MANHATTAN, Kan. (K-State Athletics) – For the first time in 20 years, the Wildcats put away a Top 10 victory at home as K-State downed No. 8 BYU in straight sets at Morgan Family Arena, 25-18, 25-16, 25-19.
The Cats (12-8, 6-5 Big 12) rallied behind a .382 hitting percentage and 31 kills from Aliyah Carter and Aniya Clinton to capture the program’s first home defeat over a Top 10 opponent since Nov. 15, 2003, where K-State took down No. 10 Nebraska. The victory also marked the first Top 10 win under head coach Jason Mansfield.
K-State came out on top in each of the seven major statistical categories – hitting percentage (.382), points (56.0), kills (42), aces (5), blocks (9.0), digs (44) and assists (40) – on its way to collecting its third upset of the season.
Carter, a native of Dubuque, Iowa, paced both squads with 18 kills while hitting .317 followed by Clinton with 13 and an incredible .684 efficiency.
Izzi Szulczewski dished out 27 assists to guide the 5-1 offense alongside a match-high 11 digs to pick up her seventh double-double at K-State. Carter added 10 digs to the board for her 23rd career double-double.
The Cats defense forced 23 errors from the Cougars (18-4, 7-3 Big 12), limiting BYU to a .075 hitting percentage – its lowest of the season. K-State out-blocked BYU 9.0-6.0 with five from Sydney Bolding.
Mackenzie Morris tallied nine digs with 11 receptions while freshman Symone Sims recorded 12 receptions in the back row.
The Cougars were led by Erin Livingston with 12 kills (.179) while Kate Prior added eight.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
Head Coach Jason Mansfield
Overall Statement…
“It was big. We don’t talk like a ton about rankings or the quality of the team, we just try to focus on their strengths, how we’re going to try to slow them down and be consistent. We did the work the last couple days of trying to figure out how to slow them down offensively. They’re a really good offensive team, and I think our defense did a great job tonight. Offensively, we looked really good tonight, specifically from Aliyah and Aniya. Really proud of the group. I mean, it felt like a blur. We played so consistently, and just made play after play after play. Every time they made a little bit of a run, we stopped it, with a really good play. That’s the type of team that I know we can be. So, it was awesome.”
On first Top 10 win as a head coach
“It feels great. It always feels great to win, no matter who we play. It certainly feels good to beat a really, really good team that’s been incredibly consistent this year and has been a challenge for everyone they’ve played. It’s weird because now we have to try to do it again tomorrow. We should feel good with how well we played tonight, but as I told the girls, we have to anticipate they’re going to be better. They’re going to know the environment that they’re in now, and they’re going to know how good we are. Knowing that program and their coach, I would anticipate them stepping their game up.”
On the dominating offensive performance…
“We want to be a complete team. We leaned a lot on our defense in the 6-2 and we really slowed teams down, but as I said earlier, in volleyball, you have to score 25 points, and the easiest way to do that is get kills. With our passing improving with Symone in there and having Aliyah and Aniya hit a lot of balls for us just makes a lot of sense. They’re able to get kills and put a lot of pressure on the defense. It feels really good when we slow a team down defensively and click like we did offensively. That’s the team that we can be.”
SET-BY-SET
Set One – K-State 25, BYU 18
After back-and-forth action, K-State broke away with a four-point lead, 13-9, with the help of a kill by Carter to force a BYU timeout.
An overturned call in favor of the Cats led to a four-point advantage, 15-11. The Wildcats used a 6-2 closing run to capture the first set victory.
K-State captured an incredible .400 hitting percentage in the set with 14 kills on 30 swings with just two errors led by Carter. The senior posted eight kills to the board at a .412 clip followed by Clinton with four.
The Cats out-blocked the Cougars, 4.0-1.0, with 18 digs.
Set Two – K-State 25, BYU 16
With a one-point lead, the Wildcats won their second challenge to keep momentum. K-State scored five straight points behind four serves from Szulczewski to cushion the Cats 20-13 lead.
The Cats continued the dominance in the second with 15 kills (.400) with Clinton and Carter combing for 11 kills while Clinton hit .750.
Set Three – K-State 25, BYU 19
For just the fourth time of the night, the Cougars took a 8-6 edge over the Cats but the lead was short-lived as a kill from Szulczewski ignited a 8-1 run.
BYU brought the score within one, 16-15, to force a timeout from K-State. The energy shifted back to the Cats bench when Carter tallied her 18th kill followed by her lone ace to extend the lead to three.
A pair of kills from Clinton powered K-State to collect the final set win.
K-State hit .345 (13 kills, 3 errors) while holding BYU to a .034 efficiency led by Carter with five while Clinton added three alongside two from Kady Fernholz and Szulczewski.
INSIDE THE BOX
- K-State downed #8 BYU in straight sets, 25-18, 25-16, 25-19
- K-State turned in a .382 hitting percentage (42 kills, eight errors)
- The Cats served up five service errors led by Bolding with two
- Carter led K-State with 18 kills hitting .317.
- Clinton finished with 13 kills at .684 a clip.
- Thursday’s match saw 15 tie scores with just seven lead changes.
- Szulczewski dished out 27 assists with 11 digs.
- K-State out-blocked the Cougars, 9.0-6.0
- Bolding added five blocks.
- BYU was held to a season-low .075 efficiency (31 kills, 23 errors)
- Livingston was the lone Cougar to produce double-digit kills with 12.
BEYOND THE BOX
- First Top 10 win at home since 2003; 3-1 over #10 Nebraska (Nov. 15)
- Jason Mansfield picked up his Top 10 victory as a head coach.
- K-State is 10-1 when winning the first set.
- Szulczewski and Carter each picked up a double-double.
- The Cats are 3-2 against ranked opponents, 1-1 at home vs. Top 25 teams.
- K-State is 5-4 when playing at home this season, 3-2 in conference.
- K-State is 9-3 in three-set matches.
- BYU leads the all-time series 3-2 with the series tied 1-1 in Manhattan.
WHAT’S NEXT
The second matchup between the Wildcats and Cougars is scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. inside Morgan Family Arena. Friday’s match can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
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