Headlines 2014

 
July 29, 2015  Wildcats Earn Fifth Straight AVCA Team Academic Award
The AVCA has once again recognized Kansas State for academic excellence, now for the 2014-15 year. This is #12 in 14 years for the Cats. Kersten Kober and Gina Madonia recorded a 4.000 for spring semester. (link)
Apr. 9, 2015  Coach Fritz Impressed by Military Leadership
Along with Fort Riley's 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, Coach spent a day in Ft. Irwin, California, learning how American soldiers prepare for war at the United States Army's National Training Center (NTC). (K-State Sports Extra)
Apr. 1, 2015  Cats capture 6 of 8 sets vs. UMKC, Havoc
Kansas State had a strong outing in their first spring competition in Kansas City. Brooke Sassin led in kills. (link)
Mar. 30 , 2015  Cats' spring schedule announced
I'd been watching for this. It's disappointing that there won't be any home action, but some of our players will play in their home towns. For example, Katie Brand's going home to Grand Island, and Sheridan, Dallas and Kali are from the Kansas City area. (link)

Feb. 16, 2015  Three Wildcats to Take Part in U.S. National Team Tryout
Katie Brand, Kylee Zumach and Kersten Kober will join 235 other players in Colorado this weekend for the tryout. Read more.
Jan. 28, 2015  Meet Alyssa Schultejans
Brian Smoller sat down with Alyssa, a 6' 2" outside hitter, who left Silver Lake H.S. a semester early to come and train with the Cats. (YouTube)
Jan. 23, 2015  Best wishes to Coach Jeff Hulsmeyer
Florida State tweeted congratulations today to Coach Hulsmeyer, who's taking the position of associate head coach. Jeff was with us for six seasons, and will certainly be missed by everyone. Here's Florida State's announcement.
Jan. 20, 2015  Kansas State Volleyball: Outsmarting the Competition
Of the 20 Volleyball Cats, 15 made the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll, and Kersten Kober got another 4.000! Here's the release from Sports Information. Kersten, Katie Brand, Taylor Johnson, Chelsea Keating and Gina Madonia made the first team. The other Cats on the honor roll are Mattie Batchelder, Kali Eaken, Devan Fairfield, Sami Flattum, Dallas Gardner, Natali Jones, Brookelyn Langhaim, Mary Alice O'Reilly, Brooke Sassin and Sheridan Zarda.
Dec. 17, 2014  Katie Brand and Kylee Zumach: AVCA Honorable Mention All-Americans
Katie and Kylee, our AVCA Midwest Region First-Team honorees, are honorable mention All-Americans, the coaches' organization announced today. Here's the release from K-State. They have made tremendous contributions all season, and we're fortunate that they will play together for two more seasons!
Dec. 13, 2014  Congratulations to the new graduates!
Congratulations on brand new bachelor's degrees to Caitlyn Donahue in Secondary English Education, Dakota Kaufman in Elementary Education, Natali Jones in Life Sciences, Chelsea Keating in Animal Sciences and Industry and Taylor Johnson in Management. Unfortunately, they didn't get to graduate in Ahearn Field House like I did. Bramlage Coliseum hadn't been invented when I graduated in '73.
Dec. 9, 2014  AVCA Midwest Region Honors for Kylee Zumach, Katie Brand and Katie Reininger
We learned today via KStateSports.com that three Wildcats received AVCA honors.

Kylee Zumach is K-State's first AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year! In addition, Kylee was named First Team All-Region, another step toward possible All-American status. Kylee had 412 kills in 2014, led the Cats with 3.55 kills per set, and 3.87 points per set.

Katie Brand, our awesome setter, also was named to the Midwest Region First Team. Katie became the first Wildcat ever to record 1,000 assists, 300 digs, 100 kills and 100 blocks in a season. She had 1,274 assists, 314 digs, 104 blocks and 112 kills, qualifying her for the Quadruple-Triple Club (100 kills, assists, digs and blocks).

Middle blocker Katie Reininger recorded 269 kills from .285 hitting, and she had 130 blocks. She's #6 in the Big 12 in blocks per set, and she hit an excellent .291 in Big 12 play. Katie received regional honorable mention for her contributions.

Look here for a complete list of the AVCA's Division I regional awards. Stay tuned. K-State may have an AVCA All-American later this month!

Dec. 1, 2014  Katie Brand, Kylee Zumach and Natali Jones: Big 12 honors
Nothing of the following will be a surprise to anyone who's been paying attention over the past three months.

The Big 12 coaches have selected the Cats' amazing outside hitter, Kylee Zumach, as Freshman of the Year. I think we all saw that award coming up I-35 from Dallas, since Kylee was a five-time Rookie of the Week. (Her selection as Freshman of the Year was unanimous, by the way.) Kylee also was named First-Team All-Big 12!!! The Big 12, in their release today, said of Kylee,

"A five-time Big 12 Rookie of the Week selection this season, Zumach ranks fourth in the league in kills (3.59) and points (3.92) in overall matches - the only freshman in the top 10 in the league in either category. In Big 12 action, she finished fifth with 3.59 kills per set and 3.87 points per set, again the only freshman in the top 10 in both categories. Zumach closed out the regular season with a .262 hitting percentage and became the K-State record holder for most kills in a season by a freshman. She is the first Wildcat since 2011 to total 400 or more kills in a season."

RS sophomore setter Katie Brand was named First Team All-Big 12. She put in a great deal of extra time on her game. Katie has recorded 20 double-doubles this season. She's second in assists for all matches played. Sports Information reports that she led all Big 12 setters in kills, digs, blocks and points this season. Katie finished the regular season with 1,249 assists, 308 digs, 109 kills and 101 blocks. She joins three other Wildcat setters: Caitlyn Donahue, All-American Gabby Guerre and Disney Bronnenberg on the list as First Team honorees. I have absolutely loved Katie's little surprise kills at the net, when her opponents think she's in the process of setting. The next thing they know, the volleyball is on the floor next to them. Point Cats! All-American Gabby Guerre, who is 6' 3", used to do that, but Katie does it more. It should be remembered that during the off-season (February and April), Katie went to tryouts for the U. S. National Team. Finally, I thought it was very cool that Katie, the leader of our offense, was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week on October 13.

On Oct. 28, 2014, senior middle blocker Natali Jones was named the AVCA National Player of the Week. (AVCA announcement) This was a nice encore to being named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week a few hours earlier. (Big 12 release) As of today, she is 2nd in the Big 12 in blocking, and has been in first place this season. Look at this list of some of Natali's hitting percentages this season: .385, .857, .429, .364, .438, .714, .462, .417, .308, .583, .688, .667, .421 and .455. She is very close to leading the Big 12 in blocks.

