LAWRENCE, Kan. – K-State overcame a 2-1 deficit to pull off a five-set victory over No. 14 Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse, 14-25, 25-17, 18-25, 25-23, 15-18, marking its first win over the Jayhawks since 2020.
In front of a crowd of 7,550, K-State (11-6, 4-5 Big 12) rallied behind 93 digs and 11.0 total blocks to snap an eight-match losing streak against its in-state rival. The Wildcats last defeated KU in a five-set match in Lawrence on October 30, 2020.
Additionally, K-State handed the Jayhawks (15-8, 6-3 Big 12) their first loss since October 1, ending their five-match winning streak. It also marks KU’s only loss of the season to an unranked opponent.
Libero Symone Sims and middle blocker Jordyn Williams anchored a defense that limited KU to its third-lowest team hitting percentage of the season at .137 – its lowest mark in Big 12 play. Sims, a junior from Frisco, Texas recorded a career-high 26 digs with two service aces, while Williams led the match with eight blocks (one solo, seven assists) to go along with nine kills.
Aniya Clinton, Shaylee Myers and Ava LeGrand each registered double-doubles in the upset. Clinton tallied a match-high 16 kills along with 14 digs, while Myers added 15 kills and 16 digs. LeGrand, who has recorded eight double-doubles in the last 10 matches, dished out 33 assists with 15 digs.
The victory marked the program’s first over a top-15 team since 2023, where the Wildcats swept No. 3 Texas – the eventual National Champion.
FROM THE CATS
JASON MANSFIELD, K-STATE HEAD COACH
Overall comments
“The crowd was incredible tonight. We agreed to do this knowing it was going to be a great crowd but also knowing this isn’t necessarily a home court for them. They had never played here before, so we felt like it would be a good match and a great environment. The girls really stepped up after the first set. I’m really proud of our bounce back in the second set, and then how we battled through a tough third and fourth. We’ve been so close in these last few matches, and I’m just really happy for them. They deserve a win like this against a really good team and they found a way to finish.”
On K-State’s defense
“We had 93 digs as a team. It was incredible. And Symone [Sims] having 26 of them was just fantastic. That’s the type of team we know we need to be, especially against a team that can hit over our block a lot – or really over anyone’s block. We needed to play great defense, and we did.”
On Jordyn Williams’ performance
“We need her to be great, both as a blocker and as an attacker, and when she’s going, we’re just a much better team. I’m really proud of her – her connection with Ava [LeGrand] was special tonight.”
On Aniya Clinton’s performance
“When it comes to Aniya [Clinton], when she plays with passion and grit and really wants the ball, we’re a different team. She’s one of our leaders out there. I love it when she’s aggressive offensively. She got a couple of big blocks at the end against [Jovana Zelenovic], and those are the types of plays she’s capable of making. We wanted to match her up in front of [Zelenovic], which was a tough assignment both attacking and blocking, but I thought she handled it extremely well. She had a tough day – her club coach passed away today – and I know she wanted to play well for him. And she did.”
SET-BY-SET
Set 1 – #14 KU 25, K-State 14
- Highlighted by a 6-1 scoring run, the Jayhawks expanded their lead to eight, 15-7, kills by Aurora Papac and Jovana Zelenovic.
- KU racked up 10 kills and hit at a .176 team efficiency in Set 1, while the defense forced K-State’s eight errors behind three total blocks. The Wildcats tallied eight kills, that included four by Clinton.
Set 2 – K-State 25, #14 KU 17
- Down 9-5, the Wildcats rounded out a 9-1 scoring run to take their just their second lead of the match. K-State fended off the Jayhawks late rally to put the set away.
- Clinton led an offense that hit at a match-leading .237 clip with five kills. As a team, K-State produced 13 kills with four errors on 38 swings.
- Behind four total team blocks, the Wildcats held the Jayhawks to a -.023 hitting percentage (9 kills, 10 errors, 43 attempts).
Set 3 – #14 KU 25, K-State 18
- Trailing 14-11, K-State put two on the board with the help of a service error and ace by Clinton. However, the Wildcats were unable to overcome to deficit as KU answered with four straight points to run away with the set win.
- As a team, K-State hit .156 (10 kills, 5 errors), while KU produced a .205 (13 kills, 5 errors) hitting percentage.
- Service errors proved to be the difference maker, as K-State had four against KU’s two. The Jayhawks served up three aces in the set.
Set 4 – K-State 25, #14 KU 23
- Following KU’s 9-4 run, K-State responded with consecutive kills from Myers and Williams to open the Wildcats’ own successful run and bring the score within two, 16-14.
- With a pair of aces by Clinton and Myers’ 12th kill of the night, K-State rallied to take a 23-22 lead. Myers delivered the final blow with her sixth kill of the set.
- The Wildcats registered 14 kills on 43 swings (.140), and recorded three service aces.
Set 5 – K-State 15, #14 KU 8
- K-State capitalized on a 4-0 scoring run to take a 7-3 in the final set but was answered with a successful run from KU to make it a one-point set.
- Leading 8-7, the Wildcats put together a 7-1 closing run to put the match away.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Wildcats upset KU in five-sets, 14-25, 25-17, 18-25, 25-23, 15-8, Friday night.
- K-State hit .137 (51 kills, 27 errors) while KU was limited to a .104 hitting percentage with 48 kills and 29 errors.
- In total, the match had 19 tie scores with nine lead changes.
- Clinton led the match with 16 kills (.156), followed by Myers with 15. Williams added nine.
- Sims produced a match-leading 26 digs with a perfect 1.000 reception percentage.
- LeGrand dished out 33 assists to go along with six kills and five blocks.
- K-State had seven service aces led by Clinton with three.
- Five different Wildcats tallied a block, led by Williams with a match-high eight blocks (1 solo, 7 assists),
- The Cats out-dug the Jayhawks 93-78 and with an 11.0-10.0 edge in blocks.
BEYOND THE BOX
- K-State leads the all-time series, 68-62-1, dating back to 1974, while the win snapped an eight-match losing streak to KU.
- K-State last won on October 30, 2020, a five-set victory in Lawrence.
- Cats are 32-22 on the road in the series.
- K-State is 2-3 against Top 25 teams in 2025, posting an overall 8-16 record against nationally ranked foes in the Mansfield era.
- Myers recorded her 16th match of the year eclipsing the 10-kill mark – 14th consecutive match with 10 or more kills.
- Clinton turned in her seventh consecutive match with double-digit kills – 15th 10-kill match of the season.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats are back in action Wednesday, October 29 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to take on Utah (10-10, 2-6 Big 12) before facing BYU (16-4, 4-4 Big 12) on Halloween.
Single-match tickets are available for all K-State home matches through the K-State Athletics ticket office at 1-800-221-CATS and www.kstatesports.com/tickets.
