There's some irony here. Oregon is coached by Jim Moore, our coach from 1994-96. He was lured away from us to Texas, because they quadrupled his K-State salary. Jim was unloaded by Texas after a pretty good four-season run, going .689 overall. He's a very good coach, but so is Jerritt Elliott. I also considered Jim Moore to be a very good motivator. It should be interesting. At least we don't have to watch Penn State again.

Look here for the Division I attendance numbers.

Kaitlynn hit .317 this season. She was 3rd in kills, at 3.65 per set, 6th in service aces, and 3rd in points, at 4.43 per set. She constantly turned in digs, with 2.76 per set... second for the team.

Caitlyn ends her K-State career with very impressive numbers. Through Dec. 6, she's 2nd in assists, with 11.63 per set. As of Dec. 3, Caitlyn's #11 in assists in NCAA Division I. She came to us as a defensive specialist, and used those skills to register 2.33 digs per set. To put her contributions in perspective, she leaves K-State in the top 10 in both assists and digs. She'll be remembered as a very versatile player, who could be counted on for consistent excellence.

• Caitlyn Donahue: 1st Team All-Big 12
  In Big 12 competition, Caitlyn averaged 11.79 assists per set, second only to ISU's Alison Landwehr (11.93 assists per set), who was named Setter of the Year. She is also 5th in service aces. What an impressive career she's had, certainly including the fact that she played defense at first. She's one of two Wildcat players to have 1,000 assists and 1,000 digs. Caitlyn's the first setter to make the first team since Gabby Guerre in 2003, when K-State won the Big 12. She was recently named Academic All-Big 12 earlier this month. Oops. I almost failed to mention that Caitlyn is currently 8th in NCAA Division I in assists!

• Kaitlynn Pelger: 1st team All-Big 12, 2nd year, unanimous selection
  In Big 12 competition, our junior middle blocker was 3rd in kills, at 3.83 per set, and 3rd in points, at 4.43 per set. In 2012, Kaitlynn was named National Player of the Week two times, and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week two times.

• Alex Muff: Honorable Mention All-Big 12
  Our senior middle blocker has had a tremendous role in our success this season. In Big 12 competion, Alex is 2nd in blocks, at 1.32 per set, and 9th in hitting percentage, at .312. One of her goals this season was to play a bigger role offensively, and that focus certainly paid off. In NCAA Division I this season, Alex is currently 22nd in blocks, at 1.41 per set. It's been great to watch Alex's success, as I saw every game her dad, Kevin, played in Ahearn Field House from 1984 to 1986. Alex was recently named Academic All-Big 12.

Learn more about Northern Iowa on their volleyball page.

Brookelyn is a 6' 3" OH from Highland, Utah. Coach Fritz said, "Brookelyn provides a big blocking presence for us on the right side. It is a natural strength for her that could allow her to impact our team right away. In addition, we are excited about her potential as an attacker."

Elizabeth is a 5' 9" setter from San Antonio. She lettered in volleyball all four years of high school, while earning academic all-district honors. She'll graduate in December, and will practice with the Cats in spring and summer. Coach Fritz said, "She possesses a high volleyball IQ to go along with her play making ability, and is a confident and dynamic player, with tremendous leadership and communication skills." Kirstin Olsen of ESPNHS Volleyball wrote, "This fiery little setter is fun to watch. She is a great athlete and hustles for every ball. The Kansas State commit sets consistently and will be an asset to the Wildcats in 2013."

Welcome to our two new Cats!

The Cats' hitting percentages in four sets were .036, .130, .026 and .077, for a match average of .072. This is against a team the Cats swept in early October.

Looking first at offense, we won't see as many big numbers in terms of points or kills as usual, but we'll see good efficiency. How about Caitlyn Donahue! She had 40 assists, or 13.3 per set. She leads in Big 12 competition in assists, with 12.24 per set.

There was more balanced scoring than usual. Kaitlynn Pelger led with 15 points, hitting an impressive .500 with 15 kills. Alex Muff, who has been tremendous, was next with 9.5 points, hitting .429. Why did I say Alex was tremendous? As of today, she is 2nd in the Big 12 in hitting percentage, at .362! Courtney Traxson had nine points. Kathleen Ludwig had 8.5 points, and Lilla Porubek had eight. The Cats as a team hit .452 in the second set.

