Cats Looking to Catch Themselves

After jumping out to an impressive 2-0 start to begin the Big 12 portion of their schedule, Suzie Fritz and her Wildcats hit a sudden bump in the road over the last seven days.

In the process, the squad dropped two matches in a row, first stumbling to a young Colorado team in Boulder, and then falling to Missouri in its first home loss of the season last Saturday.

Now, in what seems to be a perfect pause in the Big 12 scheduling, the Wildcats have a chance to catch themselves before continuing conference play resumes this weekend. That opportunity comes tonight with a nonconference matchup at Ahearn Field House with the UMKC Kangaroos at 7.

"We need to get our feet back under us," Fritz said after practice on Monday. "We need another opportunity to have success, and one presents us sooner rather than later."

The Wildcats (7-7, 2-2 Big 12) are coming off of an inconsistent and frustrating performance against the Tigers over the weekend. After splitting the first two sets with Mizzou, K-State hit a wall in the third set and never recovered.

Meanwhile Missouri hit an incredible .452 against the Wildcats in the third set, and stormed out of Ahearn with the match, leaving the Wildcats to wonder just what happened during the final two games.

"I think what has been a little bit frustrating is that we have felt with each and every match it has been something different that has kept us out of it," Fritz said. "We have just got to stay the course and keep working on the things that we know we have to improve on."

But they have little time — one day to be exact — to recover and prepare for the Kangaroos (5-10) who come into the match fresh off of a victory over Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne — their fifth win of the season. The Wildcats handled UMKC early last season with a four-set victory to open the 2009 campaign. UMKC is just 1-6 on the road this season.

For Fritz and the Wildcats, it will be a needed match in terms of gaining valuable in-game experience before traveling to College Station, Texas for yet another Big 12 road test this weekend.

"I think we need the confidence right now," Fritz said. "We need to play well, one, and we need to win, two."
In order to do so, the Wildcats will need to string together a consistent match, something this team has struggled with throughout the season.

"I think we are just worried about our side right now," senior libero Lauren Mathewson said. "We are still trying to figure things out on our side of the net."

As they have done all year, they will look to their consistent offensive performers in senior outside hither JuliAnne Chisholm, who leads the team with 3.62 kills per set, and freshman middle blocker Kaitlynn Pelger, who is just behind Chisholm in the offensive production.

Defensively, Mathewson, who has posted five 20-dig matches this season, anchors the Wildcats.
Fritz said with the minimal preparation time, the Wildcats spent the bulk of practice Monday focusing on improving the team's consistency throughout an entire match.

"I think the key for us is to just have that kind of sustained effort," Fritz said.

Photo - Rob Mikinski The Manhattan Mercury