The Kansas State volleyball team, in conjunction with the Big 12, revealed its 2020 schedule on Friday which features 16 conference-only matches.
The Big 12 made an effort to minimize travel with the new schedule. The league’s modified schedule has two-match weekend series on consecutive days in a single location, instead of the customary home-and-home format.
At the end of the season, the team with the highest winning percentage will be the conference champion.
“I think, right now, we are just excited about the opportunity to play,” Volleyball head coach Suzie Fritz said in a release from K-State Athletics. “The Big 12 and our administration, in particular, have done an amazing job of thinking about the health and safety of the student-athletes first. We have excellent protocols in place, both from an institutional and a Big 12 perspective, to make sure that we are going into events as protected and as safe as we possibly can be. As a program, we are optimistic about being able to play and being able to get through a season.”
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Fritz said the new format will help cut some costs and keeps the players in familiar environments.
“The doubleheader format significantly reduces travel, so there will be some cost savings, but it helps keep our student-athletes at home and in familiar environments. It’s a new challenge that is exciting and different,” she said.
The Wildcats hosts Iowa State to start the season on Sept. 25 in Bramlage Coliseum. The series against the Cyclones will conclude the following day. K-State will play all of their home matches in Bramlage this season as the team is moving away from their traditional home of Ahearn Field House.
Oklahoma, Texas and TCU are the other three teams who will make their way to Manhattan this season.
Similar to how K-State soccer is distributing its tickets, the volleyball program will also have no season tickets for the 2020 season. Gameday policies, capacity limits and protocols will be released at a later date.