Tristan McCarty led with 12 digs. Kuulei Kabalis and Kathleen Ludwig both had seven. A concern on defense is that the Cats only had three blocks.

There was drama in the third set, which ended 26-24. The Cats slipped a bit after a strong second set, but regained their focus. Kaitlynn Pelger said,

"We actually did a drill this week that pertained to a 24-24 set, and I think that helped us out. We were super excited about it, because that is what we were working on. I mean, we do not want it that close, but it went our way and was really nice."

The big rematch with Iowa State on Wednesday will be on ESPNU at 5 P.M.

On offense, Kaitlynn Pelger led with 17 points and 13 kills. Courtney Traxson had a big night, with 15.5 points, hitting a solid .333. Alex Muff, who has been a force on offense of late, hit .556 for 12.5 points. Kathleen Ludwig also had 12.5 points, hitting .333. Lilla Porubek had 13 points.

On defense, Kathleen Ludwig led with 15 digs! Tristan McCarty was next, with 11.

Caitlyn Donahue had a very busy evening. She had 53 assists, an impressive 13.25 assists per set. Caitlyn's #1 in the Big 12 in assists, averaging 12.17 per set in conference play. She's #7 in NCAA Division I, with 11.84 assists per set for the season.

Big picture, it was a very even game, from several points of view. K-State won by 12 in set one, but KU won by two points in the next three. Both teams had 11 blocks. Sideout percentage was 64% KU to 60% KSU. Hitting was K-State .247, KU .229. There were 30 tied scores.

Caitlyn Donahue had 36 assists. She's currently #1 in the Big 12 in assists at 12.06, and tonight she had 12.0. At last check, she was #7 in Division I in assists.

Kaitlynn Pelger led with 15 points, with 12 kills and and ace. Alex Muff had another excellent match, adding 12.5 points, and hitting an outstanding .455.

On defense, Kuulei Kabalis had 13 digs. Blocking was evenly distributed tonight, and middle blocker Pelger had four.

Texas outhit the Cats, .352 to .207, but led only slightly in blocks, 10 to nine. Texas Coach Jerritt Elliott said,

"Kansas State is very well coached. They are disciplined, they don't make a whole lot of errors and they make you be good. They came out and hit very well in set 2."

The Cats are having an excellent season, now at 20-4, 7-4. Going into tonight's match, Caitlyn Donahue was 1st in the Big 12 in assists, Kathleen Ludwig was 1st in aces, Kaitlynn Pelger was 2nd in kills and 2nd in points, Alex Muff was 3rd in blocks and 6th in hitting percentage. Looking ahead, K-State's #12 RPI and 20 wins position the team very well for postseason play.

The Squawks are up next, at home on Wednesday. As Alex Muff likes to tweet, #catseatbirds.

"We weren't sure how many people were going to come (after the football game), and all of a sudden everyone was here. We looked up and everyone was cheering. We always talk about how amazing the atmosphere is here. It really does affect us and how we play. They get the other team rattled and that really helps us."

It wasn't a night of big numbers enroute to the Cats' 25-16, 25-20, 23-25, 25-17 win, but Baylor had no intention of making it easy. Captain Kathleen Ludwig had an awesome night. She came to play, and was obviously having a great time hitting. The southpaw led with 15 kills and 18.5 points, hitting .273. Add seven digs and an ace. Kaitlynn Pelger was next in points, with 15. She led in hitting percentage at .333, contributing 12 kills, and she was second in digs, with 15, for a double-double. Lilla Porubek had 10 points, Courtney Traxson had 10.5 and Alex Muff had 12, hitting .227.

Caitlyn Donahue and Tristan McCarty each had two aces and 11 digs. Caitlyn added 51 assists to her collection. Kuulei Kabalis led in digs, with 16.

The Cats were a bit inconsistent offensively, as evidenced by their hitting percentages of .231, .359, .026 and .167. For the match, they hit .196, to Baylor's .106. Ultimately, they had 71.5 points, to Baylor's 56. Coach Fritz said,

"I thought we played extremely well. We let Game 3 set slip away from us a bit there, but we gained the momentum back and played really well. I loved our transition game. I thought our blocking was tight, and I thought we did a nice job of touching and turning balls in transition. I am exceptionally proud of them for that, because that is something that we have been working on a lot."

