The last time the K-State volleyball team faced the Missouri Tigers, the seesaw battle could be defined with one word: sporadic.
In the Wildcats’ 3-1 win over the Tigers in Manhattan, five players tallied double-digit kills for K-State — the only time that feat has been accomplished all season. After the match, senior outside hitter Jenny Jantsch said taking the focus off of one player can give a team an advantage.
“[Being balanced] is great. It keeps other teams guessing,” said Jantsch, who tallied 10 kills in the Oct. 9 match-up. “It makes it a lot harder to defend because you never know who it’s going to go to.”
While the balanced effort was enough to outlast Missouri the first time around, No. 13 K-State (22-6, 12-5 Big 12 Conference) will look to capitalize on their normally strong net play when they take on the Tigers (13-13, 7-9 Big 12) at 6:30 p.m. at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Mo.
The Tigers have been paced this season by a pair of sophomores, as outside hitter Julianna Klein and middle blocker Weiwen Wang have averaged 3.43 and 2.44 kills per game, respectively.
The Wildcats and Tigers have faced off 68 times prior to tonight’s meeting. K-State holds a slim all-time series lead at 38-30, but has dominated the series in recent years. Since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996, K-State has won 20 of 25 matches against Missouri, including a 17-1 record against the Tigers from 1996-2004.
The Wildcats enter tonight’s contest with a three-match winning streak against Missouri.