One of Katie's and Natali's best nights had the same date, October 22, when the Cats swept OU. Natali led with 17 points, had a career-high 12 kills, hit an outstanding .688 and had four blocks. Meanwhile, Katie had 37 assists (12.33 per set), five block assists, an ace and hit a ridiculous .750! Natali will be missed very much.

(K-State's release) (Big 12's release)

Nov. 30, 2014  Cats to NCAA Tournament... Face Utah in First Round
The Cats gathered at Colbert Hills tonight to learn their NCAA tournament destination. They're in the Seattle, Washington regional, and will play their first rounds in Lincoln. First up is Utah on Friday, December 5, at 4:30 P. The subregional includes K-State, Nebraska, Utah and Hofstra. K-State Sports Information has an excellent preview of the first round. The Collegian has a story on the watch party. I haven't written anything, because I've been working on my own NCAA tournament bracket. I changed the design a little bit from recent years, and that was a little tedious.

Look under NCAA Volleyball in the left-hand navigation column (here, or on the main page) for links to the NCAA's official interactive and printable bracket versions.

Now, speaking of brackets... If Kansas State gets by Utah, our old friends Nebraska are up next. Remember what happened the last time we played them? It was December 2, 2011, and the Cats won, 3-2, advancing to the regional in Hawaii! (YouTube)

Nov. 24, 2014  Kylee Zumach continues to make Wildcat history
The above is the title of the latest awesome Sports Extra feature by Kelly McHugh.

As of today, Kylee is 4th in the Big 12 in kills, with 3.63 per set, for all matches played. In addition, she's 4th in points, at 3.94 per pet. I believe she will be named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year. It's wonderful that our program was one Kylee felt comfortable in signing with. Imagine what she'll accomplish in the next three years!

Nov. 22, 2014  Cats sweep TCU to retain 2nd place in the Big 12
Tonight's lead story is that Kylee Zumach has passed the legendary Cari Jensen for the most-ever kills by a freshman, with 378 on the books now. She averaged 4.33 kills per set tonight (with 13 total), above her season average of 3.63 per set.

Kansas State (22-6, 9-5 Big 12) is tied for second place in the Big 12, and is a lock for the NCAA tournament. Hosting first-round matches is likely if the Cats win at OU, and at home against WVU next weekend.

Tonight's win (27-25, 25-14, 27-25) did not come easily. Hitting errors in set one were all too frequent, with many attempts sailing out of bounds, resulting in 0.91 hitting in the first set. TCU was not much better, hitting .171. The Cats had a major turnaround in set two, improving to outstanding .447 hitting. The official game recap shows Chelsea Keating hitting .571 in set two, and the aforementioned Kylee Zumach hit .444, which helps explain the 25-14 score. The Cats hit a solid .316 in set three, but the Froggies hit .333. Regardless, K-State dug in for a 27-25 win.

On offense, Kylee Zumach led with 13 kills and 13.5 points, from .321 hitting. Katie Reininger was next in points, with 12.0, from very solid .381 hitting. Natai Jones had nine points from awesome .455 hitting, and Chelsea Keating's nine points came from .438 hitting. Katie Brand, always out there gettin' it done, added 7.5 points, from outstanding .667 hitting. She had 38 assists, and two aces. Combined with Katie's team-high 10 digs, she recorded her 18th double-double this season. One thing I'm definitely thankful for this Thanksgiving is two more years of Katie Brand at the helm.

On defense, as mentioned, Ms. Brand led with 10 digs, followed by Kersten Kober, who had nine. It wasn't the greatest day for blocking by the Cats. A fair number of block attempts ended with the ball deflecting out of bounds. Katie Reininger led with four block assists. The Froggies won in blocking, seven to six.

Wednesday's match in Norman will be exciting, and it will be important for securing 2nd place in the final Big 12 standings, as well as NCAA hosting. The Cats swept OU at home, and they'll be on red alert. On Saturday, OU will play KU (8-6) in Lawrence, which will be no picnic (since they're not playing the football team). K-State will have it a bit easier at home next Saturday, playing West Virginia (5-9) on senior night.

Nov. 18, 2014  Six Cats named Academic All-Big 12
Katie Brand, Taylor Johnson, Chelsea Keating, Kersten Kober, Gina Madonia and Katie Reininger were honored, and Kersten had a 4.000. Gina Madonia's been on the list all three years she was eligible! K-State has the most Academic All-Big 12 honorees in the history of the conference. Here are the releases from K-State and the Big 12.
Nov. 17, 2014  West Virginia match and senior night time is set
The KU football game will kick at 3:00 P, and Volleyball will begin at 8:00 P, as announced by K-State Sports Information today.
Nov. 16, 2014  Cats currently tied for 2nd in the Big 12
I think it's noteworthy that Kansas State now has a win over every team in the Big 12, with the exception of 2014 champions Texas. And... the Cats took a set from Texas on Nov. 7, so there's that.
Nov. 15, 2014  K-State avenges a previous encounter with Baylor.
The Cats improved to 21-6 and 8-5 (Big 12) in Waco tonight, rallying after a substandard 0-2 start. (Hitting in the first two sets was .140 and .100, for example. Meanwhile, Baylor hit .393 in set two.) Set scores were 22-25, 16-25, 25-18, 25-19 and 15-9. Ha! I just noticed that Sports Information (I refuse to call them by their new name) used the word avenged in their write-up, also! Coach Fritz must have delivered quite an intermission pep talk / strategy session.

Natali Jones had another fine evening. She led with 15 points, from 10 kills and .421 hitting. Our superstar freshman, Kylee Zumach, added 14 points from 14 kills! Chelsea "The Boss" Keating had 13.5 points and 12 kills, with solid .276 hitting. Brook Sassin had 11.5 points, and Katie Brand had 11.

On defense, Sheridan Zarda gets a big shout out for her 28 digs. That's 5.6 digs per set. For perspective, the Big 12 leader in digs is averaging 5.57 per set, but most of the top ten (Sheridan's #4) average three-something per set. I love Sheridan's serve. She had two aces tonight. Katie Brand's always digging. She had 11, and Chelsea Keating had 10. It was great for Dallas Gardner to get some time on the court. She had eight digs.

Natali Jones had five blocks (three singles and four shared). Chelsea Keating had three block assists, and Taylor Johnson and Katie Brand had two. The Cats outblocked Baylor, nine to six.

The Cats improved their hitting to the .200s in sets three and four, and, it should be noted, they dropped Baylor from .393 in set two to .118, .098 and .167 in the next three sets! In the all-important fifth set, K-State hit .591.

I'm very proud of the Cats for staging this impressive comeback.

One last thing. K-State's fans have the Cats at #17 in NCAA Division I, averaging 2,346 per match. Attendance was 2,661 in our last match in Ahearn. Tonight in Waco, Baylor drew a modest 546.

