Jayhawks face Wildcats tonight
The KU women will travel to Manhattan
K-State won the first match 3-0 earlier in the season in Lawrence.
By Rustin Dodd (Contact)
Wednesday, November 14th, 2007
Another match, another ranked opponent for the Kansas volleyball team. Kansas (12-15, 5-12 Big 12 Conference) travels to Manhattan, Kan., tonight to play No. 12 Kansas State (20-7, 12-5 Big 12). The Wildcats will be the Jayhawks’ seventh match against a ranked opponent this season, and its third against a ranked team in its last four matches.
“Our last three matches we played Texas, who arguably might be the best team in America right now, we played Oklahoma, who’s a top 20 team, and a road match at Colorado.”
Kansas vs. Kansas State 7 p.m.
Manhattan, Kansas
Players to watch
Kansas
Natalie Uhart, junior middle blocker.
Uhart missed 10 matches earlier this season, but the Lansing junior has returned and become Kansas’ most consistent attacker. Uhart leads Kansas with a .278 hitting percentage.
Kansas State
Angie Lastra, senior libero.
Lastra leads the Big 12 with 5.21 digs per game. The Puerto Rican native is one of the main reasons K-State sits a No. 12 in the country and third in the Big 12 conference.
Academic success
The Big 12 announced its 2007 Big 12 Academic All-Big 12 volleyball team on Tuesday and six Jayhawk volleyball players were named to the team. Seniors Emily Brown and Caitlin Mahoney, juniors Savannah Noyes and Natalie Uhart, and sophomores Melissa Grieb and Katie Martincich were among the 53 Big 12 volleyball players selected.
Senior Day on deck
Kansas’ Nov. 17 match with Iowa State was switched from 7 p.m. to 11 a.m. The game is Kansas’ last home match of the season and seniors Emily Brown and Caitlin Mahoney will be honored in a post-game ceremony.
Sister, sister
For Kansas freshman Melissa Townsend, the Sunflower showdown is also a battle for family bragging rights. Townsend’s older sister, Leslie, is a junior defensive specialist for Kansas State.
Kansas lost to No. 3 Texas, but picked up victories against No. 18 Oklahoma and Colorado. The Oklahoma victory was Kansas’ first against a ranked opponent since a 3-0 victory against No. 16 BYU on Sept. 7, 2005.
“It’s not like this team has given up,” Bechard said. “We’ve seen a lot of teams like K-State. Obviously, the physical nature of the league prepares you for that. So it won’t be something we haven’t seen, but it’ll be a difficult test.”
Kansas fell to Kansas State 3-0 (30-20, 30-21, 30-25) when the teams met earlier this season at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. Kansas State leads the all-time series 54-34.
“There’s a lot of interest locally because there are so many local kids on both teams,” Bechard said. “There’s lots of Kansas kids on both sides of the net. We’re playing pretty well really. K-State has really had a great season. It’ll be a great challenge for us.”
— Edited by Rachael Gray
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