K-State is now 20-3, 7-3 for the season. They have a bye on Wednesday, and will visit Austin on Friday.

The box score doesn't look the way it normally does. I think we had more balanced scoring than usual. Lilla Porubek led with 12 points, from seven kills, .312 hitting, and an impressive four aces! Alex Muff, currently 4th in the Big 12 in hitting percentage, had 9.5 points, from six kills and some blocks. Kaitlynn Pelger and Courtney Traxson had 8.5 points each, and Kathleen Ludwig had 7.5 points. Kaitlynn led with 10 digs, by the way. Caitlyn Donahue had six points, two aces and 27 assists, and she was second in digs, with seven.

As a team, K-State outhit WVU .212 to .022. I think it's safe to say that very low hitting percentage came from the Cats outblocking them 11 to five. Sideouts favored the Cats, 62% to 41%.

Let's all go straight from Bill Snyder Family Stadium to Mike Ahearn Family Field House on Saturday, for a 7:00 P first serve, and a chance to see K-State achieve Sweep Sixteen for the season.

The Cats outhit Tech .318 to .147, with 65 kills to 52. They led in blocks, 12.5 to nine. Another noticeable difference was K-State's sideout results in the first two sets: 85% to 45% and 64% to 36%.

There were some really nice individual numbers. Kaitlyn Pelger led with 21.5 points and 18 kills, on .325 hitting. Alex Muff, who has been focusing on offense of late, had 20.5 points and 17 kills, hitting a blistering .593!! Lilla Porubek added 14.5 points. She had 11 kills, and hit a solid .320. Kathleen Ludwig had 8.5 points, hititng an impressive .400. Kathleen has been serving great, and recorded three aces this afternoon. Oops! I haven't mentioned Caitlyn's 58 assists!

On defense, Kaitlynn Pelger led with 18 digs, followed by Kuulei Kabalis with 12. Kathleen had nine digs, Tristan McCarty had seven and Lilla had six.

Finally, although this one was too close for comfort, this was K-State's 15th consecutive victory over Texas Tech, and our 21st win out of the past 22 meetings. No wonder their coach was so grumpy this afternoon!

"K-State Athletics is encouraging all fans to wear pink to this Saturday's home volleyball match against Texas Tech to support Dig Pink and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. First serve is set for 3 p.m. at Ahearn Field House, and fans who purchase an adult general admission ticket will receive a free general admission youth ticket.

The Wildcats will be wearing pink warm-up shirts, and fans can receive pink Point Cats signs at the Fan Experience and Sales gazebo before the match. Twizzlers and pink popcorn will be available for only $2 at the concessions stand, and health organizations will be on hand with informational tables set up for fans to visit pre-game."

Lilla Porubek led the match in points with 15.5, from 11 kills and .409 hitting. Add two aces and six digs. Kaitlynn Pelger, who's always gettin' it done, had 13 points and 12 kills, hitting .476, and she was second in digs, with nine! Alex Muff had a great afternoon, with 13 points from 10 kills and .400 hitting. She had six block assists.

As a team, K-State (17-2, 4-2) outhit the Purple Amphibians .337 to .238, and led in sideouts, 64% to 49%. Blocks were about equal, at 7.5 to 7.0. Serving was a factor, with 11 aces for the Cats.

In this video, Alex talks about her goal of contributing on offense. It's worth noting that as of today, she's 6th in the Big 12 in hitting percentage, at .311. As to her middle blocker duties, they're just fine, as well, as she's 3rd in the Big 12 in blocks.

I felt that having a strong start was very important tonight. Guess what! The Cats outhit the Cyclones a ridiculously awesome .632 to .053 in set one, which of course means that both their offense and defense were spectacular! Tonight's box score is a thing of beauty. Here's a sample.

Let's start with defense. KSU outblocked ISU nine to four. Caitlyn Donahue, a veteran defensive player turned quarterback, led with 10 digs. Tristan McCarty and Kaitlynn Pelger had nine, Kuulei Kabalis had seven, and Kathleen Ludwig, who's always diggin', had six. Alex Muff led with seven block assists.

