Dawn was inducted into the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016. She earned AVCA All-America Second Team, Volleyball Magazine All-America Team Honorable Mention, and was unanimous selection to the All-Big 12 First Team in 1999. She has been an assistant coach at Iowa State and Illinois State, and the head coach at UNLV.

Here's the announcement from MU.

K-State elaborated on Sydney's accomplishments with the following...

"This is Bolding's first All-Region nod, after leading the team with a .312 hitting percentage and 38 aces in her second season at K-State. Her single season total aces are eighth-most in program history - during the rally scoring era - and the most by a middle blocker since 2001.

Bolding's 141 blocks and 1.32 block average ranked second in the Big 12 regular season statistics, and finished 25th and 30th in the nation. She racked up career highs in kills (204), digs (56), blocks (139) and aces (38) this season."

Sydney played in all 110 sets for the Cats. She led in kills in four matches, and led in blocks in 16 matches.

By the way... I was informed by one of the Cats' coaches on Nov. 23 that Sydney and Loren Hinkle will be with us for the 2023 season!

Morris tied the season-high single-match dig total for the league - and had a career-best mark with 36 digs - in a five-set win over Texas Tech. The junior�s tally was the most in a single match for K-State since 2019, and marks only the fifth Wildcat in program history to gather 36 digs or more in a single match. The 2021 Academic All-Big 12 First Team member followed with nine digs against No. 17 Baylor to average 5.63 digs per set, the third highest in the league during the week. This is Morris's third career Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week title, and her first this season."

Here's K-State Volleyball's announcement of Mackenzie's recognition.

The sports page of the Nov. 29 Manhattan Mercury makes it clear that Suzie was forced out by Jill Shields and Gene Taylor. It states that Suzie was instructed to come to a Sunday 9 A.M. meeting - the morning after a close loss to Baylor - with the two Athletics administrators, and she declined. The Mercury reported that several "letters to the editor" from past K-State players were received since then, and they were very much in support of Suzie.

Suzie's K-State record as head coach is 393-263. Her Volleycats had 13 NCAA tournament invitations, and they won the 2003 Big 12 championship. I have been at almost every home match the past 27 years, and never once saw or heard anything that made me wonder about Suzie's relationship with her players.

There will be more on this awful development, as information becomes available. I am extremely thankful to Suzie for all she did for the program, and have the highest respect for her.

It's hard to imagine the program without Suzie. She was at the helm for 21 years. She brought us so many excellent players and assistant coaches, who all seemed happy to be here. The left-side navigation column on the main page has all kinds of links: Archives of Past Season Pages, Archives of Schedules and Results, NCAA Tournament brackets back to 2000, etc. Suzie recruited two new players for this season, Ava LeGrand and Shaylee Myers, right out of the back yard of #5 Nebraska. The Big 12 is highly competitive. Our opponents this season included #1 Texas, #17 Baylor, #15 Creighton, #23 Central Florida and #20 Rice, and the Volleycats took sets from all of them.

I do not support this decision in any way, but am not going to get into name calling or further comments at this moment.

On offense, departing seniors Haley Warner and Elena Baka were prominent. Elena led all players with 15.5 points. She hit .286, and had 12 kills, with three points coming from aces. Haley hit an impressive .364. Kadye Fernholz and Aliyah Carter had 5 kills. Loren Hinkle played in all three sets, but Ava LeGrand played all three, too. Together, they had 27 assists. The team only managed .139 hitting, while Baylor had .227.

KSU and Baylor had some similar numbers on defense. The Cats had 5 blocks, to Baylor's 7. Kadye Fernholz had 3 block assists, with the others distribute among teammates. KSU had 50 digs, to Baylor's 54. Elena Baka had an impressive 11 digs, and Mackenzie Morris had 9. Numerous other players contributed 3, 4 or 5 digs.

Suzie Fritz said,

"There is a lot to be proud of this season. We were very close in a lot of matches, and saw a great deal of improvement throughout the season. Our younger players have really worked hard to be impactful. I thought it was a breakout year for Sydney Bolding, Elena Baka and Mackenzie Morris overall. Loren Hinkle did an excellent job at the setter position, particularly given she inherited the job a few weeks prior to the start of the season. We're proud of them, and how hard they've battled throughout the season."

On the seniors' performances...
"It was terrific to see the seniors end their careers on strong performances. This was one of Haley's best matches offensively, and she was equally effective blocking today. Elena has been wonderfully consistent throughout the 2nd half of the season. She has an excellent all-around skill level, that helped the team be successful in every phase. She is a great 'glue' player, that helps hold a team together."

I'm sure many were wondering, as I was, why seniors Loren Hinkle and Sydney Bolding weren't recognized. Well... I checked with one of our coaches (who shall not be named) after the match, and guess what! We get to keep Loren and Sydney for next season! How's that for awesome news?!

Ultimately, if you want to explain the outcome in terms of stats, K-State had 19 blocks to Tech's 7, and hit .208 to Tech's .133. The Cats had 87 points, to Tech's 71. In terms of equality, kills were (KSU/TTU) 60 to 58, assists were 55 to 58, aces were 8 to 5, and digs were 97 to 102.

On offense, the Cats' .208 to .133 advantage in hitting was significant. Elena Baka had a huge night. She led all players with 28 points and 23 kills, and led all players with .322 hitting! Aliyah Carter was next in points, with 15.5, and she contributed 13 kills. Haley Warner was next in kills, with 9. Loren Hinkle had 50 assists, and as usual, contributed a couple of aces, as did Molly Ramsey and Mackenzie Morris.

On defense, Sydney Bolding (who we're keeping, and that's final) had 8 block assists, and a single block. Kadye Fernholz had 7 block assists, Elena had 6 and Haley had 5.

Let's start a new paragraph for our ever-reliable libero, Mackenzie Morris, who led all players with 36 digs. Loren Hinkle, a veteran libero, had 13 digs, and Molly Ramsey had 11.

Back to offense for a moment... in sets won by our Volleycats, they hit .364, .351 and .240. That helps explain the three Ws.

Suzie Fritz commented,

Overall thoughts from the match...
"We've been fighting for some level of consistency for some time. We put pressure on defensively, and weren't bleeding points anywhere. To hit .208 and have 19 blocks against a really good Texas Tech volleyball team is wonderful. We were able to manage the ups and downs, which felt amazing. I am really proud of them. That is as good as we've played all year, and to do that at the end of the year feels great."

