When asked about the style of play used by the Texas Longhorns, head volleyball coach Suzie Fritz summed it up in one word.
    “Physicality.”
    Fritz, who became the winningest coach in K-State history on Wednesday, was speaking from personal experience. The Wildcats were overmatched in an 0-3 loss to the Longhorns on Oct. 4 in Austin, Texas.
    Texas might be the No. 4 team in the nation, but Fritz said they’re just another team.
    “I don’t put any more value in playing Texas than I put in playing anybody else, and I hope our team doesn’t as well,” she said. “But they’re good, so it’s a fun match to play.
    The No. 14 Wildcats (22-5, 12-4 Big 12 Conference) will get the chance to even the season series when they welcome the Longhorns (20-3, 13-2 Big 12) to Ahearn Field House for a Saturday matchup. Action is set to begin at 7 p.m. following K-State’s home football game against Nebraska.
    “It makes a big difference playing at home,” she said. “For whatever reason, we’ve been far more successful, and I think that the tendency is that you’re more comfortable in your own environment than you are having to go into somebody else’s place.”
    The Longhorns have been led this season by a pair of outside hitters. Junior Destinee Hooker and sophomore Juliann Faucette have been averaging 4.24 and 3.05 kills per game, respectively.
    K-State has been equally dominant up front, as senior outside hitters Rita Liliom and Nataly Korobkova are averaging 4.22 and 3.29 kills. Middle blocker Megan Farr, also a senior, has been solid for the Wildcats as well this year. Farr, a Manhattan native, is averaging 1.77 kills and 1.25 blockes per game while maintaining a .376 hitting percentage.

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