Kansas State volleyball coach Suzie Fritz typically tries to avoid looking ahead too much. Her focus, she says, is on her squad and their side of the net.
But Thursday, in the midst of their most difficult stretch of the season, she admitted it was hard to shy away from discussing just how difficult this stretch has been.
"I actually looked at it for the first time," Fritz said Thursday afternoon. "It seems like it's, 'when is it going to end?' We're frustrated."
But for the Cats, it doesn't get any easier. Saturday K-State will welcome first-place and No. 10-ranked Nebraska to Ahearn Field House — marking the second Top-15 opponent in a row. First serve is 7 p.m.
It's a stretch that has included three consecutive sweeps, coming at the hands of Oklahoma, Texas and most recently Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, on Wednesday night.
The last set the Wildcats won came on Oct. 2 in a sweep at Texas A&M.
"What's happening to us is we get in it and we will give up a stretch of maybe three or four consecutive points," Fritz said. "Against a Top-15 or Top-20 team, you don't have the luxury of giving up three or four because they wont let you make that up, they wont give them back."
So with yet another difficult team on hand, the Wildcats held a players-only meeting before practice on Thursday afternoon.
"It was just kind of a mid-season thing," Sophomore Kathleen Ludwig said. "We just wanted to get together and talk about our goals and how we are going to achieve them and how we are going to improve not only in practice but on the road."
The Wildcats are coming off yet another disappointing performance after dropping to No. 13 Iowa State in straight sets.
Fritz said she saw some positives in the match, including that fact that her team didn't "check out" despite falling behind early each set.
"We're not bad," Fritz said. "But we can't keep it together for quite long enough and the level at which we are required to play, and the level of teams we are required to play, are quite frankly, not a great combination of factors. But it's reality."
However, after the players-only meeting on Thursday, the Wildcats came out and caught Fritz's eye with the energy level in practice.
"It was excellent," Fritz said.
Ludwig agreed, attributing the energy level and productiveness to what the Cats discussed during the team meeting.
"It was one of our best in a while," Ludwig said. "We came in after that meeting and wanted to work and wanted to get better."
Will the lively practice spark a turnaround in the season come Saturday? Well, that remains to be seen. Nebraska enters the match as one of the top teams in the nation, as usual.
The Huskers are the only remaining undefeated team in Big 12 play with an 8-0 conference record, and have held opponents to the lowest hitting percentage in the Big 12 at .143.
It's not a good sign for a struggling Wildcats offense which has slumped to 10th in the Big 12 with a .169 hitting percentage.
But Fritz isn't concerned with stats. For now, she just looks at it as another opportunity for her team to get better and get out of this slump.
"We don't have any control over the schedule," Fritz said. "What we have control over is trying to use it as opportunities and trying to use it as opportunities to get better, so that when we have opportunities to win, we are prepared for them."
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