Ludwig talks opponents, season

The Collegian recently sat down with sophomore opposite hitter Kathleen Ludwig to discuss playing some of the toughest teams in the league and the state of the season so far.

Q: What are your thoughts on playing two very competitive teams this week?

A: I think that every match is important. I think we try to look at the Big 12 as a very competitive league. Although Iowa State and Nebraska are two very good teams, I think that we're more concerned on how we're going to play, rather than who we're playing against.

Q: How will you play, then?

A: We're trying kind of to get back to square one and kind of find our identity again and just be that hard-working, resilient team that, when things go bad, we can still kind of keep our composure and keep calm. These two teams for sure will be a good test for us.

Q: Nebraska is one of the best teams in the country. What will it be like to play them this weekend?

A: It's always a fun time to play Nebraska. They have such a rich history at that school in volleyball, so I think it's fun that we get to play them here and have our home crowd and have the support of Manhattan behind us. Again, we're just looking forward to competing more and getting better throughout our matches.

Q: Do you have any thoughts on their leaving the Big 12 Conference?

A: Not resentment. I think, "Let's go out with a bang; let's play them as tough as we can." And if we get a win out of that, that will be fantastic.

Q: How is the season so far?

A: Pretty good. It's getting midway, and we're kind of fighting through some fatigue and stuff like that, but we have the personnel and we have the coaches to fight through it and get that mental toughness so that we can keep pushing and keep winning some matches along the way.