The first meeting of these Big 12 teams was interesting. Look at the closeness in several statistical categories: The teams each had 48 kills. KSU had one more ace. UC had 12 blocks, to KSU's 10. UC had 66 points, to KSU's 63. UC had 45 assists, to KSU's 43. The critical difference in this match is that UC had 19 hitting errors, and KSU had 30. (Again... both teams had 48 kills.)

On offense, Aliyah Carter led with 17 kills, while Brenna Schmidt and Izzi Szulczewski both hit .500, and Kadye Fernholz hit .222. Izzi had 29 assists, by the way. Both teams have 8-5 season records.

On defense, Sydney Bolding had 6 block assists, and Aniya Clinton added 5. Libero Mackenzie Morris had 16 digs, Aliyah Carter had 11 and Izzi Szulczewski had 10.

Coach Jason Mansfield said,

(overall)
"I thought Cincinnati played extremely well. We knew what they were capable of, having seen some really good things on film from them offensively. I thought [Zeta] Washington did a great job. She's a tough player to stop, [Abby Walker] as well. We knew going in that those two attackers were going to be tough. I thought they played great defense. Their libero [Carly Skrabak] had 22 digs, and out-dug us by seven. I think that's probably where the match was won; our inability to slow them down offensively at times was a decisive factor."

(on staying composed)
"It's happened a lot. I think that we know that losing one set is not losing the match, and we've come back from that before. We did it last weekend against TCU. I liked the girls' mentality. After we lost the first set, I thought we responded really well in the second, with how we wanted to play. It's difficult when you are going down 0-1 as much as we have this month, but I'm proud of how we battled."

(on creating momentum in tough sets)
"We're trying to move on from good plays, bad plays, celebrate, focus on the next play, and try to be great on the next play because that's all that matters. Just reminding them sometimes... when things are getting tough, and we're feeling down, that we can do it. Let's move on to the next play."

A fun fact about tonight's action is that the Cats led in every statistical category that didn't include "error" in its name. Here's the official match recap.

On offense, there was some very efficient work. Brenna Schmidt hit an awesome .615, from 8 kills. Shaylee Myers had 11 kills, hitting .417. Kadye Fernholz and Sydney Bolding both hit .500. Aliyah Carter wasn't at her most efficient, but she collected 10 kills, and led with 13 points. Loren Hinkle had an awesome 23 assists, and Izzi Szulczewski delivered 16 assists.

On defense, libero Mackenzie Morris contributed a team-high 15 digs. For some reason, blocks were unusually low tonight: 10 assists and 1 single.

Coach Jason Mansfield said,

"Any win you get in the Big 12 is tough, especially on the road. I thought we showed a lot of grit in that first set, staying with them, and finding a way to win with some great setting choices and defense. We haven't won the first set in a while, so it was nice to be up 1-0. I thought the rest of the match we stayed consistent, which I was really proud of. Hitting over .300 is what we're capable of doing. I thought Sydney and Brenna showed what they can do, if we pass well and get them the ball. Shaylee managed really well offensively tonight, and kept attacking a variety of ways."

Let's all stuff the Morgan Arena on Saturday at 4:30 P, when Cincinnati comes to town. Maybe now that they're in the Big 12, I'll learn how to spell Cincinnati. (Ns vs. Ts)

There were some interesting stats. Both teams had unremarkable hitting (KSU .175, TCU .150). However, KSU hit .532 vs. San Diego State, and .323 vs. Tennessee-Martin. KSU had 85 points, while TCU had 83. Team blocks and assists were almost equal. Kills were, too: KSU 62, TCU 57. Aliyah Carter led with 18 kills, and Aniya Clinton had 17 kills. Meanwhile, Brenna Schmidt was most efficient, hitting .357, and Kadye Fernholz hit .267.

On defense, libero Mackenzie Morris led with 30 digs, and Izzi Szulczewski and Loren Hinkle had 12 digs.

Coach Jason Mansfield (comparing and contrasting the two TCU matches) said,

"Last night's match was just not us. We made a lot of mistakes, but I'm truly proud of the team today for coming back, putting in the work, and believing that we can do better. We had a solid game plan last night; however, we didn't execute on our side of the net. I'm proud of our resilience, even though we let the first set slip away. In the fifth set, we were down 13-10, but we fought through it. I feel genuinely proud of them.

