K-State Falls in Straight Sets to #1 Texas

AUSTIN, Texas (Kansas State Athletics) – After collecting back-to-back conference wins in the last two weeks, Kansas State’s run is cut short by No. 1 ranked Texas. The Wildcats fell to the Longhorns in three sets, 25-16, 25-17, 25-13, at Gregory Gymnasium on Wednesday.

K-State (11-7, 2-3) was paced by juniors Kadye Fernholz and Aliyah Carter on the offensive side, tallying eight and seven kills. Sydney Bolding chipped in six at a team-best .417 hitting percentage and four blocks.

Lauren Hinkle just missed what would have been her fifth double-double with 24 assists and nine digs.

Despite the offensive bright spots, the Longhorns held the Wildcats to a season-low 29 kills (.137) and four team blocks. Texas notched its highest hitting efficiency of the season at .380 (45 kills, 10 errors).

Texas was led by Madisen Skinner with 14 kills (.219) and Logan Eggleston at a .684 pace (13 kills). Eggleston added a match-high four aces while Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres collected her second double-double this year with 11 digs and 29 assists.

Zoe Fleck and Asjia O’Neal paced all players on the defensive end with 13 digs and five block assists, respectively.

FROM THE HEAD COACH
Head coach Suzie Fritz

On the positive players in the match…
“Our middles were a bright spot for us tonight. We woud have liked to get the ball to them a little bit more, but the credit all goes to Kayde, Sydney, and Loren. Overall, it was a pretty good match for Loren Hinkle. Aliyah Carter was another mover. She is someone who gives us everything she has every day and I was happy to see her have a good night. She has been working hard to have that kind of a breakthrough.”

On the team’s overall performance…
“We were prepared going into tonight and I am proud of how composed we were in the match. Coming out of it we want to take the lessons we learned and try to fight for greatness on our side of the net. We want to play with greater consistency and at a higher level of execution.”

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set One – Texas 25, K-State 16
K-State kept step-for-step with the Longhorns on two Shaylee Myers kills, who led the Wildcats with four total for the set.

A five-point run set UT for the largest lead of the game until the Cats cut it to two on Baka’s kill.

Back-to-back kills by Logan Eggleston helped the home side grow the lead to nine. She led all attackers in the first set with seven kills (.778).

Madisen Skinner clinched the set at 25-16 with her fifth kill. The Longhorns swung at a .378 efficiency while holding the Wildcats at .171.

Molly Ramsey secured the only ace of the set.

Set Two – Texas 25, K-State 17
The Wildcats posted their first three points and the lead on Aliyah Carter’s three swings. She led all attackers with five kills at a .154 clip.

Texas tied it up at 4-4 and kept in front the rest of the set. K-State closed the gap to 6-7 until Skinner (4 kills) and Molly Phillips (4 kills, .600) helped propel the Longhorns to the 25-17 finish.

Sydney Bolding collected three block assists and added three kills while Loren Hinkle posted seven assists and two block assits.

Asjia O’Neal turned in two blocks and two kills and Bella Bergmark tabbed three stops at the net.

Both teams weren’t as efficient on the net with K-State holding a .062 hitting percentage and UT swinging at .250 though the teams were almost even on kills (10 KSU and 12 UT).

Set Three – Texas 25, K-State 13
The two teams traded points up to Texas’ 6-4 advantage when the Longhorns hit a five-point run with assistance from Kayla Caffey’s two kills and block assist. She tallied three kills for the set while Skinner led with five.

The Wildcats could not close the gap as Eggleston picked up two aces in a 6-0 run for UT to close the set at 25-13. She tallied four kills with a .800 hitting percentage.

Fernholz picked up three of K-State’s eight kills at a .500 pace. The Cats turned at .179 efficiency while Texas chugged along at a match-high .519 hitting percent.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• K-State hit .137 as a team with a season-low 29 kills (16 errors, 95 attacks).
• Texas finished with a season-high .380 hitting percentage (45 kills, 10 errors, 92 swings).
• Fernholz led the Wildcats for the first time this season with eight kills (.333)
• Bolding produced the highest hitting percentage for the Cats at .417 (six kills)
• Bolding and Ramsey each tallied a service ace
• K-State tallied four team blocks – the lowest of the season
• Texas tied their season-high blocks with 11
• Morris was held to single-digit digs for the first time this season (6)
• Hinkle was one dig short of her second double-double (24 assists, nine digs)
• Skinner and Eggleson paced Texas with 14 and 13 kills apiece
• Eggleson led all players with a .684 clip and four aces
• Ka’aha’aina-Torres collected her second double-double of the season (11 digs, 29 assists)
• Fleck donned 13 digs for a match-best
• O’Neal led with five blocks on the night

NOTES

• Texas leads the all-time series at 48-7 and is 25-3 against the Wildcats in Austin
• The Wildcats last road loss to a ranked opponent was Nov. 19, 2021 at #2 Texas
• The Cats are 8-2 in three-set matches this season
• Both of K-State’s three-set losses this season were in Texas (Texas Tech and Texas)
• Fritz is 3-40 in her career against Texas
• This is the Wildcats’ first loss in the October this season

UP NEXT
K-State returns home to Manhattan, Kansas, to welcome TCU to Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats and the Horned Frogs will face off in a Big 12 battle on Saturday, Oct. 15 with a 6:30 pm. start. The match will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ while Rob Voelker will be on the call online at K-StateSports.com/watch and the K-State Sports app.