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Yesterday, JT reported on Bruce Weber’s two latest commits to the Kansas State basketball program; shortly after that news, Weber himself announced that Mark Smith had signed his financial aid agreement and had some comments on his new shooting guard.
Mercury contributing writer Larry Weigel, who was also Lon Kruger’s freshman coach back in 1970-71 at Ahearn, offered some anecdotes in a column yesterday.
Volleyball
For the third straight week and fifth overall this season, Aliyah Carter is the Big 12 Rookie of the week. That announcement came before yesterday’s season-ending match at #9 Baylor, which resulted in a 26-24, 25-15, 25-23 sweep at the hands of the Bears. Carter, Jayden Nembhard, and Kadye Fernholz each had nine kills for the Cats in the match. Mackenzie Morris led the Cats with 12 digs, completing a season sweep — she led the team in digs every match this season.
The VolleyCats now wait. Sunday, the field for what’s technically the 2020 NCAA Volleyball tournament will be announced, and the 13-8 Cats are squarely on the bubble.
Tennis
The road woes continue as K-State fell 4-3 yesterday at #49 Tulsa. The good news: thanks to a scheduling quirk which saw K-State play its first four conference matches on the road, they won’t leave Manhattan again before the Big 12 championships in Waco on April 22.
That means a five-match homestand, beginning Saturday with the Sunflower Showdown. K-State lost a 4-1 non-conference meeting to the #44 Jayhawks earlier this season in Lawrence.
Baseball
It’s not getting any easier for the BatCats, who take the field at Tointon tonight at 6:00 for the first game of a three-game set with #3 Texas Tech. The weekend rotation remains unchanged, with Jordan Wicks going tonight, Carson Seymour tomorrow night, and Connor McCullough Saturday night. All three games will air on ESPN+.