Wildcats fall 3-1 to #24 Baylor
K-State lost to No. 24-ranked Baylor in the fourth set after taking the Bears into extra points in the first and second sets. Freshman Addison Massey and senior Emerson Van Lannen both scored double-doubles for the ‘Cats while Ksenia Rakhmanchik and Isabela Haggard did the same for the Bears.
The first round never saw a lead of more than 2 points until Baylor separated 19-15 late. K-State fought back to tie at 22 each and kept it close, tying again at 25. Both teams attacked back and forth as Massey scored 12 kills for the Wildcats while Rakhmanchik had 15 of her own. Baylor ultimately won the first 33-31 after an Isabela Haggard kill.
The second set also went to extra points after Baylor survived a 6-point deficit early. The ‘Cats led 12-6 before the Bears scored 6 unanswered points to tie it at 12, including three kills from Lacy Tinnell and two aces from MJ McCurdy. Neither team could pull ahead, and they tied again at 25 apiece. Four errors for Baylor late in the second gave K-State the win, 30-28.
The ‘Cats would take another early lead in the third, leading as much as 10-5. Van Lannen aided K-State with 15 assists. The Bears, however, tied it up 14-14 and never gave the lead back, winning 25-20.
In the fourth and final set, Baylor looked like their normal selves, leading by 5 or more for almost the entire set. The Bears’ Rakhmanchik smoked her last six kills of the game with a hitting percentage of .417 in the fourth set. Baylor held the ‘Cats to a .088 hitting percentage and lost the match in the fourth with a score of 25-13.
Baylor hit a .287 clip compared to K-State’s .205, while Massey recorded a team high of 25 kills, her seventh 20+ kill game. Rakhmanchik, hailing from Minsk, Belarus, led all players in kills with 32 and proved why she ranks 6th nationally in kills per set. The match saw 36 tied scores and 11 lead changes in what was K-State’s 11th loss of the season.
The ‘Cats stay at home to take on TCU at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 13 on ESPN+.
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