Nov. 1, 2014  Kansas State edges Texas Tech... now 20-3.
The Cats had a slow start in a 23-25, 17-25, 25-23, 30-28, 15-7 win this afternoon in Ahearn Field House. I walked in thinking, "Let's get our win, then head off to the football game," as the Cats had swept TTU a month ago. I hadn't looked at the set scores from a month ago: 27-25, 25-18, 25-22. It wasn't that easy. Texas Tech is an improved team from a year ago, I think. It's easy to have a let-down with them, considering their 1-19, 0-20, 0-20, 2-18, 1-15, 3-13 and 3-13 Big 12 records in recent years.

By the numbers, Kansas State played a slightly better match than Texas Tech, outhitting .283 to .247, and outblocking 14 to 11. Compared to the .159 hitting of a month ago, there was considerable improvement, too. Set two was disastrous this afternoon, with Tech outhitting the Cats .424 to .143. Performance would pick up, however, with perfectly solid .364, .333 and .400 hitting in the final three sets.

Chelsea Keating, The Boss, had an excellent match, with 20.5 points, 17 kills, .429 hitting, an ace (as usual), five block assists and 22 digs! Before going father, how about freshman OH Bryna Vogel, who came off the bench to add 12 points from 10 kills, with .500 hitting!? Kylee Zumach led the Cats with 22 points and 22 kills, hitting .310. It's no surprise that when Katie Reininger came in, you could see a look of determination and energy. She had 15.5 points and 12 kills, and also no surprise, seven block assists. National Player of the Week Natali Jones added 13.5 points, and she had an ace.

Katie Brand had 64 assists!

On defense, Chelsea Keating led in digs with 22, followed by libero Kersten Kober with 19, and DS Sheridan Zarda with 11. Katie Brand had eight digs, and Natali had six. Katie Reininger and Natali Jones led in blocking, each with 3.5.

In Big 12 play, Natali Jones is 1st in blocks and 4th in hitting. Kylee Zumach continues her highly successful freshman season, 5th in points and 5th in kills. Katie Brand is 4th in assists (and 1st in assists in all matches played). Katie Reininger is 7th in blocks, and Kersten Kober is 7th in digs.

Iowa State's up next for the Cats on Wednesday. They're 3-5 in Big 12 play, but they're winning most of their matches at home, so watch out. They took a set from the Cats in Ahearn.

Oct. 28, 2014  Natali Jones: AVCA National Player of the Week!!
Natali's spectacular week (outlined in the headline just below) was noticed by the AVCA voters, and she's the AVCA National Player of the Week! This is obviously a very big deal. I remember years ago, in the 1990s, when Kate DeClerk received the honor, and years later, All-Americans Dawn Cady and Kaitlynn Pelger were named. Here's the good news from K-State, and a shout out from the Big 12 Conference.
Oct. 27, 2014  Natali Jones: Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week
Senior middle blocker Natali Jones is having an awesome 2014 season. Allow me to elaborate, first beginning with the past week. She hit .688 against #25 Oklahoma, and .667 against West Virginia. In the too-close-for-comfort WVU match, it was Natali who had the last line in the box score in set five: Kill by Jones, Natali (from Brand, Katie).

Against WVU, Natali had 15.5 points, from 12 kills and .667 hitting + five block assists + one ace. Against the Okies, Natali had 17 points in the sweep, from 12 kills and .688 hitting + six block assists + one solo + one ace.

There's more in the blocking department: Through October 28, Natali is #1 in blocking in the Big 12 in all matches, at 1.45 per set. She is also #1 in blocking in conference matches only, at 1.63 per set (and has a significant lead over the #2 player). Kansas State as a team leads the Big 12 in blocking, thanks certainly to Natali and Katie Reininger! As of today, Natali Jones is #13 in NCAA Division I in blocks.

Here's the announcement from the Big 12, and the follow up from Sports Information.

Oct. 27, 2014  Kylee Zumach records her 5th Rookie of the Week
Guess who's going to be Big 12 Freshman of the Year. I'm calling it now for Kylee Zumach. The Big 12 will announce it in early December. Here's Kylee's Rookie of the Week announcement from the Big 12, and the follow up from Sports Information.
Oct. 27, 2014  Texas Tech first serve is at 1 P.M. on Nov. 1
Here's the link to kstatesports.com.
Oct. 25, 2014  Cats dig in and beat West Virginia in Morgantown, 3-2
West Virginia is improving. They began their Big 12 days with a rough start, 0-16, in 2012. They went 5-11 in 2013. That record included a win over the Cats at home. A month ago, they took two sets from Texas. Today the Cats held on to 2nd place in the Big 12 with a 27-29, 25-23, 25-21, 23-25, 15-12 barnburner. The Cats improved to 19-3, 6-2.

Kylee Zumach led in offense with 25 points and 24 kills, from .305 hitting. Katie Reininger added 20 points, from 17 kills and .256 hitting. Natali Jones had 15.5 points from 12 kills + blocks. Natalie hit a spectacular .667, an awesome follow-up to her .688 hitting three days ago! Brooke Sassin had another excellent outing. She had 15 points and 15 kills, hitting a very solid .353. Katie Brand recorded 63 assists, hit .300 and put another double-double in the books with her 14 digs. She has 15 double-doubles this season.

Chelsea Keating was a big-time presence on defense, as she led with 18 digs and seven block assists. She had 9.5 points. Katie Brand had 14 digs, Kersten Kober had 11, Gina Madonia had seven and Kylee Zumach had six. Blocking was more even than in many matches, but K-State led, 11-10. Adding to Chelsea Keating's blocks were Katie Reininger with six, and Natali Jones with five.

In the post-match wrap-up, Coach Hulsmeyer gave a shout out to Gina Madonia for her role in set five, saying she brought energy, and kept her teammates both settled down and pumped up.

Senior Natali Jones wrapped up the festivities with a set five match-point kill.

Here's sports for you: Kansas State was swept by #2 Texas on Oct. 18. In the next match on Oct. 22, Kansas State swept Oklahoma. Tonight, Oklahoma swept previously-undefeated #2 Texas in Austin. As Jerry Seinfeld would say, "Time will tell. We'll see what happens. You never know. It is what it is."

Oct. 22, 2014  HEAR SUZIE ON THE BIG 12 PODCAST
There will be several listed. Choose October 22. link)
Oct. 22, 2014  #11 K-State sweeps OU, in a career night for Natali Jones
Lots of good stuff happened in Ahearn tonight, in a 25-14, 25-19, 26-24 win. Where to start? How about a tip of the hat to K-State Volleyball fans... all 2,992 of them... who came out to support the team with the Royals' game two in the World Series starting at the same time? K-State is currently #15 in attendance in NCAA Division I.

