Huskers 411

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas State volleyball team is headed back to the NCAA Tournament as the Wildcats received an at-large bid to the 2011 tournament after a two-year hiatus. The Wildcats will travel to Lincoln, Neb., and take on Wichita State in the first round as K-State and the Shockers are set to take the court at 4:30 p.m. Thursday from NU Coliseum in the first postseason matchup between the two teams.

This is the 13th NCAA Tournament appearance for the Wildcats and eighth in the 11 years head coach Suzie Fritz has led the program. K-State is 12-12 all-time in the tournament with the deepest run by the Wildcats coming in 2003 and 2000 when the team reached the Regional Semifinals. Fritz is 7-7 in her seven tournament appearances and has advanced out of the first round each year but 2008 against Santa Clara.

Wichita State is entering its sixth NCAA?Tournament and fifth straight. The Shockers are 4-5 in the NCAA?Tournament and advanced to the second round in 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets through the K-State Ticket Office from the allotment given to the department. Tickets can be purchased online at kstatesports.com/tickets or by calling 1-800-221-CATS. Fans may also go through the Nebraska Ticket Office by calling 800-8-BIGRED. All-session tickets are available for $34 in reserved seating or $30 for general admission and include all three matches at the site.

Other teams in K-State’s Lincoln subregional are host Nebraska (24-4) as the Huskers are the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament. Nebraska will take on Jackson State (30-9) from the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The Tigers won their first SWAC title this season. Nebraska and Jackson State will face at 7:30 p.m. Thursday with the winner of both matches playing Friday. Of the two potential opponents, K-State has never faced Jackson State and is 3-80 against Nebraska.

Thursday’s match will be broadcast on 1350 KMAN with Rob Voelker calling the action. The match will also be available on the station’s website and free online at kstatesports.com. Pregame starts at 4 p.m.

Live stats provided by NeuLion may be found on huskers.com. Free live audio of KMAN’s call will also be available at kstatesports.com.

K-State vs. Wichita State:?The Wildcats lead the all-time series 37-15 and have won the last eight matches against the Shockers. The two teams have not met since 2007 when K-State won 3-1 in Wichita.

K-State vs. Jackson State:?The Wildcats and Tigers have never met.

K-State vs. Nebraska:?The Huskers lead the series 80-3. The Wildcats have not defeated the Huskers since winning both matches in 2003.

Kansas State:?Suzie Fritz (Florida Atlantic ’94) is in her 11th year as head coach and recently reached the 200-win milestone. The 3-2 win at Missouri State earlier in the season was her 200th. She is the winningest coach in K-State history and her career record of 215-126 gives her a winning percentage of .630.

Wichita State:?Chris Lamb (Sonoma State ‘98) is in his 12th year with the Shockers. He has taken the team to the NCAA?Tournament six times. This is the team’s fifth straight postseason appearance.

Jackson State:?Rose Washington (Jackson State ‘77) is in her 10th season leading her alma mater where this season she took the Tigers to their first SWAC?title and NCAA?Tournament appearance this season.

Nebraska:?John Cook (San Diego ‘79) is in his 12th year with the Huskers and he has kept the program among the top in the nation winning two NCAA?titles and reaching five NCAA?semifinals.

Scouting the Shockers

The Shockers are making their sixth NCAA?Tournament appearance and fifth straight. Wichita State is 21-10 on the year and fell in the championship match at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship.

Wichita State has a number of quality wins this season defeating then-No. 14 Colorado State on the Rams’ home floor in four sets. The Shockers also bested No. 22 Oklahoma in five sets in Wichita in a match that saw four of the sets decided by the minimum of two points. Two of the sets also went to extra points.

The Shockers have two hitters posting more than 3.00 kills a set led by Emily Adney at 3.49. The junior is hitting .268 on the year and contributes 1.57 digs a set. Camri Zwiesler is putting down 3.10 kills a set on a .219 hitting clip and plays a much bigger role on defense as she is second on the team in digs at 3.35 per set.

Wichita State is a strong defensive team posting 16.21 digs a set and limiting opponents to a hitting percentage of just .174 while hitting .262. Libero Sarah Waldorf has strong numbers for the Shockers posting 5.05 digs a set. She ranks 44th in the latest NCAA?statistical standings.

The Huskers are making their 30th NCAA?Tournament appearance. Nebraska is 82-26 all-time in the tournament and ranks second in both wins and winning percentage in the postseason.

Nebraska is again among the top teams in the nation this season as the Huskers are the No. 2 seed in the tournament. The Huskers are led by outside hitter Gina Mancuso with 3.54 kills per set. She is hitting .278 on the year, leads the team in aces and plays a major role defensively with 2.67 digs per set.