On the difference in the match...
"We were good from the service line, and disruptive defensively to stretch the lead. We were able to score points in bunches. I am happy that we came out firing in the fifth set, and played our best volleyball when it mattered the most. I thought we made really good attacking decisions as well. Loren helped move the ball around. They served a lot to Elena, so she would have to pass, and wouldn't be able to make a kill. She did both tonight. Elena does a lot of things at a high level, and is well-rounded player. Her ball control is great, and she keeps us in system."

On the seniors, Haley and Elena...
The impact that they've had is exceptional. They are wonderful volleyball players, and also exceptional people. They are kind and thoughtful, and good teammates. They gave us everything that they had in their time here at K-State.

My, oh my... I'm going to miss my Volleyball matches over the next nine months...

Kadye Fernholz was the high scorer in the match, with 18 points. (She tied a TCU player with 14 kills.) Kadye hit an excellent .414. Sydney Bolding was right behind Kadye, with 17.5 points, and she hit a spectacular .611, with 11 kills. Elena Baka was less efficient, but was second in kills, with 13. Loren Hinkle led the match with 47 assists, and she recorded 2 aces.

On defense, Mackenzie Morris led all players with 19 digs! Several players contributed digs: Elena Baka had 10, Loren Hinkle had 8 and Aliyah Carter and Molly Ramsey added 7 each. Sydney Bolding led all players with 9 block assists, and a single. Haley Warner added 7 block assists. Again... K-State had 16 blocks, to TCU's 10.

Suzie Fritz commented,

"There were a lot of positives, as we had higher hitting efficiency, more kills and more blocks than TCU. The end result wasn't indicative of our overall performance. We have to find those opportunities to tie more points together, and manage momentum better."

On player performances that stood out...
"It was a good day for the middle blockers – they hit for a high efficiency. When we got them the ball, Sydney and Kadye did well on both sides of the ball. They got a lot of productive touches on a lot of balls, so to help us dig it. Those two were very on task tonight, and took advantage of their offensive opportunities."

Let's look at the stats. The most uneven stat was OU's strong advantage in hitting, .295 to .194, and to be fair, it should be mentioned that they hit an impressive .533 in set 1. Hitting in the three sets to follow was extremely close. Points were very close: OU 67, KSU 71.5. OU had 6 blocks, and the Cats had 8.5. Digs were OU 53, KSU 56, and aces were even, at 7.

On offense, Elena Baka was very efficient, with .562 hitting, producing 11 kills. Aliyah Carter had the most kills, at 18. Shaylee Myers hit a solid .294, with 7 kills. Loren Hinkle had 52 assists and 2 aces. I continue to be impressed with Loren's setting this season!

On defense, our Volleycats had a slight advantage in blocks, 8.5 to 6, and in digs, 56 to 54. Mackenzie Morris led all players, with 18 digs. Sydney Bolding led all players with 7 block assists.

Coach Fritz said,

Overall thoughts from the match...
"It wasn't a bad night for us offensively, once we got our serve and pass going. We gave up too many point scoring runs that Oklahoma was terminal with. That was the difference. We would have one really good play and then miss the next one. We have to make plays when it matters. When you get two really good teams playing against each other, a lot of the matches are going to be two-point differences. There were some points in there that we would like to get back."

On player performances that stood out...
"Mackenzie Morris continues to be really special, especially from a ball-control perspective. Elena Baka came in and gave the team a good boost, as well. Sydney Bolding was terminal when we could get her the ball. I thought she was really good."

On offense, scoring was distributed. Elena Baka and Kadye Fernholz had 6 kills. Sydney Bolding and Haley Warner had 5 kills, and Shaylee Myers added 4 kills. Haley was especially efficient at .333, and so was Kadye, who also hit .333! Sydney Bolding had 4 aces. Loren Hinkle led all players with 22 assists, and she added 2 aces to her impressive collection.

On defense, the Volleycats held WVU to .010 hitting, including that awesome set 3 outcome of –.182. Kadye Fernholz led all players with 6 block assists (and 1 single), and Loren Hinkle had 4 block assists. Libero Mackenzie Morris led with 15 digs. Aliyah Carter added 6 digs, and Loren had 4.

Coach Suzie Fritz said,

Overall thoughts...
"The two areas that we did the best were serving and blocking. We felt like we were on task, and getting good touches on the ball, while creating havoc at the net. This was not our best offensive night, but we were good enough defensively to offset that and get the win."

On Mackenzie Morris' performance...
She is wonderfully consistent. Consistency is not flashy, but that is what we love about her. What she does in a match is what she does every day. It is hard for an athlete to bring the same level of energy, execution, and effort into day-to-day work. That is what makes her really special."

On the team's serving push...
"We did what we do. Serving is a strength for this team, as they have invested time and value into it. They stayed aggressive. As the natural momentum flows of the match develop, it is easy to get conservative in serving. We stayed the course."

Next up for the Cats is 14 - 10 OU, on November 16 at 6:30 P, in Bramlage Coliseum. By this meeting, OU will be 14-11, as they're playing Texas before the Cats! So... both teams will begin that match with identical 14-11 records. K-State is 5-7 in Big 12 competition, and OU will come in at 4-9. Go Volleycats!

Makinsey Jones is a 6' 2" MB from Topeka West. In 2022, her senior season, she has 260 kills and 51 blocks. Also, she had 28 aces. Suzie said of Makinsey,

"Makinsey is tremendous. She is a wonderful athlete. She came to camp and blew our doors off. I think the thing that makes her special is that she has the ability to go off one foot as a middle. That is a special quality, that can make a player elite. Makinsey has high character and is a great student, and we are thrilled to have her here."

Symone Sims is a 5' 5" libero from Lebanon Trail High School in Frisco, Texas. She was First Team All-District in 2020. She reached 1,000 digs in 2021. She has 1,677 digs and 60 aces. In 2022, Symone had 668 digs, averaging 7.5 digs per set. Suzie said,

"Symone is a wonderful addition to our team. She is athletic, and has lightning-fast speed. She is an unbelievable teammate and high-charater person, that is going to come in and provide a tremendous amount of vaule for our team."

Here's Volleyball's announcement of the two signings.

Sydney Bolding led with 17.5 points and 14 kills, and she hit .414. Elena Baka had 14.5 points and 13 kills. Kadye Fernholz had 13 points, 11 kills and excellent .417 hitting! Loren Hinkle logged 46 assists, and 2 aces. Shay Myers had 11 kills.

