D. Scott Fritchen reports that Shay was a First Team Super-State player, with 1,536 career kills and 161 aces. She averaged .372 hitting in her senior year! Coach Fritz described Shay as "a versatile and powerful attacker, with a well-rounded skill set, hard-working and academically driven."

K-State swiped our new 6' 0" OH from Fresno State, as well as the back yard of NU. We'll send them a card or something.

Shay is officially enrolled this summer, as a freshman in English.

Shay, in her final season, had about 489 kills, hitting an amazing .372. Along with that, she contributed 303 digs, 44 blocks and 35 aces, and finished as her school's career leader in kills, with 1,536! Here's her announcement tweet.

Shaylee Myers

Here are some of her accomplishments:
   • team-leading 431 kills and 4.03 kills per set
   • 2nd in the Big 12 and 44th in the U.S. in kills per set
   • career highs in digs (269), aces (19) and blocks (52)
   • average 4.06 kills per set is 1st for KSU in the rally scoring era
   • 13 double-doubles

There were some bright spots on offense. Haley Warner hit .375, with 8 kills. Kadye Fernholz hit .333, with 6 kills. Aliyah Carter led with 9 kills, but was in negative numbers with hitting, as was Holly Bonde, with 7 kills. Holly has given us tremendous matches over her time at K-State. I will miss her so much! Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 25 assists, 7 digs and 2 aces.

On defense, the Cats had 1 block, to FSU's 6, but was close in digs (43 to 50). Mackenzie Morris led with 9 digs, Aliyah Carter had 8, Teana added 7, and Jacque Smith and Loren Hinkle added 6 each. We had a scare with Mackenzie Morris, who had some sort of mishap on the court, but I'm very thankful that she was able to return to play, after some recovery time.

To conclude for now, I had a wonderful time watching the Cats this season, and I'm ready to start the next season next week. Some highlights were winning 2 of 3 at the Gaucho Invitational in California, sweeping the K-State Invitational, sweeping Missouri, sweeping Texas Tech, and getting the first win at Iowa State since 2007!!

To all our Volleycats and staff... thanks for the memories!!

Florida State (19-9) isn't seeded in the tournament. The Cats' (15-12) RPI, posted today, is 47, and Florida State's is 19. Here's the NCAA's Tournament Bracket, and be sure to have a look at K-State Volleyball's announcement!

This is great. The Cats, until today, have been carrying a 30-something NCAA RPI. Last year, in a week when they were ranked #10 in the AVCA poll, the Volleycats weren't invited to the NCAA Tournament, after the field had been reduced from 64 to 48.

Here's the announcement from K-State Athletics. This facility will demonstrate K-State's commitment to our beloved Volleyball program. Since our players will practice there, it will have them much closer to resources in the Vanier Complex, meals at the West Stadium Center, etc. The program won't need to coordinate practices, camps, etc. with Basketball and Track. The $24,000,000 facility will be done in under two years. Here's information on the facilities master plan.

Ultimately, the Squawks swept the series. Tonight's outcome was (KU/KSU): 21-25, 20-25, 25-16, 25-21, 15-12. Five more points (in Set 5) would have won this for K-State.

On offense, the Aliyah Carter had a very busy evening. She led with 19.5 points and 18 kills, although her hitting % was low. Kadye Fernholz was next with 13.5 points and 11 kills, and she hit an excellent .333. Holly Bonde, who I will miss greatly, had 11.5 points and 11 kills. Hayley Warner had 10 points and 8 kills, and she hit a solid .304. Sydney Bolding had 6 kills, with solid .312 hitting. Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 48 assists. At the end, KU had .222 hitting, and the Cats hit .206, but KU prevailed more strongly in kills, 71 to 56. K-State had 7 aces, and KU had 6.

On defense, both teams had 10 blocks. Sydney Bolding and Kadye Fernholz each had 5 block assists. Teana Adams-Kaonohi and Haley Warner each had 4 block assists. Also in the defense department, KU had 85 digs, and the Cats had 83.

Have a look at the full box score, and you'll see how close the teams' performances were in numerous stats categories.

Coach Fritz emphasized problems with consistency in her postgame press session. She said that in terms of the NCAA tournament, she believes the Cats are a bubble team.

On offense, Aliyah Carter led with 16 kills and .214 hitting, with 18 points. Sydney Bolding was extremely efficient, with .368 hitting. She had 9 kills and 11 points. Haley Warner also had 9 kills, and 10.5 points. Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 37 assists. The Cats had too many errors to win, hitting .136. To their credit, they hit an impressive .324 in Set 2, but their other three sets came in low, at .087, .079 and .038.

Let's recognize some aces: Mackenzie Morris: 4, Jacque Smith and Loren Hinkle: 2, and 1 each for Aliyah Carter and Kadye Fernholz.

On defense, libero Mackenzie Morris had 16 digs. Four Cats: Teana Adams-Kaonohi, Aliyah Carter, Jacque Smith and Loren Hinkle, each had 7 digs. During warm-ups, I noticed that Sydney Bolding was impressive getting above the net. Well, she led the team with 4 block assists.

