Four matches in four days can pose quite a challenge to many teams.
For the young Wildcat volleyball team, it could have easily been looked at as a brutal stretch looming early in the season, especially after a long trip to Hawaii just one week ago.
But it can also be looked at as an opportunity, a time for growth, and of course a chance to pick up some early wins. Well, for this Wildcat team, they took the optimistic approach.
It paid off. This weekend the Wildcats cruised through the Varney's Kansas State Invitational tournament, picking up three consecutive sweeps, and moving to 4-3 on the season. The tournament sweep came after picking up a mid-week victory over South Dakota on Wednesday.
The four-day grind ended yesterday with a 3-0 sweep of Georgia Tech by scores of 25-23, 25-18 and 25-23.
"I thought we got better and better through that [four match] stretch," head coach Suzie Fritz said after yesterday's win over Georgia Tech. "We are still seeing in one match maybe one area being good, and the next match we are maybe seeing another area be good, and the key is for us to put those things together."
With the sweep over Georgia Tech, the Wildcats completed an impressive feat, sweeping all three opponents during the weekend tournament.
"We're feeling really good about it," sophomore Kathleen Ludwig said. "We just wanted to come out and play well and put some stuff together and it turned into some success for us."
Now that the stretch is over, the Wildcats completed what they set out to accomplish earlier in the week after returning from a tough trip to Hawaii in which they dropped three consecutive matches.
It took just four days, but it seems this young volleyball team is slowly growing into a solidified, mature group.
"We were trying to recover a little bit from getting back from Hawaii," Ludwig said. "We were just really focused on doing what we needed to do and working on the things that we learned from Hawaii."
It showed. The Wildcats offense came alive over the previous four days, highlighted by senior outside hitter JuliAnne Chisholm. Chisholm averaged an impressive 4.22 kills per set during the three-match tournament. The showing earned her the tournament's Most Valuable Player award.
Meanwhile the defense, led by junior libero showed a great amount of improvement as well. Mathewson dug 5.56 balls per set, while the team averaged 15 per set.
"Our focus this tournament was being disciplined." Chisholm said.
On Saturday, the Wildcats fell behind early in the first set to Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets quickly mounted a 20-15 lead on K-State, but a late rally, anchored by Chisholm enabled the Wildcats to get back within reach, and eventually take the set 25-23.
With 1-0 lead on Georgia Tech the Wildcats never looked back, completing the sweep in convincing fashion holding the Yellow Jackets to a .086 hitting percentage on the day.
"I think we were really happy with how we kept going point by point," Ludwig said. "I think we tried to be good over time and that is what we say a lot."
Now, the Wildcats shift their focus to a much needed break. Following the four-day stretch of matches, K-State will have six days to recuperate, and prepare for their next tournament, a trip to the University of Kentucky Invitational in Lexington, KY.
"It will be really nice," Fritz said of the time off. "We need it."
Photo - K-State Sports Info
Tournament MVP -JuliAnne Chisholm - KSU
All Tournament Selections:
Alex Muff — KSU
Lauren Mathewson — KSU
Monique Mead — GT
Mary Ashley Tippins — GT
Jasmine Rankins — LMU
Elizabeth McVicker — ORU
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