Volleyball looks to recover in Saturday home game

Following a heartbreaking loss to Colorado Wednesday night, the K-State volleyball team moves on to another conference match, and this time, the odds are worse. However, head coach Suzie Fritz said her team should be different on Saturday.

"The one thing about losing one you shouldn't is that it refocuses you a little bit," Fritz said, adding that her team has been practicing well since the loss.

Saturday night, K-State (7-6, 2-1 Big 12 Conference) hosts the first matchup against the University of Missouri (9-4, 1-2) in Ahearn Field House.

Missouri has a lower conference record due to a nasty week against the two best teams in the league. Last Saturday, then-No. 11 Iowa State took out the Tigers in four games, and No. 12 Texas did the exact same four days later. Now, Missouri leaves its home court for the first time in a week and a half to face the Wildcats in Manhattan, and Fritz said it should be a good match.

"Missouri, I think, will be a significant challenge," Fritz said. "They're very good; they play very fast; they're very veteran. I think we'll have our hands full on Saturday."

K-State was riding high after a double dose of conference victories when it traveled to Colorado, but the Buffaloes put an end to the undefeated aspirations after a hard-fought five-game match in which they returned from a decent margin to win. Fritz said it was disappointing to lose like that, and the team can do better.

"We were just having a hard time gaining any momentum," Fritz said. "We would put these runs of points together, and then we would give up these runs of points. We just had a hard time building on our successes."

In the history of contests between K-State and Missouri, K-State leads the series 40-31, including an over 80-percent success rate in the last decade and a half. However, the tide could be shifting toward Missouri.

This season, the Tigers are returning nine players to their roster, and the majority are seniors, which means their roster is chock full of deadly experience in one of the conference's top programs.

However, K-State has a pretty even head-to-head match with its opponent.

Missouri is putting up senior outside hitter Paola Ampudia with 3.77 kills per game; K-State has senior outside hitter JuliAnne Chisholm with 3.72. Missouri will be playing with senior libero Caitlyn Vann, who has 4.68 digs per game; K-State has senior libero Lauren Mathewson, with 4.47.

The numbers continue to draw strong parallels between the teams, which means that this match will be close and exciting. And the home-court advantage will certainly help the Wildcats, as coach Fritz alluded to.

"It's good to be home again, just try to get our feet back underneath us," Fritz said.

First serve is set for 7 p.m. Saturday in Ahearn Field House.