Several times this season, we've seen our Volleycats rebound from a first-match loss with a nice victory the next day. That is the plan!

Jacque is a kinesiology major, and a goal is to have her own gym. The more immediate goal this weekend is to send the ever-annoying KU home with two Ls. Jacque has been a steady contributor to our volleyball program, and we're sure she'll play an important role in that mission. We will certainly miss her.

Aliyah Carter led both teams on offense, with 12.5 points and 12 kills, although it must be recognized that two UT players had plus .600 hitting... just not as many kills. Aliyah hit .250, and the game recap reports that she hit .800 in Set 1, and Haley Warner hit .500. Holly Bonde and Haley Warner each had 6 kills, and Kadye Fernholz had 5, with very solid .300 hitting. Teana Adams-Kaonohi and Sydney Bolding each had 3 kills, with Teana hitting .400. None of the Cats produced an ace this evening.

On defense, the teams tied at 32 digs, with 6 digs from Teana, and 5 digs each from Aliyah Carter, Jacque Smith, Loren Hinkle and Mackenzie Morris. Sydney Bolding led with 3 block assists, and Haley Warner had 2. Blocks were fairly even for the teams, with 6 for Texas, and 4 for the Cats.

Unfortunately, the story of the match may be that the Cats dropped from spectacular .429 hitting in Set 1, to .000 in Set 2, and hit only .097 in Set 3. Texas, late in the season, has lost only one match... to Baylor.

On offense, Holly Bonde had a very solid evening, leading the Cats with 10.5 points, 10 kills and .241 hitting. Aliyah Carter had 10 points and kills, but didn't have efficient hitting. Teana Adams-Kaonohi, Jacque Smith and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week Mackenzie Morris each had an ace. Something interesting I noticed was that the fairly decisive UT win, the Cats had 27 total kills, to UT's 40. Along with that, the Cats hit a respectable .241 in Set 1.

On defense, Aliyah Carter and Loren Hinkle each had 6 digs, and libero Mackenzie Morris had 5. Not surprisingly, considering UT's .398 hitting, the Cats had virtually no blocking. Kadye Fernholz had 2 block assists, and Holly Bonde and Haley Warner added 1 each. UT's hitting in three sets came in at .385, .500 and .323.

OK... let's not forget what happened in Ames six days ago. The Volleycats, who lost to ISU in match one, with .139 hitting, strolled back in there the next night and swept them! Let's go, Cats... no mercy!

"Morris helped the Wildcats split a road series against Iowa State. The sophomore led the Big 12 with 4.29 digs per set last week, and turned in 16, leading K-State to its first win in Hilton Coliseum since 2007 (3-0). Morris is one of four players in the league to average better than 4.00 digs per set on the season."

Let's not go farther without recognizing a fine performance by the Dubuque, Iowa native, Aliyah Carter, who led all players with 15.5 points and 15 kills, and she hit an impressive .300! In the first match, Aliyah led the Cats with 12 points and 11 kills. There's a lot more good stuff to report for the team today.

In other good news on offense, Holly Bonde had 10 kills from .290 hitting, Haley Warner had 7 kills from .294 hitting and Sydney Bolding hit .455 in adding 6 points. The Cats hit .282 for the match. In Set 2, the team hit .542, with 14 kills, and hit .300 with 19 kills in Set 3.

Impressive defense was a big factor, as K-State held ISU to .133 hitting, with .080 hitting in Set 1, and .091 in Set 2! The Cats had 12 blocks, to ISU's 7. Sydney Bolding led the way with 8 block assists, Holly Bonde had 5 and Kadye Fernholz and Haley Warner had 4 blocks. Libero Mackenzie Morris led all players with 16 digs.

Hats off to the Volleycats for a tremendous team performance! OK... enough from me. Be sure to have a look at K-State's official match recap!

On offense, Aliyah Carter led with 11 kills and 12 points, although her hitting was a disappointing .147. Hayley Warner had 9 kills and 11 points, hitting .182. Sydney Bolding was most efficient, with solid .278 hitting. Kadye Fernholz had 9.5 points and 7 kills. Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 35 assists.

On defense, Haley had 4 block assists, and Kadye Fernholz had 3. Mackenzie Morris had 14 digs, and Aliyah Carter and Loren Hinkle each added 5. Jacque Smith and Holly Bonde had 4 digs.

The Cats had some good moments, but Iowa State had 62 digs (which explains the Cats' .139 hitting). Ultimately, the Cats dropped from pretty good .235 hitting in Set 3 to .000 in Set 4, and therein lies the loss. I'm not writing off the second match. The Cats have split series with three teams this season. They're at 14-8 this season, and Iowa State is 16-8. The Cats have recently been in 3rd place in the Big 12 standings, and their NCAA RPI is 38. I'm looking forward to the next match!

