Cats Clash with Roos in Kansas City Wednesday

MANHATTAN, Kan. (Kansas State Athletics) – K-State enters its final week of nonconference action, beginning with a Wednesday night stop at Kansas City to face the Roos at Swinney Center at 7 p.m.

K-State (8-2) won three of its four matches last week, including a home win over rival Missouri to go with a 2-1 weekend at the Rambler Challenge in Chicago. Both Sydney Bolding and Mackenzie Morris picked up all-tournament team honors at the Rambler Challenge, as Bolding led the team in blocks and aces while Morris was the team leader in digs.

The Wildcats rank among the nation’s leaders in service aces, with their 81 total aces being ninth-best nationally and tops in the Big 12. Three Cats find themselves in the league’s top 10 in aces per set: Bolding (fourth), Elena Baka (fifth) and Loren Hinkle (eighth).

Following Wednesday’s contest against the Roos, K-State will make its way to Houston, Texas, for matchups with Rice (Friday) and No. 17 Creighton (Saturday) at the Adidas Invitational hosted by the Owls.

Fans can watch Wednesday’s contest at KCRoos.com while Rob Voelker will have the call on News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM). Live audio is also available at K-StateSports.com/watch and via the K-State Sports app.

MATCH #11
K-STATE (8-2, 0-0 BIG 12) at KANSAS CITY (3-6, 0-0 SUMMIT)
Wednesday, Sept. 14 // 7 p.m. // Swinney Center // Kansas City, Mo.
Watch: KCRoos.com
Radio: News Radio KMAN (93.3 FM) (Rob Voelker)
Listen: K-StateSports.com/watch // 1350KMAN.com
Live Stats

K-STATE AT A GLANCE

• K-State heads into its final week of nonconference play, starting with a Wednesday night stop at Kansas City.
• The Wildcats went 3-1 last week after picking up a five-set home win against Missouri before winning two of three contests at the Rambler Challenge during the weekend.
• K-State swept both Rutgers and St. Thomas while dropping a four-set decision at host Loyola Chicago.
• Sydney Bolding and Mackenzie Morris both earned all-tournament team accolades, as each picked up their second such honors of the season.
• Bolding led K-State in both blocks (14) and aces (5), as she matched her career-high with four service aces against St. Thomas – all coming in the match’s opening set.
• Morris logged 48 digs over 10 sets (4.80 per set) to lead the back row and extended her streak to 10 straight outings with 10 or more digs to begin the season.
• A different player led the Cats in kills in all three matches while at the Rambler Challenge.
• Aliyah Carter turned in a team-high 13 against Rutgers, Bolding finished with 11 against Loyola and both Elena Baka and Shaylee Myers logged 11 against St. Thomas.
• Bolding hit. 391 at the Ramblers and Myers hit .474 against the Tommies.
• With the pair of sweeps last weekend, K-State improved to 5-0 in three-set matches, which surpasses last season’s total of three straight-set victories.

SCOUTING KANSAS CITY

• Kansas City (3-6) comes into Wednesday night’s matchup on a three-match losing skid, dropping two matches in its home tournament to Northern Illinois and Wichita State.
• Prior to their home tournament, the Roos took the opening set off Kansas before ultimately falling in four sets at the Swinney Center.
• Odyssey Warren is the Roos’ leader in kills (85), kills per set (2.74) and aces (12) while ranking second with 83 digs (2.68 per set).
• Kimora Whetstone owns a team-best .321 hitting efficiency while also leading her team with 27 total blocks.
• Libero Kennedy Schritenthal ranks second in The Summit League with her 4.26 digs per set.

INSIDE THE SERIES

• K-State and Kansas City will meet for the 36th in the series’ history, with the Wildcats winning 32 of the 25 all-time meetings.
• The Wildcats have defeated the Roos 30 straight times – K-State’s longest active winning streak against a single opponent.
• The series dates back to 1974, with Kansas City’s last victory coming in 1977.
• K-State is 19-0 on the road and made a trip to the Swinney Center in 2018 (won 3-0).
• Head coach Suzie Fritz is 22-0 in her career against teams from The Summit League, including a 1-0 mark this season.

ACES IN SPADES

• Through the first three weeks of the 2022 season, K-State has racked up 81 service aces, which is tops in the Big 12 and ranks ninth nationally.
• Elena Baka is the team leader with 18 aces to rank second in the Big 12 and 22nd in the country while Sydney Bolding’s 17 aces is third in the league and 28th-most in the nation.
• Baka has logged multiple aces six times this season while Bolding has produced a career-best four aces twice this season.
• The team’s 2.19 aces per set also is best in the league while ranking 17th nationally.
• Five times the Cats have eclipsed the 10-ace mark, including in back-to-back matches at the UCF Challenge with 11 against Syracuse and a season-high 12 vs. North Florida.
• The 12 aces were the most in a three-set match since the 2007 season and were tied for fourth-most in the rally-scoring era.
• It was the first time K-State produced back-to-back matches with at least 10 aces since 2007.
• Last season, K-State finished with 10 or more aces just twice.
• Additionally, the five matches with 10 or more aces are the most since a rally-scoring-record seven matches in 2007.
• Currently, three Wildcats rank in the Big 12’s top 10 in aces per set: Bolding (fourth), Baka (fifth) and Loren Hinkle (eighth).

IMMEDIATE IMPACT

• Senior transfer Elena Baka has had an immediate impact through 10 matches with the Wildcats.
• Playing six rotations, Baka leads the team in total kills with 122 while hitting at a .202 efficiency along with a team-high 18 aces.
• The Saint Mary’s transfer set a career-high with 19 kills against UCF on on the way to her second straight all-tournament team selection.
• She has three double-doubles on the season, including 16 kills and a career-best 17 digs against Mizzou last Wednesday.
• Her 18 aces are tops in the Big 12, as she has served up multiple aces six times – including in each of K-State’s first five contests.

BOLDING BREAKING OUT

• Senior middle blocker Sydney Bolding is off to a fast start for K-State in 2022, hitting .344 and averaging 1.97 kills per set with 1.26 blocks per set and 17 aces.
• Bolding has twice produced four aces over the last four matches, with four against Missouri and four coming in the first set along against St. Thomas Saturday.
• The four aces were a career high, as she has five matches with multiple aces this season (two such matches last season).
• She was named to the Rambler Challenge All-Tournament Team, her second all-tournament team selection after also being voted to the K-State Invitational All-Tournament Team.
• Bolding, who missed the first three weeks of the 2021 season due to injury, turned in a .537 hitting percentage in the first weekend and currently leads the team at .344 for the season (eighth in the Big 12).
• The Pickens, South Carolina, product has eclipsed double-figure kills three times this season and has hit .350 or better four times.
• Against NC State, she set a career high with 13 kills while also totaling seven blocks.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• K-State has won the opening set in nine of 10 outings to begin the campaign, going 7-2 in those matches.
• The Wildcats are unbeaten (7-0) when hitting at a higher hitting percentage and producing more kills than their opponents.
• Additionally, the Cats have won all seven matches in which they have limited their opponents to a hitting efficiency under .200.
• With five straight-set victories this season, K-State has already surpassed its total from last season (3).
• The next three-set win will be the 200th sweep under head coach Suzie Fritz.
• Fritz collected her 200th career home win against Missouri last Wednesday and is 14 away from her 400th career win at the helm of the Wildcats.