The Other Sports: The Week in K-State Athletics

We spend most of our time covering K-State football, and for good reason. Just look at the attendance numbers for a glimpse at what's most popular, in any athletic department.

But there are a lot of other sports programs at K-State, with student-athletes who put in long hours to represent the purple and white in competition. This will be a weekly feature looking at the results of those contests.

Volleyball

Suzi Fritz' volleyball program is off and running, having played in two weekend invitationals already. Back when the football team was losing to North Dakota State, the volleyball team was in Las Vegas, winning the UNLV Invitational. K-State required a full five sets to win each of its three matches, over Portland, Cal State-Fullerton, and host UNLV.

Over the last couple days, the Wildcats saw their first action in Ahearn Fieldhouse at the K-State Invitational. This time the going was a little easier, as K-State swept matches with Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and Siena.

So after two season-opening invitationals, K-State is 6-0. Now, the competition level has not been impressive, as none of K-State's six opponents are even receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25. K-State is receiving votes, and will probably move up when the new poll is released tomorrow. But the Wildcats won't see a team that is even receiving votes until next weekend, when they take on California at the Cal Invitational in Berkeley, Calif.

K-State's next action is a midweek home match against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. After that, the Wildcats head west to the aforementioned Cal Invitational. Check out this year's K-State women's volleyball roster here to get familiar with the 2013 Wildcats.

Cross Country

The cross country teams got their first action on Saturday in Wichita at the J.K. Gold Classic. K-State's womens team took home first place, while the men came in second.

In fact, K-State dominated the women's race, taking first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth and 10th. Laura Galvan led the Wildcats and the field, finishing the 4,000 meter course in 13:42. Martina Tresch gave K-State a 1-2 finish, clocking in at 14:00.

K-State's men's team finished second behind host Wichita State. Jeff Bachman and Lukas Koch finished fourth and fifth to lead K-State in the 6,000 meter race, in 19:26 and 19:29, respectively.

None of the weekend's competition -- Wichita State and Oral Roberts -- registers in the preseason top 30 cross country rankings. The Wildcats next meet is in two weeks when they travel to Lincoln, Neb., for the Woody Greeno Invitational. The 2013 K-State cross country roster is here.

Men's Golf

The men's golf team begins coach Tim Norris' final fall campaign next week when they travel to Columbia, Mo., for the Columbia Regional Preview. This meet will take place at The Club at Old Hawthorne on September 16th and 17th. K-State's 2013-14 men's golf roster is here.

Women's Golf

K-State's women's golf team gets its fall season underway this week at the Ptarmigan Ram Classic in Fort Collins, Colo., on September 9th and 10th. Coach Kristi Knight's 2013-14 roster is here.

Equestrian and Women's Tennis

Neither of these teams has a competition this upcoming week. More to follow in future editions of The Other Sports.