"That's a good volleyball team in Texas Tech. They're gritty. They dig like crazy. You think you're going to put a ball down, and then it comes back again. You've gotta be really patient, and I was just thrilled."

Kansas State's all-time record vs. Texas Tech is 42-14. Did you know that in the Big 12, which began in 1996, among the current member schools in the conference, K-State is second in all-time Big 12 win percentage? Texas Tech is second-lowest in wins.

Let's not go past paragraph two without a huge shout out to middle blocker Sydney Bolding on her efficient hitting. She put the hammer down on Tech, hitting .556. I had no idea of her numbers during the match, but definitely noticed along the way that Sydney was contributing in a major way, so thanks much for transferring in, Sydney!

No doubt the Cats are intent on making the NCAA tournament this year, after just missing last season, when the field was reduced to 48. This series win was a critical step, as they're facing road trips to Iowa State (12-7) and to the ever-annoying Texas (who I now call the University of Austin) (17-0), both on the road, before the poultry from Lawrence come to town to conclude the regular season. As of this moment, the Cats' NCAA RPI = 46.

Continuing the shout outs beyond the aforementioned Sydney Bolding... Mackenzie Morris led the match with 22 digs, Kadye Fernholz hit .333 (Kadye's hitting .294 this season), Aliyah Carter led with 15.5 points and 13 kills, Loren Hinkle treated us to 3 aces, and Holly Bonde, who had 13.5 points, had a decisive block at match point! (Twitter video of Holly's match point kill) Teana Adams-Kaonohi had an impressive 47 assists!

On offense, Aliyah Carter led with 15.5 points and 13 kills, Holly Bonde and Sydney Bolding each added 13.5 points, Hayley Warner had 12.5 points and Kadye Fernholz had 12 points.

On defense, Sydney Bolding and Haley Warner had 5 block assists, and Kadye Fernholz had 4 block assists + a single. Libero Mackenzie Morris had a busy evening, contributing 22 digs, Aliyah Carter had 12 and Jacque Smith had 11.

Here's the text of post-match comments by Suzie Fritz, and a match recap in the Collegian.

The Volleycats have another bye week, before they begin a challenging road tour, up and down Interstate 35: Iowa State and The University of Austin (he he).

As of today, Kansas State's NCAA RPI is 46. The team, ranked #10 in Division I in the final 2020 AVCA Poll, would have made the tournament, had the NCAA not reduced the field from 64 to 48. With a 13-7 record now, and if they finish strong, there's a good chance they'll get an invitation. Winning the two TTU matches, vs. a team with a similar record, should be a step in the right direction. Coach Fritz has real interesting postmatch comments. Also, Holly Bonde and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week Aliyah Carter have postmatch comments. Both are audio.

On offense, Player of the Week Aliyah Carter was impressive. She led all players with 24 points. Carter and Holly Bonde led the match with 21 kills each. (a career high for Holly!) In fact, several Volleycats had nice hitting percentages: Sydney Bolding hit .278, Holly Bonde hit .246 and Kadye Fernholz hit .241. Haley Warner and Kadye Fernholz each had 10 kills. Here's a shout out for Loren Hinkle and Mackenzie Morris, who each had 3 aces.

On defense, Kadye led with 6 block assists. Mackenzie Morris (last week's Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week) led with 19 digs, Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 17, and Jacque Smith and Loren Hinkle each had 12 digs.

The Purple Cats and Red Raiders will tangle again on Friday night, with a 6:30 first serve.

The honor resulted from Aliyah's performance in the second match vs. TCU, in four sets. She had 23 kills, .327 hitting, 3 aces, 7 digs and 26 points. That's a nice collection of numbers for our unanimous Preseason All-Big 12 outside hitter!

On offense, Aliyah Carter contributed 26 points and 23 kills, hitting .327! Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 10 digs, plus 40 assists! (Oh... and she hit .636!) (The official write-up of the match says Teana "flirted with a triple-double." Apparently points don't count.) Sydney Bolding and Haley Warner each added 9.5 points. Sydney led with 7 block assists, with solid .308 hitting, and Haley had 8 kills. Kadye Fernholz had 9 points and 7 kills, and how about her .400 hitting?! The Cats recorded 6 aces, led by 3 from Aliyah Carter.

Now, to defense. Libero Mackenzie Morris, Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, led with 18 digs. Jacque Smith had 12 digs, Teana had 10, and Loren Hinkle had 9.

Set scores were (KSU/TCU): 23-25, 25-15, 25-14, 25-21. While the Cats barely lost Set 1, they did hit .308, and in their impressive Set 3 win, they hit .436!!

Suzie Fritz said, "Significant improvement and a big bounce back match for us. I thought our swing management was excellent. We made much better attack choices, particularly in transition. Additionally, we were able to upgrade our serving, which allowed us to be a lot more effective in our ability to score defensive points."

After Baylor takes care of WVU tomorrow night, there will be a five-way tie for fourth place in the Big 12, as KSU, TTU, KU and OU now have 3-5 records.

