MANHATTAN, Kan. (KStateSports.com) – Senior Aliyah Carter turned in 15 kills Thursday night, but TCU picked up the three-set win (25-20, 25-16, 25-23) in the Big 12 opener at Morgan Family Arena.
A native of Dubuque, Iowa, Carter recorded her 67th match with 10 or more kills, as the only Wildcat to break double figures as K-State (6-4, 0-1 Big 12) hit .115 with nine service errors.
Aniya Clinton and Sydney Bolding each picked up seven kills for the Wildcats while Shaylee Myers had five. Izzi Szulczewski and Loren Hinkle each dished out 17 assists to pace the 6-2 offense.
With seven digs on the night, Hinkle moves closer to joining the programs double-grand club as she totals 923 digs and 1,166 assists in her career at K-State.
On defense, senior libero Mackenzie Morris was the only player to turn in double figure digs with 14 while Bolding had three blocks.
Melanie Parra, the AVCA/GameChanger National Player of the Week, tallied 14 kills with five digs. TCU (8-4, 1-0 Big 12) produced a .223 attack efficiency, pushing their win streak out to six.
Middle blocker Brianna Green recorded her second three-set match with 10 or more blocks. Green now has four of the league’s seven double figure block performances this year.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
Head Coach Jason Mansfield
Overall Statement…
“We weren’t as consistent from the service line as we need to be. Their 14 blocks in three sets are not going to get the job done. We have to clean up our attacking and serving, but I thought we had chances in the first and third sets. So, I’m proud of how we came out after the five-minute break and competed with them throughout the whole third set.”
On facing the National Player of the Week…
“I thought we did a good job of slowing [Melanie Parra] down, even though she had a lot of kills. We had a good game plan against her, and she just got hot at the end. It’s tough, though, because she has a lot of shots and so you can’t really take anything away from her because she has the ability to do something else. Slowing her down requires a team effort; you’re not going to stop her. I think the block did a great job of slowing her progress. She tried to avoid the block, which she’s very good at, but when she did tonight, she made some errors. So, the block did a good job of making it difficult for her.”
On going into the third set…
“I told the team that everyone is waiting for us to play well. Everyone. That’s what I told them, and they agreed. They took action, which I’m proud of. We’re on the cusp of becoming the team we want to be, and we just need to keep moving in that direction and making the plays we’re capable of making. That was the message, and they executed it well.”
SET-BY-SET
Set One – TCU 25, K-State 20
K-State collected a 6-3 opening run led by kills from Aliyah Carter and Shaylee Myers to give the Wildcats their first lead of the set.
After back-and-forth action, the Wildcats broke away with a three-point lead, 12-9, until the Horned Frogs put together a 6-1 run to take control of the set.
Carter produced a set-high five kills to lead the Wildcats 6-2 offense that hit .054 in the first. The Horned Frogs were led by Brianna Green and Melanie Parra with three kills each while Green had played a part in four of TCU’s six blocks.
Set Two – TCU 25, K-State 16
TCU tallied seven blocks in the second set with six coming from Green as the Horned Frogs defense held the Wildcats to a .000 attack percentage. Carter recorded five kills (.154) followed by Clinton with three.
Set Three – TCU 25, K-State 23
The Wildcats put together three consecutive points to take the lead, 7-4, behind serves from Liz Gregorski. TCU tied the set 10-10, but K-State rallied to keep the match within one as the two schools exchanged 16 points.
After 12 tie scores, back-to-back kills for TCU forced a timeout from the Wildcats sideline leading to the Horned Frogs 4-1 run to earn the win.
K-State hit .345 behind 13 kills with just three errors in the third set with five from Carter while Dalia Wilson led the set with a pair of block.
INSIDE THE BOX
TCU picked up the Big 12 opener in straight sets, 25-20, 25-16, 25-23
Cats hit .115 (36 kills, 24 errors)
Carter turned in 15 kills with six digs and a block
The Horned Frogs had 14 blocks with 10 by Green
Clinton and Bolding each had seven kills followed by Myers with 5
Szulczewski and Hinkle combined for 34 of the Cats 36 assists with 17 each
Bolding led with three blocks
Morris turned in a match-high 14 digs
K-State had nine service errors, its highest of the season, with an ace by Liz Gregorski
K-State is hitting .129 at home, averaging 11.67 kills per set
BEYOND THE BOX
The Wildcats move to 2-3 to start the home schedule, 6-4 overall
K-State dropped its Big 12 opener for the first time since 2021
Wildcats lead the all-time series 13-10 against the Horned Frogs
The Cats are 5-3 in three-set matches this season
WHAT’S NEXT
The second matchup between the Wildcats and Horned Frogs is scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. inside Morgan Family Arena. Friday’s match can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
