After Wednesday night’s nail-biter against Texas A&M, head volleyball coach Suzie Fritz said she could sense her team was starting to wear down.
    “That was our third five-game match in a row,” Fritz said. “We were on the road for two of those five-gamers last week, so just coming off that week, there was of course some concern about fatigue and just from travel and stress. All those types of things will take it out of you pretty quick.”
    Fritz, who earned her 166th career win on Wednesday, said the team should be well rested when they take the floor for tonight’s practice.
    “We’ll get back tomorrow and get back in and hopefully be feeling good,” she said. “You know, Fridays come around and they get through their classes and their tests and everything, so we feel like we can have a good day tomorrow.”
    The No. 16 Wildcats (19-4, 9-3 Big 12 Conference) will look to complement a strong practice with a strong performance against in-state rival Kansas (10-11, 4-8 Big 12) Saturday night at Ahearn Field House. This is the second and final meeting between the Wildcats and Jayhawks this season. K-State won 3-2 against KU in Lawrence on Oct. 1.
    Fritz said though the Jayhawks took the Wildcats to the wire earlier this month, she’s confident that her team can come away with a win this weekend.
    “I feel like, if this team shows up, we can play with anybody,” she said. “I didn’t feel like we played particularly well at Kansas, but for lack of more scientific verbiage, we just need to play better.”
    Kansas has been paced this season by sophomore outside hitters Karina Garlington and Jenna Kaiser, who are averaging 3.8 and 2.36 kills per game, respectively. K-State has been led by a trio of seniors during the 2008 campaign. Outside hitters Rita Liliom and Nataly Korobkova have been dominant at the net, averaging 4.12 and 3.24 kills per game. Middle blocker Megan Farr has been a solid all-around player this year. She is averaging 1.77 kills and 1.18 blocks per game while maintaining a .384 hitting percentage.
    Saturday’s match-up will mark the 98th meeting in the Sunflower Showdown. Since the beginning of the series, K-State holds a 59-37-1 advantage. However, the numbers haven’t been nearly as even in recent years. Since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996, the Wildcats have won 23 of 25 meetings against KU. In total, K-State has lost just three matches to the Jayhawks since 1994. The Wildcats enter Saturday’s match on a four-game winning streak in the series.