2/22/06  Schedule for 2006 beginning to take shape
Click here for a first look.

2/14/06  Suzie Fritz to assist with USA Volleyball
Head volleyball coach Suzie Fritz has been appointed as an assistant coach for the 2006 USA Women's National Volleyball A2 Team, USA Volleyball has announced. Fritz was chosen by Team USA head coach Mary Wise, of the Florida Gators.

Coach Fritz has a record of 112-44 (.718) in five seasons at the helm of the Wildcat volleyball program. She ranks second in Kansas State history for wins, and was the fastest coach to 100 career wins. Fritz led K-State to its 10th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its seventh straight 20-win season in 2005. Fritz guided K-State to its first Big 12 Conference title in 2003 and steered the squad to an appearance in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

The A2 team is a training team for the national squad, and is made up of prospective Olympians and national team members. Team USA will train from May 22-26. The 12-player squad will then compete in the Women's Open Division of the USA Volleyball Adult Open Championships at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center from May 27-30.

The 2006 A2 team members are: Marcie Hampton and Kisya Killingsworth of Florida, Kekai Crabbe and Sophia Milo of Pepperdine, Audra Jeffers and Jackie Simpson of Wisconsin, Faye Barhorst of Dayton, Shonda Cole of South Carolina, Dominique Lamb of Arizona, Ashley Nu'u of Colorado, Airial Salvo of Utah and Ami Stevens of Ohio State.

12/30/05  Kelsey Chipman named Kansas Player of the Year

The Kansas Volleyball Association has named senior Kelsey Chipman its player of the year in Class 6A. Here's the story in the Topeka Capital. Kelsey signed as a Wildcat in November. Kelsey is a 6-1 product of Washburn Rural High School. The middle blocker comes to K-State with first team All-State honors in 2004. She made the first team of the All-State 6A Tournament team in 2003 through 2005. During the 2005 season, Kelsey led the Blues with 313 kills, a .479 hitting percentage and 93 total blocks in 44 matches. The daughter of Bob and Carol Chipman, she has also excelled in the classroom, being named to the National Honor Society in 2004 and 2005, and to the Kansas Volleyball Association All-Academic Team in 2004. Bob Chipman played basketball for Jack Hartman in 1972-74 in Ahearn Field House, and has been the men's basketball coach at Washburn University for 25 years.

12/21/05  Final CSTV/AVCA poll
The Cats ended the 2005 season at #24 in the poll. Nebraska dropped to #2. Florida, the team that barely eliminated K-State from the tournament, ended the season at #3. Missouri finished at #8. Texas is at #16.

How about a little history? K-State isn't new to being in the final AVCA poll. Have a look:
     2004: #23
     2003: #11
     2002: #21
     2001: #18
     2000: #16
     1999: #19
     1998: #23
     1997: not ranked
     1996: #24

12/17/05  NCAA National Championship
Jim McLaughlin's #3 Washington Huskies swept #1 Nebraska 30-26, 30-25, 30-26 to win the 2005 NCAA Division I volleyball championship. I respect Nebraska, but we don't need their program getting any stronger now, do we? I think Coach McLaughlin is very deserving of this achievement, and I was cheering for him. Did you know his Southern Cal men's team also won the national championship?  Story

12/15/05  NCAA Tournament Final Four Semifinal
#1 Nebraska swept Santa Clara 30-24, 30-19, 30-21 Thursday night. — #3 Washington swept Tennessee 30-25, 30-19, 30-21. Nebraska will play Washington at 5 P.M. on Saturday, December 17 in the Alamodome in San Antonio. The championship match will be televised on ESPN2. Go Huskies. Beat the Huskers!

12/10/05  NCAA Tournament Regional Finals
#1 Nebraska swept #4 Florida 30-26, 30-24, 30-16. They will face Santa Clara in the Final Four. — #8 Missouri's season ended at the hands of #17 Tennessee. The scores were 30-28, 30-27, 25-30, 30-17. — Jim McLaughlin's Washington team will play Tennessee in the Final Four next weekend.

12/09/05  NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinals
#1 Nebraska swept #14 UCLA, 30-28, 30-24, 30-16. Their next victims will be #4 Florida. The match will be played in Omaha. Thanks for showing, up, Gators! — The other remaining Big XII team, #8 Missouri, beat #6 Hawaii 30-26, 26-30, 30-27, 30-22 in State College, PA. They'll face #17 Tennessee tomorrow. My tournament bracket is updated after each round. It's available above.

12/05/05  CSTV/AVCA poll
The Cats held steady at #24 in the poll. Nebraska is at #1. Missouri moved up to #8. Texas dropped to #13. Colorado received four votes.

12/03/05  NCAA Tournament First and Second Rounds
The #24-ranked Cats defeated a very good Florida A&M team on Dec. 1, then had the pleasure of facing #4 Florida in the second round, on their court. We lost the match 0 - 3, ending the season at 21-11. The scores were 21-30, 29-31 and 25-30. Not bad when playing #4! — Of the eleven losses, it's noteworthy that two were to #1 Nebraska, two were to #7 Texas, two were to #10 Missouri, one was to #17 Minnesota (ranked #5 at the time) and, as mentioned, one was to #4 Florida. That's eight of eleven losses to Top Ten teams. Of the additional three losses, one was to Colorado, one was to KU and one was to Texas A&M. Each of those three teams has been ranked in the Top 25 at some point in the season. K-State did not lose to a team which had not been ranked. Also, had the Nichols State match not been canceled, the Cats would very likely have a 22 - 11 record. It was another very fine season for the Cats, especially having competed in the conference which gained the most entries to the NCAA tournament.

Also this weekend, #1 Nebraska defeated Alabama A&M and Duke. They'll face UCLA next weekend. — #4 Texas defeated LSU, then fell to #7 Hawaii. — #10 Missouri is hanging in there. They defeated their neighbors, Missouri State, then Arkansas. They will face #7 Hawaii next weekend. — Colorado lost to their neighbors, Colorado State. — Texas A&M lost to Northwestern. — KU had the misfortune of drawing #14 UCLA, and their season has come to an end.

11/28/05  Agata makes First Team All-Big 12
Congratulations to senior outside hitter Agata Rezende on her selection to the All-Big 12 team. She is 9th in kills in the Big 12 so far this season and, as we all know, an extremely valuable member of the team the past two years. Here's the Big 12's release.

11/16/05  Eight Cats make the All-Big 12 Academic Team
K-State's first team selections were juniors Joy Hamlin (anthropology), Jamie Perkins (nutrition sciences/pre-medicine) and Sandy Werner (kinesiology), sophomores Angie Lastra (biology) and Stacey Spiegelberg (life sciences/pre-nursing) and redshirt freshman Jenny Jantsch (business). The Wildcats' second team selections were senior Katie Stanzel (marketing) and sophomore Rita Liliom (social science).