For the first time this season, K-State volleyball found itself playing from behind. Rallying back with a season-high 14 blocks and a relentless offense, the Wildcats shook off a slow start against Nevada to stay unbeaten and push their record to 6-0 — the program’s strongest start in 13 years. 

Nevada controlled much of the opening set and never gave up its advantage, handing K-State its first opening-set loss of the season. The Wolf Pack capitalized on several Wildcat errors to build an 11-5 lead, prompting head coach Jason Mansfield to call a timeout. K-State struggled to find rhythm offensively in the opening stretch, managing two kills, committing five attack errors and hitting .000 before the timeout.

Although the Wildcats settled in late and cut the deficit to 23-21 with a late 4-0 scoring run, the comeback fell short. Nevada won the set 25-21, hitting .314 and totaling 17 kills, while restraining K-State to a .179 hitting percentage.

Looking for a comeback, the Wildcats started set two in another deficit but chipped away at the Wolf Pack’s 11-5 lead. Reese Resmer and Cadence Lundgren sparked the comeback with crucial middle kills, along with Addison Massey and Lauren Latham giving K-State a 17-15 lead. The Wildcats then went on an 8-4 run to close out the set, winning 25-20 and tying the match at 1-1.

“Reese [Resmer] led the way at the net and also gave us a lot of offense with eight kills, and we needed every one of them,” Mansfield said.

With momentum beginning to swing, K-State played its best set of the afternoon in the third. Massey provided a spark with back-to-back kills, which helped the Wildcats reach a 9-6 lead. Nevada remained in striking distance most of the set, but K-State’s offense continued to create opportunities. The Wildcats committed just one attack error while hitting .438 and pulled away late to win 25-21.

“I thought Emerson [Van Lannen] and Lauren [Latham] did a really good job setting our offense, making so many quality sets and spreading things around,” Mansfield said. “Addison [Massey] and Skylar [Brady] were both exceptional, taking so many great swings and making aggressive choices.”

The fourth and final set belonged almost entirely to K-State. After a competitive opening stretch for both teams, the Wildcats broke open the match following a strong service run from Caleigh Ponn. K-State scored seven of the next eight points to build a sufficient lead, with Nevada never generating a rally. Behind an aggressive defensive effort that improved throughout the match, the Wildcats closed out the set with a dominant 25-15 victory.

Massey once again led the Wildcats offensively, finishing with 18 kills while posting a .577 hitting percentage. Skylar Brady added 13 kills and eight digs, while Resmer contributed a season-high five blocks. As a team, K-State recorded a season-best 14 blocks and hit .321, continuing a balanced effort.

“I’m really proud of our start,” Mansfield said. “We are learning and growing every week, with a better understanding of how we need to play the game and what we need to do to beat each opponent. There has been a lot of maturity in the way we’ve prepared for each team, and we’ve executed extremely well to get us to a 6-0 start. Now we just need to keep getting better every day and continue to do it together.”

K-State aims to maintain its perfect record with a trip to Omaha next week, where they will face No. 15 Creighton at 7 p.m. on Sept. 18. ESPN2 will televise the match.