Kansas State University’s Wildcats are in the Sweet 16. The Wildcat volleyball team plays in the NCAA Regional Volleyball semifinals in Hawaii Friday.
The Wildcat volleyball team is not on anybody’s radar. Probably in Manhattan and out west, the Wildcats have been in the news but no so much even throughout the state.
They made news in Lincoln, Neb., last week.
After defeating Wichita State in three straight sets — 25-18, 25-22, 25-17— the Wildcats found themselves facing No. 2 ranked Nebraska in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Here is how K-State Sports wrote that one up —
“It was a match worthy of the rivalry and it was a match that may be the biggest upset of the NCAA Tournament this year. The Kansas State Wildcats knocked off former Big 12 rival Nebraska in five sets (25-22, 22-25, 31-29, 22-25, 15-11) to advance to the NCAA Regional Semifinals on Friday night in front of a packed house at the Nebraska Coliseum.
The Cornhuskers entered the tournament as the No. 2 overall seed and No. 2 in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, marking the highest ranked team the Wildcats have ever defeated. The last time K-State defeated a team ranked in the Top 10 was against Nebraska on Nov. 15, 2003, when the Huskers were No. 10 in the nation.
K-State (22-10) head coach Suzie Fritz echoed what she said after the team’s first round victory on Thursday in that her squad is playing at its best when it counts.
“I’m excited that we get to keep playing volleyball,” Fritz said. “We spent a long time talking about playing our best volleyball in December. I think we finally hit our stride and peaked at the right time.”
The victory improved K-State’s record to 8-1 in five-set matches this season and is the third time the Wildcats have won in the Coliseum. No other team in the country has defeated Nebraska twice on the Huskers’ home floor. Fritz said she knows how difficult it is to win at Nebraska and to win long matches, but her team found a way.
“We’ve won a lot of fifth sets this year,” Fritz said. “I don’t have any magic dust I throw on them or anything. I just told them we’ve been in these before and we’ve been winning them all year and let’s go get one more. I like the quality of volleyball we are playing right now.”
Sophomore middle blocker Kaitlynn Pelger led the Wildcats with 22 kills as four players reached double digits. Pelger also added 12 digs to a double-double. Lilla Porubek added 17 kills on a strong .265 hitting percentage. Courtney Traxson tallied a new career high with 14 kills, and Alex Muff was one short of her career best with 12 kills. Muff also was solid at the net posting seven blocks.
After the match, Pelger had praise for Nebraska’s program and said she and her teammates fought hard for the win and did not let the atmosphere affect their play.
K-State will be one of 16 teams remaining in the tournament. K-State will travel to Honolulu, Hawai’i, to take on Pepperdine as the Waves swept North Carolina on Friday night. The Wildcats are 1-1 all-time against the Waves with both matches occurring in the postseason. K-State defeated Pepperdine in the second round in 2000 and lost in the NIVC Tournament in 1995. The top half of the Hawai’i Regional will not be determined until Saturday. K-State is now 14-12 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches.”
I SAY “Rock on Cats!”
K-State went 9-8 in the Big 12 Conference but it’s about being ready when the NCAA tournament rolls around. The Wildcats are ready.