The offensive numbers are in front of you, but I'm still giving some shout outs. Kaitlynn Pelger led with 17 points, 16 kills and .556 hitting. Alex Muff and Lilla Porubek tied with 11.5 points, with Alex hitting .500, and Lilla at .391. Courtney Traxson was solid, with .429 hitting, six kills, and 6.5 points. Kathleen Ludwig had seven points. I felt she did a great job serving tonight, with zero errors and an ace.

Caitlyn Donahue did a wonderful job of setting our hitters tonight, logging 38 assists in the process. She was also great on serving, and added the aforementioned 10 digs. Caitlyn leads the Big 12 in Assists, at an amazing 13.10 per set. Tonight she delivered an excellent 12.66 assists per set. Did I mention that Caitlyn's #10 in NCAA Division I in Assists, at 11.92/set for all matches played?

In case you haven't been spending enough time on my site here, I'll remind you that Pelger's leading the Big 12 in Kills, at 4.90 per set. Well, tonight she averaged 5.33 kills per set against a nationally-ranked team. It's no small wonder she's repeated as Big 12 Player o' the Week. "What about points," you ask? Well, Pelger's leading the Big 12 this week in Points, at 5.40 per set. Tonight she delivered 5.66 points per set.

While writing the entry just below yesterday, which was in large part about Kaitlynn's brilliant offensive stats in the Big 12, I thought she should be named Offensive Player o' the Week again. It was a no-brainer, but I wondered if the conference would elect to spread the wealth, since she was recognized two weeks ago today. Nope. They did the right thing, and here we are. How do you overlook #1 in Kills, #1 in Points, #3 in Hitting... and how about her .600 hitting performance against WVU last week?

Kaitlynn is giving well-deserved credit to her teammates, but she is certainly most worthy of this recognition, as well as the All-American status she'll receive in December.

Caitlyn Donahue was awesome, as always. How about 57 assists? That's 14.25 per set. Caitlyn's currently 14^th in Division I in assists, at 11.67. She hasn't lost her touch on defense, adding 10 digs.

Elsewhere on defense, Kuulei Kabalis led with 17 digs, Pelger had 12, Tristan McCarty had 10 and Gina Madonia had seven in just two sets. Therefore, Kaitlynn Pelger recorded another double-double this evening. I thought she had a triple-double, but not according to the official write-up.

K-State edged Baylor in hitting, .255 to .231, while Baylor led in blocks, six to four. The Cats didn't have a strong start, as they hit 0.00 in set one, while Baylor had .320. To their credit, they kept their composure. In fact, in set four we hit .514!!

It was another big night for Kaitlynn Pelger, who clearly is on track for AVCA All-American honors, and will be in the discussion for Big 12 Player of the Year. She led all scorers with 14.5 points, coming from 13 kills on .600 hitting, two aces and nine digs. Kaitlynn said, "We kind of came out and put everything out there. We maxed out and it was awesome." There was unusually-balanced scoring, in part I'm sure because of the ability to substitute more than usual. Lilla Porubek and Alex Muff each had 6.5 points. Alex hit .444! Kathleen Ludwig, still having shoulder troubles, had to sub out after set one. She hit 1.000, and had three kills.

Caitlyn Donahue was as reliable as ever, recording 38 assists, an impressive 11 digs, 4.5 points, .333 hitting, two service aces and a couple of really cool, sneaky kills. Gabby Guerre used to do those, and I love 'em!

Let's hear from Coach Fritz now.

"We served extremely well, which we wanted to get back to a little bit and have that be an identity of our team that we can put a lot of pressure from the service line. Then, we were doing a tremendous job of touching and turning balls into transition, which we take a high priority on. You can't block all the balls. It's just not possible. A good hitter will beat a good blocker every time, but we did a nice job of just putting our hands nice and still and strong over the net, getting a touch or a deflection kicked up; and then we did a nice job of managing that ball and turning it the first time or two in transition, which is a priority we've been working on."

