By Jayson Henderson

The Kansas State Wildcats pushed No. 8 Kansas to the brink in a five-set match on Thursday, but ultimately fell 3-2 (19-25, 25-15, 22-25, 25-20, 15-10) in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown at Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena in Lawrence. This marks the fourth straight five-set match for K-State, with Kansas extending its win streak over the Wildcats to seven.

Kansas, now 15-1 and 6-0 in the Big 12, held K-State (6-10, 4-3 Big 12) to a .152 hitting percentage while posting 15 blocks. K-State battled throughout, winning the first and third sets but was unable to close out the match.

A highlight for the Wildcats came when Aliyah Carter moved into third place on K-State’s all-time career kills list with her 1,612th kill. She finished the match with a team-high 15 kills. Senior Meg Brown added 10 kills, and senior libero Ella Larkin led all players with 26 digs.

K-State will face No. 20 Utah on October 24 at Morgan Family Arena, with the match set for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+.