Up next for the 12-7, 3-5 Cats (on Oct. 28 and 29 in Bramlage Coliseum), will be encounters with 13-8, 3-5 Texas Tech.

On offense, Aliyah Carter led with 16.5 points and 13 kills, but had hitting of –051. Sydney Bolding had a fine evening, with .467 hitting. She had 11.5 points, and 9 kills. Kadye Fernholz added 11 points, with 6 kills, but while she leads the Cats with .315 hitting this season, her outcome tonight was .000. It was just an off night. Haley Warner added 9 points and 8 kills, and Jayden Nembhard had 7 kills. Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 41 assists. Loren Hinkle had 2 aces.

On defense, Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week Mackenzie Morris led with 13 digs, and Aliyah Carter had 10. Kadye Fernholz led all players with 10 block assists, a season high for the Cats!! Sydney Bolding and Aliyah Carter each added 5 block assists.

Back to the match being close: While the Set 1 score of 14-25 was disappointing, the second and third sets were lost by 5 points and 3 points. KSU prevailed in blocks, 12 to 10. WVU had 59 digs, to KSU's 55. WVU had 36 kills, to KSU's 32. There was a noticeable margin of 7 to 2 on aces, with WVU winning that category.

Both teams had substandard hitting efficiency, with WVU at .146, and KSU at an exceptionally low .072 (the lowest since .015 on Oct. 11, 2017). Hitting numbers for K-State in the three sets were .000, .067 and .125, and therein lies the loss.

Suzie Fritz, in postmatch comments, commented on "uncharacteristically high errors," and said, "I didn't think we made great decisions offensively tonight." She said, "Sometimes as an attacker, in an effort to try and make plays, you make errors, and you try and force things that aren't necessarily there." Personally, I wonder if sometimes there's such a thing as trying to make too big a play. Suzie was concerned about "way too many unforced errors." Finally, Suzie had an interesting point, that among Big 12 teams, WVU is currently holding opponents to the lowest hitting percentage.

I felt that although the offense in Set 1 (.000 hitting) was disappointing, K-State was definitely competitive with WVU, and the Cats made them earn their victory.

On offense, Aliyah Carter led with 17 points and 14 kills. Holly Bonde had 8 points and 7 kills. Kadye Fernholz also had 8 points, with 4 kills. A fun fact, which I mentioned to Kadye's parents before the match, is that Kadye leads the team in season hitting percentage, at .325!! Loren Hinkle and Sydney Bolding each had an ace. It was certainly good to have Haley Warner available again. She led the Cats with .222 hitting. Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 28 assists.

On defense, the Cats prevailed in blocks, 12 to 10. Kadye Fernholz and Aliyah Carter each had 6 block assists, and Sydney Bolding had 5. Mackenzie Morris was quite impressive, with 22 digs!! Jacque Smith had 8. Teana Adams-Kaonohi and Loren Hinkle each had 7 digs.

Over the season, I've thought that the Cats have done a nice job of being hard to predict on attacks. I felt that tonight, that maybe the Cats were a bit more predictable on who would attack. I'm no kind of expert. It was just a feeling I had. In conclusion, the Cats played a very good team close tonight, and beat them yesterday. They'll work on offense next week, and have a road trip to Fort Worth to pay a call on TCU, who are setting at the bottom of the Big 12 rankings at this point. I predict two glorious victories down south!

On offense, Aliyah Carter led all players with 19 points and 18 kills. Jayden Nembhard had 16 points and 14 kills. Kadye Fernholz had a big night, with 14 points and 11 kills, especially considering her .375 hitting and production of blocks! I whined every time Holly Bonde subbed out, considering her blockbuster performance vs. OU. Holly had 12 points and 10 kills, in no small part due to .296 hitting! Teana Adams-Kaonohi (owner of a double-double) had 46 assists and 10 digs. In addition, Teana, who struggled somewhat with serving last season, led the team with 3 aces. Oops! I almost didn't mention that the Volleycats hit .368 in Set 3!

On defense, Kadye Fernholz had 6 block assists for 3 blocks, and Sydney Bolding had 5 assists and a single, for 3.5 blocks. Libero Mackenzie Morris led with 19 digs! Aliyah Carter had 16, Loren Hinkle had 14, Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 10 and Jacque Smith had 7. Holly Bonde, who was so efficient on hitting, had 4 block assists. Have you seen D. Scott Fritchen's awesome K-State Sports Extra on Holly Bonde two days ago?

Suzie Fritz said, "That's a big win for us. We spent a lot of time over the last week or so just trying to tighten the bolts on our defensive system." Suzie was very pleased about holding WVU to .117 hitting.

It will be very interesting to see how everything goes in the second match, on Friday at 7 P.M.

D. Scott Fritchen has posted an awesome K-State Sports Extra today, a profile of Holly, and her straightforward approach, as she describes it. She says, "I can come off aggressive and strong, but I make important individual connections, so people are comfortable around me. I take pride in that." You see her constantly interacting with her teammates, supporting them and entertaining them with her fun sense of humor.

