Kansas State Overcomes #19 Kansas in Sunflower Showdown

  0 Jil Price Igara | October 17th, 2018 | Big 12, College - Women's Indoor, News

Kansas State def. #19 Kansas 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-21, 27-25)

  • Kansas State moves to 11-7 overall, 1-6 Big 12; Kansas falls to 13-5 overall, 6-1 Big 12
  • Box Score
  • Kansas State Recap / Kansas Recap
  • Attendance: 2,013

Kansas State stunned 19th-ranked Kansas at home to earn its first Big 12 victory of the 2018 season Wednesday night. The Wildcats outdid their opponent in attack percentage (.242 to .173) and at the service line (10 to 3) to hand the Jayhawks their first conference loss of the year.

It is Kansas State’s first victory against Sunflower Showdown rival Kansas since the 2014 season, when the Wildcats downed the Jayhawks in 5 sets. The Jayhawks had previously won 7 consecutive matchups, and despite taking the loss Wednesday, still leads the all-time series 63-53-1 dating back to 1974.

The Wildcats used a 7-1 push to pull ahead in the first set 9-5. Spurred on by another strong stretch 9-3, Kansas State went on to take the opening set 25-19.

Kansas State carried the momentum into the second set, jumping out to a 7-3 advantage. The Jayhawks came fighting back with a 7-1 stretch to establish a 16-14 edge. The teams fought through 6 ties before Kansas evened the match with a 25-23 set victory thanks to kills by Zoe Hill and Jada Burse and an attack error.

The third set was a back-and-forth one, which contained 7 tie scores. With the teams knotted at 20-all, the Wildcats went on a 5-1 run to secure the win 25-21.

Kansas State got off to a strong start in the fourth set 8-3 and held off Kansas until late in the set when the Jayhawks pulled in front 22-20 with a 6-0 run. With the result on the line, the Wildcats offense charged on with a 7-3 closing stretch to solidify the upset with a 27-25 win.

Five players propelled the Wildcats to victory with double-figure kill totals, including Kylee Zumach (13), Gloria Mutiri (13), Elle Sandbothe (12), Brooke Heyne (12) and Peyton Williams (10). Sarah Dixon ran the balanced offensive attack with 53 assists, while Devan Fairfield anchored the defense with 21 digs.

Jada Burse (17), Ashley Smith (12) and Zoe Hill (10) recorded double-digit kill totals for Kansas, while Camryn Ennis posted a double-double with 25 assists and 13 digs. Allie Nelson logged 19 digs, while Hill notched 8 blocks.

Leave a Reply

avatar

Don't want to miss anything?

Subscribe to our newsletter and receive our latest updates!