9/29/01
Longhorns fall to Kansas State in four
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Freshman Mira Topic (Kambelovac, Croatia/Vladimir Nazor) posted her ninth double-double of the season, tying a career-high with 22 kills, as the No. 20/23 University of Texas volleyball team dropped its first Big 12 Conference match of the season 3-1 (28-30, 30-25, 26-30, 32-34) to Kansas State on Saturday evening in Manhattan, Kan.
With the loss, the Longhorns fall to 8-3 overall and 3-1 in the Big 12. Kansas State improves to 7-3 on the season and 3-1 in league play.
Topic finished with 17 digs, five service aces and five blocks. Freshman Bethany Howden (Austin, Texas/Westlake) added 19 kills and seven blocks while senior Katia Lara (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Jucelino) finished with 12 kills and 17 digs. Redshirt-sophomore Kathryn Wilson (Macomb Township, Mich./Dakota) contributed with a career-high 10 kills in 25 attempts.
Kansas State edged the Longhorns in game one 30-28 despite the fact that Texas outhit the Wildcats .200 to .189. Texas evened the match going into intermission with a 30-25 win in game two, collecting 16 team kills to Kansas State's nine. The Wildcats took the third game by a score of 30-26 and eventually went on to win the match, clawing to a 34-32 victory in the game four. The two teams combined for a total 40 blocks, 19 for Texas and 21 for Kansas State.
Liz Wegner paced the Wildcats with 17 kills and 13 digs. Lisa Mimick collected a team-high 23 digs in the match while adding eight kills and nine blocks. Texas tallied more kills (69-53) and more digs (88-79), but the Wildcats edged the Longhorns in hitting percentage (.141 to .133). Both teams had seven service aces, but Texas committed 11 service errors to K-State's seven.
The Longhorns return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 3, when they travel to Norman, Okla., to face the Oklahoma Sooners at 7 p.m.