"I think it says she's (Pelger) pretty good and getting better. The thing I was most excited about tonight is something that no one really pays attention to, and that was her passing. She got aced the first ball of the game, and she came back and passed terrific the entire rest of the match. She has been a little frustrated with her passing. She wears a little bit of a target back there because of all the things she does. People are going to serve a lot of balls at her. They are going to make her have to pass, hit and play defense, and try to wear her down a little bit. I thought she handled it great. They served a lot of balls at her, but she passed terrific. She's going to kill a lot balls for us. That's just the way it is. She and (Caitlyn) Donahue have a nice connection, which I think allows her to do that. Part of that is Donahue feeding the bear, as we call it. I think she's a good player."

Caitlyn Donahue had 35 assists. On defense, Kuulei Kabalis led the way, with 14 digs, followed by Kaitlynn Pelger, with nine. The rest of the team shared the remaining digs.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Kaitlynn Pelger, Kansas State, MB, Jr., Olathe, Kan.
Pelger averaged 4.18 kills per set while hitting .440 over the weekend at the Golden Hurricane Classic in Tulsa, Okla. She added 2.45 digs and 1.09 blocks, while her five aces led the team. The Wildcats improved to 12-0 with wins over Tulsa, No. 10 Minnesota and No. 20 Dayton at the event. The junior opened the tournament with a double-double as she posted 11 kills on a .455 hitting percentage to go with 12 digs against Tulsa. Against the Golden Gophers, Pelger played a huge role down the stretch as she led the team with 16 kills. She also added nine digs, five blocks and three aces. Four of her kills came in the shortened fifth set alone as K-State hit an amazing .818 as a team with nine kills and no errors to dominate Minnesota in the deciding set. To close the weekend, the middle blocker pounded out 19 kills and hit an impressive .654 against Dayton. She also recorded six digs, two blocks and a pair of aces. Pelger ranks in the Big 12's top 5 in hitting percentage, kills, service aces and points.

National Player of the Week Kaitlynn Pelger led the way offensively with 22 points. She had 19 kills on an astonishing .654 hitting percentage, had a couple of aces and six digs. Who knows... the Big 12 might even make her Player of the Week (after ignoring all the Cats in the past week's honors). Lilla Porubek had some critical kills, ending with nine, and 10 points on .364 hitting. Alex Muff had some tremendous plays. She had eight points and seven kills, hitting a blistering .556. Kathleen Ludwig had six points. Caitlyn Donahue had 41 assists (a spectacular 13.6 assists per set). The NCAA Division I leader is averaging 12.70 assists per set. Caitlyn is #12 in assists in Division I this week.

Kuulei Kabalis led in digs with 13, followed by Tristan McCarty with 10, Caitlyn Donahue with seven, Kaitlynn Pelger with six and Gina Madonia with five.

As a team, K-State outhit Dayton .352 to .155. Although the first two sets were close by score, K-State was dominant in hitting percentage, thanks to Pelger: .415 to .262, .286 to .111 and .345 to .062. In set three, the Cats posted 8-0 and 5-0 runs. Kaitlynn Pelger has to be named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week!

Confidence, solid senior leadership and great coaching are quite obvious in the best start ever. The Cats' commitment to hard work off-season is another big factor. It's exciting to think what lies ahead this season. Go Cats!

Kaitlynn Pelger was named MVP. Caitlyn Donahue and Kathleen Ludwig were also on the All-Tournament team, which were natural choices.

As the Cats have been accumulating wins this fall, fans have focused on this match as a great opportunity, and a benchmark of where we are. So, obviously, has the K-State Volleyball team. This evening, the Cats believed in themselves, even after a 25-13 loss in set 1. They drew confidence from going 10-1 in five-set thrillers the past two seasons, including that barnburner in Lincoln in December.

It was a disappointing set 1. The Gophers outhit .269 to –.172. Sideout percentage was 69% to 36%. But... any volleyball fan knows the second set can be much better or worse than the first. K-State stepped up, hitting .345 to .308, turning around sideouts, 63% to 56%. Set scores were 13-25, 25-22, 16-25, 25-19 and 15-7.

Set 5 was pretty amazing. For example: K-State hit .818 to Minnesota's .188. I'd never heard of such a set 5 domination, because generally if teams go to five, they're pretty evenly-matched. The Cats' sideouts in set 5 were 100% to 50%.

