Saturday, October 12
Manhattan, Kan.
2:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
at
Kansas State
Photo by: Steven Prunty
West Virginia Treks to K-State
October 11, 2019 02:49 PM | Volleyball
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The West Virginia University volleyball team treks to Manhattan, Kansas, on Saturday, Oct. 12, for a 2 p.m. ET league tilt with Kansas State at Ahearn Field House.
Saturday's match will air live on Big 12 Now/ESPN+, with live video and stat links available on WVUsports.com.
"We're hoping to take what we learned at Kansas on Thursday and translate that onto the court this Saturday at Kansas State," fifth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "K-State has tradition. They are a well-coached team, and it's a tough place to play, so we have to be ready to go."
West Virginia (8-8, 0-4) and Kansas State (6-10, 1-3) first met in 2012, when the Mountaineers joined the Big 12. K-State owns a 9-5 lead in the all-time series, with the two teams splitting the home-and-away series in 2018. The Wildcats won the most recent meeting between the two, defeating the Mountaineers in three sets on Nov. 3, 2018, at Ahearn Field House, in Manhattan, Kansas.
WVU has not won a match on the road in Big 12 play this year and are currently 1-4 on the road this season. Additionally, West Virginia currently holds a 3-16 record in the state of Kansas, with its first match coming against Kansas in 2000.
On Thursday, West Virginia suffered a five-set loss at Kansas, falling in set scores of 25-20, 20-25, 25-15, 17-25 and 15-13, at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, in Lawrence, Kansas. Four Mountaineers notched double-digit kills, as sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Kristina Jordan had a team-best 15 kills for WVU, followed by junior middle blocker Briana Lynch with 14. Senior outside hitter Katelyn Evans (13) and classmate Erin Slinde (11) rounded out the Mountaineers in double figures.
Additionally, a trio of Mountaineers notched double-digit digs in the five-set loss, as junior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting led the floor defense with 16. Sophomore setter Lacey Zerwas followed suit with 12 digs, while freshman defensive specialist Natalie Winter rounded out the Mountaineers with 11 for a career high. Zerwas also dished out 46 of the team's 58 assists to notch her fifth double-double of the year, and Lynch led the team's blocking efforts with a career-high eight total blocks.
West Virginia recorded 61 kills, hitting .178 in Thursday's loss, with 62 digs and nine and a half team blocks.
Through 16 matches, WVU is hitting .201 and averaging 12.5 kills per set and 14.20 digs per set. Lynch owns a team-high hitting percentage of .326 to rank sixth in the league, while Jordan paces WVU with 3.26 kills per set to rank seventh. Defensively, Hasting sits in second with 4.22 digs per set.
Kansas State is currently on a three-match losing streak, most recently falling in three sets to No. 4 Texas on Wednesday night, at Ahearn Field House, in Manhattan, Kansas. As a team, the Wildcats are averaging 15.0 digs per set and hitting .229 to rank second and fifth, respectively, in the Big 12. Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Brynn Carlson leads the team offensively with 3.15 kills per set, while freshman defensive specialist Dru Kuck anchors K-State's floor defense with 3.98 digs per set to rank third in the league.
Looking ahead, the Mountaineers will close their three-match road swing with a 6 p.m. tilt at Morehead State on Tuesday, Oct. 15. The nonconference match will air live on ESPN+.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Saturday's match will air live on Big 12 Now/ESPN+, with live video and stat links available on WVUsports.com.
"We're hoping to take what we learned at Kansas on Thursday and translate that onto the court this Saturday at Kansas State," fifth-year coach Reed Sunahara said. "K-State has tradition. They are a well-coached team, and it's a tough place to play, so we have to be ready to go."
West Virginia (8-8, 0-4) and Kansas State (6-10, 1-3) first met in 2012, when the Mountaineers joined the Big 12. K-State owns a 9-5 lead in the all-time series, with the two teams splitting the home-and-away series in 2018. The Wildcats won the most recent meeting between the two, defeating the Mountaineers in three sets on Nov. 3, 2018, at Ahearn Field House, in Manhattan, Kansas.
WVU has not won a match on the road in Big 12 play this year and are currently 1-4 on the road this season. Additionally, West Virginia currently holds a 3-16 record in the state of Kansas, with its first match coming against Kansas in 2000.
On Thursday, West Virginia suffered a five-set loss at Kansas, falling in set scores of 25-20, 20-25, 25-15, 17-25 and 15-13, at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena, in Lawrence, Kansas. Four Mountaineers notched double-digit kills, as sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Kristina Jordan had a team-best 15 kills for WVU, followed by junior middle blocker Briana Lynch with 14. Senior outside hitter Katelyn Evans (13) and classmate Erin Slinde (11) rounded out the Mountaineers in double figures.
Additionally, a trio of Mountaineers notched double-digit digs in the five-set loss, as junior defensive specialist Alexa Hasting led the floor defense with 16. Sophomore setter Lacey Zerwas followed suit with 12 digs, while freshman defensive specialist Natalie Winter rounded out the Mountaineers with 11 for a career high. Zerwas also dished out 46 of the team's 58 assists to notch her fifth double-double of the year, and Lynch led the team's blocking efforts with a career-high eight total blocks.
West Virginia recorded 61 kills, hitting .178 in Thursday's loss, with 62 digs and nine and a half team blocks.
Through 16 matches, WVU is hitting .201 and averaging 12.5 kills per set and 14.20 digs per set. Lynch owns a team-high hitting percentage of .326 to rank sixth in the league, while Jordan paces WVU with 3.26 kills per set to rank seventh. Defensively, Hasting sits in second with 4.22 digs per set.
Kansas State is currently on a three-match losing streak, most recently falling in three sets to No. 4 Texas on Wednesday night, at Ahearn Field House, in Manhattan, Kansas. As a team, the Wildcats are averaging 15.0 digs per set and hitting .229 to rank second and fifth, respectively, in the Big 12. Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Brynn Carlson leads the team offensively with 3.15 kills per set, while freshman defensive specialist Dru Kuck anchors K-State's floor defense with 3.98 digs per set to rank third in the league.
Looking ahead, the Mountaineers will close their three-match road swing with a 6 p.m. tilt at Morehead State on Tuesday, Oct. 15. The nonconference match will air live on ESPN+.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
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