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| Kansas State’s Audrey Horton goes up for a kill against UMKC last week at Ahearn Field House. Staff photo by Rod Mikinski. |
The match will mark the beginning of a season-high five-game homestand for the Wildcats, who recently jumped two spots to No. 21 in the latest coaches poll.
While in Utah, Fritz said she saw positive improvement during the three matches on the road, and felt her team is improving at a faster pace than anticipated.
"I was really pleased how composed we stayed, I was also pleased with how we played late in matches, which is not the M.O. of a young team." Fritz said.
"I think we are growing up fast, and we came back from this weekend thinking that our progress was a little bit more accelerated than where we thought we might be at this time of the year."
Several members of the Wildcats, including freshman defensive specialist Caitlyn Donahue showed significant signs of growth during the tournament.
The 5-foot-9 true freshman from Blue Valley West high school has come on strong for the Wildcats early, and proved valuable once again this weekend as she registered 33 kills and 29 digs during the three matches.
"We had high expectations to go out there and do very well and we did." Donahue said. "That's our game plan and we went out there and did it."
Meanwhile, the Wildcats (4-2) placed three players on the all-tournament team. Senior middle blocker Kelsey Chipman was named tournament MVP while senior setter Soriana Pacheco and junior outside hitter JuliAnne Chisholm were named to the team as well. Chisholm led the team in kills in two of the three matches this weekend.
"Those are awards that come to teams that do well," Fritz said. "JuliAnne did some really nice things over the weekend, and I though Soriana was very good so I thought they were well deserved."
Tonight's match is the first of a two-match road trip for South Dakota. The Coyotes (3-5) are anchored offensively by outside hitter Kristin Kritenbrink, who leads the team with 87 kills this season.
Yet because of the Wildcats' busy schedule and travel time between Manhattan and Utah, preparation time for the match against South Dakota was limited.
However, despite only having one day of practice between the tournament and this evening's match against South Dakota, Fritz says the busy game schedule will only benefit her squad.
"I think you learn more in matches," Fritz said. "I think you learn how your team responds in different situations, you see things that you cant reproduce in practice, the emotions are higher and the nerves are higher. I think three matches is worth 10 days of practice."
K-State will host the Varney's Invitation this weekend, beginning on Friday.
