Aliyah Carter had a career-high 23 kills and three service aces in the game against TCU on Friday night. Kansas State went on to earn a four-set victory through the match. The Wildcats had the edge in kills (58-43), Carter’s fourth time this season having a game with over 20 kills and the tenth of her career.
“Significant improvement and a big bounce-back match for us,” head coach Suzie Fritz said to K-State Athletics after the match. “I thought our swing management was excellent. We made much better attack choices, particularly in transition. Additionally, we were able to upgrade our serving, which allowed us to be a lot more effective in our ability to score defensive points.”
K-State had back-to-back games starting on Thursday and reduced its error total from 36 on Thursday to 15 on Friday. Carter also had seven digs and was one of six players to achieve more than six kills. Haley Warner had eight kills, while Teana Adams-Kaonohi, Holly Bonde and Kadye Fernholz all had seven.
Adams-Kaonohi almost had a triple-double with 40 assists and 10 digs to pair with a career-best seven kills and did not have an error on eleven attacks. Sydney Bolding was the leader in blocks with a career-high seven blocks.
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The Horned Frogs struggled, picking up 16 of their 45 kills in the opening set. K-State still faced a deficit as large as four points until a three-point burst handed the Wildcats their first lead of the set at 21-20.
Adams-Kaonohi produced a team-high four kills along with 11 assists. Midway through the second set, a 9-1 lead pushed the Wildcats ahead 11 points, 21-10.
K-State forced TCU into eight errors while only allowing eight kills for a .000 hitting percentage. The Wildcats kept the lead the whole third set and put together five separate scoring runs of at least three points, including a three-point spurt to close out the frame. K-State had nine team blocks.
This is the 16th time K-State has out-blocked its opponent. Three Wildcats reached double-figures in digs, paced by libero Mackenzie Morris’ 18. Jacque Smith recorded a dozen in addition to Adams-Kaonohi’s 10.
The Horned Frogs — for their part — had three players with 10 or more kills in Afedo Manyang (13), Julia Adams (11) and Taylor Raiola (10).
K-State returns to action against Texas Tech at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27, with a broadcast provided by ESPNU and News Radio KMAN.
