Addison Massey took 56 swings for Kansas State. Elli Mortensen needed 27 to finish four kills behind her.
That is the match.
No. 18 BYU beat Kansas State 27-25, 25-18, 24-26, 25-18 Thursday night at Morgan Family Arena. The Cougars improved to 10-1 and 2-0 in the Big 12 by hitting .336, collecting a season-high 14 blocks and finding three attackers with at least 13 kills. Kansas State got a career-high 23 from Massey, but nobody else had more than six.
BYU did not repeat the formula from its five-set win over Baylor. It did something sturdier. The Cougars won at the net, kept their offense spread and closed the fourth set with an 8-1 run after the Wildcats had pulled ahead.
BYU-Kansas State match receipt
| Category | BYU | Kansas State |
|---|---|---|
| Final | 3 | 1 |
| Set scores | 27, 25, 24, 25 | 25, 18, 26, 18 |
| Kills | 63 | 52 |
| Attack errors | 16 | 24 |
| Attempts | 140 | 151 |
| Hitting percentage | .336 | .185 |
| Aces | 5 | 7 |
| Service errors | 11 | 9 |
| Blocks | 14 | 8 |
| Digs | 55 | 48 |
The pregame case centered on service pressure. Kansas State had fallen behind 2-0 in each of its first two Big 12 matches, and BYU had just used nine aces to survive Baylor. Thursday did not cooperate with that script. Kansas State won the ace count 7-5, received four aces from Fuka Sekita and committed two fewer service errors.
BYU won anyway because the Cougars controlled what happened after the serve.
They produced 11 more kills on 11 fewer attempts. Their 16 attack errors were eight below Kansas State’s total. Their 14 blocks were six more than the Wildcats managed. Over four sets, that was enough to turn a losing service margin into a 15-point advantage in total points.
Mortensen made 27 swings feel like 56
Mortensen finished with a career-high 19 kills on 27 attempts, two attack errors and a .630 hitting percentage. She also had 12 digs and three block assists for her second straight double-double.
The efficiency is the part that bent the match. Massey was excellent for Kansas State: 23 kills, eight digs and enough high-volume production to drag the Wildcats through the third set. She also needed 56 attempts and committed nine errors. Mortensen landed one kill every 1.42 swings. Massey needed 2.43.
That does not mean Massey played poorly. It shows what each hitter was being asked to carry.
Mortensen had help everywhere. Claire Little Chambers and Sophia Callahan each scored 13 kills. Brooke Hardy added eight while hitting .353, and Kelli Jo Burgess and Kate Prior supplied five apiece. Alex Bower and Kaylie Kofe each handed out 25 assists, a perfectly even split that kept both BYU rotations alive.
Kansas State’s next five kill totals after Massey’s 23 were six, five, five, four and four. Avery Stones took 27 swings for six kills and six errors. Sydney Maue, who had given Kansas State a secondary scorer during its reverse sweep of UCF, had one kill and three errors on eight attempts in one set.
BYU did not have to guess where the emergency ball was going. Kansas State still had to honor six Cougars who could score.
Mortensen established that difference immediately. She had eight kills in the first set on 10 attempts. Kansas State had built a 6-3 lead behind four early Massey kills, but BYU answered with six straight points. Mortensen scored twice in that run, and two Burgess-assisted blocks helped erase the deficit.
The Wildcats fought off two set points and tied the frame at 25. Callahan answered with a tip, then Mortensen put away an overpass for 27-25. BYU’s two most efficient pins produced the final two points of a set that had 18 ties.
That finish mattered. Kansas State has spent this season treating early deficits as suggestions. BYU gave the Wildcats a comeback, let them reach 25 and still refused to hand over the set.
Burgess turned volume into work
Burgess finished with 10 block assists, matching her career high and giving her a third double-digit block match. BYU’s 14 team blocks were a season high.
The number tells only part of the job. Kansas State wanted Massey involved on almost every important swing. The freshman took 37 percent of the Wildcats’ total attacks and scored 44 percent of their kills. BYU could load its block toward her, but doing that too early would have opened the middle and setter dump.
Burgess gave the Cougars room to wait.
She assisted on blocks with Callahan and Mortensen during the 6-0 first-set response. In the second, she and Hardy closed the right lanes on consecutive sequences: Hardy kill, Burgess-Hardy block, then the same combination again after a Kansas State timeout. BYU moved from 16-15 to 20-15 without narrowing its offense or sending a desperate serve toward the back line.
The second set ended with another useful pairing. Little Chambers scored twice, Burgess added a quick kill, and Burgess joined Little Chambers on the block that made it 25-18. BYU recorded five blocks in that set and held Kansas State to 11 kills with six errors.
That is what the pregame assignment was supposed to look like. Massey still found kills. BYU made the swings around her expensive and turned predictable high balls into block touches or errors.
Kansas State coach Jason Mansfield gave the blunt version afterward: his team needed more help around Massey. BYU’s block helped make sure it did not arrive.