Natali led all players with 17 points... from a career-high 12 kills, outstanding .688 hitting, a service ace and 4.0 blocks. I saw Natali after the match, and complimented her on currently leading the Big 12 in blocks, and didn't even know tonight's spectacular numbers.

Katie Brand hit an amazing .750. She had six kills, five block assists and an ace, adding up to 9.5 points. Brooke Sassin had a great night, adding 11.5 points, from 11 kills and awesome .375 hitting. Kylee Zumach had eight kills and nine points. Chelsea had solid .333 hitting, for 6.5 points.

Katie Brand had a busy night. She had 37 assists. That's 12.33 assists per set. To put this in perspective, the current Big 12 assist leader has 11.3 per set. Katie's in 4th place as of tonight.

It should be noted that K-State led Oklahoma in hitting, .389 to .192!!

Let's go back to Natali Jones. In Big 12 Conference matches, she's in 1st place with 1.76 blocks per set. (The 2nd-place player has 1.38.) In all matches played, Natali's also in 1st place, with 1.48 blocks per set. Natali and Katie Reininger are major reasons K-State leads the Big 12 in blocking, with a significant lead over undefeated Texas, who are in 2nd place.

On defense, Chelsea Keating led with nine digs. Gina Madonia and Kersten Kober each had six digs, followed by Katie Brand with five. K-State outblocked OU 11 to 4.

K-State dominated set one, hitting .609 to OU's .133, with a sideout rate of 73% to OU's 41%. Set two was closer in score at 25-19, but still outhit OU .355 to .194. Set three looked for a while as if OU would take us to four. K-State got eight points behind, at 9-17, but kept sawing wood, as Coach Snyder says. Set three didn't look promising at 14-20, but the Cats went on a tremendous 9-1 run at the end of set three, managing a 26-24 final score, and sending us home in time to watch the Royals win a World Series game 2, 7-2!!

I want to close this recap by saying how much I love Katie Brand's surprise dumps at the net. She has some in almost every match. I love them so much!! Our All-American setter Gabby Guerre used to do those back in 2003. She changes them up, too, so it's not obvious what she's up to until it's too late.

Oct. 21, 2014  Q&A with Kylee Zumach
What an impact freshman Kylee Zumach has made this season, with four Rookie of the Week honors already! Kelly McHugh has a nice Sports Extra, along with a video profile.
Oct. 15, 2014  K-State and the Royals get sweeps tonight
The Kansas City Royals defeated the Baltimore Orioles at 6:05 P tonight, completing a best-4-of-7 sweep in the ALCS, for the American League pennant. But that's not why we called you here.

Kansas State needed to avenge a 0-3 loss in Ft. Worth in 2013. They did that, with a 25-18, 25-21, 25-21 victory.

Kylee Zumach led with 13 points, from 11 kills and four block assists. Natali Jones played very well. She had 12 points, and led the team in hitting, at .583!! Brooke Sassin had nine points and eight kills. Katie Reininger had eight points, from awesome .556 hitting. Katie Brand had eight points, with excellent .400 hitting. Chelsea Keating had eight points and seven kills, along with an ace.

Katie Brand had 33 assists and six block assists.

Kersten Kober was big on defense, leading with 14 digs, and Chelsea Keating had nine. Natali Jones had eight block assists, followed by Katie Brand's six. As a team... no surprise... K-State led in blocking, 13 to four, which has something to do with K-State's .307 hitting to TCU's .118. Although the score in set one was fairly close at 25-18, K-State hit .292 to TCU's -.062.

Oct. 13, 2014  Katie Brand and Katie Reininger take the Big 12 honors
I was so excited about the Cats making the AVCA poll that I forgot to look for Big 12 Player of the Week honors!

Katie Reininger is Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week. She played a critical role in the win over Iowa State last week, with 14 kills and .522 hitting. Add to that seven block assists and an ace for her 18.5 points! In all matches played, Katie is 3rd in the Big 12 in blocks, so our middle blocker is gettin' it done!

Katie Brand, our awesome setter who directs our offense, is Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week. It should be noted that she has a current string of 12 double-doubles, and 14 for the 18 matches the Cats have played this season. Katie had 13 digs in the Iowa State match, and also had seven block assists.

Check the Iowa State box score for all the Katies' impressive stats.

Here's the good news from Sports Information.

Oct. 13, 2014  #25 in the AVCA poll
The Cats, 16-2, were due! Here's the announcement from Sports Information, and a link to the poll, so you can see for yourself. We're having quite a fine season, aren't we?
Oct. 8, 2014  Cats move to 16-2 with a victory over Iowa State
The 25-23, 25-12, 23-25, 25-14 victory wasn't entirely easy, but many good things happened, and the Cats (16-2, 3-1) are in third place in the Big 12.

RS sophomore Katie Reininger had a huge night all around. She led the team with 18.5 points and 14 kills, and she hit a spectacular .522 in the process. It's nice to hit that kind of numbers with a couple of lucky shots, but her .522 was based on 23 attempts. The Cats have finally placed someone on the Big 12 hitting percentage chart, with Katie now tied for 8th, at .304.

Chelsea Keating did great, too. She had 14 points from 10 kills, and .400 hitting. Brooke Sassin was next in line, with 13 points and 13 kills. Kylee Zumach had 11 points, and Natali Jones had 10.5 on solid .308 hitting. K-State hit .259 as a team.

You'll see in the box score that DS Gina Madonia hit 1.000. Gina returned the ball over the net after a block went astray, sliding across the floor afterward, like a baseball player stealing a base. Watch for it at around 1:30 in the highlights, linked below.

Katie Brand recorded her 12th consecutive double-double, with 42 assists and 13 digs. She has 14 double-doubles this season.

On defense, Katie Brand and Katie Reininger each had seven block assists. The Cats led the Cyclones in blocking, 14 to 8. Kersten Kober had 12 digs, and Sheridan Zarda had seven. Natali Jones had five block assists. She's 2nd in the Big 12 at this moment, trailing the leader by 0.05 blocks per set.

Chelsea Keating, who's been doing well with aces, won the match with an ace tonight.

Here are highlights from .

Oct. 6, 2014  Rookie of the Week Kylee Zumach: Four-peat!!
Sports Information says, "Zumach, who garnered the Big 12's top rookie honor for three straight weeks from September 8-22, led all conference freshmen in kills, kills per set, and points per set last week to help K-State earn a pair of road wins." (K-State) The Big 12 posted, "The freshman outside hitter led all Big 12 freshmen in kills (33) and kills per set (4.12) to help K-State pick up a pair of road wins over Kansas and Texas Tech." (Big 12 Conference) We're very lucky and happy to have Kylee on our side!
Oct. 4, 2014  Cats sweep Texas Tech in Lubbock
Kansas State and Texas Tech entered this match with 14 wins and similar stats, with the biggest difference being the Cats' excellent blocking numbers. The match didn't begin well, with an early set one score of 3-15 in favor of Tech. But, as Suzie's been saying, the Cats welcome a dogfight, I believe she calls it, and instead of folding and hoping for better luck in a fresh set, they stuck in there. The kept sawing wood, as Coach Snyder would say, ending with scores of 27-25, 25-18, 25-22.

