The Kansas State volleyball team (9-4) dominated on Friday night in their series opener against TCU (1-6), defeating the Horned Frogs in straight sets, 25-15, 25-16, 25-15, for the Wildcats fourth straight victory.
Recording 40 kills and just seven errors on 90 attempts, the Wildcats had a season-high hitting percentage on Friday night at .367 percent against the Horned Frogs, who were playing in their first match in just under a month.
“I thought it was a pretty dominating performance for us tonight,” head coach Suzie Fritz said in a K-State Athletics press release. “Just to be able to hit near .400 as a team feels really good. And to TCU’s credit, they’re coming off some pretty significant adversity in they haven’t played for a month. We look like we are in late-season form, so I was very, very pleased with tonight’s match.”
The freshmen shined for K-State in Friday’s match. Outside hitter Aliyah Carter, after a somewhat lackluster performance in the doubleheader with Texas Tech last weekend, came back strong, leading the team in kills with 14 while also recording three blocks.
Middle blocker Kadye Fernholz also had a career night, recording seven kills and no errors on 10 attempts for a career-high .700 hitting percentage.
K-State got off to a quick and fairly clean start in the first set, recording 11 kills and four errors in that first frame, picking apart TCU for a 25-16 victory that ended on an 8-2 run for the Wildcats. Of those 11 kills, Carter recorded four in that first set. Redshirt sophomore’s Abigail Archibong and Holly Bonde combined for four blocks in the opening set as well.
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Archibong finished her night leading the team in blocks, recording six total.
TCU recorded 10 kills while also racking up 10 errors.
Things continued to get better for K-State throughout the match, starting the second set with a 20-9 lead, and finishing it off with 17 kills on just two errors for a .395 hitting percentage, en route to a 25-16 set two win. Carter led the way in that set, putting away six kills and no errors.
Saving their best for last, the Wildcats started their final set with an 11-2 run and finished with 12 kills on one error for a .440 hitting percentage and a 25-15 set three win to sweep the Horned Frogs.
TCU sophomore outside hitter Julia Adams led the team and recorded seven kills on the night. TCU finished with 28 kills and 20 errors on 91 attempts for a .088 hitting percentage.
“We were able to overcome some disruptions, a little bit, in our lineup and play a little bit short tonight but felt no break in the chain,” Fritz said. “For me, those were significant positives. And to be able to come out and hit .367 and hold your opponent under .100 — that’s a pretty good separation, that’s a good night for us.”
K-State closes out the doubleheader against TCU at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow in the Wildcats home finale at Bramlage Coliseum. That match can be seen live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with live audio on KMAN radio.
