Wildcats end season with win at Texas Tech

K-State capped its 2009 season with a pair of strong performances against Nebraska and Texas Tech.

On Wednesday night, the Wildcats (12-18, 6-14 Big 12 Conference) lost their last home match to No. 8 Nebraska (23-6, 16-4), followed by a win against Texas Tech (2-27, 0-20) in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday.

K-State took Nebraska to extra points in the first two games, losing 30-32 and 24-26, respectively. The third game proved not as fruitful, but still evenly matched with a score of 22-25.

The Huskers started the match with numerous service errors, and K-State used the momentum to start three drives, taking the lead 11-7. The teams traded points until Nebraska took the lead 17-16. The Wildcats reclaimed dominance, but the Huskers quickly answered with a few attacks to send the game into extra points. At 30-all, the Huskers hit double kills to win the first game in an exciting rally.

Game two started with service errors from both teams. The rally vacillated around the net, with the third rotation ending in a tie at 22-all. With determination, the Huskers put together four points to give them the game 26-24.

In game three, Nebraska found an early run to take the lead 7-3, but K-State responded with five to retake the game 8-7. Strong plays on both sides underlined series from both teams to put the game in favor of Nebraska 20-18. Senior middle blocker Kelsey Chipman and junior outside hitter JuliAnne Chisholm both put some points on the board, but Nebraska claimed the match 25-22 following a kill.

K-State bounced back on Saturday when they defeated Texas Tech in four games.

The Red Raiders took an early lead at 7-2 and stayed ahead after runs from both teams gave Texas Tech an edge at 23-22. The Red Raiders went to game point, but were held short by plays from K-State. The teams traded points with each coming close to winning, until K-State put together three points, narrowly winning game one 31-29.

Using its momentum, K-State quickly took 10 points over Texas Tech's four, highlighted by two consecutive aces from sophomore defensive specialist Abby Fay and one from senior setter Soriana Pacheco. The Red Raiders were unable to find success for the rest of the rotation, contrasted by two runs for eight points from K-State to move the game to 18-7. From there, the Wildcats continued to power ahead and took the second game 25-13.

Not wanting game three to be their last, the Red Raiders drove through the first rotation to hold K-State in a tie at 7-all, then picked up seven points in two runs to take the lead at 14-10, finally earning two more runs to bring the score to 21-10. K-State strung together a few points, but Texas Tech eventually won the game at 25-16.

Game four began in the same manner as the previous with no team earning a clear advantage for the first rotation. Texas Tech ran for three points to tie the game 10-all, then clinched three more to move ahead 14-11. The Wildcats worked to retake the lead 17-15 after four straight points, leading to a service run behind redshirt freshman outside hitter Kathleen Ludwig that featured two aces. Texas Tech countered with their own run to move within three, but freshman defensive specialist Caitlyn Donahue found the sweet spot and landed an ace to end the 2009 season with a 25-22 win.

K-State finished 10th in the Big 12 Conference.