Coach Fritz says, ""Holly wears a lot of hats. Her leadership has really evolved. Her confidence has really grown as a leader. She's one of our most consistent players, in how she shows up to work every day."

Holly says (and I definitely agree), "My range is what makes me so successful. I might not always be the heavy hitter, but I'm able to hit on many different places on the court, and I'm able to see where the defense isn't at, and mix it up. That's where I generate my most kills. I play tough."

It was great to come in from K-State's home Football game vs. OU, to learn that Holly had put the smack down on OU Volleyball in Norman, with 20 kills and 23 points. I know Cat fans are delighted to have her on our side.

On offense, the aforementioned Holly Bonde amassed 20 kills, with impressive .372 hitting, and with her 2 block assists and 2 single blocks, recorded 23 points. Aliyah Carter had a productive night (or late afternoon, I guess), with 15 kills and 17 points. Kadye Fernholz added 9 kills, with spectacular .444 hitting. Kadye had 4 of the Cats' 7 service aces. Sydney Bolding and Haley Warner each had 6 kills. Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 49 assists.

On defense, Sydney Bolding had 4 block assists and 2 singles, and Haley Warner had 2 assists and 1 single. Aliyah Carter, who we think of for her work on offense, led with 17 digs, libero Mackenzie Morris was next in line with 15 digs, and Teana and Loren Hinkle had 8.

Back to Holly Bonde... the recap mentions that 8 of her 20 kills came in the second set, helping the Wildcats respond from their set one loss. Holly hit .500 in set two, with just one error on 14 attacks. She hit over .300 in three of the four sets! Of Holly's performance, Suzie Fritz said,

"Holly was just having one of those days where she was seeing things really well, making great hitting choices with the ball, staying really high and getting good deflections off the block. She was terrific."

It's a bye week for the Volleycats, who will next play on Oct. 14, when WVU drops by. It should be noted that for whatever reason, the next match is on a Thursday, with the second on a Friday.

In terms of stats, this was another close loss. OU hit .234, to the Cats' .193. They scored 75 points, to the Cats' 66. OU had 59 kills, to the Cats' 56.

Aliyah Carter led with 18.5 points and 16 kills, but hit .127. Sydney Bolding had a strong performance, with 14 points, 12 kills and spectacular .500 hitting! Haley Warner and Holly Bonde each had 9 kills, and Kadye Fernholz had 7 kills.

Mackenzie Morris had a whopping 21 digs, and Jacque was great, too, with 18 (her best of the season). Sydney Bolding and Kadye Fernholz had 4 block assists.

In summary, K-State's going to have to get more reliable hitting. You're not going to win matches hitting .193.

On offense, Aliyah Carter led the way, with 18 points and 18 kills, and she hit a solid .275 on 40 attempts. Kadye Fernholz was hitting at a very high rate early. She finished with 9 points and 8 kills, hitting .211. Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 34 assists. K-State, unusually, recorded no service aces.

The Cats distributed the load on defense. There were 10 block assists; therefore, 5 team blocks, and Baylor had 6 blocks. The teams were similar in digs, with 30 for KSU and 32 for BU. Libero Mackenzie Morris had 11 digs. Jacque Smith and Loren Hinkle each added 5 digs.

Up next for the Cats is a trip to Norman, Oct. 1-2, while OU Football will be up here. (Cats' schedule) As of today, OU sets at the bottom of the Big 12. (Big 12 schedule)

On offense, Aliyah Carter delivered, as usual, with 14 points, but oddly, her hitting percentage was .122. Haley Warner had 8.5 points, but hit .000. Kadye Fernholz had 6.5 points, and hit .357!

On defense, K-State had an exceptionally low blocks total of 2, although Baylor only recorded 4 blocks. K-State had 41 digs (Aliyah Carter with 10, Jacque Smith with 9 and Mackenzie Morris with 8), and Baylor had 42 digs.

The most striking thing from the box score - and Coach Fritz referred to this in postgame - was allowing Baylor's players to hit at high efficiency. Hannah Sedwick hit 1.000. Avery Skinner hit .467 (and led with 17 points), and their star player, Yossiana Pressley, hit .406, resulting in 16 points.

Finally, something unusual was that K-State had 0 service aces, and Baylor had 1.

Aliyah Carter, Preseason All-Big 12, struck again! She led with 16 points and 15 kills, hitting .273. With her 13 digs, write down a double-double for Aliyah (her sixth of the season)! Haley Warner was solid, with 15 points and 12 kills. Sydney Bolding had 11 points, 7 kills, 2 aces and hit .500! Holly Bonde added 6 kills, and she hit .238. She played in two sets. Setter Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 43 assists. The Cats began and ended strong on offense, with .406 hitting in set one, and concluding with .324 hitting in set four.