Kylee Zumach, whose name we've heard a few hundred times this season, led with 15 kills and 15.5 points, hitting a solid .300. Katie Reininger was next in points and kills, with 11 kills and 13.5 points. Natali Jones had another fine match. She had seven kills on awesome .417 hitting, adding 10.5 points. Brooke Sassin had six kills, and Chelsea Keating had five. Neither team had high numbers on hitting. The Cats came in at .159, to Tech's .128.

Katie Brand had 38 assists...12.6 per set, which is awesome. I watched the match on , and felt throughout the match that Katie's sets were a big part of our success.

Natali Jones led in block assists with five, Bryna Vogel had four and Katie Reininger had three. Kersten Kober had 16 digs, Katie Brand had 12 and Chelsea Keating had 10. The Cats edged Tech in blocks, 9.5 to 9.0.

Watching this match makes you appreciate the atmosphere we've created in Ahearn. Texas Tech had one long side of the court curtained off. They claimed attendance of a modest 785, but it appeared to be more like 78.5. The match atmosphere reminded one of high school, in spite of it being in their big arena.

The Cats' impressive 15-2 record, plus the week's victories over two solid teams, should put them close to an AVCA ranking. Kansas State's season record will be better than almost all of the Top 25 teams', with only strength of schedule holding them back.

It is definitely worth noting that today marks the first time in an entire decade that Kansas State has won two consecutive Big 12 matches on the road.

Oct. 4, 2014  Big 12 Announces 2015 Conference Schedule
Yup. 2015. (link)
Oct. 1, 2014  K-State (14-2) defeats the Squawks in five sets
K-State leads the series, 63-45-1, but the Chickenhawks had won the last four in a row. There was a stretch of matches from 1995 to 2005... days short of 10 years... in which Kansas State won 21 straight. Tonight the teams met with very similar season stats and season record, but the Cats shocked everyone in The Shanty with a hard-fought win (25-19, 23-25, 14-25, 25-22, 15-8).

The Cats had a 10-4 scoring run in set one, hitting .367 to .176. Set two was close, with a two-point loss, but set three was one to forget. KU had a 15-4 scoring run that sealed the deal. Hitting in set three was .030 to .379 in favor of the Squawks, with sideout numbers of 80% to 45%. But, what's most important is that after some major adversity, the Cats came back and took the next two sets.

Kylee Zumach led on offense, with 19.5 points and 18 kills. Brooke Sassin had an outstanding match! She had 15.5 points from 15 kills and .351 hitting! Chelsea Keating had some huge plays, including two aces. She had 12.5 points, from 10 kills. Natali Jones played a big role in the Cats' success, with 11.5 points and seven kills. She just missed a double-double. Katie Brand recorded 52 assists in the match. Katie Reininger hit .263, adding eight kills.

On defense, Kersten Kober led with 24 digs! Chelsea "The Boss" Keating was next, with 13 digs, Gina Madonia had 11 and Katie Brand added 10. Natali Jones had nine block assists, and Katie Brand had six.

This win is a big deal. The Cats struggled on the road last season (8-11), while going 10-2 at home. In addition, they lost every Big 12 road match, so this victorious start is very important, I think. The Cats never let KU get ahead in the crucial fifth set. Look here for video highlights.

Sep. 22, 2014  Zumach for the three-peat!
Just as we expected, Kylee Zumach was named Rookie of the Week once again by the Big 12. This seemed to have something to do with 51 kills during the excursion to Michigan last weekend, along with nine digs and eight blocks... all of which brought her MVP recognition at Michigan's Invitational. Here's the announcement from K-State. Guess what! We've got her for three more years!
Sep. 20, 2014  K-State wins the Michigan Invitational...
the third invitational win of the season

Youngstown State was not a team to take lightly, but Kansas State defeated them in four sets, 18-25, 27-25, 25-17, 25-17 to win the invitational. The Cats headed south with a 13-1 season record. In addition, Kylee Zumach was named MVP, and Chelsea Keating and Katie Reininger were named to the tournament team. Chelsea Keating had 18.5 points, 13 kills, seven block assists, 11 digs and hit .440 in today's match. Katie Reininger had a career day vs. Michigan yesterday. She had 21 points, 14 kills, 12 block assists and hit .522! Kylee Zumach's points totals over three matches were 26.5, 16 and 12.5. She had 25 kills vs. Eastern Michigan!

Now, back to the Youngstown State match. It was a fine night for Natali Jones, which included her first two aces. She had nine kills, hit .462, had five block assists and 13.5 points. She was a factor in some critical plays. The always-reliable Katie Brand picked up her 10th double-double of 2014, with 47 assists and 12 digs. She hit an efficient .300. K-State edged Youngstown in hitting percentage, .288 to .214.

Defense was a group effort. In the digs department, Gina Madonia had 13, Katie had 12, Chelsea had 11 and Kersten Kober had nine. Chelsea led in total blocks, with 4.5. K-State led Youngstown State in blocks, 14 to nine.

I think what the Cats and fans can take from this is that when the outcome of a set didn't look promising, the Cats dug in and turned things around on several occasions. Aggressive serving was a major theme in these matches (as it generally is with Suzie), and the coaches were willing to trade some service errors for aces. In today's match, for example, K-State had eight aces to four service errors.

Baylor (9-5) is up in a week. First serve has been set for 7 p.m. Kansas State's attendance is currently #17 in NCAA Division I. Let's fill Ahearn on Saturday, after Football.

Sep. 19, 2014  Cats 3 - Michigan 1 in a record-breaking match
Kansas State, playing on Michigan's court in their first visit to Ann Arbor, had a bit of a slow start, that ended in a new one-set blocking record, in a 19-25, 25-17, 25-13, 25-10 match victory. The match began at 6:30. The Cats had gone to five sets in early afternoon, and had limited information about Michigan. There was 2½ hours between matches.

Let's look at some individual numbers. Katie Reininger had a record night. She led with 21 points, from 14 kills and seven blocks. It was her first double-double. She hit .522! Rookie of the Week Kylee Zumach also had 14 kills, and she hit an excellent .406, for her 16 points.

Katie Brand... no surprise... had a tremendous match. She had 5.5 blocks, 42 assists, two aces, 10 digs and .333 hitting, for her 11.5 points. Write her down for a triple-double!

