2 home record in Big 12 action.
Carter, the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, tallied a match-high 17 kills to go along with six digs and an ace to end the night with 18 points. Clinton added 15 kills with just two errors for a .371 hitting percentage. Izzi Szulczewski dished out 34 assists alongside five digs and three kills.
Senior libero Mackenzie Morris recorded 18 digs, as the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week is now just five digs away from reaching 1,700 and one service ace from 100. Sydney Bolding turned in six a match-high six blocks followed by Kadye Fernholz and Szulczewski each with three.
Texas Tech (10-17, 3-12 Big 12) was led offensively by outside hitter Caitlin Dugan who collected 10 kills (.172). Maddie Correa and Brynn Williams each posted 11 digs while Reese Rhoades paces the Red Raiders with 26 assists.
SET-BY-SET
Set One – K-State 25, Texas Tech 20
The Wildcats quickly jumped out to a 5-2 lead before expanding their lead out to eight, 19-11, their largest lead of the set.
Tech brought the set within four, 19-15, to force a timeout from K-State but immediately put together a 3-0 run to take control of the set.
Carter led the K-State offense that hit .317 with a set-high seven kills (.375) followed by Clinton with four.
Set Two – K-State 25, Texas Tech 21
K-State pieced together a 7-0 run to take a seven-point lead, 12-5, behind seven straight serves from Morris and back-to-back blocks from Szulczewski and Bolding.
A kill from Dugan snapped the Cats run to help Tech use a 6-2 run, cutting K-States lead to four.
Tech fought its way to a two-point deficit, forcing a timeout from K-State. With the score at 22-20, K-State used a 3-1 closing run to put away the set.
K-State hit .256 (15 kills, two errors) led by Clinton and Carter who combined for 13 kills. The Cats defense held Tech to a .132 efficiency, out-blocking the Raiders 3.0-1.0 with 17 digs.
Set Three – K-State 25, Texas Tech 10
The Wildcat defense shut down TTU in the third and final set, allowing the Red Raiders to accumulate just four kills on 34 swings for a -.088 hitting percentage.
FROM THE WILDCATS
Jason Mansfield, K-State Head Coach
Overall Thoughts…
“It was a weird match, and there wasn’t a lot of rhythm to it, you know? But I’m proud that we battled and found a way to pull it out. I think after the second set break, we settled down, and we played a lot more consistently in the third, which I’m very proud of. They’re a good team, playing good defense, taking big swings, and I’m just glad that we steadied out and stayed aggressive offensively. I think that was probably the biggest difference. We made some great plays defensively, but it’s a tough team to beat, and we’ve got to figure out how to be a little bit better for tomorrow.”
On the 2023 senior class…
“It’s a special group. Their legacy is left in the younger players and how they showed up every day, how they competed, and how they grew. I’ve only been around them for 10 months, but it’s a special group, and I’ve seen growth in all of them. And to me, that’s the most important thing—obviously, great volleyball players, but they’re even better people. I love that they’re my first senior class, and I’m never going to forget them.”
INSIDE THE BOX
- Wildcats swept past Texas Tech, 25-20, 25-22, 25-10, Friday night
- K-State hit .316 with 47 kills (10 errors)
- The match had just six tie scores and only two lead changes
- Carter turned in a match-high 17 kills (.168).
- Clinton added 15 kills with a .371 efficiency
- Fernholz had a team-high .400 hitting percentage
- Morris had a match-high 18 digs with no reception errors
- Szulczewski dished out a match-high 34 assists with three kills (.857) and five digs
- Bolding turned in a match-high six blocks
- The Cats out-blocked the Red Raiders, 8-3.
- TTU hit .093 (29 kills, 19 errors)
- Dugan led with a team-high 10 kills (.172)
BEYOND THE BOX
- The Wildcats have won 15 straight sets at home
- K-State improves to 8-4 overall at home, 6-2 in Big 12 action
- The Cats are 12-4 in three-set matches with seven sweeps at home
- In 27 matches, K-State is 13-1 when winning the first set
- K-State has won five straight matches at home, with four straight sweeps over Top 25 opponents
- K-State leads the all-time series 44-15, and 25-3 at home
WHAT’S NEXT
The home finale of the regular season is slated for a 3 p.m. first serve Saturday at Morgan Family Arena and can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