Something noteworthy is that the Cats responded to a 17-25 set 1 score with a 25-13 set 2 win. I like it that they didn't give up after a lost set. It should also be noted that sets 3 and 4 were battles at the end, each with a few set points.

On defense, Haley Warner had 6 block assists, Sydney Bolding had 5 and Kadye Fernholz added 4. Libero Mackenzie Morris led with 17 digs. Please note that setter Loren Hinkle still has her digging skills, and her 15 digs (+ 46 assists) = a double-double for her!

Here's the official match recap.

Coach Fritz commented,

Overall thoughts...
"It's a huge win for us. Coming off of Wednesday night, only having a day to turn it back around to beat a top-25 team on the road, I think says a lot about what we are capable of doing. I thought we played extremely well. Iowa State is a terrific team - and has done wonderful things this far in the season - so the win feels pretty good."

On the difference in the match...
"One of the primary objectives going into the match was to be the better transition team. As the rallies got long, we wanted to control the ball, play cleaner and get better swings. I thought we were better in transition, and won the serving and passing battle. Our serving, in particular, was very disruptive."

On who stood out...
"From a ball control perspective, I thought Mackenzie Morris and Elena Baka did a really nice job. They took care of the ball, and did their job. Loren Hinkle and Sydney Bolding also had a good night. Sydney did really good on both sides of the ball."

Finally... here's a tweet from @KStateVB. It's Sydney Bolding with the final serve. (Twitter link) Iowa State returns the serve... sort of... and Kadye Fernholz puts... the hammer... down, as Mitch Holthus would say.

A stat that catches one's eye is KU's .394 hitting, compared to the Cats' .183. Still, it should be noted that Haley Warner had 9 kills, and hit .316. Elena Baka also had 9 kills, with .222 hitting. Shaylee Myers added 6 skills, with good .250 hitting. Loren Hinkle and Elena Baka each had 9 digs. Loren recorded 27 assists, and upped her career ace total to 103.

A story of the match has to be hitting. The Volleycats hit .233, .156 and .148, to KU's .244, .457 and .552.

Coach Suzie Fritz said,

"It's a disappointing night for us. We have felt as though we've been improving over the past several weeks, so it's frustrating that we were not the best version of ourselves. I know the team wants more, and we will continue to fight to become the team we are capable of becoming. We have an opportunity to make a late run in the second half of league play, and that's what we intend to do."

On players that stood out...
"Mack Morris continues to be an elite defender, as she keeps us in rallies. That's a testament to her hard work. It was also good to see Haley Warner put up good production offensively tonight. She made some good connections on the ball."

There was big excitement in Set 1. KSU outhit UT, .312 to .242. There were 15 tie scores. The Cats prevailed toward the end. Loren Hinkle sealed the set with two aces. The Cats outhit UT .312 to .242 in Set 1.

On offense, there was a fair amount of balance in points. Kadye Fernholz had 9.5 points, Aliyah Carter and Sydney Bolding had 9.0 and Elena Baka had 8.0. Loren Hinkle had 6.5 points, she had 4 kills and .800 hitting, and had 34 assists.

On defense, blocks were fairly evenly distributed. Mackenzie Morris had 17 digs, Loren Hinkle had 10 (earning a double-double) and Aliyah Carter had 9 digs.

Jerritt Elliott (in his 22nd year as Texas coach), got into a cross-court "discussion" with the first referee, in the third set, and ended it with kind of a swing of his fist. I gave him a technical foul from the sideline, and seconds later, the first referee gave Jerritt a yellow card. I don't know if he and the ref could hear anything the other was saying.

Coach Suzie Fritz commented,

"We were well prepared, and I was proud of them. We started well, and played hard in a lot of stretches, but we broke down in serve receive in the middle part of the match. It is a very difficult team to generate offense against out-of-system. I thought we played hard, and we are improving. We have that fight to get two or three points better, both individually and collectively."

On the difference in the first set...
"We had consistency, and we had a good clip offensively, at .313. That is really good for us. Side-out efficiency had a lot to do with it, too. Our serving and passing were strong, as well. Our focus was on, and we clicked. We were composed for most of the course of the match, and it started there."

This was a close one! Set scores this afternoon were (KSU/BU): 30-28, 27-29, 23-25, 23-25. Obviously, each set was decided by two points. There were 46 tie scores, and 22 lead changes. Other similarities included hitting: K-State .239, Baylor .229, blocks: K-State 11, Baylor 10, and digs: Baylor 62, K-State 57.

On offense, there were strong performances in points and efficiency. It was a big afternoon for Elena Baka from either point of view. Elena led all players with 21.5 points and 20 kills, hitting a solid .298. Sydney Bolding added 13 points. She had impressive .500 hitting and 7 kills. Shaylee Myers had 11 points and 10 kills, and she hit .269. Haley Warner had 10.5 points and 8 kills, with .250 hitting. Loren Hinkle totaled 50 assists.

On defense, Sydney Bolding was a major contributor, with 8 block assists, and a single. Hayley Warner had 5 block assists. Elena Baka had 32 serve receptions, and Aliyah Carter had 25. Mackenzie Morris had 18 digs, Elena had 13, Loren Hinkle had 8 and Molly Ramsey had 7.

Big picture, K-State was right in there with #14 Baylor throughout the match. and was almost identical in hitting efficiency and blocks, and very close in kills. The Volleycats certainly made Baylor earn the victory. Both teams were very efficient in set 4. The Cats hit .438, and Baylor hit .361.

Coach Fritz said,

"We are disappointed in the results. I thought throughout a good portion of the match, we played well; however, the difference is in the details when it comes to one- or two-point sets. The result part is hard to swallow, but we were competitive and more consistent than the last couple of matches. It was overall a more focused effort on our part.

I thought we were really good on the left overall. Shay and Elena (with 20 kills) did a tremendous job. Elena has been attentive to how to generate more kill production. You have to be creative and open to possibilities, in order to get that output. She has really been attentive and working really hard.

(on Loren Hinkle's performance and 100th career ace...)
I thought Loren was making good setting choices, when she had those opportunities. Her overall complete game is good. She has been an excellent server even before becoming a setter. That achievement is very exciting for her."

Up next, on Friday, 10/28, is #1 Texas, at 6:30 P in the OcTangon of Doom. Iowa State gave Texas their first loss earlier this week. Let's join in the fun of annoying them.

