Wednesday night, the K-State volleyball team had quite an opportunity on its hands. With a trip to Colorado in what seemed to be a very winnable match, the Wildcats could have pushed their conference record to 3-0 for the first time in 11 years.
But that wasn't how the story unfolded in Boulder. The Wildcats dropped a seesaw battle with the Buffaloes in five sets, suffering their first lost in conference play in the 2010 season.
Now, back at home, the Wildcats (7-6 2-1 Big 12) have shifted their focus to a visit from the Missouri Tigers (9-4 1-2 Big 12) on Saturday evening. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Ahearn Field House.
After practice on Wednesday afternoon, head coach Suzie Fritz said she was pleased with the way her team handled the aftermath of the Colorado loss.
"The one thing about losing one you shouldn't is that it refocuses you a little bit," Fritz said. "(It) is not what we were going for, but I think we clearly felt like we had a missed opportunity, we let one get away from us a little bit and I thought today we were pretty focused."
The Wildcats will head into Wednesday's match with the Tigers looking to continue seeing a wealth of production from some of the younger leaders on the squad, including freshman middle blocker Kaitlynn Pelger and sophomore middle blocker Alex Muff.
Pelger hit a team-leading .500 in Boulder on Wednesday evening, racking up 16 kills during the five-set match. Meanwhile, Muff pounded 10 kills and recorded six block assists against the Buffaloes.
Muff was also named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week after her impressive performances against Kansas and Texas Tech.
"We were pretty good when we were in good situations," Fritz said. "When we were digging well, when we were passing well, we had it going. Where we struggled was when we were out of system...We were pretty good when it was good and pretty bad when it was bad."
Also anchoring the Wildcat offense during conference play has been senior outside hitter JuliAnne Chisholm. The product of Hillsboro recorded a team-leading 17 kills on Wednesday, and was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week after her performance during the first week of conference action.
Meanwhile, the Tigers enter the match receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches poll, and are looking to even their conference record after dropping two consecutive matches to No. 11 Iowa State and No. 12 Texas during a tough two-match homestand.
"Missouri will be a significant challenge," Fritz said. "They are very good, they play very fast, they are very veteran. I think we will have our hands full on Saturday."
Senior outside hitter Julianna Klein leads the Tigers offensive attack. The product of Keota, Iowa has been playing lights out through Missouri's first three conference matches, pounding out a total of 39 kills during the stretch.
Missouri's Freshman setter Molly Kreklow leads the Big 12 in assists per set, averaging 11.6.
However the Wildcats are focused again on their side of the net, and are ready to play within the confines of Ahearn Arena, where they are a perfect 4-0 in the 2010 campaign.
"It's good to be home again," Fritz said. "(We) are just trying to get our feet back underneath us."
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