Individually, Kathleen "Southpaw" Ludwig had one of her best career matches. She was a force! She had 18 points, 16 kills, hit .324 and had five digs. National Player of the Week Kaitlynn Pelger led with 21.5 points, coming from 16 kills on .278 hitting, three aces and five block assists. Lilli Porubek had 10.5 points, 10 kills and four digs. Alex Muff had nine points and seven kills, hitting .250. Dakota Kaufman had 6.5 points on five kills and some blocks.

Caitlyn Donahue had 49 assists, and hasn't lost her skills on defense. She had 10 digs.

David Wiechmann reports that this is the sixth time K-State has beaten an AVCA Top 10-ranked team. He also gives us these fun facts:

Minnesota entered the match with the highest hitting percentage in the nation at .366, and was held to .239. The Gophers also brought the No. 1 attacker in the nation in Tori Dixon. Dixon came into this week's tournament hitting .551, and the Wildcats limited her to just .091 with seven kills.

Tristan McCarty led with 13 digs, Kaitlynn had 12, Kuulei Kabalis had 11, Caitlyn had seven and Kathleen Ludwig had six.

Kaitlynn "Player of the Week" (a.k.a. "Double-Double") Pelger and Kathleen "Southpaw" Ludwig both led with 13.5 points. Lilla Porubek had 10 points. There was some efficient hitting. Caitlyn hit .600(!) with six kills. She had 34 assists. Kaitlynn hit .455, with 11 kills. Kathleen had 10 points, hitting .364. K-State led in hitting efficiency, at .214, while Tulsa was held to .083, thanks to the aforementioned top-quality blocking. We like aces at K-State. Kathleen and Tristan each had two.

K-STATEHD.TV has highlights. I think this is free content.

The Collegiate Volleyball Update (CVU.com) is pleased to announce that Kansas State junior Kaitlynn Pelger has been selected as the CVU.com National Player of the Week for Sept. 3 through Sept. 9.

A 6-2 middle blocker from Olathe, Kansas, Pelger picks up the award for the second time in her career as she has the Wildcats off to a school-record 9-0 start.

Playing all six rotations as a middle blocker, Pelger not only led the defense at the net, but she also anchored the back row and paced the attacking, leading the team in kills, blocks and digs through three matches last week.

Starting with a sweep of Missouri State, the junior posted the first of two weekend double-doubles, notching team highs with 11 kills and 10 blocks, also adding seven digs while hitting .304. That was followed up with an eight-kill match in a sweep of Saint Mary's.

Finally, Pelger ended the weekend with another double-double, this time adding digs to the mix. In a 3-0 win over Utah State, the middle had 11 more kills, 12 digs and six blocks. For the weekend she averaged 3.33 kills, 2.56 digs and 2.11 blocks per set.

This is the third time a Wildcat has been recognized with the CVU.com weekly award, and the second of Pelger's career, as she picked up the honor last season.

Utah State had aggressive serving, leading in aces seven to 0, but the Cats clawed back as necessary, especially in the third set. Our Cats outhit the Aggies .361 to .229, .194 to .119 and .229 to –.061, and had a slight edge in blocking, 10 to eight. Hitting percentage for the match was Cats: .262 to Aggies: .100.

Tonight's box score was incomplete, but my arithmetic shows that Kaitlynn Pelger led with 17 points, recording a double-double on 12 digs (!) and 11 kills, hitting .259. Kathleen Ludwig had 7½ points, and hit a spectacular .667. Lilla Porubek had nine kills, hitting .296, and added five digs. Alex Muff hit a solid .300, with six kills and two blocks.

Caitlyn Donahue had 35 assists and five digs.

It's never a dull moment, as next week K-State will face Dayton (#10 AVCA) and Minnesota (#14 AVCA) in Tulsa. The Gophers knocked off Texas a couple of days ago.

Senior southpaw, #5 Kathleen Ludwig, led all scorers with 13.5 points. She had nine kills, and hit .600! She had seven block assists and an ace. Lilla Porubek also had 13.5 points and 11 kills. Kaitlynn Pelger had 9.5 points from eight kills. She hit .300. Dakota Kaufman had a solid night on offense, with 7.5 points and seven kills.

Caitlyn Donahue turned in 30 assists, and she had nine digs.

