Women’s season ends with 1st-round loss

    Head coach Suzie Fritz knew the K-State volleyball team would face a difficult road in the NCAA tournament.

    "Santa Clara is a very capable volleyball team, so it will not be easy for us to get through the first and second rounds," Fritz said after a practice last week.

    The eighth-year coach's prediction was correct, but the No. 16 Wildcats (24-8) weren't able to recover from a rough start as they fell to the Santa Clara Broncos (18-9) in a 2-3 decision Friday. K-State's season-ending loss came by scores of 22-25, 20-25, 25-19, 25-16 and 13-15.

    After falling behind 0-2, the Wildcats were able to reel off two straight wins to even the score, but they fell in a tightly contested fifth game that never saw more than a two-point lead for either squad.

    A total of seven scorers tallied double-digit kills on the night. Senior outside hitters Rita Liliom and Nataly Korobkova topped the list with 17 and 14 kills, respectively. Santa Clara's Brittany Lowe led the Broncos with 13 while Tanya Schmidt and Anna Cmaylo added 12 each. Kim Courtney and K-State's Jenny Jantsch also added 10 each.
    Junior middle blocker Kelsey Chipman also had a solid match for the Wildcats, as she totaled nine kills and nine blocks while maintaining a .444 hitting percentage on the night.

    The match drops K-State to 0-2 all-time against Santa Clara. In the Wildcats' 12 postseason appearances, they have lost in the first round just twice.