Once again, tonight's match was concurrent with much of the Chris Klieman show at the Powercat Sports Grill, so I requested that management put the match on the biggest video screen, and we paid close attention. Dev Nelson, long-time Voice of the Cats, would have called this match a "rip-snortin', barn-burnin', double-barreled, double-dip, deep-dish dilly." The set scores of 20-25, 15-25, 25-22, 25-15, 15-13 tend to support that. Here's the official match recap.

Team hitting was .227... a little more efficient than OU. Aliyah Carter led in kills, with 15, and she hit a solid .297. Aliyah led all players with 19 points, and she added digs and aces. It should be noted that Aliyah hit an astronomical .667 in the deciding set five! Shaylee Myers added 13 kills, hitting .273, and Sydney Bolding had 11 points, with awesome .381 hitting. Loren Hinkle had 43 assists, and her 3 aces came in handy. Loren's next ace will be #100.

On defense, Mackenzie Morris turned in her best digs total: 29. Molly Ramsey and Loren Hinkle added 9 digs each. Elena Baka and Aliyah Carter had 7 digs. Blocks were not especially high for a five-set match, with a combined 8 by the team. OU had 10.

Suzie Fritz said,

"We are thrilled with the end results, and the grit and tenacity that we showed in the latter part of the match. I thought we came out of the break far more aggressively, and we controlled the ball on our side well. It was hard - because we came out slow - that we had to put ourselves in that position, but in the end, we responded well.

Sydney Bolding did with hitting well and creating problems at the net for them. She is really doing some special things as a middle. And our lefts, Shay and Aliyah, both hitting high .200s is a really good night.

To be in a position where you are down two sets - and it goes five - where you can figure out a way to win and play well, is special. This was very meaningful to us, and we needed that kind of a breakthrough."

In other news, Iowa State provided the first season defeat for #1-ranked Texas, in Ames. Kansas State, you might recall, swept Iowa State in the Octangon of Doom on October 2.

Re-entry: Volleyball has tweeted a highlights video, Don't Count Us Out. It's on Twitter.

I came in expecting a close match. The Volleycats were looking very strong, early. In set 1, the Cats were hitting in the .500s, then dropped to somewhere in the .400s... still extremely impressive. They finished set one with exactly .400 hitting, and set 2 with a good .289. Combining sets 1 and 2, their hitting was a very good .338.

Then came set 3. What happened? The Cats' hitting dropped to .200 for this set, while TCU hit a spectacular .560. The 2022 Volleycats have a bit of a tendency - after a strong couple of sets - to lose their edge. An example is their five-set loss to KU in late September. Set scores were (KU/KSU): 19-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-20, 7-15. The Cats lost the first two sets by small margins, won the next two 25-20, and looked to be on the path to victory. Somehow, they lost their momentum, as seen in the set 5 score. I'm sure Suzie and crew will talk to the team about keeping their momentum going.

On offense, Elena Baka had a big evening, leading the team with 20 points, .333 hitting and 17 kills. Aliyah Carter had 19 points and 14 kills. Kadye Fernholz had 12 points and 9 kills, and she hit .261. Loren Hinkle had 42 assists (and 2 kills). Sydney Bolding had 3 aces, and Aliyah Carter had 2.

On defense, Sydney Bolding had 8 block assists, and Kadye Fernholz had 6. Several players had 4 block assists. K-State had 18 blocks, to TCU's 4! Mackenzie Morris had 17 digs.

Suzie said,

"Our serve and pass was significantly better early on in the match. It broke down late. They put a lot of pressure on Elena Baka in serve receive. They also made some position changes that were beneficial to them, and we needed to make adjustments faster. I think we need to focus on what we can do to prepare. The mental parts and pieces are important. We will continue to iron out the details and attack those on a daily basis. We need to push the reset button, because we go again on Wednesday."

We acknowledge exceptional hitting by UT players Logan Eggleston (13 kills / .684), Madisen Skinner (14 kills / .219) and Molly Phillips (9 kills / .471). On offense, the Cats had some nice work, too. Sydney Bolding had 6 kills and .417 hitting. Kadye Fernholz had 8 kills and .333 hitting. The Cats have been served well, if you will, by aces of late, but tonight had only 1 each from Molly Ramsey and Sydney Bolding. Sydney led with 9 points, Kadye had 8 and Aliyah Carter had 7 points. Loren Hinkle had 24 assists.

On defense, the Cats were overshadowed by blocks, 11 to 4, with 22 block assists by Texas, and 8 for the Cats. Sydney led with 4 block assists. Set three was rough for the Cats, as Texas hit .519.

Coach Fritz said,

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."

Not surprisingly, the combined efforts of several Cats were critical to getting the W. Sydney Bolding had 11.5 points. 8 kills and .235 hitting. Elena Baka had 9.5 points, 8 kills and excellent .412 hitting. Kadye Fernholz had 5 kills and 9 points, and led the team with 4 blocks. Loren Hinkle continues to make major contributions as setter, and she had 26 assists.

Mackenzie Morris had 16 digs. She was assisted on defense by Elena Baka (8 digs), the aforementioned Loren Hinkle (7 digs) and Molly Ramsey (5 digs + and ace). Sydney Bolding was in there on defense, too, with a single block and three block assists.

Be sure to see the official recap.

Suzie Fritz commented,

On the difference in the match...
"Our serving continues to put pressure on opponents. It kept West Virginia out of system, and we were able to get productive touches in the net and score points defensively. It wasn't always pretty, but we found a way to win, and showed resilience and composure in some tough moments. Credit to West Virginia, they made it tough on us and fought hard all night."

On the team's offensive performance...
"It was good to have a balanced attack. Credit to Loren for getting everyone involved. She was able to keep West Virginia's defense off balance. Elena really came on strong late, especially in game three. I loved the grit of our team tonight."

A factor in this victory was aces. The Volleycats had 11, to Iowa State's 2. Sydney Bolding had 4 aces, and Loren Hinkle (no surprise) added 3.

On offense, the Cats trailed ISU in hitting % most of the match, but kept after it. They were running in the 100s, but ended with .243 hitting. Let's not go farther without mentioning Sydney Bolding, who had 15 points, 10 kills and awesome .500 hitting. Shaylee Myers led the Cats with 19.5 points and 17 kills, hitting .311. Kadye Fernholz had 6 kills, and hit a solid .286.

