The Kansas State volleyball team traveled south to face the University of Texas on Saturday, but the Wildcats failed to win a single set, losing 3-0 to the Longhorns inside Texas’ Gregory Gymnasium.
The game was dominated by Texas, with K-State failing to gain any leads on the scoreboard for the duration of all three sets.
Junior outside hitter Kylee Zumach had yet another great game individually, leading the team with 14 kills. Saturday’s game was special for Zumach as she finally earned over 900 kills in her career, with 902 total. Zumach has gotten at least 10 kills in 15 of the 16 games this season, and she is the active leader in kills for the Wildcats.
The Longhorns hit .494 and only committed two attack errors in their 28th straight win against the Wildcats in volleyball.
K-State played a promising first set as they hit .375, but Texas led the entire way, hitting well over .500. The Wildcats had six service errors in the set, but Zumach had more kills than any other player on the court this set, with six kills in 12 attempts.
The Wildcats had two team attacking errors in the first set, but in the second set, K-State had 10 errors. The Wildcats had seven blocks from Texas, and the Longhorns led 18-7 at one point. Junior middle blocker Alyssa Schultejans had three kills, while Zumach added two in the losing set.
Texas did not give K-State a chance in the final set as the Longhorns got an early 5-1 lead and didn’t let up from there. K-State hit only .167 in the last set, but Zumach tallied six more kills, hitting .270 for the game.
The Longhorns held a strong defense with nine team blocks, but the Wildcats failed to record a single team block for the first time this season. K-State had two service aces from Zumach and junior setter Brooke Smith.
Schultejans finished with eight kills, while senior outside hitter Bryna Vogel had six kills in the Wildcats’ losing effort on the road.
K-State volleyball is now 8-8 overall and 1-2 in Big 12 conference play for the season. The Wildcats will travel south once again Wednesday when they take on the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs at 8 p.m. The game can be watched live on ESPNU.