On defense, Kayley Hollywood did great. She had 8 points, 6 block assists and 2 single blocks. This made Kayley the first Volleycat this season to record double-digit blocks! Coach Fritz said, "I thought that was Kayley Hollywood's best match in terms of her play at the net. There are productive touches (at the net) and then there are stuffs, and she did both, and did a really good job at controlling the net." Haley Warner had 6 block assists. Libero Mackenzie Morris led with 17 digs. Aliyah Carter had 13, and Loren Hinkle had 11 (and, no surprise, she added 2 aces... her 6th straight match with an ace).

Congrats to Aliyah Carter, Omaha Challenge MVP, and to Mackenzie Morris and Teana Adams-Kaonohi, named to the all-tournament team.

Today's match was a tale of 25-23s. Congrats to the Wildcats, who once again found themselves in a close match, but didn't get intimidated or discouraged. They kept sawing wood, and won the final three of four sets. Set scores were (KSU/Weber St.): 23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23, and yes, it was a barnburner.

Aliyah Carter and Jayden Nembhard were invaluable on offense, and recorded season-high kill totals. Aliyah led with 23 points, 22 kills and .422 hitting! Jayden Nembhard had 20 points and 20 kills. Also invaluable was Teana Adams-Kaonohi, with a double-double from 51 assists and 13 digs. Sydney Bolding added 10.5 points and 6 kills. Holly Bonde had 7.5 points and 7 kills, via solid .253 hitting. She didn't start today, but I always feel confident with her on the court, and she's always the life of the party!

Suzie Fritz called the Cats' serving exceptional. There were 8 aces, led by Mackenzie Morris with 3, and the total coming from five players.

On defense, the Cats had 86 digs total. Libero Mackenzie Morris had 24 digs!, Jacque Smith had 17, Aliyah Carter had 16, Teana had 13 and Loren Hinkle had 7. They held Weeber State (sorry... can't help myself...) to modest .195 hitting.

The two Volleycats were likely headed to Omaha, to collect their next two glorious victories. (Twitter link)

Before we go farther... I'd just like to pass on my condolences to the team for having to drive through Lawrence to get to Columbia. The things you ladies go through to give us a volleyball season... Thank you!

Today's defeat of MU in three sets included a domination in major stats categories, as shown below. Set scores were (KSU/MU): 25-23, 25-20, 25-20. KSU's season now stands at 7-2, and the Volleycats are the owners of a six-match winning streak!

On offense, Preseason All-Big 12 honoree Aliyah Carter led with 18.5 points, from 16 kills and 5 block assists, and .433 hitting. Not surprisingly, Jayden Nembhard had a big day, with 17 points from 17 kills. She hit an impressive .324. Here's a shoutout to Loren Hinkle, who produced 4 service aces (a career high)! Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 35 assists, and Loren Hinkle added 3 assists. Coach Fritz appreciated the Cats' rhythm and timing.

On defense, holding an opponent to .140 hitting says a lot. Holding MU to .000 in set three was quite impressive! The Cats had an 8-to-5 advantage in blocks, with 5 assists from Aliyah Carter and Kadye Fernholz. Kadye apparently suffered a foot injury late in the match. We all wish her the best. Teana Adams-Kaonohi led with 11 digs (and a double-double), libero Mackenize Morris had 9, and there were 5 each from Aliyah Carter, Jacque Smith and Loren Hinkle. A fun fact is that the Cats have out-blocked all nine opponents this season.

Today's match is another in which the team didn't get intimidated when the opponent closed in on them (as in the previous two matches, which went to five sets). While not yet in Big 12 competition, Kansas State's record stands in 3rd place, behind West Virginia and Texas... both undefeated at this point.

The statistic that stands out the most is hitting: KSU .306, with Fresno St. at .188. It should be noted, also, that K-State hit .423 in set two, .312 in set three and .591 in set five. Impressive individual hitting included Teana Adams-Kaonohi at .400, Kayley Hollywood at .364, Jayden Nembhard at .393 and Haley Warner at .455!

On offense, Haley Warner led with 20.5 points and 18 kills. Aliyah Carter was right in there with 19 points and 16 kills. Kadye Fernholz hit .298. Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 58 assists, her season high. Loren Hinkle had 3 aces, and Kadye Fernholz had 2.

Jayden Nembhard didn't play vs. Loyola Chicago, and I remember thinking that she could have helped. She returned to action vs. Fresno State, with 14 kills and .393 hitting. She said,

"I just tell myself every day that it's a new day, and to improve myself and get better. Seeing my teammates celebrate and support me from the sideline when I do go in, that gives me a lot of confidence. It's just playing constantly with a chip on my shoulder every single time I go out there, and just knowing that I'm capable of playing out here and just doing what I can."

On defense, MVP Aliyah Carter had 20 digs, libero Mackenzie Morris had 17, Loren Hinkle had 16 and Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 8. Kayley Hollywood had 6 block assists, Haley Warner had 5, and Kadye Fernholz and Aliyah Carter had 4.