Mancuso is joined by right side hitter Morgan Broekhuis as a major offensive threat as the sophomore is averaging 3.06 kills. The Huskers have multiple weapons with All-American Hannah Werth averaging 2.83 kills and 3.07 digs. As a team Nebraska is averaging 13.46 kills and hitting an impressive .262, which ranks 16th in the nation this season.

Setter Lauren Cook makes the Huskers go on offense as she directs the team with 10.94 assists per set. She also adds 2.76 digs to help shore up the defense. Nebraska is allowing opponents to hit only .143 this season thanks to 14.94 digs per set and 2.65 blocks.

Jackson State is making its first NCAA?Tournament appearance after the Tigers claimed their first-ever Soutwestern Athletic Conference title. The Tigers are 30-9 on the season and went undefeated in conference play.

The Tigers are led by Christine Edwards as she pounded out 4.21 kills per set on a .286 hitting percentage to lead the team in both categories and be named SWAC?Newcomer of the Year. Edwards also leads the team in aces with 51 on the year. Daedra Carline was this year’s SWAC?Defensive Player of the Year as she averages 3.33 digs per set.

Jackson State had four players named to the All-SWAC?First Team with middle blocker Paige Williams and setter LaToya Clark joining Edwards and Carline. Williams averages 1.26 blocks a set, and Clark posts 10.04 assists.

Catching Up with the ‘Cats

With a record of 20-10 overall the Wildcats are returning to the NCAA?Tournament for the first time since 2008. The Wildcats have eight wins over teams with an RPI in the top 50 in the nation, including three on the road. Those victories help put K-State at No. 26 in the latest RPI standings and into the tournament.

The Wildcats are one of seven Big 12 Conference teams selected for the NCAA?Tournament tying the conference for second most. Only the Big Ten has more teams (8), and the Pac-12 also has seven. With only nine teams playing volleyball in the Big 12, the league does have the highest percentage of inclusion in the NCAA?Tournament at 77.8 percent.

K-State is making its 13th tournament appearance where the Wildcats are 12-12 all-time. Head Coach Suzie Fritz is 7-7 in her seven appearances. This makes it eight NCAA?Tournaments for her in her 11 years leading the program. The Wildcats have advanced to at least the second round of the tournament every year but one under Fritz, with the lone first round loss coming in 2008.

Pelger, Porubek Named All-Big 12

After finishing fourth in the Big 12 Conference this season and being selected to their 13th NCAA Tournament, the Kansas State Wildcats had a pair of volleyball players recognized by the league’s coaches as members of the All-Big 12 Conference Team. Sophomores Kaitlynn Pelger and Lilla Porubek were voted to the team by the coaches with Pelger receiving first team status and Porubek being named honorable mention.

Pelger led the Wildcats throughout the season as she currently stands at 453 kills and ranks third in the conference in kills per set with an average of 4.12. She was first in the conference through much of the season and was one of the league’s top all-around players as she also ranks in the top 10 in aces, blocks and points. Pelger’s 453 kills are just 15 shy of cracking the top 10 list for a single season at K-State, and she will have an opportunity to make that move up the list during the NCAA Tournament. Last season, she was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team after posting the first triple-triple season by a freshman in school history. She accomplished the feat again this year as she has 297 digs and 112 blocks to go with her kills. Pelger also has 12 double-doubles on the season.

Porubek receives her first honorable mention award as she ranks seventh in the Big 12 in kills per set with 3.39. She closed the season strong with a career-high 26 kills against Kansas on Wednesday while also hitting .305 for the match. Porubek stepped up for the Wildcats while Pelger was limited with an injury for a few matches, and helped carry the team to victories over Texas A&M and No. 23 Oklahoma. She had her first career double-double in the win over Oklahoma when she played all six rotations for the first time and tallied 14 digs to go with 23 kills.

This marks the 15th time a Wildcat has been named All-Big 12 First Team under head coach Suzie Fritz and 23rd overall. Porubek is the 14th honorable mention in the Big 12 era and 10th with Fritz at the helm.

Six Wildcats Make Grade

The Kansas State Wildcats has six volleyball players recognized for their hard work in the classroom as the Big 12 Conference announced its annual Academic All-Big 12 Volleyball Team. Five of the recipients were named to the first team, and three received the honor for the first time.

The five Wildcats named to the first team were junior setter Caitlyn Donahue, junior opposite Kathleen Ludwig, junior middle blocker Alex Muff and sophomore outside hitters Lilla Porubek and Courtney Traxson. Sophomore outside hitter Dakota Kaufman was named to the second team.

Donahue and Muff each were named to the first team last year as well, and Ludwig receives her second honor after being named to the second team in 2010. Porubek, Traxson and Kaufman all receive the honor in their first year of eligibility for the Academic All-Big 12.