The Cats outblocked Michigan, 23.5 to 6. Obviously, their performance was strong enough to be demoralizing to Michigan's offense. Look at Michigan's hitting, once the Cats got rolling. Set two hitting: .000. Set three: -0.91. Set four: -.162. Meanwhile, in sets three and four, the Cats hit .370 and .300.

Brooke Sassin and Natali Jones had 9.5 points. Natali had 5.5 blocks. Brooke had seven kills.

On defense, Kersten Kober led with 15 digs, and Chelsea Keating had 14. As usual, Katie Brand contributed, tonight with 10 digs.

Coach Fritz said, "We did a tremendous job getting our hands on a lot of balls, both at the net and in the back row as well. We're very proud of the team and how hard they played today." Tonight was the 10th-straight match win for Kansas State.

The fourth set was one to remember. There was a run of 11 straight points by K-State, that opened a 19-7 lead. The clock was ticking. I was supposed to be over at McCain Auditorium for Eric Stonestreet's thing, but the match was only on . I bumped into John Currie at the auditorium, who wanted to be sure I knew about the Cats' big win. I told him I thought I was going to be late for the show, because I couldn't turn off the coverage of the awesome match! Michigan is on Cat alert now, after tonight's events, plus the 31-14 outcome of the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.

Sep. 16, 2014  Cats improve to 10-1 in a sweep of South Dakota State
K-State stands in third place in the Big 12, behind undefeated Texas Tech and Texas, as the home non-conference stretch concluded this evening, with a 25-18, 25-18, 25-17 sweep.

Two-time Big 12 Rookie of the Week Kylee Zumach and Brooke Sassin tied with 10 points and 10 kills, with solid .318 hitting from Kylle, and .381 hitting from Brooke. Katie Reininger was next with 9.5 points. Chelsea Keating had seven points, with excellent .444 hitting. Katie Brand was also efficient, hitting .429 for six points. Katie had 31 assists. She's currently 2nd in the Big 12 in assists. Keating and Reininger each had two aces. Kansas State outhit SDSU, .237 to .097.

Katie Brand led in digs, with 10, and Kersten Kober and Chelsea Keating had nine. Sheridan Zarda had six digs. K-State had six blocks, to SDSU's two.

We're not sure who led the Cats in net contact violations, but second referee Dave Chalupa sure likes to call them, doesn't he? We didn't hurt the stupid net one bit.

K-State heads to Ann Arbor for Michigan's invitational, beginning on Sept. 19. Our first opponent, Eastern Michigan, is 7-2, Michigan is 3-4 and Youngstown State is 9-3. The Cats stand a good chance of returning to Manhattan 13-1.

Attendance is running lower this season, but we're not in conference play. The Cats are #17 in Division I this week, and upped their average with tonight's 1,875. Some early starts to matches: 5 P.M. and 6 P.M., have probably not helped.

Sports Information has a nice photo gallery for tonight's match.

Sep. 15, 2014  REPEAT: Kylee Zumach: Big 12 Rookie o' the Week
After her performance in the Cats' wins of the Southern Illinois Invitational, the Big 12 has again name Kylee Zumach Rookie of the Week. Here's the announcement from the Big 12 Conference, and from Kansas State.
Sep. 13, 2014  K-State 3, IPFW 1 to win the SIU invitational
First, congratulations to Katie Brand, who was named MVP of the invitational, along with Kersten Kober (Best Libero). Katie got her sixth double-double of the season.

Brooke Sassin and Kylee Zumach each contributed 17 points, leading all players. Kylee had 15 kills, an hit .263. Brooke had 14 kills, and two aces. Chelsea Keating had 11 points and nine kills. Katie Reininger hit an impressive .385, adding nine points.

Kersten Kober's Best Libero award came from her team-leading 17 digs in this match, 21 vs. Marshall and 13 vs. SIU.

Katie Brand, MVP, had 14 digs along with her offensive duties, which included 50 assists. She had 57 assists and 13 digs vs. Marshall, and 42 assists in the sweep of SIU.

IPFW led the Cats on blocking, 19 to 14. There were 16 lead changes and 35 tied scores enroute to the Cats' 25-20, 28-26, 19-25, 25-20 win.

Up next for Kansas State is South Dakota State (4-7), Sept. 16 at 6 P.M.

Sep. 9, 2014  Big 12 Student-Athlete Spotlight: Taylor Johnson
The Big 12 has picked up the story on Taylor Johnson's participation in the NCAA Career in Sports Forum in June.
Sep. 8, 2014  Cats edge Missouri State in five sets
Kansas State (6-1), after starting strong in the first two sets, had to dig deep to get the win. Set scores were (25-16, 25-21, 17-25, 16-25, 15-12). It was their fourth match in five days, but it was the Bears' fifth match in five days. Missouri State played a very good match. They had an outside hitter, Lily Johnson, who had a ridiculous 23 kills, ending with 26.5 points, and their middle blocker, Linsey Wright, hit .346, adding 14.5 points. They surpassed the Cats on hitting, .229 to .161.

Big 12 Rookie of the Week Kylee Zumach led the Cats with 16 kills and 20.5 points. Chelsea Keating had a solid evening, with .280 hitting and 14.5 points. Brooke Sassin added 12 points. Natali Jones was very efficient, hitting .364, and adding six points.

Katie Brand led on digs, with 14, followed by Kersten Kober's 11 and Sheridan Zarda's 10 digs. Katie Reininger had three blocks. The Cats edged Missouri State on blocks, 14 to 12, and 63 digs to their 54.

It was great that Bailey Shurbet, a redshirt last season, got on the court at last tonight, in one set. She had six assists.

K-State travels to see our old friend, Justin Ingram, at Southern Illinois this weekend.

Sep. 8, 2014  Kylee Zumach: Big 12 Rookie o' the Week
Kylee was named MVP of the Varney's Invitational over the weekend, having recorded 36 kills in three matches, .377 hitting and 39 points. Here's the announcement from the Big 12 Conference, and the announcement from Sports Information. She got a tweet, too.
Sep. 6, 2014  Three sweeps = a Varney's Invitational title
Central Florida came in undefeated, 6-0, having also beaten Arkansas (RV) and Middle Tennessee in our invitational, but they hadn't met the Cats. Although they didn't get the win, they're a solid team, and will have a good season.

The Cats were good on offense tonight, outhitting UCF .276 to .143. Katie Reininger led all players in points. She had 14 kills (her personal best) and 16 points, hitting a very impressive .429. Kylee Zumach added 11 points and 11 kills, hitting .458. Chelsea Keating had nine kills and 10 points, and Brooke Sassin had nine points. Katie Brand delivered the match point, with one of her surprise dumps at the net. I love those. She must be using her peripheral vision to full advantage. She hit .600. In addition, Katie Brand had 40 assists tonight, and 113 for the three matches, for an average of 12.5 per set. Through Sept. 6, she has 10.6 assists per set... #3 in the Big 12.

