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| Rita Liliom goes up for a kill during a game against Houston Tuesday night at Ahearn Fieldhouse. |
The good is that No. 25 K-State used eight unanswered points to close out game three and sweep Houston, 30-18, 30-16, and 30-23.
"Our big concern last year was that we were right there, but couldn't push through at the end," sophomore middle blocker Kelsey Chipman said. "We really are trying hard to do that this year."
It's showing in the first four matches this season, all wins at that.
And Fritz likes her team's ability to fight through tough games at the end, but it's getting to that point by playing poorly that the seventh-year head coach doesn't like.
"I'm more concerned with our level of play, our consistency, our ability to put a strong set or series of good plays together," Fritz said. "I like to win, don't get me wrong. But right now I just want to play well and I want us to stay sharp from start to finish of a match.
"So for two games, outstanding. And then we had a little lull, letdown in game three that Big 12 opponents aren't going to let us have."
After rolling over Houston in the first two contests, K-State didn't take the lead in the third game until the 19-18 score.
But, like Fritz said, it was like a switch went off and the Cats began to play better.
"I feel like, all of a sudden our team goes, 'oh, now we need to get going,'" Fritz said. "The problem is that I want that sense of urgency from the beginning of games to end of games. But I do like, and they proved that to me this weekend, that they're playing very well late in matches, which is something we were asking of this team a year ago, but we couldn't hold it together."
K-State tallied 48 kills and just 15 errors on the night, hitting .311 percentage, while the Cougars posted 35 kills for a .170 hitting percentage.
Individually, junior Rita Liliom, who had 11 kills and three block assists, led the Cats. Junior transfer Nataly Korobkova, Jenny Jantsch and Chipman had eight kills apiece.
Angie Lastra again led the Wildcats defensively with 18 digs.
But it was the in the serving game where KSU really shined, the key to the sweep, according to Fritz.
"I thought we were a more aggressive serving team," said Fritz of K-State's 12 service aces on the night. "We won the serve and pass battle and handled details a little bit better than they did."
Lastra, Jantsch, and Stacey Spiegelberg had three aces apiece.
The Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic starts Friday with KSU's first round match against host No. 16 Hawaii. The Wildcats will also face Louisville and No. 5 UCLA during the weekend before returning home for their invitational that starts Sept. 7.