Three of the Wildcats are majoring in education with Ludwig and Kaufman studying elementary education. Donahue is majoring in secondary education. Muff is majoring in marketing, and Porubek is studying economics. Traxson is an open option student, but will begin her major in communication and science disorders this spring.

A total of 61 volleyball student-athletes made the team this year for the most in conference history. The mark surpasses the previous high of 59 student-athletes in the league’s inaugural season. The league also had 51 of those student-athletes make the first team. K-State has now had 87 Academic All-Big 12 selections under Head Coach Suzie Fritz in her 11 years.

Sophomore middle blocker Kaitlynn Pelger continues to lead the team in kills this season and has had another solid year. Her total of 453 kills entering the NCAA?Tournament is just 15 kills of cracking the top 10 in school history for a single season. She also needs just three digs to post the 13th double-300 season in school history with 300 or more kills and digs, something never done by a middle blocker at K-State before.

Pelger is one of a very few middle blockers playing all six rotations in the nation and has played a major role defensively for the Wildcats as she ranks third on the team in digs with 2.70 per set. She has posted 12 double-doubles this season with 11 of them as kills-digs. One of her double-doubles came with kills and blocks in a 3-2 win at Missouri State.

Kaitlynn?Pelger is third in the Big 12 Conference in kills as she is averaging 4.12 kills per set. The sophomore middle blocker has posted 10 matches with 20 or more kills, including 32 against Drake and most recently 20 against at Baylor. Her 32 kills against Drake marked the first time since Valli Hejjas in 2004 a Wildcat has posted 30 or more kills. She also was the first middle blocker in school history to crack the 30-kill mark.

Pelger is one of the top players in the nation this season as she ranks in the top 100 in two of seven categories and is just outside the mark in two others. She ranks 39th in kills per set and 16th in points (5.03) through last week’s matches.

Pelger has put her name in the record books a few times this season beginning with the Georgia Tech Courtyard Classic against Tennessee Tech. Pelger posted a strong hitting percentage of .800. That percentage ranks fourth in school history for a three-set match. Against the Golden Eagles, she pounded out 13 kills on 15 swings with one error. Her 32 kills against Drake rank fifth in school history for a five-set match, and her six solo blocks against Missouri State tie for second in a five-set match as well.

Sophomore outside hitter Lilla Porubek has stepped up her play over the closing weeks of the season to increase her kill production and become a go-to player down the stretch. Porubek posted a career-high 26 kills in the final match of the regular season in a 3-1 win over Kansas. She was efficient in the victory as she .305 to lead the team in that category as well. The 26 kills surpassed her previous best of 23 kills in the win over No. 25 Oklahoma. In that match she also tallied her first career double-double with 14 digs. It was her first match playing all six rotations as a Wildcat and she helped carry the team to the victory. Against Texas A&M, Porubek also came up big with 18 kills to shoulder the burden after Kaitlynn Pelger left the match on the first play. Porubek is now averaging 3.39 kills per set on the year. Porubek also ranks sixth in the Big 12 in conference play with 3.60 kills per set.

<a href="http://www.wibw.com/sports/headlines/Wildcats_Face_Shockers_In_Return_To_NCAA_Tournament_134702268.html?ref=268tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.wibw.com/sports/headlines/Wildcats_Face_Shockers_In_Return_To_NCAA_Tournament_134702268.html?ref=268Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:20:11 GMT">Wildcats Face Shockers In Return To NCAA Tournament

By Brian Smith
FOXSportsSouthwest.com

With conference play in full swing, attention can now be turned away from random weekday out-of-conference tilts and tournaments in tropical destinations to the day all college sports were made for: Saturday. There may not be a bigger Saturday all season in the Big 12 because of the game that will take place in Lawrence.

Game of the Week: #10 Texas (15-3, 3-0) at #2 Kansas (18-0, 3-0)

Last year, a trip to the Sunflower State was the onset of the avalanche for Rick Barnes Texas team. The Longhorns entered Manhattan with a perfect record and a number one ranking nationally. They left bruised, battered and defeated at the hand of Frank Martins Kansas State squad. UT never really recovered its first blemish. Beginning with the loss in Bramlage Coliseum, the Horns dropped 10 of their final 17 contests. Sandwiched in the middle of those losses was an 80-68 decision at home against Kansas. Although the score looked relatively close, the Jayhawks showed what the top-ranked team in the country was supposed to look like by going on an early run and holding off the Horns for the remainder of the game.

Fast forward one year and the Jayhawks still have a chokehold over the conference, but this years Texas team has a different feel to it. These Longhorns have fight in them. They not only want to win; they need to win. Theyre just plain tough. From the beginning of the season, this relatively young group gelled quickly and nearly won the Coaches vs. Cancer classic. Outside of a bewildering 20-point loss to USC, Texas has remained consistent and perhaps most importantly not played down to its level of competition. Losses to two of the Big Easts best by a combined three points are no cause for shame. Hop on board, Texas fans: this boat is real.

