K-State’s recent struggles continue as Brigham Young rode its top scorers to its seventh straight win, defeating K-State 3-1 on Oct 1.

The Wildcats started off hot, quickly jumping out to a 5-2 advantage, with Addison Massey’s 3 kills leading the way. BYU fought back with a 6-0 run of its own, which multiple blocks and K-State attacking errors fueled.

Later in the set, BYU started to gain momentum until Massey unleashed a vicious kill that went straight off a BYU player’s head and into the stands. The smash fired up the crowd and gave K-State much-needed momentum to tie the game at 14 apiece. After both teams exchanged points, BYU went on a 4-0 run to take the lead 21-17. 

When all hope seemed lost, trailing 24-21, the ‘Cats got right back into the game with a 4-1 run, ending on Massey’s 8th kill of the first set to tie the game at 25-25. 

BYU then rattled off back-to-back kills from Sophia Callahan and Elli Mortensen to win the first set, 27-25. Mortensen and Callahan highlighted the first set for the Cougars, with 8 and 5 kills, respectively.

Both teams continued to look evenly matched, trading points until K-State led 9-8, when BYU went on a mini 3-0 run via the trifecta of a kill, block and ace to go up 11-9. The Cougars rode the wave and went up 15-12, leading to the 15-point media timeout. The Wildcats tried to scratch back with a couple of kills and a block from Cadence Lundgren, bringing the score to 16-15 BYU. 

BYU took over afterward, scoring seven of the next eight points from Mortensen kills and blocks, along with ‘Cats errors, taking a 23-18 lead. K-State couldn’t come back, scoring only one more point in the rest of the set on an Avery Stones kill before BYU won 25-18 on a Claire Little Chambers block to take a 2-0 set lead.

K-State’s match against BYU marked the third conference game in a row that the Wildcats started down 0-2.

“No one wants to go down 0-2, and we are three in a row at going down 0-2 in the Big 12,” head coach Jason Mansfield said. “It’s the Big 12, no nights off. Every team’s good, just the way it is.”

The start of the third set was almost an exact copy-paste of the second, with both teams trading points until BYU went on a mini 3-0 run to go up 7-4. Addison Massey responded with a lethal kill, but K-State was unable to gain momentum and fell behind after multiple errors. BYU capitalized and went into the 15-point media timeout up 15-9.

The Wildcats bounced back after the media timeout with a quick 4-0 run, which Massey headlined with 3 kills to regain momentum. After a couple of back-and-forths, K-State went on another 6-1 run to tie the game at 21 each. Serving starred, as both Emerson Van Lannen and Fuka Sekita got a service ace to give the ‘Cats momentum.

The Wildcats rode the momentum train, with two kills from Massey and an ace from Reagan Fox to earn set point and lead 24-22. 

BYU clawed back and tied the game before a service error and a bad set gave the ‘Cats two straight points, winning the set for K-State 26-24. 

Reese Resmer continued her hot streak in the fourth set, tallying three of K-State’s first six points with two kills and a block. Resmer’s dominance kept K-State in the game, with her block tying the game 6-6.

“Reese Resmer came in, did a great job offensively and got some good touches on the block, and she’s a great athlete,” Mansfield said.

The game stayed close, with no team going up by more than three points. K-State went into the 15-point timeout up 15-13, taking advantage of multiple service and attacking errors from BYU. The Cougars came out of the media timeout with energy, knotting the game up at 17 apiece before things collapsed for K-State.

BYU found a way to play at their own tempo, catching the Wildcats off guard and surging ahead to 21-17, before Mansfield took his second timeout of the set. The Cougars were in control and kept that control, surrendering one point after the game was tied at 17. BYU closed the game on a 9-1 run, capped off with a Callahan kill to end the set, handing the third set to the Cougars 25-18 and giving them the match win 3-1.

Three BYU players finished with over 10 kills, with Mortensen finishing with 19, while Little Chambers and Callahan both finished with 13. Mortensen was the star, hitting .630 and adding 12 digs and 3 blocks. For K-State, Massey finished with 23 kills and Stones finished with 6. 

Despite the struggles, K-State had more service aces and fewer service and blocking errors than BYU, showing they were able to compete with the top opponents in the Big 12.

“I mean, it’s a good team,” Mansfield said. “We’re right there. It should give us confidence that we can play against these teams.”

The Wildcats will continue their homestand at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 3, when they play the Utah Utes on ESPN+.