Kersten led in digs, with 17. She's currently #8 in the Big 12 in digs. Gina Madonia and Sheridan Zarda had 11 digs each, and Katie Brand had nine. The Cats had 59 digs, to UCF's 48. Blocking was close, with K-State leading 6.5 to 5.0.

Attendance for the three matches was 1,879, which is below last season's average of 2,214. It will be most excellent to be back in Ahearn Field House on Monday. Remember that first serve is at 5 P.M.

Kylee Zumach was named tournament MVP. She averaged 13 points, on efficient hitting. Katie Brand and Katie Reininger also were named to the all-tournament team.

Varney's Invitational All-Tournament Cats

Kylee Zumach

Katie Brand

Katie Reininger
Sep. 4, 2014  K-State sweeps Arkansas... outhits them .429 to .191
This was a very fine home opener in the annual Varney's Invitational, as one can see from the box score.

Brooke Sassin, in her first home match, led the Cats with 15 points, on .583 hitting! (She hit .800 in the second set!) Outside hitter Zylee Zumach, another newcomer, had 14.5 points, on .346 hitting. Chelsea Keating had a great night! She had 14 points, and led the team with .588 hitting, along with two aces. (She got a double-double.) Katie Brand was tremendous, recording 40 assists. That's 13.3/set. To put that in perspective, the player currently leading the Big 12 is averaging 12.0 assists / set.

On defense, the Cats outblocked Arkansas, seven to three, and led in digs, 41 to 33.

The official game recap confirmed my belief that Arkansas never led in the match. I thought the Cats played very well together, in terms of passing. Chelsea Keating commented that Katie Brand's sets were very accurate.

Attendance was officially listed as 2,010. (Last year's average attendance, 2,214, was 18th in Division I.) I talked to several people who had no idea that the match was scheduled for Bramlage Coliseum instead of Ahearn.

Sep. 1, 2014  Sports Extra: Sami Flattum Adjusts to New Level of Volleyball
It's the latest player feature from Kelly McHugh, including video.
Aug. 29, 2014  Cats start 2014 with a sweep of Green Bay
Jordy Nelson's proud of the Cats' solid opening of the season. There were good individual performances, and good numbers on offense and defense.

Kylee Zumach began her career by leading with 12.5 points, and .400 hitting. I wanted to see Natali Jones on the court more last season. She had 10.5 points from six kills and 4.5 blocks. Natali was second in hitting %, at .385! Katie Reininger, who impressed me in the Purple-White thing last weekend, had 8 points, with very solid .357 hitting. The Cats outhit Green Bay, .253 to .037. Katie Brand had 31 assists + two aces.

On defense, K-State surpassed Green Bay on blocks, 12.5 to 4.0. Brooke Sassin had a nice start to her career with nine digs, veteran Gina Madonia had eight, and Sheridan Zarda had seven. Kersten Kober and Katie Brand had six digs. The one thing that kept Green Bay in the match was almost equaling the Cats on digs.

It was great to see the Cats begin their season with a road win.

Aug. 25, 2014  Meet the Cats: Kylee Zumach
Kylee tells Kelly McHugh she wants to win the Big 12. (story) and (video)
Aug. 22, 2014  Sports Extra: Chelsea Keating's the boss
In Kelly McHugh's latest feature, we learn that Keating has taken a major role in leading the team.
Aug. 19, 2014  The old, and lots of new
Nine of the 20 players are new in 2014. (story)
Aug. 18, 2014  Good stuff from Media Day
Don't miss this great collection of quotes from Coach Fritz and players from the 2014 Media Day.
Aug. 12, 2014  Cats rely on leadership
Here's an interesting feature on how the team has selected leaders, as well as holding each other accountable.
Aug. 11, 2014  Meet the Cats: Brooke Sassin
Brooke, from San Antonio, is a sophomore transfer from Mississippi State. I assume she'll have to sit out this season. She visits with Kelly McHugh in this video. Here's the text version.
Aug. 8, 2014  Cats dressed up for a preseason dinner
Here's a Twitter picture of the 2014 team at their preseason dinner.
Aug. 7, 2014  Katie Brand's on the Big 12 Preseason Team
The Cats' redshirt sophomore is one of two setters on the team. (K-State) (Big 12)
Aug. 7, 2014  Purple/White Scrimmage: August 16
The big day has finally been announced! Here are the details for the annual exhibition.
Aug. 5, 2014  Meet the Cats: Mary Alice O'Reilly
Mary Alice transferred as a senior from California. Here's Kelly McHugh's latest video and print feature.
July 24, 2014  Photo Shoot / Video
The Cats were in uniform this week for their media guide photos. Here's a fun video... and pictures from Twitter.
July 21, 2014  Meet the Cats: Bryna Vogel
Video: Kelly McHugh introduces us to freshman Bryna Vogel, another new Cat who was brought up right by K-State alums. Here's the text version.
July 14, 2014  Meet the Cats: Makenzie Holcomb
Video: Kelly McHugh introduces us to Makenzie Holcomb, a freshman middle blocker, in her latest video, as well as this feature story. I was introduced to Makenzie on Oct. 26, 2013, when she joined her aunt, Lisa Martin, for the recognition of the 2003 Big 12 championship team. I love it that Makenzie has dreamed of playing for K-State since she was in grade school.
July 7, 2014  Meet the Cats: Sheridan Zarda
Video: Kelly McHugh visits with Nebraska transfer Sheridan Zarda. Hopefully we'll have a series of these with our new players.
June 27, 2014  Bryna Vogel receives the Lynette Woodard Award
Freshman Bryna Vogel was named the 2014 Lynette Woodard High School Female Athlete of the Year by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission on June 26. She has won numerous awards while participating in multiple high school sports and activities. Here's K-State's release. We're headed for a very good season.
June 27, 2014  Taylor Johnson attends the NCAA's Career in Sports Forum
Senior Taylor Johnson was one of 200 student athletes selected to attend the NCAA Career in Sports Forum. She learned a great deal about career options that her years as an athletic have helped prepare her for. The event made her aware of skills she'd not realized she had. Kelly McHugh has done it again with this excellent feature.
June 25, 2014  2014 recruiting class nationally ranked
K-State has announced that PrepVolleyball.com has our recruiting class ranked #27. Most of our new players have been listed previously right here: Kali Eaken, Devan Fairfield, Sami Flattum, Makenzie Holcomb, Bryna Vogel and Kylee Zumach. It's going to be a very good season!
June 11, 2014  New players begin training
Sports Information has a good update on new players and training this summer.
May 13, 2014  Caitlyn in Switzerland?
From this web page, we see that Caitlyn Donahue is playing, or at least has recently played, in Switzerland. By the way, here's a YouTube video on serving, featuring Caitlyn for USA Volleyball.
May 1, 2014  Wildcats Head into Summer with Positive Spring
Head over to KStatesports.com for a great review of spring practice and competition. The Cats are going to be good.
Apr. 26, 2014  Spring training ends with the UMKC Tournament
The Cats went 1-1-2 vs. Pitt State, UMKC, Rockhurst and Heart of America Havoc. Newcomers Kylee Zumach and Katie Reininger were strong on offense. Several players had aces, and Kersten Kober and Dallas Gardner recorded numerous digs. link.
Apr. 20, 2014  Coach Pelger's girls team is doing well
Apr. 12, 2014  Cats go unbeaten at their tournament in Stilwell
Excellent performances from new and veteran players brought impressive results at Blue Valley West today. The Cats defeated Wichita State (25-17, 25-21), Illinois (25-23, 25-19) and Saint Louis (29-27, 25-13), and split their match against Kansas City (29-27, 19-25). All matches consisted of two sets.

