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| Kansas State’s Kathleen Ludwig goes up for a kill against UMKC on Tuesday night at Ahearn Field House. Staff photo by Rod Mikinski. |
K-State head coach Suzie Fritz said she was pleased with the win. However, it is still obvious that her young squad still has has some work to do.
"It feels good, but I don't think we played to our capabilities, which we know," Fritz said. "It's September 1st and we still have a lot of room to grow and a lot of room to improve."
That room for improvement became evident quickly in the second set of the match. After cruising to a dominating win the first game, the Wildcats ran into a wall and allowed the visiting Kangaroos to mount a 13-8 lead midway through the second set.
"I think we came out a little flat," senior Kelsey Chipman said of the second set. "We have a lot of things that we have been trying to work on and talking about in practice and I don't think that we really showed that we have been working and trying to improve on those things."
Throughout that second set, the Wildcat offense went silent as the team combined for only 10 kills on 37 attempts and eight errors.
The Kangaroos would take advantage and exploit the Wildcats' offensive drought as they cruised to a 25-16 victory in the set to tie the match.
Yet the Wildcats were able to rebound and defeat the Kangaroos in each of the next two sets 25-14 and 25-16 to secure the victory.
K-State was led on offense by redshirt freshman Kathleen Ludwig who registered 12 kills on 25 attempts. Meanwhile junior Lauren Mathewson anchored the defense with a team-high 17 digs.
Fritz said that she was pleased with the play of her newcomers, including Ludwig, freshman Audrey Horton and freshman Caitlyn Danahue.
"We have learned more in three matches than we have learned in 17 days of preseason." Fritz said of her younger players.
Danahue recorded seven kills and nine digs, while Horton added eight kills against the Kangaroos.
Danahue, who joined K-State last spring following her graduation from Blue Valley West in December, said she has become comfortable with the system. That extra level of familiarity has shown early on this season with strong performances in the opening matches.
"I feel very comfortable," Danahue said. "I feel like my teammates trust me and that I should be out there."
K-State now travels to Provo, Utah to participate in the BYU Invitational on Friday and Saturday — opening against Weber State on Friday.
The Wildcats will return home for a nonconference match against South Dakota on Tuesday before hosting the annual Varney's Classic next weekend.