That said, on Saturday the Horns will head into the toughest place in America to win. The Jayhawks have won 69 consecutive games at Allen Fieldhouse. Their last loss: Feb. 3, 2007, when Acie Law and Texas A&M pulled out a 69-66 win.

The news only gets worse: the Morris twins are back, and theyre better than ever. While Marcus has kept up his ridiculously high shooting percentage, Markieff has come into his own as a rebounder. He leads the conference in that category with nearly nine boards per game. The Jayhawks are a true center short of a truly complete team, but the Morrises combine to form a sort of pseudo-five man with nearly unlimited range and tremendous rebounding ability. UT freshman forward Tristan Thompson would have his hands full with just one of Marcus or Markieff. The combination of both may simply overwhelm him.

On the other end, Texas has a weapon that nobody not even Bill Selfs defense, which ranks second nationally in efficiency can truly stop. Like Connecticuts Kemba Walker or BYUs Jimmer Fredette, Horns guard Jordan Hamilton can only be contained, and even then it doesnt happen very often. The difference between Hamilton and those other two guards: height. Hamilton holds the edge in that category by a wide margin, standing at 6-feet, 7-inches. While Hamilton has a very accurate set shot, he seems to find the bottom of the bucket more often when he shoots off the dribble. He can be a shaky ball-handler, though, so Kansas will have to pressure Hamilton by throwing every known defense at him.

The defensive chess match between Barnes and Self and who will step up should the Morrises or Hamilton be contained will be what ultimately determines this game. Jayhawk fans know they can bank on their team winning 30 games every year. Last season made Longhorn fans wary of expecting anything in the seasons second half. But a win in Allen Fieldhouse could make this team turn a complete 180 from what it did in 2010.

Crucial Contest: Kansas State (13-6, 1-3) at (#11 Texas A&M (16-2, 3-1)

While one interstate battle between Texas and Kansas will be played up north, another one takes place down south. Frank Martins roster has been a fluid concept ever since the beginning of the season, when the Kansas State head coach benched star forward Curtis Kelly for the opening three games of the year due to behavior problems. Then in December, Kelly and guard Jacob Pullen were suspended for receiving improper benefits stemming from discounts at a department store. On Saturday, center Freddy Asprilla left the team to pursue professional opportunities in his native Colombia. The volatility regarding the roster derailed KSUs season before it even began.

Fans in Manhattan had high hopes, with their team receiving the nod as preseason favorite to win the Big 12. The Wildcats top-five preseason ranking didnt help them much against powerhouse Duke, which crushed them in their own backyard in Kansas City. While K-States defense has remained consistent, the offense looks downright anemic and the free throw shooting is still abysmal. With another conference loss during the week this time to North rival Missouri its safe to say that this is the biggest game of Kansas States season. A loss drops the Wildcats to 1-4 in Big 12 play, which makes their case for an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament almost laughable. Thankfully, KSU stuck with a tough non-conference schedule and picked up a few quality wins. However, with a loss in College Station, K-State will need to win seven of its final 11 contests just to break even in conference play. Remember: the Cats still have to play Kansas twice, and Texas and Missouri once apiece. A sweep in every other game seems unlikely at this point. The Wildcats could be headed from the penthouse to the outhouse in faster time than any top-five preseason team in recent memory.

Meanwhile, the Aggies must pick themselves up and dust themselves off following a blowout loss in Austin. Before Wednesdays 81-60 meeting, Texas A&M had not lost a game since Thanksgiving Day. Questions lingered about A&Ms ability to match up with the big boys in conference, and as good as they looked against Oklahoma State, the Aggies looked that bad against Texas. The good news for the Ags is they get to play Kansas State in the friendly confines of Reed Arena. They also matchup very well with a KSU team that fouls on nearly half of its trips down to the defensive end of the floor. Texas A&M has a gritty squad of team players who frequent the free throw line at a very high rate. It may not be out of the question to see four or five different K-State players foul out of this game. The Wildcats must figure out how to move their feet and avoid reaching, or their bubble could be bursting in very short order.

Other conference clashes:

Iowa State (14-5, 1-3) at Missouri (16-3, 2-2)

<a href="http://www.foxsportssouthwest.com/pages/landing?Big-12-Weekend-Preview-Game-of-the-Year-=1&blockID=395604&feedID=tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.foxsportssouthwest.com/pages/landing?Big-12-Weekend-Preview-Game-of-the-Year-=1">Big 12 Weekend Preview: Game of the Year in Lawrence