Loren Hinkle is doing so well in her new setter role! She had 37 assists, to add to her 3 aces and 7 digs.

On defense, the ever-reliable Mackenzie Morris recorded an awesome 22 digs, and Molly Ramsey added 10 digs. Mackenzie has four 20-dig outings over her last five matches. Elena Baka had 8 digs. Kadye Fernholz had 2 single blocks and 3 block assists, along with 6 kills.

Suzie Fritz commented,

"It feels great. I am really proud of them. We had a little gauntlet of top-25 teams that we had to roll through a little bit, by design. We felt like we wanted to test ourselves and get ourselves prepared for Big 12-level competition, and then we hit Tech at Tech, who I think is going to have a very good year in the league, but a disappointing performance on our part Wednesday night. So, to be able to show some resilience, bounce back and play well against a good Iowa State team that's coming off a win over Baylor... this is what the Big 12 looks like, so you've got to be able to bring it every night. I'm pretty proud of them."

Up next for the Volleycats is a trip to Morgantown on Wednesday, for an encounter with WVU (6-9, 0-3 Big 12).

Hey... if you ever want an update on all the Big 12 teams' results this season, I have it for you, right here. It's built with InDesign and exported to PDF, for a quick and easy download. (I have it on another of my domains, which gives a faster download.)

This just in... @KStateVB has just posted ISU match highlights. There's good stuff to see!

Elena Baka led in scoring, with 12 points. She hit .250. Shaylee Myers had 11.5 points, with .189 hitting. Kadye Fernholz had a very solid night, with 10 points and spectacular .500 hitting. Loren Hinkle had 29 assists. But... as a team, Tech hit .272, to the Cats' .144.

Texas Tech prevailed on blocks... 10 to 5 over the Cats in that category. They led in digs, 60 to 49. Our star libero, Mackenzie Morris, led all players with 17 digs.

I don't have much of a feel for the match. I was trying to watch the match on a small screen at the Powercat Sports Grill during Coach Klieman's radio show. I'm dealing with cataracts, and could hardly see the match. There were 13 tie scores in the second match! We can't give up on the Cats. They have very good players. The Volleycats gave Texas Tech two very close sets. The one thing I'm noticing is too many instances this season of giving the ball a little tap over the net, to keep it in play, rather the powerful hits we've become used to from our OHs and MBs. As you'll see in the next paragraph, Coach Fritz credits TTU for their "aggressive swings."

Suzie's comments were brief.

"It was a frustrating evening for us. We were attacking them with our serving and creating out-of-system situations, but we were unable to convert on those opportunities. Texas Tech's outside hitters were taking really aggressive swings, and it felt like we were fighting them off all night. Our serve-pass was a bright spot, but we have to be able to connect the next phase to it."

Iowa State (9-6) is up next, in the Octagon on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 3:30 P.M. Let's all march over there and support our Cats!

Suzie Fritz commented,

"I've been telling anybody that'll listen that she's special. She doesn't say much, but what you see in a match is what you see every day, and it's pretty unusual, to be honest. There aren't many players where you know exactly what you're going to get every single day. The effort, focus, and incredibly high achieving, maybe to a fault, but what you see in the plays that you see in a match are the plays that she makes every day."

There's more coverage of Mackenzie's big event in the Sept. 24 match recap.

On offense, Aliyah Carter was not at her most efficient (.092), but she led the team with 20 kills (her season high), and 22.5 points! Shaylee Myers was excellent in hitting, at .407 / 14 points, and 13 kills. So was Sydney Bolding, hitting .400, with 14.5 points. Kadye had 12 points, from blocks + 10 kills. She hit .273.

Loren Hinkle had all kinds of awesome sets, totaling 57! (This is a career high!)

Now to defense... Libero Mackenzie Morris has just become the quickest player (rally scoring era) to reach 1,000 career digs! Suzie Fritz doesn't miss any opportunity to praise her. We have had awesome liberos and DSs over the years, and Mackenzie is now in the record book for her contributions! And... she's a junior! Molly Ramsey had a career-high 12 digs. (Read more about Mackenzie in the Sept. 26 headline, just above.)

• Sydney's hitting .338 – and averaging 1.98 kills per set – with 1.33 blocks per set and 20 aces.
  
• She's been named to the all-tournament team at the Rambler and K-State invitationals.
  
• Sydney has recorded double-figure kills four times this season, and has hit .350 or better five times, including a career-best .588 at Rice.

• Shay is hitting .335, and averaging a team-high 3.93 kills per set.
  
• She has six matches with double-figure kills. Her season high is 23 kills, vs. Missouri. (That's the highest of any Volleycat this season.)
  
• Her first double-double came vs. Rice, when she had 17 kills and 10 digs.
  

• K-State junior libero Mackenzie Morris sits just 18 digs away from joining the 1,000-digs club.
  
• If she reaches the 1,000-dig mark Saturday against Kansas, Morris will be the fastest player in program history (rally-scoring era) to reach the milestone, doing so in just 63 matches.
  
• Earlier this season, Morris set a career high with 25 digs against UCF.
  
• The Dallas native is coming off back-to-back 20-dig performances at the Rice Adidas Invitational, as she now sits at 15 career matches with at least 20 digs (fourth-most in program history).
  
• Currently, she is one of just two players in the rally-scoring era to average over 4.00 digs per set (Angie "Ace" Lastra, 4.37).

• Aces - Elena Baka #4, Sydney Bolding #5, Loren Hinkle #10
  
• Assists - Loren Hinkle #6
  
• Blocks - Sydney Bolding #4, Kadye Fernholz #8
  
• Digs - Mackenzie Morris #3
  
• Hitting % - Sydney Bolding #8
  
• Kills - Shaylee Myers #3
  
• Points - Shaylee Myers #4, Elena Baka #8

On offense, we have to start with a shout out to Shaylee Myers, who led with 21 points, accumulated from 4 block assists, .326 hitting and 16 kills 2 assists + 3 aces! Her name keeps popping up, doesn't it? Elena Baka... no surprise... had 15 points, from 13 kills. Kadye Fernholz added 11 points. She hit an awesome .438, and had 8 kills. Loren Hinkle was busy, as usual. She recorded 37 assists.

In the defense department, our awesome libero, Mackenzie Morris, led all players with 22 digs. Sydney Bolding, Shaylee Myers and Kadye Fernholz each had 4 block assists. The Cats surpassed the Bluebirds 10 to 5 in blocks.

