K-State volleyball wrapped up its preseason slate Saturday afternoon with a straight-set sweep over former conference foe Oklahoma at Morgan Family Arena.
The opening frame saw early jitters with service errors from both sides before Oklahoma pushed out to an 11-7 lead, catching K-State off guard with a kick-save play followed immediately by an ace. The Wildcats clawed back, however, as Ellah Derrer delivered back-to-back service aces to knot it at 12-12.
K-State’s comeback didn’t slow the Sooners down, though, as they quickly stretched the lead back to 17-13, using powerful hits from senior Amaya Tobias to exploit zone errors on the Wildcats’ defense. K-State stayed within striking distance until freshman Reese Resmer delivered a clutch solo block to make it 23-22, forcing an Oklahoma hit out on the next play to tie the set.
The teams traded blows in extra points — tying at 24, 25, 26 and 27 after a Skylar Brady hit — before Emerson Van Lannen dropped an ace for a 28-27 lead. Addison Massey capped the wild 28-26 finish with a solo block, putting the ‘Cats up 1-0 in sets.
Massey kept the hot hand early in the second set with consecutive hits, helping K-State edge ahead in a long rally. Derrer jumped high through the middle gap to keep the offense rolling, and Sydney Maue began finding her mark on the right side with strong left-handed strikes to tie it 8-8.
The Wildcats hit their stride midway through, stringing together three consecutive spikes to force an Oklahoma timeout up 16-14. After a Sooners challenge on a center-line fault was unsuccessful, K-State grabbed a 22-19 lead.
Reagan Fox took over down the stretch, ripping back-to-back kills through longer rallies to earn set point. An Oklahoma error sealed the set 25-21 and gave the Wildcats a 2-0 set lead.
With momentum firmly on their side, K-State took complete control in the third set. Up 10-9, Cadence Lundgren dumped a ball over the net that sparked miscommunication on Oklahoma’s side, jumpstarting a five-point run for the purple and white. Out of the timeout, Lundgren and the Wildcats kept scrambling on defense, extending plays even with a comfortable lead.
Brady completely took over down the stretch, hammering a kill for a 21-14 lead, following it with a dagger solo block and converting another kill on a long rally to bring up match point. An attack error by the Sooners wrapped up a dominant 25-14 sweep for K-State.
The Wildcats put their roster depth on full display throughout the afternoon, spreading the workload across the entire rotation while holding Oklahoma to a -.103 hitting percentage in the final set.
Fox and Massey paced the attack with nine kills apiece, while Derrer made the most of her touches in the middle. The freshman middle blocker threw down four kills on five attempts without an attack error, posting an .800 hitting percentage alongside two aces.
Directing the offense, Van Lannen handed out 16 assists and picked up seven digs, supported by freshman setter Camdyn Stucky’s 11 assists. On defense, senior libero Fuka Sekita anchored the backline with 12 digs, while Brady finished with seven kills and Resmer racked up four blocks at the net.
K-State officially opens the 2026 regular season on Aug. 28, hosting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Morgan Family Arena to kick off the K-State Invitational.
