K-State to host No. 12 Iowa State tonight in Ahearn

With its record still burning from last weekend's loss to a top-10 team, the K-State volleyball team looks to restore its good name against another ranked opponent, but the task will not come easily.

Tonight, K-State (9-13, 3-8 Big 12 Conference) faces No. 12 Iowa State (15-4, 8-3) in Manhattan for the second round of conference play.

K-State played the Cyclones two weeks ago in the oddly-placed venue of a high school gymnasium, where Iowa State swept the Wildcats with an increasing temerity that, lately, is characteristic of the team. However, K-State head coach Suzie Fritz said her team has improved since then.

"I think that we're a little bit better than we were the first time we played them — I really do — and I think we continue to make really good progress," she said.

Since that match, K-State has dropped all of its meetings — two of which were against top-10 teams — in three games, a trend that has been repeated without a break for the past three weeks. The Cyclones have fared considerably better; they won all three matches since the one against K-State, including a sweep last Saturday over Kansas.

On Monday, the Big 12 named Iowa State's Ashley Mass, senior libero, the Defensive Player of the Week. The award comes partly from her 22 digs in her team's defeat of Colorado last week, only two away from her season high, and her 5.14 dig-per-game average in both of last week's matches combined.

"She's really good," Fritz said. "She's a tremendous passer. She makes big plays; she's a playmaker for sure."

Fritz added that Mass "frustrates left-side attackers" by covering a large area on the court.

The Cyclones are third in the conference after losing to both Nebraska and Texas, respectively the first and second teams, but it sits in second for a fair number of league averages: assists per game, kills per game and digs per game. These three categories represent the dominating point flow of the sport, in that the team is trying to pass, set and kill the ball in almost every opportunity. Thus, Iowa State is right at the top in the basics of volleyball, allowing it to focus on more competitive edges.

Fritz praised her upcoming opponent and said it excels in many fields.

"The thing that they do extremely well is that they're a very disciplined team, they're a very low-error team and they dig an enormous amount of balls," Fritz said. "They sit in rallies really, really well, and that's frustrating."

First serve is set for 7 p.m. in Ahearn Field House. Fans not able to attend the match can listen on the radio from KMAN 1350.