OMAHA, NEB. -- The Maverick volleyball program hits the road for the first time this season with the K-State Invitational Sept. 5-6. The team will face off against Central Arkansas Sept. 5 at 4 p.m., followed by a pair of Sept. 6 matches against Clemson (10 a.m.) and Kansas State (7:30 p.m.).
OPENING SERVE
• Omaha heads to the K-State Invitational for the second-straight year in Manhattan, Kan.
• The Mavericks are coming off a 3-0 loss at home to the Kansas Jayhawks back on Sept. 3.
• In that match,
Sadie Limback posted a team-high 11 kills in her season debut.
• The Mavericks enter the weekend with a 3-1 record. Omaha notched a perfect 3-0 mark in its annual home tournament, the Omaha Challenge, last weekend to open the season.
• Junior libero
Claire Mountjoy is the current Summit League Defensive Player of the Week.
• Her 75 total digs sit atop the league statistics and her 5.36 per match rank second amongst Summit League members.
• With 4.71 kills per set,
Isabella Sade leads The Summit League.
SCOUTING CENTRAL ARKANSAS
The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears aim to stay perfect this weekend. The Sugar Bears are hoping to stay hot after their 4-0 performance at the 2019 Georgetown Classic last weekend where they were crowned tournament champions after sweeping host Georgetown 3-0.
The matchups do not get any easier for the Sugar Bears in Kansas as they will face the Omaha Mavericks tomorrow at 12 p.m. and the Clemson Tigers on Friday at 5 p.m. For the second weekend in a row, Central Arkansas will conclude tournament play against the host team as they will face the Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday at 5 p.m. Omaha and Central Arkansas have only faced off once in the series history. In that bout, the Sugar Bears won a five-set barn-burner Sept. 8, 2015.
SCOUTING CLEMSON
Clemson was tabbed ninth in its conference poll and sit at 3-0 this season entering the K-State Invitational. The Tigers are led by the redshirt-junior outside hitting duo of Brooke Bailey and Kaylin Korte, both All-ACC preseason selections. Bailey had the most impressive year for the Tigers in 2018 as she led the team in hitting with 3.39 kills per set and averaged a strong 3.71 kills per set against ACC opponents.
She appeared in all 129 sets and recorded double digit kills in 28 of her team's 34 matches. Korte entered the 2019 season after missing the entirety of 2018 due to injury. In her 2017 campaign that put her on the map, Korte led Clemson in kills with 3.36 per set and points with 3.85 per set. Her year concluded with multiple honors to her name as she was named to the Big Orange Bash and Yale Invitational All-Tournament teams. Omaha and Clemson will meet for the first time this weekend.
SCOUTING K-STATE
After being selected fifth in the conference preseason poll, The Wildcats competed in the Wolfpack Invitational at N.C. State in Raleigh, North Carolina and went 1-2, including a 3-1 win over the Austin Peay Governors last weekend.
The Wildcats entered the new season with a new look as the team consisted of six seniors in 2018 and welcomed a class of five freshmen for 2019 that was ranked No. 20 in the nation, according to PrepVolleyball.com. The team had a lone representative on the Preseason All-Big 12 team as sophomore Gloria Mutiri was named after a freshman season that earned her a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team and All-Big 12 Rookie Team.
She was also named AVCA Midwest Freshman of the Year and to the AVCA All-Midwest Region First Team after appearing in all 98 sets and recording 271 kills and 15 service aces. The team welcomed back seven athletes and will hope to improve off its 15-12 2018 record. K-State holds an 11-6 record over the Omaha Mavericks. The last time both teams squared off was Sept. 8 of last season, where the Wildcats won in a sweep.
LOOKING AHEAD
Omaha returns home for a tournament at cross-town rival Creighton. The Bluejay Invitational takes place Sept. 13-14 where the Mavericks will take on Creighton, Washington and Drake. Following that tournament, Omaha is in action the next day against High Point for a Sunday, Sept. 15 match at 1 p.m.
