Coming off a 3-0 loss to No. 17 Baylor, Kansas State volleyball bounced back in a big way with a sweep of its own against ranked competition, downing No. 18 TCU in straight sets on Friday.
The upset win, which included 22 kills from star outside hitter Aliyah Carter, earned the fifth-year senior Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors. It’s the 11th weekly honor of her storied career.
The Horned Frogs, who are 17-7 overall and 9-5 in the Big 12, came to a sold-out Morgan Family Arena and felt the Wildcats’ wrath. K-State moved to 10-13 and 8-6 in the Big 12.
“I thought we played really inspired, passionate volleyball — much different than two nights ago,” head coach Jason Mansfield said to K-State Athletics. “I’m really proud of the girls for regrouping and finding ways to compete.”
Set 1 was a back-and-forth onslaught until TCU went on a 5-2 run to take a 19-17 lead. With its back against the wall, K-State tied the game at 21 and went on a 4-1 scoring run to close out the competitive set, 25-23. There were a total of 11 lead changes in the set.
The Wildcats battled back from adversity again in Set 2. The Horned Frogs had a 9-5 lead early in the set, waking the Wildcats up, as they went on a 13-2 run to take a substantial lead. TCU tallied and tied the game at 25 apiece.
Things looked hopeful for TCU until Carter put the Horned Frogs away with back-to-back kills. The final two kills capped off a stellar 11-kill set for Carter, giving K-State a 2-0 set lead.
The Horned Frogs continued to fight hard in the final set, tying it at 19 apiece. TCU had a shot to keep the game alive for more sets, but an error and a final Carter kill sealed the sweep for K-State with a 25-23 win.
“I think that when we have a win like this, you hope that it gives them a lot of confidence and shows them how great we can be if we are focused,” Mansfield said.
Following Carter in kills were redshirt sophomore Aniya Clinton with 12 and senior Meg Brown with four.
The Wildcats’ next matchup will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday on the road against UCF.
