The football team won on Friday, but the soccer and volleyball teams were less successful.
Football
Kansas State enters its first week of Big 12 competition ranked #13 in the AP poll. That was a reward for the Wildcats’ comprehensive win over then-#20 Arizona. But with a night game at BYU next up on the schedule, the team has no time to rest on its laurels. Early lines have Kansas State as a slight road favorite, but considering it’s a road game with a late kickoff, anything is possible.
A highlight of the Arizona game was Dylan Edwards’ punt return touchdown. Not only did that help turn the game, but Edwards is the first Wildcats since 2007 to have a rushing touchdown, a catching touchdown, and a punt return touchdown through three games. Edwards also helped bring Kansas State’s total of punt/kick returns for a score up to 62 since 2005, a fact made even more astonishing by the fact that it happened under three different head coaches and after both Darren Sproles and David Allen graduated.
Soccer
The soccer team opened Big 12 play with a home match against #19 Colorado. Although the Wildcats played tough and almost equalled the Buffaloes on shots on goal, a lone score from Colorado in the 49th minute was all it took. Kansas State falls to 0-1 (3-4-1) on the season, continuing a 21-match stretch without a victory against ranked opponents.
The team will hit the road for their next two matches, taking on West Virginia on Thursday and Cincinnati on Sunday.
Volleyball
At the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Classic in Morgan Family Arena, the VolleyCats took the first set against North Carolina but ultimately fell 1-3 (26-28, 25-13, 25-23, 25-22). The highlight of the weekend for Kansas State was senior Aliyah Carter hitting a rare milestone. She became one of just five Wildcats to make it to 1500 career kills and this was also her 18th straight match with at least 10 kills.
Carter and the VolleyCats will stay home for the K-State Invitational, which opens with Kansas State taking on UC-Santa Barbara on Thursday night and Oklahoma on Sunday.
Miscellany
A K-State entomologist, Brian Spiesman, has built an app called BeeMachine that uses artificial intelligence to help identify and track bee species. This is a key step in understanding bee reaction to habitat loss. Because pollinators are so critical to agriculture, this work will ultimately impact how we grow food. And you too can participate! The app allows anyone to take photographs of bees and submit the photos for study.