Over the two five-set match wins in this invitational, I remember thinking that the Volleycats dug in when things looked iffy. They kept sawing wood, as Coach Snyder would say. They've gotten Ws in seven of the last eight five-set matches. In post-match comments, Suzie Fritz said, "What I love about these guys is when their backs are against the wall, they are at their best."

Up next, on September 14, is Missouri. It'll be a reunion of sorts with Brynn Carlson and Anna Dixon.

On offense, Aliyah Carter led the way, with 19.5 points from 17 kills, an ace and some block assists. Holly Bonde had some awesome kills, enroute to her 18.5 points, and she led with 18 kills. Haley Warner continues to impress in her first season. She had 16 points and 12 kills. There were 9 service aces (3 from Mackenzie Morris and 2 from Loren Hinkle), plus four other Cats contributed an ace. Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 47 assists, and she hit .571 on 7 attacks.

Kadye Fernholz had another big night, with 13 points and 8 kills, hitting .350. Add an ace to that, and 8 block assists. Kadye's parents and grandfather sat right behind me, and I enjoyed visiting with them, on their trip from South Dakota.

On defense, libero Mackenzie Morris led with 19 digs, Aliyah Carter had 18, setter Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 12, and DS Loren Hinkle had 12.

An argument could be made that blocking played a significant part in this victory, as the Cats had 26 to LC's 14, but Mackenzie's 19 digs + Aliyah's 18, Teana's 12 and Loren's 10 certainly combined to be a critical factor.

The student section wasn't nearly as full as in Ahearn, but they were ornery. They were constantly messing with Loyola Chicago (in a fun way, it seemed). I wish I could have understood what they were yelling. Anyway, they got smiles from the Ramblers. I don't know what a Rambler is (except for the unimpressive 1960 cars), but their mascot is a cartoon wolf. Whatever!

Aliyah Carter had another strong performance. Aliyah led with 13 points and 11 kills, and hit .304. Kadye Fernholz had another fine day. She had 8.5 points and 5 kills, and hit .417. Holly Bonde had 8 points, and 8 kills, with .412 hitting. The remainder of the points were fairly evenly shared by the rest of the team. The serving percentage was .890, which is very similar to the other matches this season. Loren Hinkle, Kadye Fernholz and Aliyah Carter turned in two aces each. Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 23 assists.

On defense, setter Teana Adams-Kaonohi and libero Mackenzie Morris each recorded 8 digs, along with 7 from Aliyah Carter and 5 from Jaden Ravnsborg. Teana Adams-Kaonohi also led the team in blocks, with 4 block assists. The Cats held Ohio to .091 hitting in set two. And, while I felt Ohio was very competitive, the Cats prevailed in hitting, .256 to .124, which points to good defense. Suzie Fritz said, "I thought Loren Hinkle was tremendous. I thought (Mackenzie) Morris defensively was tremendous. Holly Bonde hit .410. Really good outing for her, and she did a really nice job of managing some of her out-of-system swings."

It was great to see Sydney Bolding, the latest addition to the team, on the court for a while.

Here's audio from Suzie Fritz and player audio from Holly Bonde and Mackenzie Morris.

Up next for the Cats on Friday evening is Loyola-Chicago (6-2), who had a fairly decisive 25-13, 25-17, 25-19 win over Fresno State. Looking at their box score, I noticed that Loyola held Fresno to .000 hitting, while hitting .294 themselves. Be ready, Cats!

There were some tremendous individual performances that Rob Voelker mentioned repeatedly, and which will be remembered for a long time! How about Haley Warner, who put together a string of 10 kills, and totaled 18 for the match? She hit .636! Aliyah Carter had 10 kills. Holly Bonde had 9 kills, and hit .231. Kadye Fernholz had 6 kills, and hit .462! Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 5 kills, and hit .714! Kayley Hollywood also had 5 kills, and hit an excellent .300. Jayden Nembhard added 3 kills, hitting .750. Speaking of offense, setter Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 44 assists.

Mackenzie Morris had a tremendous match, with 17 digs, and add 4 service aces to her performance. Teana Adams-Kaonohi and Jaden Ravnsborg had 5 digs each, Molly Ramsey and Loren Hinkle recorded 4 digs. Haley Warner added to her amazing match with 5 blocks, and Aliyah Carter and Kadye Fernholz each had 4 blocks.

The Cats surpassed SDSU on points, hitting, kills, blocks, digs and aces, as shown below. This was very much a team effort. I believe the Volleycats will at least be RV in the AVCA poll on Monday afternoon.

Let's start with Preseason All-Big 12 Aliyah Carter, who led all scorers with 22 points, from 21 kills and .386 hitting. Haley Warner's name came up constantly during match coverage. She had 20.5 points, from 19 kills and .471 hitting! Kadye Fernholz added 12 points, from 6 kills and excellent .417 hitting, along with 3 aces and 6 block assists! Holly Bonde had 7 points and 6 kills. Kayley Hollywood was extremely efficient. Her 6.5 points came from .625 hitting and 3 block assists.