Suzie commented to the media,

"The end of a productive and difficult preseason, I think is what we're feeling. This was the challenge we were ready for this weekend... the teams of the caliber of Rice and Creighton and, frankly, I think we are in it, and capable of playing with - and beating - those kind of teams, because we are one of those kinds of teams. Defensively, I thought we were pretty tenacious today. We extended rallies, we were pretty good out-of-system. I thought we did some really good things playing a rested Creighton team.

Mack Morris really stood out to me, in terms of the shots that she took. Shaylee Myers is really doing some tremendous things from an offensive perspective. Honestly, this weekend was one of Loren Hinkle's best weekends in terms of set location, and getting hitters in a pretty good rhythm. She's gotten a lot better as she's gone along."

This was a close one. Set scores were 25-20, 26-24, 21-25, 18-25, 13-15. So... in a way, K-State lost by three points.

On offense, the Cats' .187 hitting wasn't impressive, although in total points, we prevailed slightly, 80 to 78. The Cats had 59 kills, to Rice's 62. Rice players had 8 aces, to the Cats' 7. Sydney Bolding had the most efficient offense, hitting an outstanding .588, and she had 16 points. Shaylee Myers was less efficient, hitting .226, but she led the team with 17 kills and 18 points. Elena Baka hit .195, but she kept trying, and ended with 17 points. Setter Loren Hinkle had 41 assists!

The Volleycats' defense led the Owls in blocks, 14 to 8. Rice prevailed slightly in digs, 73 to 70. Not surprisingly, Mackenzie Morris recorded 23 digs in the match. Elena Baka had 12 digs, and Loren Hinkle had 11.

Suzie said, "I thought we were playing extremely well after the first few points in game one. Game two was about as good as we've been... a lot of defensive pressure and not giving up lots of points. I thought, frankly, they upgraded. I thought maybe we got a little bit conservative from the service line, and a little bit conservative from an attacking perspective, as well." Suzie is calling for improvement on sideouts in future matches.

Up next (Sept. 17) is 7-2 Creighton. What concerns me about them (without knowing the details), is that 10 days ago, they took #2 Nebraska to five sets, with a final score of 2-3, and earlier this month, they beat #25 USC.

The outcome of the Volleycats' trip back East was 25-14, 25-13, 31-29. The Cats are now 9-2, and the Kangas are 3-7, but we had a barn burner in set three (with 10 tied scores). Elena Baka had 10 kills, 286 hitting and 14.5 points. Sydney Bolding has been a steady contributor. She hit .267 with 6 kills, and had 11.5 points. Another with similar .286 hitting was Shaylee Myers, with 8 kills. Haley Warner had 8 points, 7 kills and .455 hitting! Loren Hinkle and Ava LeGrand shared setting, and each had 15 assists. Mackenzie Morris had 2 aces. The team combined for solid .245 hitting. Suzie Fritz commented on our offense, "We still have some personnel I am excited for. I am excited about our outside hitting core. Sydney is wonderfully consistent, in terms of what she's doing. I think we have two setters who are getting better and better by the day, I think we are growing there, but I like the progress that we are making."

On defense, Molly Ramsey led with 10 digs, and Mackenzie Morris added 9. The Cats led the Kangas in digs, 50 to 43. Middle blocker Sydney Bolding had an impressive 7 block assists, and Kadye Fernholz had 5. The Cats prevailed in blocks, 15 to 4, which if you notice the recap's use of the term "stout defense," is the story of the match. Suzie said, "I thought the effort was good. We look a little fresher today than we were last weekend, I think. Defense is so determined by the connectivity between serve productivity - which I think we are really good at right now - to block productivity, which I think we are pretty far ahead, and into that dig-to-transition phase."

Rob Voelker said the Volleycats are going straight from Kansas City to Houston, where they will encounter Rice (8-1) and Creighton (7-2). Rice's only loss, as of this writing, has been to #18 Oregon, and the match went to five sets. Creighton took #2 Nebraska to five sets a week ago, so watch out!

Kansas State hit a very impressive .358, and held St. Thomas to .110. On offense, Shaylee Myers had another strong outing, with .474 hitting and 11 kills. Elena Baka also had 11 kills, with .276 hitting. Kadye Fernholz had 6 kills, from excellent .400 hitting. Ava LeGrand didn't have as many attempts, but her .750 hitting was certainly noteworthy. Sydney Bolding had 4 aces, and Elena Baka had 3.

Ava LeGrand had setter duty today, and contributed 31 assists. For an unknown reason, Loren Hinkle did not play today.

In the defense department, Brenna Schmidt had 4 block assists, and 2 single blocks, and Shaylee Myers had 3 block assists. No surprise, libero Mackenzie Morris led with 12 digs, with Molly Ramsey, Ava LeGrand, Shaylee Myers and Elena Baka contributing a half dozen or more digs.

Sydney Bolding and Mackenzie Morris made the all-tournament team.

Coach Suzie Fritz said, "I'm excited. At one point in time, I looked out on the floor and we had four freshmen on the floor, and thought they were playing exceptionally well. I am excited about their development and improvement, and excited about their future. The only way they can get better is to get them out there and give them some experience. We finished a stretch where we just played four matches in four days, so we are experiencing some pretty significant physical, mental and travel fatigue right now. We thought getting in some fresh bodies could rejuvenate us. The thing I was the proudest of was that we sustained a really high and consistent level of play. We stayed really focused and engaged in the match, from start to finish." Suzie also commented on a major emphasis on effective serving in early fall.

Up next is a visit to UMKC on Wednesday, 9/14, at 7:00 P. The match can be seen on KCRoos.com, and KMAN 93.3 FM will have Rob Voelker's play-by-play.

Loyola's hitting wasn't spectacular, but they outhit KSU, .209 to .078. MB Sydney Bolding had a tremendous match! She led the team in scoring, with 16 points and 11 kills, and she hit .391! Aliyah Carter had 9 kills, and Elena Baka had 7. Loren Hinkle 22 assists. She played all four sets, after appearing to have an ankle bothering her at home this week.

Back to Sydney Bolding... she had 6 block assists, enroute to her 16 points. Kadye Fernholz and Ava LeGrand had 4 block assists. Ava had 7 assists, too!

Mackenzie Morris, who is having a very impressive season, led the Cats with 19 digs. She had 25 serve receives, and 3 aces.