It feels great. This is what we've needed this season – playing a quality opponent, battling, and finding a way to win. It feels like we've lifted a weight off our shoulders. We defeated a strong team, and it shows that we can play great without needing to be perfect. It's all about competing in every play.

Izzi and Loren are both outstanding setters. They contribute significantly to our team, and we're blessed to have two incredible athletes in the setting position. I thought both of them battled and ran a solid offense, putting our attackers in great positions tonight."

Did you see what just happened? At the start of tonight's write-up, I quoted legendary K-State Basketball coach (16 seasons) Jack Hartman's phrase, "found a way to win." Later, I discovered that Jason Mansfield summarized tonight's match with "finding a way to win."

Individually, Aliyah Carter had 15 kills, hitting .216. Sydney Bolding had 7 kills, with solid .375 hitting. Aliyah led the Cats with 15.5 points. Libero Mackenzie Morris led with 14 digs. A concern was blocks, I would say (KSU 6, TCU 14), and hitting efficiency (KSU .115, TCU .223).

Coach Jason Mansfield said,

"We weren't as consistent from the service line as we need to be. Their 14 blocks in three sets are not going to get the job done. We have to clean up our attacking and serving, but I thought we had chances in the first and third sets. So, I'm proud of how we came out after the five-minute break, and competed with them throughout the whole third set."

Let's pack Morgan Family Arena for the September 22 match! It's a 6:30 P first serve. While the Cats did lose one set by 9 points, they were within 5 points and 2 points on sets 1 and 3. As Mitch Holthus likes to say, let's put... the hammer... down!

Today, attendance was listed as 2,095. K-State Football was in Columbia, playing MU, and a number of fans were over there.

Rice (6-4) is RV in the latest AVCA poll. They hit .231, and KSU (6-3) hit .079. Set scores were (Rice/KSU): 25-15, 25-23, 25-21. Rice either prevailed in - or equaled - KSU in every statistical category.

It wasn't the Cats' best day in hitting. Hitting, by set, was 1: .023, 2: .178 and 3: .038. Shaylee Myers led the Cats with .261 hitting, with 7 kills. Kadye Fernholz hit .200, with 5 kills. Sydney Bolding hit .118, with 6 kills. Aliyah Carter, hitting .042, did turn in a team-high 11 kills and 14.5 points. (recap)

Izzi Szulczewski had 23 assists, and she had the Cats' second-most digs, with 12. Mackenzie Morris had 16 digs, and Loren Hinkle added 11.

Coach Jason Mansfield said,

"I think it shows our character - and how competitive we are - that we're not going to fight. (???) Yeah proud of - of how we battled. It's a really good team, you know, really good team that didn't play their best last night, and or yesterday, but I knew that they are very talented and they have the opportunity to be really good. And they stepped up and made a lot of plays. So yeah, we got to keep battling. We got to keep fighting for every point. You know, compete is a core value of ours, and we've got to find a way to make more plays."

K-State stats leaders on offense included Aniya Clinton with 11 kills (from .304 hitting), Izzi Szulczewski with 20 assists, and Aliyah Carter with 8 kills (.200 hitting). Izzi was very efficient with her 3 kills, hitting .750, and Brenna Schmidt had 4 kills, hitting .667. Sydney Bolding was third highest with 9 points, from 4 kills, 1 ace and 4 blocks. She hit .273.

On defense, Mackenzie Morris led all players with 12 digs, and Izzi Szulczewski added 5 digs. Sydney Bolding led all with 4 blocks.

Coach Jason Mansfield said,

"Just like us, LIU is a program that is trying to build, and they have a lot of youth on their team. I think their coach is doing a good job of getting them to compete. They certainly did that in the first set. I was proud of the fact that we got a lot of people in, and multiple people stepped up. We're still searching to be better in the first set, but I love how we performed midway through that first set, and the rest of the match. It's been our focus the last couple of matches, but we're searching, and we're certainly capable of being better."

