The volleyball team opened on a strong note by winning, taking two out of three matches at the Green Bay Country Inn and Suites Tournament in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The Wildcats started the tournament off on Friday in dominant fashion by sweeping host school Green Bay (25-20, 25-15, 25-23). The win marked K-State’s third straight season-opening victory.
Freshman Kylee Zumach stood out in her collegiate debut with a team-high 10 kills with a .400 hitting percentage.
“Zumach played quite well, hitting for high efficiency and killing balls when we really needed it,” head coach Suzie Fritz said after the win over the Phoenix. “Both middles (Natali Jones and Katie Reininger) played pretty well for the same reason. Overall, we had some nice balance in our offense, and we did some nice things blocking at the net.”
The next morning, the Wildcats swept South Dakota (25-9, 25-20, 25-16).
K-State averaged .345 hitting percentage while sophomore Brooke Sassin led the Wildcats with 11 kills.
Fritz said she was pleased with the evenness in which her team’s offense performed.
“One of our strengths with this team is our balance,” Coach Fritz said. “We are not relying on one or two players. The middles are involved, Chelsea (Keating) has a presence on the right side, and Katie (Brand) is doing a nice job of getting everyone involved.”
Unfortunately for K-State, Arizona was the dominant Wildcat for the day and closed out the tournament with a first-place finish (25-21, 25-18, 26-24) .
Sassin once again led the Wildcats with six kills and was joined by sophomore setter Katie Brand on the all-tournament team.
“We just had a hard time finding the floor in terms of putting the ball down,” Fritz said after being swept. “We got kind of narrow in how we were playing. When one thing doesn’t work, you have to be creative and find something else that does work. We have to learn that.”
The Wildcats return home on Thursday to make a temporary home out of Bramlage Coliseum for the three-day Varney’s Invitational. They will open the tournament with Arkansas at 6 p.m.