Suzie Fritz said, "I thought the difference down the stretch was just serving productivity. I thought our block was terrific. Haley and Sydney were doing some really nice things to be disruptive, and Kadye as well. I'm excited about that part of our game, and being able to tie that serve-to-block-to-dig sequence. Mack Morris was doing Mack Morris things as well. I think anytime you can hold an opponent below .100, you're feeling pretty good about the defensive effort."

OH Shaylee Myers didn't have the highest efficiency, but she led the team with 14 points, and she had 10 kills. Aliyah Carter led the team with 13 kills, and almost in points, with 13.5. Now, if you like efficiency, MB Kadye Fernholz had .467 hitting! Wait a minute. I haven't mentioned that Loren Hinkle had 35 assists in this morning's sweep!

The Cats prevailed in blocks, 12.5 to 8. Sydney Bolding had 6 block assists. Shaylee Myers and Loren Hinkle each had 4 block assists. Mackenzie Morris led all players, with 17 digs.

There were four lead changes in set 1, which ended in favor of the Cats, 27-25. Things were looking quite fine in set 2, with the Cats prevailing, 25-14. It looked like we'd finish with set 3, but MU won it by 2 points, then won set 4 by five points.

On offense, tonight was the Shaylee Myers show! She led all players with 23 kills and 24 points, and she hit an outstanding .419! Haley Warner and Elena Baka had 16 kills, and Haley hit a solid .242, finishing with 19.5 points. Sydney Bolding's name was heard often! She had 10 kills, hit .222, added 16.5 points and led the match with 4 aces. Loren Hinkle's setting was so good! She had 41 assists, and in this writer's opinion, is a tremendous asset in her new role as setter. Loren sat out a little bit, and seemed to have a slight limp, but still played in 4 of 5 sets. Molly Ramsey had 3 aces!

Of Shaylee Myers' evening, as well as the team, Suzie Fritz said, "She's been doing it every day, to be honest. She has earned some opportunities, and I am thrilled that we have the outside hitting core that we have right now – with (Aliyah) Carter, with Baka, with Myers – all three give us something just a little bit different. We've got four matches in four days (this week) and to be able to use them all and keep them fresh is huge."

On defense, Haley Warner had 7 block assists, Sydney Bolding had 5, and Kadye Fernholz had 3. Missouri prevailed in blocks, 16 to the Cats' 10. Elena Baka had 17 digs, libero Mackenzie Morris had 15, and our veteran libero, Loren Hinkle, had 10 digs. The Cats outhit the Tigers slightly, .200 to .164.

In conclusion, I was impressed with the Volleycats' team play. I felt they were passing the ball impressively. Their hitting percentage went up and down during the match, but ultimately they prevailed in kills, 71 to 48, and in points, 91 to 68. Our old friend, Anna Dixon, led MU in kills, with 17, and in points, with 19. For some reason, Brynn Carlson was not suited up for the match.

This was another match that was hard to follow, as it ran concurrently with K-State Football's season opener vs. South Dakota. All we could get was live stats. The contest was definitely back and forth, with set scores (KSU/UCF) of 25-20, 18-25, 30-28, 21-25, 11-15. UCF's recap called the match a thriller. UCF prevailed in hitting, .268 to .222, in kills, 72 to 66, in blocks, 11 to 7, and in digs, 63 to 53. The teams had 49 tie scores, and 24 lead changes. (official recap)

Elena Baka led the Cats with 19 points and 19 kills. Aliyah Carter had 18.5 points and 18 kills, but hit .136. Sydney Bolding had 13.5 points, and impressive .350 hitting. Kadye Fernholz was extremely efficient, with .500 hitting. She had 11 kills.

Loren Hinkle continues to impress in her new setter role. She had 53 assists, an ace and 2 block assists.

Our libero, Mackenzie Morris, was a force on defense, leading all players with 25 digs. Suzie Fritz said, "Talk about a special player... Mack Morris is special. What she can do defensively and the shots that she's taking are amazing. She keeps us in it, and frustrates attackers. I'm not even sure Mack Morris knows how special she is, but she is an elite defender." Mackenzie had two aces. She's very reliable on serving. Here's Mackenzie's newcomer video from 2020. Just as a reminder, Mackenzie doesn't like bugs.

To summarize the match vs. the soon-to-be Big 12 team, Suzie said, "I loved our effort. If it only came down to just effort, I think we'd be feeling pretty good. I thought that was, at times, the best volleyball that we've played thus far – which was required against the best team we've played thus far. I felt like we had some passing breakdowns, we gave up a few too many point-scoring runs and got stuck in a couple of rotations. Against a really good team, that's going to be the difference."

In conclusion, here's a re-entry. Big congrats go to Elena Baka and Mackenzie Morris on being named to the UCF Challenge All-Tournament Team! Elena recorded 50 kills, and Mackenzie had a career-high 25 digs vs. UCF.

It was no picnic following this match. The only alternative seemed to be live stats. Rob Voelker watches some of the road matches at home, and gives us perfectly good play-by-play, but he wasn't on today. Maybe he couldn't watch it, either.

Our transfer OH from Greece, Elena Baka, was a major factor today... leading with 19.5 points, 14 kills and .281 hitting. Aliyah Carter was not as efficient as usual (.044 hitting), but she had 10 points from 9 kills. Kadye Fernholz had good .236 hitting, with 6 kills. Lauren Hinkle had a busy afternoon, with 30 assists and 2 aces. Speaking of aces, Elena Baka had 4, Mackenzie Morris had 3, and Loren and Molly Ramsey each had 2.

On defense, Sydney Bolding had 4 block assists. Elena and Haley Warner added 3 each. Elena had 14 digs, libero Mackenzie Morris had 11 and Aliyah Carter had 7.

While regular contributors did add points, the team was not as efficient this time out. To the Cats' credit, they stayed in there and didn't get discouraged, and got themselves a straight-set win.

Suzie Fritz said, "In the end our serving, I thought, was the difference. We kept them in, and we were getting on it, and it was required, frankly. Really gritty, tenacious, high-energy defensive team that's going to have a great year in North Florida. We had to up our defensive standards a little bit. The match was chaotic, but once we got settled in, things got a little bit better."

From Sports Information:

Elena Baka led the Cats with 14 kills, 14 digs and four aces. It was her second double-double of the season. She has registered multiple service aces in all five matches this season, and currently leads the Big 12 with 14 aces.