Next up is Rice, on Saturday, Sept. 16 at high noon. As of Sept. 14, Rice is 4-5, and they're RV in the AVCA poll. It should be noted that the Owls were competitive vs. #6 Texas this week, losing 25-16, 25-21, 26-15. Anyway, bring your radios and/or your phones to follow the Football Cats while you cheer for the Volleycats.

On offense, Sydney Bolding was very effective for the Cats, hitting a team-high .588. She had 12 kills. Aliyah Carter had 17 kills (a season high), hitting .351, and Aniya Clinton had 13 kills, hitting .250. Izzi Szulczewski had 32 assists, and Loren Hinkle had 13. Sydney and Aliyah were named to the all-tournament team.

On defense, Mackenzie Morris led with 20 digs, and Aliyah Carter and Izzi Szulczewski each had 14 digs.

Coach Jason Mansfield said,

"I want to start off by congratulating Lipscomb. They are a great program - with a winning tradition - who played extremely well tonight, especially the first two sets. I'm proud of how the girls battled back and competed in the final three sets. We gave ourselves a chance to make an epic comeback being down 0-2, Lipscomb just made a couple more plays in the end. We'll learn from this, and get better from it.

Aliyah and Sydney were very consistent in both matches this weekend for us, both hitting for high percentages. They took some big swings tonight, and continue to make big plays in key moments. They are both working really hard on their game during the week, and I think it is paying off."

Here's the match recap.

The Volleycats doubled UT-Martin in kills, 41 - 20, far surpassed them in blocks, 14 - 3, and dominated in aces, 11-2.

Aliyah Carter led the match with 9 kills, Aniya Clinton had 7, Shaylee Myers had 6. Sydney Bolding and Kadye Fernholz each had 5. Izzi Szulczewski was most efficient, hitting .750, followed by Sydney Bolding, with .667. Liz Gregorski recorded 5 aces, and Aliyah Carter had 4. Izzi Szulczewski led the match, with 24 assists!

On defense, Sydney Bolding led with 7 blocks. Aniya Clinton and Shaylee Myers had 4 each. Libero Mackenzie Morris had a match-high 18 digs, and Izzi Szulczewski had 9 digs. Loren Hinkle and Liz Gregorski added 6 digs. Kadye Fernholz reach 300 career blocks this evening.

Coach Jason Mansfield said,

"We wanted to come into this match aggressive and have a chance to be physical against this team. I was really proud of us weathering the storm a little bit in the first set, and being consistent for the rest of the match. ... We want to be road warriors, and be great on the road, so getting these wins is a big deal, however we can do it. To be consistent the way we were tonight, I think is a big deal."

Next up is the host team, Lipscomb, on 9/09 at 6:00 CDT.

Last week, I dug into K-State Volleyball's media guide, and compiled the numbers. I knew Nebraska takes volleyball very seriously, and they're a tough opponent, but I wanted exact numbers. I chose 1990 for a starting point. From then - to our encounter with NU today - the totals are NU 43, KSU 4. A very fun evening was on 12/02/11, when Nebraska was ranked #2 in the AVCA poll, and hosting an NCAA regional. K-State knocked 'em out of the tournament! Big picture, vs. Nebraska... the all-time series, according to one source, stands at NU 81, KSU 4.

Nebraska's blocks were certainly a big part of their win, and that's nothing new. They recorded 12 blocks, and the Cats had 7. That was a factor in the Cats' .056 hitting. K-State's recap points out that NU's opponents currently have the lowest combined hitting percentage in Division 1.

Mackenzie Morris had 12 digs... a match high. Izzi Szulczewski continues to be a very solid contributor. She had 23 assists, 2 kills, an ace and 5 digs. Aliyah Carter led with 9 kills and 12 points, and she tossed in a couple of aces! Sydney Bolding was 2nd in points, with 9. She led the Cats in blocks.

Jason Mansfield said,

"I think we have high expectations and so disappointed but that the crowd was amazing again. So I loved that. I think you want to play the best teams to figure out where you're at. ... I thought we made a lot of really good plays that I haven't seen us make in matches. ... I thought to start the third set and be aggressive and make plays was awesome."

"It's so amazing just to see all the support we're getting. And I think it's huge for our team and just the program in general. I didn't feel a difference from playing an unranked opponent and ranked opponent. Just super exciting for us."

