MORGANTOWN, W.V. (K-State Athletics) – K-State picked up its third consecutive five-set victory Sunday afternoon, as the Wildcats came from behind to defeat West Virginia at WVU Coliseum – 26-24, 22-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-5.
Senior Aliyah Carter accounted for 17 of the Wildcats’ 65 kills while Liz Gregorski and Meg Brown both added 14. Brenna Schmidt, who hit a match-leading .625 efficiency, totaled 10 kills on 16 swings with no errors.
As a team, K-State (6-9, 4-2 Big 12) hit .256 in coming away with its fourth straight win over West Virginia (6-11, 0-6 Big 12).
Gregorski achieved her third double-double of the season in the third, finishing the afternoon with 13 digs to complete the double-double.
WVU, which hit .222 as a team, was led offensively by Hailey Green with 19 kills (.289) and was joined double-figure kills with Cassidy Trenton (18) and Maddy McGarth (14). Middle blocker Laila Ibrahim paced the WVU defense with seven blocks while two Mountaineers reached double-digit digs, led by 19 from Sydney Reed.
The Wildcats held a 13.0-10.0 edge in blocks, getting nine total blocks from Brown and six from Izzi Szulczewski, who handed out a career-high 53 assists to go with nine digs and four kills. Carter added four blocks (2 solo, 2 assists) to reach a team-high 20.0 points alongside Brown.
Senior libero Ella Larkin led all players with 19 digs, marking her ninth match with 15 or more digs. Sophomore Symone Sims accounted for the pair of Wildcat aces on the day.
K-State out-blocked its opponent for the sixth time this season while reaching double figures for the seventh time.
The Cats will face rival No. 8 KU (14-1, 5-0 Big 12) Thursday at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence at 6:30 p.m. for match one of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown. K-State will return to Morgan Family Arena on Thursday, October 24, as the Wildcats host Big 12 newcomer Utah (15-2, 5-1 Big 12).
Tickets are available for all K-State home matches through the K-State Athletics ticket office at 1-800-221-CATS and www.kstatesports.com/tickets, starting at just $10 when purchased in advance.
FROM THE CATS
Jason Mansfield, K-State Head Coach
Overall thoughts on the win…
“Another gritty five-set win for us. Any win in this conference is tough, and coming home from this road trip with two wins is big for us. I thought we played steadily throughout the entire match, and Izzi [Szulczewski] did a great job running the offense and distributing the ball to our attackers. When we can get the ball to Meg [Brown] and Brenna [Schmidt] like that, we become a well-balanced offense.
Our passers fought off a lot of tough serves from a very strong serving team, and our attackers stayed aggressive, especially in key moments towards the end of the first and fourth sets, as well as throughout the fifth set. Our blocking finally came alive in the fourth and fifth sets, and I believe that shift changed the match. I’m excited to get back in the gym, continue improving, and get ready for KU on Thursday.”
SET-BY-SET
Set One – K-State 26, WVU 24
K-State answered WVU’s 5-0 run with four consecutive points to knot the set at 5-all before pulling away with a 7-1 scoring run. The Mountaineers chipped at the Cats’ lead and managed to tie the score 21-21 until back-to-back kills from Myers and Carter handed K-State back the lead.
Tied 24-24, swings from Carter and Brown delivered the final blow. Brown hit a perfect 1.000 in the set (6 kills, 6 attempts), while Carter added five. K-State hit .368 (19 kills, 5 errors, 38 swings) in the first and out-blocked WVU, 2.0-1.0.
Set Two – WVU 25, K-State 22
After battling point-for-point, WVU took advantage of a pair of attack errors and grabbed a two-point lead, 15-13. The Mountaineers put together a 6-1 closing run to even the match and earn their first set win over the Cats since 2021.
WVU forced eight errors from K-State in the second, as the Cats were held to a .179 hitting efficiency behind four kills from both Gregorski and Carter.
Set Three – WVU 25, K-State 22
Following a 4-0 scoring run, the Mountaineers led 15-12 at the media timeout led by three kills from McGarth. WVU stretched its lead out to four, 20-16 and held off K-State to lead the match.
WVU totaled four blocks in the fourth to limit their opponents to a .179 hitting percentage.
Set Four – K-State 25, WVU 22
K-State rallied in the fourth, utilizing two 3-0 runs to lead 18-15. The Wildcats stretched their lead out to five, 22-17, until the Mountaineers answered with a 4-1 scoring run to bring the set within two but kills from Schmidt and Myers forced the fifth set.
Set Five – K-State 15, WVU 5
The Cats turned it on in the fifth, jumping out to a quick 5-1 lead led by a kill and solo block from Schmidt. K-State put the match away with an 8-1 closing run led by back-to-back block assists from Brown and Szulczewski.
INSIDE THE BOX
- K-State picked up its third consecutive five-set victory – 26-24, 22-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-5.
- Carter accounted for 17 of the Wildcats’ 65 kills while Gregorski and Brown both added 14.
- Schmidt hit a match-leading .625 efficiency and totaled 10 kills on 16 swings with no errors.
- K-State hit .256 (65 kills, 23 errors, 164 swings).
- Gregorski achieved her third double-double of the season in the third (14 kills, 13 digs).
- WVU hit .222 as a team led offensively by Green with 19 kills (.289) followed by Trenton (18) and McGarth (14).
- Ibrahim paced the WVU defense with seven blocks while two Mountaineers reached double-digit digs, led by 19 from Reed.
- The Wildcats out-blocked WVU, 13.0-10.0.
- Brown totaled nine blocks followed by six from Szulczewski.
- Szulczewski handed out a career-high 53 assists to go with nine digs and four kills.
- Carter added four blocks (2 solo, 2 assists) to reach a team-high 20.0 points alongside Brown.
- Larkin led all players with 19 digs – ninth match with 15 or more digs this season.
- Sims accounted for two of the Cats’ five service aces.
BEYOND THE BOX
- K-State leads the all-time series 16-8, including a 9-4 edge in Morgantown.
- The Wildcats extended their winning streak to four over the Mountaineers.
- Mansfield is 2-0 against WVU.
- The Mountaineers’ Set 2 victory marked the first set win over K-State since 2021, and first in Morgantown since 2020.
- K-State is 3-1 in five-set matches this season, 5-5 overall under Mansfield.
- Sunday’s match was the first five-set match between the two squads since 2020.
- K-State out-blocked its opponent for the sixth time this season while reaching double figures for the seventh time.
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