The third set is the warning label
BYU led the third set 15-9. It hit .316, committed one attack error and still lost 26-24.
There is no need to varnish that. The Cougars had a sweep in front of them and let Kansas State back into the match.
The service line did most of the damage. BYU committed five service errors in the set. Kansas State scored three aces, including a late one from Reagan Fox that put the Wildcats ahead 24-22. A service error and a bad set supplied the last two Kansas State points after BYU had tied it at 24.
Massey also did the heavy lifting the Wildcats needed. She recorded 11 kills in the third set alone, nearly half her match total. Kansas State scored 16 kills in the frame after managing 25 across the first two.
The odd part is that BYU’s attack remained cleaner. The Cougars produced 13 kills with one error on 38 swings. Kansas State had 16 kills but seven errors on 48. BYU lost because the serve-receive exchange tilted hard enough to erase the attack margin.
That is useful context before Friday’s match at No. 19 Kansas. BYU can own the net and still give away a set if missed serves and reception errors arrive in the same rotation. The Cougars committed 11 service errors Thursday and were aced seven times. Little Chambers absorbed four of those reception errors.
The win is solid. The third set is the part that should travel to Lawrence in bold ink.
Hardy’s fourth-set turn ended the repair job
Kansas State did what the watch guide warned it could do. It recovered from a 2-0 hole, won the third and led 15-13 in the fourth.
Then BYU stopped negotiating.
The teams reached 17-17 before Hardy went to the service line. Prior put BYU ahead with a kill. Little Chambers followed with another. Hardy served an ace, Burgess and Little Chambers combined for a block, and a Massey attack error stretched the run to five points.
The Wildcats used both timeouts during BYU’s separation. Neither stopped it. Little Chambers scored again for 23-17, Kansas State interrupted with a Reese Resmer kill, and Callahan finished the match after one more Little Chambers swing.
BYU closed from 17-17 to 25-18. It hit .375 in the set with 17 kills. Five Cougars had at least two of them. Kansas State knew Little Chambers was available and still could not lean away from Mortensen, Callahan, Hardy, Prior or Burgess.
Hardy’s serve was part of the finish, but this was different from the Baylor match. Against Baylor, her six aces supplied points BYU could not consistently win in ordinary offense. Against Kansas State, she used one ace and sustained pressure to release an offense and block that were already winning their phases.
That is a much safer way to travel.
What changed from Baylor
BYU beat Baylor 3-2 while allowing the Bears to hit .393 and collect 75 kills. The Cougars survived with a 9-2 ace advantage, six of those aces from Hardy.
Six days later, BYU held Kansas State to .185, allowed 52 kills and won the block count 14-8. The Wildcats actually had two more aces. BYU still won in four.
The opponent matters. Baylor had multiple attackers who could punish a block that released too soon. Kansas State’s offense narrowed toward Massey, especially once BYU removed the early secondary options. The Cougars took the invitation. Burgess anchored the block, Mortensen won her pin matchup with brutal efficiency and the two-setter system made Kansas State defend the entire net.
That is the encouraging part of a 2-0 conference start. BYU has won two matches with different answers. Hardy’s serve and Little Chambers’ fifth set beat Baylor. Mortensen’s efficiency, Burgess’ block and a six-hitter distribution beat Kansas State.
There is still some mess. BYU let a 15-9 third-set lead disappear. Eleven service errors are too many for a four-set match, and seven reception errors gave Kansas State an easier scoring lane than its attack created.
But this one was not another escape. BYU led the match in kills, hitting percentage, blocks and digs. It answered Kansas State’s best comeback push with an 8-1 close. It left Manhattan with the first half of a road back-to-back and did not need a fifth set to get it.
Next: No. 19 Kansas
BYU has almost no recovery window. The Cougars visit No. 19 Kansas on Friday, Oct. 2 at 5 p.m. Mountain on ESPN+. The Kansas watch guide has the verified stream, live stats, venue and matchup detail.
The Kansas State result moves BYU to 10-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12. The volleyball schedule keeps the permanent event path, while the results page now carries Thursday’s final and set scores.
Lawrence presents a ranked opponent on less than 24 hours of rest. BYU would gladly carry Mortensen’s efficiency and Burgess’ block east. It should leave the third-set service exchange in Manhattan.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics: Mortensen leads No. 18 BYU past Kansas State for the official final, set sequence, career notes, player leaders and Kansas follow-up.
- BYU Athletics event 25235 and the official box score for the stable schedule ID, completed status, venue and official result path.
- Finalized WMT game 6603870, player statistics and readable match table for the final, set splits, team totals, player lines, records, attendance and finalized-stat flag.
- Kansas State Athletics: Massey puts down 23 kills for opponent-side confirmation, the 41 ties and 15 lead changes, Massey’s workload, set-by-set detail and Mansfield’s directly sourced assessment.
- Big 12 Conference box score for conference-hosted confirmation of the team totals, individual lines and play-by-play.
- BYU Sport Nuts: Kansas State watch guide, Baylor recap, volleyball schedule and volleyball roster.