Here's K-State Sports' official recap.

Omaha came in 0-4, but they were a competitive opponent. Set scores were 25-21, 25-23, 25-23, with 52 points for the Volleycats, and 46 for Omaha. Digs were close: 54 for K-State, and 48 for Omaha. K-State, however, prevailed in hitting (36 kills to 32, and .179 to .080).

On offense, Kadye Fernholz led in efficiency (.500), while Aliyah Carter (who had a double-double) led in kills (14), and she led with 14.5 points. Shaylee Myers hit .263, and Aliyah hit .250. She recorded 9.5 points.

On defense, Mackenzie Morris had 20 digs, Aliyah Carter had 10 and Loren Hinkle had 7. (By the way, it was great to have Loren, our 5th-year player, back in action! She had a boot on a foot in the first two matches, but was back in action!)

Izzi Szulczewski had a major role, with 25 of the team's 33 assists. Add to that 6 digs, 2 kills and an ace! Oops! Add to those a solo block!

Coach Jason Mansfield was very positive about numerous aspects of the first match in the Morgan Family Arena. He said,

"Oh, I think it was great. I don't think the day was too much. I think we were very excited for this day to come." Of the players, he said, "They showed me that they can improve, and growth is a big deal in our program, and they've improved the last couple of weeks. Some of them have improved in the last nine months. And they've shown me they're tough. You know, we've been in some pretty tough situations so far this season, where we've been down, and the other team is playing really well and they're making us play hard volleyball and we have to play better and we have."

Finally, be sure to have a look at the photo gallery.

All-Tournament recognition included three Cats, Sydney Bolding, Aliyah Carter and Izzi Szulczewski, whose names came up constantly during coverage of the matches. Of the three, Coach Mansfield said Aliyah has been focused on being consistent, Izzi "adds so much value to our team," and Sydney was "dominant in every match, and I believe she is one of the best middles in the country..."

Before going farther, I want to give a shout out to Loren Hinkle. After the last home match last November (a win vs. Texas Tech), I asked Lauren Ramatowski if we'd get to keep Loren and Sydney for one more season, and she cheerfully replied, "Yes!" Loren is wearing a boot currently. She's meant so much to our program as a libero (and setter last season), and I wish her the best as she recovers. (She collected her 100th ace last October, among many other contributions.)

How about some fun facts?
   •  Liz Gregorski had 12 kills.
   •  Izzi Szulczewski had 24 assists.
   •  Sydney Bolding hit .700, and our MB had 8 blocks.
   •  Mackenzie Morris, Big 12 Scholar Athlete of the Year, reached 1,300 digs today.
   •  The Volleycats outhit Cal State Fullerton, .400 to .011.
   •  The Volleycats prevailed in blocks, 12.5 to 1.

Aliyah Carter led with 14 kills, hitting .500, and led with 17.5 points. Aniya Clinton had 10 kills, hitting .571. Shaylee Myers had 9 kills, hitting an excellent .643. Kadye Fernholz was very efficient. Her 7 kills came from .875 hitting.

Izzi Szulczewski is having a memorable visit to her home state. She delivered 38 of the Cats' 42 assists. Izzi was also second in digs, with 8, and libero Mackenzie Morris had 14 digs.

I asked Izzi a couple of weeks ago how to properly pronounce her name. It's three syllables. Say them as "SHULL," "CHESS" and "SKEE." Put a little accent on the second syllable, and there you go!

Here are K-State's match recap and box score.

Next up for the Cats: September 1 is a big day. It begins with the ribbon cutting for the brand new Morgan Family Arena, on September 1 at 3 P.M., with the match beginning at 6:30 P.M.

There are definitely changes this season: a new arena, a new court, an entirely new coaching staff, and new match coverage. Out of habit, I turned on the radio 30 minutes before first serve, expecting to hear the voice and excellent coverage of Bryan Smoller. All I heard on KMAN was the Royals. Having heard and posted that some coverage would be on ESPN+, I scrambled and subscribed, and was able to watch and follow the match on my iPhone. I fear that we may not have radio coverage anymore, which leaves me very sad (and irritated). I was also sad that the great Loren Hinkle... back for a fifth season... is in a boot, and couldn't play tonight.