Versus Wichita State, Kylee Zumach, Chelsea Keating and Taylor Johnson hit over .400, and Brooke Sassin had three aces. Against Saint Louis, Natali Jones and Brooke Sassin had seven kills. Natali hit .888, by the way! (K-State release)

Apr. 12, 2014  Sports Extra: Volleyball Set for Final Spring Competition
Kelly McHugh posted this Sports Extra just before the tournament at Blue Valley West. I had the impression that there was a final tournament at UMKC on April 26. I think there's some confusion here, because Volleyball listed it on March 11, and UMKC has it mentioned here. By the way, Skyler Muff plays for UMKC.
Apr. 8, 2014  Sheridan Zarda transfers to join the Cats
Shawnee native Sheridan Zarda has transferred from Nebraska, where she played in 2012, and red-shirted in 2013. She was a high school teammate of Dallas Gardner at St. James Academy in Lenexa. (K-State release)
April 8, 2014  Katie Brand to the U.S. Collegiate National Team
Katie Brand will spend late June in Minneapolis, one of 36 for the USA Volleyball Girls' Junior National Championships. She'll be training and hoping to qualify for the U.S. Women's National Team. (K-State release)
Apr. 4, 2014  K-State defeats Missouri and Heart of America Havoc
The Cats got by Missouri 2 - 1, then defeated professional team Heart of America Havoc 2 - 0. Both veteran and new players factored in the victories. (K-State release)
Mar. 21, 2014  Brooke Sassin transfers to join the Cats
Brooke Sassin, a 6' 0" outside hitter, has transferred from Mississippi State, and is enrolled at K-State. (K-State release)
Mar. 11, 2014  Spring Volleyball schedule announced
We will only get to see the Cats at home one time this spring (in the Creighton match). The April 4 match vs. Heart of America Havoc Volleyball will be at 548 S. Coy St. in Kansas City, KS 66105, and we'll be facing JuliAnne Chisholm Rathbun!

K-State's hosting a tournament at Blue Valley West (Caitlyn Donahue's school) in Stilwell on April 12, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The location is 16200 Antioch Rd., Stilwell, KS 66085. Participants will be Illinois, Wichita State, KU, UMKC, Arkansas State, Missouri State, Drake and Saint Louis.

Spring competition will conclude on Saturday, April 26 in the UMKC Tournament. Details will be announced later.

Here's more information.

Feb. 20, 2014  The Katies are heading to the U.S. National Team tryouts.
Katie Brand and Katie Reininger are going to Colorado Springs this weekend to compete for selection to the U.S. National Team. Katie Reininger had her redshirt season in 2013. Katie Brand was named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team, as the only Big 12 freshman with 1,000 assists, and led all setters in the conference in kills, blocks and points. Read the release from Sports Information.
Feb. 17, 2014  Coach Pelger's gettin' it done!
Kaitlynn's been coaching a team of 13-year-olds in the Blue Valley district, and they've got themselves a trophy. (from her Twitter page)
Feb. 6, 2014  Kylee Zumach is in the house!
Did you know we signed a 6' 4" outside hitter? I didn't, but she graduated high school early, and she's now a Cat!

"I always loved Suzie and the Jeffs," said Kylee. "I came down for one visit with my dad and didn't look anywhere else. I loved it the first time I was here."

Suzie Fritz said, "...at weights the other day, I bet I had three of them [other players] come into my office and tell me about her. She kicked everybody's tail pulling sleds, which is not easy to do. Her work ethic is off the charts. She learns fast and is very eager to learn. We are pretty optimistic about what she is capable of doing moving forward." (official release)

Jan. 28, 2014  NCAA Rules Committee recommends modifying net-contact rule
If it happens, this is a long-overdue rules change: The NCAA Women's Volleyball Rules Committee recommended a proposal where players will not be called for a violation if they touch the net, ropes or post outside of the antenna as long as it doesn't interfere with play or is used as a means of support while playing the ball, beginning with the 2014-15 academic year. (link)
Jan. 22, 2014  Sami Flattum doesn't like to lose
Kansas State Volleyball welcomes Sami, a 6' 2" OH from Minnesota, to the program. Here's the release from Sports Information.
Jan. 22, 2014  Smart Cats!
These Volleycats made a 4.000 in fall semester: Courtney Cook, Taylor Johnson, Kersten Kober and Lilla Porubek. (link)
Dec. 14, 2013  Congratulations, graduates.
Sometime today, Tristan McCarty (marketing), Kaitlynn Pelger (family studies) and Courtney Traxson (psychology) will receive their bachelor's degrees, right on time. Best wishes and thanks to all three!
Dec. 8, 2013  Kali Eaken signs as a setter
Kali will be joining the Cats in summer. She has received all kinds of honors this year, including Kansas Volleyball Association (KVA) Class 4A Player of the Year, and AVCA/Under Armour Girls High School All-America First Team. In addition, she led Bishop Miege to the Kansas state championship this year. Here's more from K-State Sports Information.
Dec. 4, 2013  Mike Ahearn Field House: no place like home
I track home match attendance on the main page, based on numbers reported to the NCAA. The Cats drew 26,573 fans in 2013. The Cats were #18 in Division I in average attendance, with 2,214 fans per match. My attendance page shows that 2013 average attendance was the highest since at least 1999.

I swiped this paragraph from Sports Information:

"Ahearn Field House has historically proven it is one of the toughest places to play, and the 2013 season was no different. The Wildcats went 10-2 at home, their third straight season with at least 10 home wins, and the 11th time in the last 14 seasons they have posted double-digit victories at home. K-State is 300-156-5 (.651) all-time in Ahearn Field House since playing its first season in the structure back in 1974. In 40 seasons of playing Ahearn Field House, the Wildcats have finished with a winning home record 29 times, including 18 times in the last 20 seasons."