   • The current 5 - 0 record is the best start since 2013.

   • The Cats' 12 aces are fourth-best in a three-set match since 2007.

   • The 5-0 current record is the fourth time since 2001.

If you followed the match, which the Cats won 25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 25-21, it appeared that they were pretty good shape throughout, winning the first two sets, and in the lead, most of the time. Looking at the box score, K-State had a slight edge in most statistical categories, although blocks and digs were even.

Junior OH Aliyah Carter had a big day! She ended with excellent .366 hitting, 20 kills, 4 aces and 24.5 points. Elena Baka hit a very solid .297, with 17 kills and 21 points and 6 digs. It's so good to see Loren Hinkle excelling at setter! I don't think we expected the position change to happen, but it's no surprise that she's making the most of it. Loren led the match with 44 assists (her career high, so far)! Suzie Fritz had high praise for Aliyah and Loren. Sydney Bolding came in third in Cat points, with 11.5, as she had 6 kills, 5 block assists and 3 aces. Our libero, Mackenzie Morris, led the match with 17 digs. Molly Ramsey and Loren Hinkle had 8 digs.

Tomorrow, the Cats will encounter North Florida. They're 1-2 going into our match, but it should be pointed out that they gave #15 Florida two close sets in Gainesville, and took them to an extra set.

On offense, K-State prevailed in kills, 42 to 18, led by our new player, Shaylee Myers, who had 22.5 points, excellent .516 hitting and 18 kills! Our junior MB, Kadye Fernholz, had 10.5 points, and spectacular .778 hitting, for 7 kills. Haley Warner also had 7 kills, hitting .308. She added 8.5 points. Shaylee Myers also led the Cats, with 4 aces. Ava LaGrande did great work, with 31 assists. Suzie seems to be trying to give different players an opportunity to play. Loren Hinkle, who served exceptionally as setter in the invitational, added 5 assists today. As a team, hitting in the three sets was .435, .318 and .417.

On defense, Kadye Fernholz had a single block and 5 block assists. As mentioned earlier, Kadye came in second in points, thanks to her kills and blocks. Libero Mackenzie Morris had 14 digs. Elena Baka and Ava LaGrande each recorded 5 digs. Elena Baka led with 16 serve receptions.

I've mentioned earlier how impressed I am with Loren Hinkle's start as a setter. This is new for her, as she's been listed as DS/libero in previous seasons (and still is). Our senior in life sciences and microbiology is very smart, and she knows our offensive schemes well. She'll make great decisions when playing setter. Watching her in a new role, it's like she's been our setter for a long time.

Elena Baka and Sydney Bolding are among the six players on the all-tournament team, and Elena was named the MVP.

Up next for the VolleyCats is the UCF Challenge, vs. Syracuse, North Florida and UCF. Sports Information reports that the Cats vs. UCF on Saturday will be streamed live on ESPN+, and all three matches will have radio coverage on KMAN (93.3 FM), and online at K-StateSports.com/watch.

Sydney Bolding, who would end the weekend on the all-tournament team, led with 17.5 points, with outstanding .500 hitting, from 13 kills. Elena Baka, the invitational MVP, had 16 points, 12 kills and .306 hitting. Aliyah Carter... no surprise... had 15 points and 11 kills, and she was active on blocking. The Cats outhit NC State .234 to .058. And... our newly-discovered setter, Loren A. Hinkle, had 37 assists and 2 aces.

On defense, Kadye Fernholz led with 8 block assists, and a single block. Mackenzie Morris led the team with 18 digs. Elena Baka and Aliyah Carter had 10 digs, and Molly Ramsey and Loren Hinkle each had 9 digs. The Cats prevailed in blocks, 17.5 to 4, which may help explain NC State's .058 hitting.

I like writing up the matches, but don't miss the experts' recap!

Loren Hinkle, brand new in the setter role, had 31 assists, and our veteran libero added 9 digs. Suzie Fritz commented, "Loren Hinkle did a really nice job. It's quite special given her previous role, and the role we are asking her to do now... the effectiveness in which she is running our offense. So a lot of things have to come together to distribute in that manner."

On defense, Kadye Fernholz led the Cats with 3 block assists, and she had 5 kills. Our favorite team held SHS to .108 hitting.

Of Sydney Bolding, who would go on to make the tournament team, Suzie said, "Based on how she's playing, we call that 'feed the bear.' She was unstoppable at times, so you just ride it until they can stop it."

As a freshman, Mackenzie led the Cats in digs. I always feel confident when she serves, but didn't know that she led the team in aces in her first season. D. Scott Fritchen reports that "she was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week twice, and earned Academic All-Big 12 First Team honors, with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average. She also led K-State and ranked fifth in the Big 12 with 3.96 digs per set."

Let's all head to the Octagon of Doom this weekend, and give Mackenzie and company a great crowd.

On offense, junior Aliyah Carter, our 2021 First Team All-Big 12 OH, led the Cats with 20 points and 19 kills. Elena Baka, senior OH, had an impressive debut with the Cats. She had 18.5 points, 17 kills and 15 digs. Sydney Bolding was really good. She had 14 points, and 12 kills, and led the team with .346 hitting! Kadye Fernholz added 12.5 points, with 8 kills and .231 hitting.

Setter Ava LeGrand, who we swiped from NU's neighborhood, had 34 assists. I was surprised, after Loren Hinkle came in, that she was setting, as she's been a defensive player over her past three seasons. Loren added 23 assists to the box score. It will be interesting to see if setting is more of her role this season. I know she'll do it well. And... Loren had a kill, for 1.000 hitting!

On defense, libero Mackenzie Morris led with 33 digs, Molly Ramsey had 16, Elena Baka had 15 and Aliyah Carter had 13. MB Kadye Fernholz had a single block, and 7 block assists, so she led the Cats in blocks.

Three players, Aliyah Carter, Ava LeGrand and Elena Baka, had double-doubles. By the way, I looked up what counts for a double-double in volleyball. The source I found says it's double digits in two of these five: aces, assists, blocks, digs and kills.

The Cats ended the match with their best hitting in set five, at a good .273.

Up next is the K-State Invitational on Friday, August 26. They'll take on Sam Houston State at noon, and NC State at 7:30 P. Then it's Florida A&M on Saturday, at 12:30 P.

Oh! I found this later. It's a compilation of big plays during the exhibition. (Twitter video)

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.