Sept. 8, 2001

Stats

Manhattan, Kan. - The 22nd-ranked Kansas State women's volleyball team captured its second consecutive Wildcat Classic title at Ahearn Field House on Saturday, as the Wildcats earned a pair of victories over Houston and Washington State to conclude the tournament with a perfect 3-0 record. Earlier in the day, K-State rebounded from a slow start to defeat Houston, 23-30, 30-24, 30-20, 30-24, while in the evening session, the Wildcats looked dominate from start to finish in easing past Washington State, 30-27, 30-15, 30-21.

Washington State (5-2) was the tournament runner-up with a 2-1 record, as the Cougars defeated Arkansas Saturday morning in straight games, 30-15, 30-21, 30-18, before losing in three to the Wildcats. Houston (3-4) finished in third place with a 1-2 mark after winning a thrilling five-game marathon with Arkansas, 33-31, 20-30, 30-25, 25-30, 15-10. The Lady Razorbacks (1-5) went 0-3 in the tournament.

Senior co-captain Liz Wegner was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player for the second consecutive year, as she averaged 5.82 kills per game on .276 hitting with 2.73 digs per game and 0.73 blocks per game. Junior outside hitter Jenny Pollard and sophomore middle blocker Lauren Goehring were also named to the all-tournament team for Kansas State, along with Washington State's LaToya Harris and Holly Harris, Arkansas' Eftila Tanellari and Houston's Jennifer Wittenburg.

"We're playing pretty well right now," said head coach Suzie Fritz. "We were playing pretty good last weekend. The difference is we were playing the No. 5 and No. 7 teams in the country last week rather than say the No. 26 (Washington State) and No. 30 (Arkansas) this week. We liked the way the wins and losses turned out this weekend. Again, it was another team effort. I thought Laura (Downey) had her best match so far this season. She really got the offense going against Washington State. There not much you can say about Liz Wegner. She just continues to get better and better. Lisa (Mimick) and Jenny (Pollard) also continue to play well for us."

In the win over Washington State, Kansas State held the Cougars to just a .013 hitting percentage in a 3-0 sweep. Wegner led the Wildcats for the sixth straight match with 16 kills on .394 hitting with eight digs, while Mimick added a double-double with 13 kills on .306 hitting and 15 digs. Pollard and sophomore Laura Downey each led the team with 16 digs apiece, while Downey added 39 assists. Washington State's Adrian Hankoff was the lone Cougar player in double-digit kills, as she totaled a double-double with 11 kills and 14 digs.

In the win over Houston, Kansas State dropped the first game, 30-23, but then turned in on game two to win the match, 3-1. Wegner posted her second straight 20-kill match with 22 kills in the victory, while adding nine digs and five blocks. Goehring tallied a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs, while Pollard and senior Jayne Christen posted 10 kills apiece. Christen also had a team-high seven blocks.

Kansas State begins the conference portion of its season on Wednesday, Sept. 12, as the Wildcats take on top-ranked Nebraska at Ahearn Field House beginning at 7 p.m. K-State was one of just four teams last season to take the eventual unbeaten national champions to five games, as the Wildcats fell in a dramatic match on Nov. 25.