On defense, again Kadye Fernholz led with 6 block assists. Libero Mackenzie Morris was off-the-charts tremendous on defense, with 20 digs, Loren Hinkle had a major impact with 11 digs, Teana Adams-Kaonohi had 7 digs, and newcomer Molly Ramsey contributed 5 digs.

(KSU / Pepperdine): Kills: 46-48, Points: 57-56, Blocks: 8-6, Digs: 40-42, Aces: 3-2

Kadye Fernholz had a big night! She led the Cats with 15 points. She had 11 kills, hit an awesome .450, and led the team in blocks. Aliyah Carter had 12 points and 12 kills. Holly Bonde had 11.5 points and 11 kills, from solid .333 hitting. Haley Warner had 8.5 points and 7 kills, and solid .267 hitting. Kayley Hollywood had 4.5 points and 4 kills, and hit a spectacular .667!

On defense, as mentioned above, Kadye Fernholz had a single block and 6 assists. Libero Mackenzie Morris led with 10 digs, Aliyah Carter had 9, and Teana Adams-Kaonohi and Loren Hinkle each added 7 digs. K-State had a slight lead in blocks, while Pepperdine had a slight lead in digs.

The Volleycats are going to take confidence from their performance. They saw that they can play with the best, and they matched or surpassed NU in blocks, digs and points.

Preseason All-Big 12 honoree Aliyah Carter led with 16 points and 14 kills, but oddly only hit .080. Holly Bonde had a solid afternoon, adding 14 points, with 12 kills. Haley Warner was really good, with 12.5 points and 11 kills, and she hit an amazing .556! Serving was very good today, with a combined .900. There were only 9 errors in 90 attempts. Teana, Aliyah, Mackenzie and Loren were especially efficient, and Kadye Fernholz served a perfect 1.000.

On defense, libero Mackenzie Morris had 19 digs, and Aliyah Carter had 16. Kadye Fernholz led with 5 block assists, and Kayley Hollywood had 4. The Cats surpassed NU 10.5 to 5.5 in blocks, and 65 to 64 in digs. Coach Fritz made special note of "very good" serving and digging.

A big story of the match was K-State scoring 12 straight points in Set 3. At one point, the Cats led 19-5.

It should be noted that K-State had today's impressive performance in front of a crowd of 7,952.

There was a bit of a slow start, with Colgate prevailing on hitting, .222 to .081 in set one. Coach Fritz had a goal of holding Colgate to under .180 hitting, and they ended at .170, but she was disappointed with the Cats' errors early on. She must have been encouraged by the Cats' .417 hitting in set four, vs. Colgate's modest .000 hitting!

Aliyah Carter, Preseason All-Big 12, was impressive on offense. She led the match with 23 points, hit .333 and her 21 kills gave a season-opening double-double. Holly Bonde had 12 points, 11 kills and .240 hitting, and delivered .364 hitting in set 3. Kadye Fernholz had 11.5 points, 8 kills and hit .375. Haley Warner's first Wildcat match was solid, with 11 points, 10 kills and .300 hitting.

On defense, Teana Adams-Kaonoi led with 7 block assists, and added 9 digs. Kayley Hollywood had 6 block assists, and Kadye Fernholz had 5. Libero Mackenzie Morris had 10 digs, and Jacque Smith had 9.

Coach Fritz praised Aliyah Carter's passing. She led with 11 digs, her career high, and Mackenzie Morris had 10 digs. Jacque Smith and Teana Adams-Kaonohi each added 9 digs.

It's the Cats vs. #5 Nebraska at 4 p.m. on Saturday. It might be a bit of a grudge match for NU, as the last time the Cats played them on their court, it was a Wildcat victory in five sets, 10 years ago (12/02/11), and the Cats eliminated NU from the NCAA tournament, earning a trip to Hawaii. Nebraska had lost only 10 home court matches over the past 10 seasons.

Here's the match recap from Colgate.

I'm sure she'll make an impact here, and look forward to seeing her in action.

Hey... how about Dr. Mike Hamilton's rad new haircut?

It was good to have a first look at new players Jaden Ravnsborg and Haley Warner (who had 12 kills and hit .455!). Unfortunately, we didn't get to see Molly Ramsey, Josie Halbleib or Sydney Bolding.

Setter Teana Adams-Kaonohi had a tremendous match. She led with .571 hitting, had 9 digs and 44 assists.

Aliyah Carter led with 15 kills and 17 points. Kadye Fernholz led the Cats in scoring, with 18 points. She had .360 hitting, and also led the team in blocks.

Set 4 was a wild ride, with 9 tied scores, and several match points. The set score of 30-28 sort of points to that fact. Finally, at 29-28, Mackenzie Morris moved back to serve, I hollered "How about an ace?," Mackenzie served an ace, and we went home happy. Here's video of the winning serve.

Here's audio of comments from Suzie Fritz and Kadye Fernholz and Haley Warner.

She will be listed as a junior, and will have three seasons of eligibility remaining.