Tristan McCarty led in digs, with 10. Again, Caitlyn had nine, and Kuulei Kabalis had seven.

K-State hit .247, to St. Mary's at .142. The Cats led on blocks, at 13 to nine. Of the evening's defense, Kathleen said,

"We have spent quite a bit of time focusing on those out-of-system situations, and taking advantage of our serving pressure by putting up a better block, and getting better touches so that we can do what we do in transition. It is really exciting, and we feel that we are mindful about it. We can talk about it during plays, and recognize situations to do what we need to do."

"Alex has always been our defensive anchor. She blocks the most balls, and she is the most physical player we have at the net. To see her be able to do some of the other things she is doing right now, in terms of the offense that she is providing, she has got significantly better behind the setter attacking and making little plays in and around the net. She is a volleyball player. When she came to us, those were not some of the things she was able to do, and to be able to watch her game really come together is really special."

On defense, Tristan McCarty led with nine digs, Kaitlynn Pelger had seven and Kuulei Kabalis had five.

There was some concern that Syracuse is a physical team, but once again, the Cats dominated in several statistical categories: hitting: .374 to .253, points: 59 to 34, sideouts: 76% to 47% and kills: 50 to 29. One category that ended even was blocks, at a fairly low four per team.

Caitlyn Donahue may find herself with Player of the Week honors. She had 41 assists for three sets, or 13.6 per set. For the three Creighton matches, she had 118 assists over nine sets, or an average of 13.1 per set. As mentioned below, the 2011 Division I season leader averaged 12.3 assists per set. Caitlyn added five kills on .500 hitting, tossed in a service ace, had five digs and seven points.

Lilla Porubek led with 13.5 points, hitting .391, and led with 10 kills. Kaitlynn Pelger had her usual fine outing, with 10.5 points and nine kills, hitting .438! Chelsea Keating did great. She had 9.5 points, nine kills and also hit .438. Kathleen Ludwig unfortunately didn't play. She's been having trouble with a lingering shoulder injury. We hope she's better very soon. Taylor Johson had 7.5 points, seven kills and .385 hitting. Dakota Kaufman added six points and six kills. On defense, Kaitlynn Pelger was a major player, as usual, leading with 10 digs. Kuulei Kabalis had eight digs.

The second set must have been a barnburner for the Cats. They led in sideouts, 85% to 45%, and outhit Syracuse .324 to .095. As noted earlier, the score was 25-14.

The Cats have a busy week ahead, with visits from Missouri State on Wednesday, St. Mary's on Thursday and Utah State on Saturday.

Bluejay Invitational All-Tournament Team:
Kaitlynn Pelger, Kansas State (MVP)
Caitlyn Donahue, Kansas State
Lila Porubek, Kansas State
Kelli Browning, Creighton
Colleen King, Denver
Lindsay McCabe, Syracuse

There were some strong Cat performances, and let's start with senior setter Caitlyn Donahue, who logged 40 assists (13.3 per set). Last year's NCAA season leader had 12.27 assists per set. Add five digs and an ace. Lilla Porubek had a big match, leading with with 18 points, 16 kills and .341 hitting. Kaitlynn Pelger had 14.5 points and eight kills. Along with that, write down a team-high 14 digs! Kathleen Ludwig also had eight kills, and as usual, added digs... seven, to be exact. Alex Muff had 11 points and seven kills. She led in blocks, with four. Kuulei Kabalis had 12 digs.

Set three looked to be a blowout, with the Cats on a 12-0 scoring run, but Creighton came back after lagging behind 18-5. Final scores were 25-22, 25-18 and 25-21.

Alex Muff played a big part in a strong start, hitting 1.000 for a good stretch, and ending with 11 kills, and hitting .500. She led with 13 points. Kaitlynn Pelger had a fine afternoon. She had 12 points on 8 kills and 2 blocks, hitting .429. Add two aces and eight digs. Caitlyn Donahue was awesome, as usual, with 37 assists and five digs. Lilla Porubek was solid offensively, with eight kills, hitting .273. Kuulei Kabalis led with digs, logging 14. Also, 14 is the number of Cats who saw action this afternoon. By the way, Taylor Johnson hit 1.000 today.

