MANHATTAN, Kan. – Wrapping up the regular season in Kansas for the first time since 2014, the West Virginia University volleyball team heads to Manhattan on Wednesday for an 8 p.m. ET league tilt with Kansas State at Ahearn Field House.
 
Wednesday's contest marks the second meeting of the season between the two squads, as West Virginia (16-12, 4-10) picked up a five-set win over Kansas State (10-18, 3-12) in Morgantown on Oct. 21. Sophomore outside hitter Payton Caffrey led the team with 25 kills, as WVU finished the match hitting .133 with 60 kills and six team blocks. K-State hit .220 with 51 kills and 18 team blocks in the loss.
 
West Virginia and Kansas State first met in 2012, when the Mountaineers joined the Big 12. K-State owns an 8-3 lead in the series and is 4-1 in Manhattan. The last time WVU won in Manhattan was on Nov. 29, 2014, as the Mountaineers captured their first-ever win over a top-25 RPI program.
 
"I think we're making good strides," said third-year coach Reed Sunahara. "The players are working hard, and we're getting better. We have two big matches ahead of us at Kansas State and Kansas this week, and I'm looking forward to see what happens."
 
Two days ago, West Virginia dropped a hard-fought, four-set match to No. 19-ranked Baylor at the WVU Coliseum. Caffrey recorded her 18th match in double figures, leading the Mountaineers with 20 kills on 45 swings. Caffrey also added four service aces to go along with eight digs in the match. Sophomore right side hitter Natania Levak registered 12 kills, hitting a team-best .333 to round out the Mountaineers in double digits. Senior outside hitter Morgan Montgomery also chipped in with nine, while senior middle blocker Mia Swanegan added seven. West Virginia finished the night hitting .178 with 52 kills and 13.0 team blocks.
 
Through 28 matches, Caffrey leads the Mountaineers in kills with 347, sophomore setter Erin Slinde leads in assists with 889, freshman defensive specialist Alexa Hasting leads in digs with 284, and Swanegan leads the team in blocking at 127.0. Caffrey also leads the squad with 45 service aces on the year. As a team, West Virginia is hitting .216 and holding its opponents to a .184 clip, while out blocking its opponents, 240.0-226.0.
 
Caffrey continues to lead the Big 12 with 0.43 service aces per set and ranks inside the top 10 in points (sixth) and kills (eighth). Slinde sits inside the top seven in assists (fifth) and service aces (seventh), averaging 9.46 assists per set and 0.23 service aces. Swanegan also ranks second in the league with 1.25 blocks per set.
 
Of note, West Virginia is currently tied for fifth place in the Big 12 standings with Oklahoma.
 
Looking ahead, the Mountaineers will cap their 2017 regular season slate with a match at No. 14 Kansas (22-6, 11-4) on Saturday, Nov. 25, at 2 p.m. ET. The Jayhawk Television Network, powered by Spectrum Sports, will televise Saturday's match. The contest will be streamed live through WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.