Even though Halloween was the night before, Kansas State still had a few tricks for Kansas on Saturday night, providing the Jayhawks with few treats.

Kansas fell in four sets against the Wildcats 3-1. K-State compiled seven service aces, with four of its players scoring at least one ace.

“We faced a very aggressive serving team that really kept us off balance offensively,” coach Ray Bechard said.

With the K-State serve, Kansas was inconsistent at best for most of the match on the offensive side of the net. For sets one and three, Kansas hit .217 and .324 but then followed those solid sets up with a couple of lousy ones in sets two and four, hitting .074 and an even worse negative .094 percent.

It’s the second-straight match that Kansas has had a set with a negative hitting percentage. K-State’s serves, along with the match’s taking place in Manhattan, left Kansas helpless.

“They (K-State) were a little bit more comfortable,” Bechard said. “I thought they played as well as I’ve seen them in a while.”

Except for digs, K-State outdid Kansas in every category, including hitting percentage, errors, kills, blocks and, of course, the service aces.

The Wildcats had double-digit kills in every one of their sets, while the Jayhawks only achieved that for set three, the only match they won.

“The response has got to be better,” Bechard said of the poor showing in set four. “The inconsistent play has got to become more of the minimum.”

Senior middle blocker Natalie Uhart said she was disappointed by her team’s play in the fourth set.

“After the third set, we were satisfied with that,” Uhart said. “The whole mentality changed in the fourth set.”

Uhart was unable to name the root of the fourth-set frustrations. Kansas has a young team with plenty of sophomore hitters and a freshman at setter. Though inexperience could be a part of the problem, Uhart did not want that to be the scapegoat.

Bechard said he understood that it would have been difficult for any team to roll into Manhattan and win with the sloppy play his team displayed at times. The Wildcats were ranked 16th nationally before the match started and displayed their talents early and often.

“They’re playing very well, and it would take a very good effort from the team on the other side of the net,” Bechard said.

Kansas could not sustain the level of play long enough to extend the match longer. But Bechard said the season wasn’t lost in his players’ minds.

“If they just stay on task, we think there is still a lot of opportunity for good things to happen,” he said.

— — Edited by Adam Mowder