Wildcats Off to Best Start in Fritz Era - Kansas State Official Athletic Site

Wildcats Off to Best Start in Fritz Era

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. Kansas State completed play at the C&C Services Arkansas Invitational on Friday with its second straight five-game match in Barnhill Arena. The Wildcats were pushed to the brink by host Arkansas, but won its fifth straight, 3-2 (22-30, 30-27, 26-30, 30-28, 15-13).

Game one opened with Kansas State (5-0, 0-0 Big 12) trailing by as much as eight, 13-5, but came charging back with a five-point rally on the backs of senior Agata Rezende and junior Sandy Werner. The pair registered kills during the run, which forced a Lady Razorback timeout. The Wildcats were able to cut the deficit to two, 15-13, on a Joy Hamlin and Stacey Spiegelberg tandem block. Arkansas (4-1, 0-0 SEC) answered with a four-point run to push their lead to 19-13, in which the Lady Razorbacks would not surrender.

In the opening frame, K-State hit just .216 compared to Arkansas’ .500. It was the highest opponent single-game hitting percentage allowed by the Wildcats this season. The Lady Razorbacks were able to neutralize the Wildcat attack with four total team blocks to just two by the Wildcats.

K-State opened game two with three kills by Hamlin for a 3-1 edge. Kansas State was able to fend off a four-point rally by the Lady Razorbacks for a 15-14 edge midway through the second game. Arkansas was able to take the lead at 18-15, but back-to-back kills by Werner and a Hamlin and Spiegelberg tandem block put the Wildcats up 21-19, an advantage K-State would not relinquish despite a strong Lady Razorback effort.

Leading K-State in game two was Hamlin with five kills, followed by four apiece from Rezende and Werner. The Wildcats were able to outhit the Lady Razorbacks with a percentage of .357 to .341.

After starting the third stanza down 5-0, K-State was able to battle back and take a 9-8 lead on behalf of consecutive kills by sophomore Rita Lilliom. This would propel the Wildcats into the lead until a tie at 23. Over this period there were 13 ties and one lead change, in favor of Arkansas. The Lady Razorbacks pushed to a 26-23 advantage, which they would not relinquish in the game.

For game three, K-State was led by Lilliom with five kills and Rezende with four. The Lady Razorbacks had a hitting percentage of .370, while the Wildcats tallied a .149.

The fourth game opened with six ties and two lead changes, Arkansas held a 20-16 advantage after three straight points. K-State stopped the run and started a four-point rally of its own, culminating with a Rezende kill and Arkansas timeout. The Wildcats forced another Lady Razorback timeout after taking the lead at 24-23. K-State was able to hang on for the game after a service error by the Razorbacks.

In game four, the Wildcats were led by Hamlin with seven kills and one block assist and Rezende with five kills. Spiegelberg recorded 16 assists in the game. The Wildcats hit .245, while Arkansas registered a .286.

A Lilliom service ace in game five pushed the K-State lead to 6-3 and forced the Lady Razorbacks into a timeout. Arkansas tied the fifth frame at seven and eight before Hamlin recorded a kill and a block assist to force Arkansas into a timeout. After the timeout, Arkansas recorded two straight points to tie the match, but Hamlin answered with another kill and an 11-10 Wildcat lead.

Rezende and Hamlin led K-State with 20 kills apiece. It is a new career-high for Hamlin and is the second straight effort of 20 or more by Rezende. Spiegelberg tallied her second career double-double with a career-high 67 assists and 10 digs, which is the first time a Wildcat has surpassed 65 or more assists since Gabby Guerre had 71 at Baylor on Nov. 13, 2004.

Lilliom and junior Jamie Perkins led four Wildcats in double figures for digs with 13, followed by sophomore Angie Lastra with 11 and Spiegelberg at 10.

The 5-0 mark by the Wildcats is the best start in head coach Suzie Fritz’s five-year tenure at Kansas State. The Wildcats previous best start was 4-1 during the 2002 season.

The Wildcats will open its home season at Ahearn Field House on Tuesday, September 6. K-State hosts Creighton at 7 p.m.