Hey! Before we go farther, how about a shout out to Aliyah Carter, who tonight became the 19th Volleycat to record 1,000 career kills!

Various Cats stood out, some in efficiency, and some with impressive stats totals. Liz Gregorski and Aliyah Carter led with 10 kills each. Kadye Fernholz was very efficient, hitting .385 for her 7 points. Sydney Bolding hit a solid .312 on the way to 7 kills, and Shaylee Myers had 7 points. Aniya Clinton's .235 hitting resulted in 6 kills.

Although she's a setter, playing her first match as a Cat, Izzi Szulczewski hit .600, had two service aces and led with 41 assists!

Middle blockers Kadye Fernholz and Sydney Bolding had 6 blocks each.

Setter Izzi Szulczewski recorded 22 digs, and Big 12 Scholar Athlete of the Year Mackenzie Morris (4.000) had 20 digs. Aliyah Carter had 10 digs.

Here are the links for the box score and detailed stats. Up next is San Diego State on August 26, at 3:00 P CDT.

There will be two practice courts. Their location is uncertain to your webmaster at this time. As you can see from the photo (click to enlarge), there's only one court. Time will tell! (The announcement link above has a lot of information about the new facility.)

The first home action is vs. Omaha on Sept. 1. Our old rivals, Nebraska, will visit on Sept. 3. The Morgan Family Arena has two courts, a team room, a weight room and film room. The Volleycats return 11 players, and Coach Mansfield is very pleased about that. He says we have depth at every position. He said that of the new Big 12 opponents, BYU will likely be the toughest. Houston was great last year. (Oh, my... they went 30-4, and they have returners.)

I'm really looking forward to the intrasquad scrimmage, at 2 P.M. on August 12, at Morgan Family Arena!

Kadye's majoring in Elementary Education. Loren brought in perfect grades, while majoring in Life Sciences, Pre-Physician Assistant, Biology and Leadership Studies! Mackenzie's a star student in Accounting and Leadership Studies.

In my screen capture of the video, you see a small image of Johnny Kaw, over Aliyah's shoulder. I got the joke, but thought of Paul Bunyan, the giant mythical lumberjack. I created a controversy by referring to Johnny Kaw (whose statue I hadn't seen recently) as Paul Bunyan. Johnny Kaw carried a giant scythe, to harvest crops, while Paul Bunyan worked on wood, as did the Volleycats in this story.

She was a grad assistant at the University of Washington for the 2022, with similar responsibilities as she will have here. For two years prior, she worked in marketing and promotions for multiple sports.

Quinn graduated summa cum laude in business from Washington last year.

Steve Astor will be Associate Head Coach. He's been at Pepperdine the last three seasons, as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. He has 20 years of coaching experience, including clubs, high school and college.

Fiona Fonoti is from Hawaii. She will be Assistant Coach. She played for Nebraska, then she coached at WVU and ISU. At NU, she played in three Final Fours, and in the 1995 national championship match. She was an AVCA All-American, and three-time First Team All-Big 12. Fiona got quite a shout-out from Christy Johnson-Lynch (ISU head coach) this week. It's in the announcement linked here.

This just in on Jan. 5: Coach Mansfield asks fans to pack the Ward and Brenda Morgan Arena. (YouTube video)

Don't miss D. Scott Fritchen's excellent K-State Sports Extra, Mansfield Ready to Lead K-State into New Era. You'll learn all kinds of details about Jason's background, his teams' accomplishments and his goals.

Speaking of miss, I somehow missed this next one for three days. It's the great Brian Smoller, interviewing Coach Mansfield on his introduction day. (video link)

We learned that Jason interviewed online, and this introduction event marked his first trip to MHK. I was impressed and appreciative that after the formal event, and most people had left, Jason approached me and my friend Denver to meet us and visit. He has about two decades of coaching experience. Included in that experience is coaching club teams, which I believe he said can involve about 60 to 90 matches per year!

K-State players were not present for the event. I can understand that being there with the media could result in some questions that might be awkward to answer at this time. My understanding is that there has been some interaction with them online, but they have not yet met in person. Since it's still winter vacation, they may not currently be in MHK!