The Cats probably underestimated Oregon State a bit. They had a 16-16 2011 season, but wins don't come easily in the Pac 12. Kaitlynn said of the win,

"It was awesome. We did not expect them to be as scrappy as they were. We knew that they would be the better team out of the tournament. We saw some long rallies and heroic plays from both teams. They were awesome. They kept balls alive and they kept us on our toes. We kind of lost ourselves in the third match. They put it on us and we needed that and we came back to win this game."

K-State outhit Oregon State .224 to .211, and Oregon State outblocked 12 to 9. Oregon State coach Taras Liskevych said,

"First of all, that was a great match. I'm proud of this team, they really fought hard. This is a tough place to play, that has great ambiance. The crowd is into it. That is a veteran team we played led by seniors and juniors that went to the Sweet 16 last year."

Named to the tournament team were:
Caitlyn Donahue, K-State - MVP
Kaitlynn Pelger, K-State
Lilla Porubek, K-State
Camille Saxton, Oregon State
Ashley Eneliko, Oregon State
Aly Squires, UC Irvine

There were some fine individual performances. Kaitlynn Pelger led with 16 points, hitting .360, adding four aces and seven digs. Alex Muff's work was more on offense than blocks. She had 9.5 points, and hit an outstanding .500. Caitlyn Donahue, enroute to the MVP award, had 34 assists and six digs. It was great to see Chelsea Keating in there. She added six points, and hit .273. Gina Madonia had 15 digs, and Tristan McCarty had 13. I wondered during the match why it wasn't easier. A look at last year's NCAA records showed that Oakland was #3 in Division I in digs per set.

K-State outhit Oakland .312 to .159, and surpassed them in sideouts, 71% to 47%, enroute to a 25-18, 25-13, 25-19 Wildcat victory.

As often happens after a blistering-hot set one, the next set was somewhat more competitive, with some Cat starters on the sidelines quite a bit. The outcome was never in doubt, and the final score was 25-18.

The Cats came back strong after the break, even with Lilla on the sidelines, twice as effective on sideouts at 84% to 41%, and a set three score of 25-12.

The numbers tell the story pretty well. For the match, the Cats outhit the Anteaters .276 to .000. Caitlyn Donahue had 30 assists. (She averaged 11.22 per set in 2011... second in the Big 12.) With her 12 digs, Caitlyn registered her first double-double of the season. Kuulei Kabalis had 13 digs. Dakota Kaufman hit .500. I want to give a nod to the fans. Last season, K-State was #22 in Division I in attendance, averaging 1,555 per match. Tonight's attendance was 2,715! A lot of students overflowed to the balcony, which is often occupied by junior high and high school teams. Finally, thanks to the Athletics administration for supporting Volleyball, with a lot of new purple paint, all new banners, a new press box and new scoreboards.

Fans' first chance to see the Cats will be the annual Purple-White game on Saturday, August 18, at 7 p.m.

Coach Fritz held a coaching clinic this weekend. They went all out and put down the court, whereas in many years these April competitions take place up in the gym. K-State had defeated Missouri twice in the 2011 season, both with 3-2 outcomes, and were victorious this afternoon, 25-18, 26-24, 16-25. (They stopped with three sets.)

I'm not sure what happened in the third set, but the Cats looked very sharp to me in the first two. They seemed very focused, and they made some highly athletic moves to keep the ball in play.

I'd like to thank the Cats for all of their hard work this spring semester. I know from reading tweets that they were up very early for weight training, and there was lots of hard work going on. They're going to have a fine season when the NCAA lets them play again on August 24.

On April 7, K-State will meet Illinois in Springfield, Mo. Illinois lost the national championship game to UCLA. The two teams will play twice that day.

The Cats will make the quick trip to Kearney, Nebraska on April 21. Participating teams will be Northern Colorado, Wyoming, Creighton, KU and host UN-Kearney.

K-State will host a coaching clinic on April 28 in Ahearn, where the Cats and Missouri will play at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Katie played various sports in high school, and was All-State in basketball. She will be the Cats' setter after Caitlyn's senior season. It'll be interesting to see if she redshirts. With Ashley Kelican off to Vet School, there's no back-up setter if Katie redshirts. Time will tell. Regardless, she is a tremendous addition to the team.