Inconsistency, low momentum hinder Wildcats

With narrow numbers to close out each game, the University of Oklahoma barely squeaked out its sweep Wednesday over the K-State volleyball team, tarnishing the almost-unblemished home record of Ahearn Field House.

Oklahoma (12-5, 4-2 Big 12 Conference) dropped K-State (9-8, 3-3 Big 12) in three games, with scores of 25-22, 25-23 and 25-21, which sophomore opposite hitter Kathleen Ludwig said was due to irregular team play.

"We just needed to come out with a little bit more fight and get things together when things weren't going our way," Ludwig said. "I think we were struggling to just play how we play and and be who we are."

As a team, K-State hit a .183 hitting percentage. There were certainly some highlights, like that of freshman middle block Kaitlynn Pelger — the player of the match — who pulled a whopping .571 behind her 14 kills. Three players each recorded a few blocks to pair with the back row on the defensive effort, but Oklahoma managed to overcome them, and K-State head coach Suzie Fritz commended her opponent.

"They're good," she said. "We didn't give them our best."

She added that Oklahoma was "very frustrating" and "very unassuming" due to its ability to stop K-State from getting into a rhythm.

The match started with an even trade-off of points for the first rotation, which the Sooners ended by nabbing five points to pull ahead, 11-8. The Wildcats brought the game a bit closer with some runs of their own, but Oklahoma shut it down 25-22, despite one last jab from K-State.

As coach Fritz predicted before the match, Oklahoma was able to dig balls at awkward angles and save hits that others would have left for dead. In the numbers, the Sooners had only one more dig than K-State, but the former performed better in picking up blocks that had gone awry and bad passes from its players. K-State relied more on its offense than its defense, with many big hits coming through early in the rallies.

Freshman defensive specialist Natalia Dobrosz saw more action than usual, and Ludwig acted as an anchor between the two games, hitting five kills and a .300 in the first and three more kills in the second with few errors to improve her hitting percentage.

"I was just thinking about swinging away, and I know that Oklahoma is a great defensive team, so I was trying to do my best to get some kills," Ludwig said. "Got some really nice sets from (Caitlyn) Donahue."

In the second game, K-State held a raw lead at one over for a short time, but Oklahoma took it back with a four-point run. Late in the game, a battle over ties ensued, with each pulling ahead by one and shaving off the other multiple times, but the Sooners finally capped off three points to win again, 25-23.

K-State improved on tip coverage this game, an area which had been lacking in previous matches. When the Sooners would try to float the ball right over the block, a player would come from down below to pop the ball back up and keep the play alive. Pelger had seven kills and a .545 hitting percentage.

Up by one for nearly the entire game in the third, Oklahoma recorded two consecutive service aces to move within four of ending the match, 21-17. K-State then grabbed an ace of its own at the hands of sophomore setter Donahue, but Oklahoma kept the pressure to finish the match 25-21.

Ludwig said her team tried hard to pull it together and move up, but it did not work out for them.

"We were just trying to keep our heads up, keep fighting, keep going through it," Ludwig said. "Unfortunately, it didn't go the way we wanted it to, but we were in it with them for quite a bit."