After their first Big 12 win this season, TCU Volleyball returned to the court and fell short to Kansas State Saturday evening.

The Horned Frogs lost 3-2 in Manhattan, Kan., inside the Ahearn Field House after a five-set match. The Wildcat’s came back in the last two matches after the Horned Frog advantage of 2-1.

Kansas State won the first match after a kill from Taylor Johnson sealed their five-point victory.

The match was back and forth in the beginning, TCU keeping Kansas State in close range. Stephanie Holland and Mattie Burleson blocked as TCU scored their first lead set of the match.

The Frogs worked their way up to a tied game at 19-19, holding off the Wildcats by a kill from Alexia Heist. This was not enough, for the Wildcats finished strong with a comeback that could not be stopped.

TCU did not give up and came out on top the second and third matches. In the first match, the Wildcats did not come closer to the Frogs than a one-time 3-0 run. Blaire Pickens took the Frogs to a 25-21 victory with no errors for a .800 hitting percentage, tying the match at 1-1. 

The Wildcats fought back with a 9-8 lead in the third match, but the Frogs would not allow this. They reacted with their own 4-1 run, taking back the lead and never giving it back in order to receive the 25-21 win for TCU again.

The fourth set was a battle between points for the two Big 12 teams, as Ashley Smith and Natalie Gower took the Frogs to a 15-9 lead at the start. The Wildcats ended with a run that TCU could fight back from and won at 25-21.

The Frogs could not devise an attack to take over the Wildcats in the fifth match, losing their first five-set match this season at 15-7.

TCU’s Pickens and Shane Peters scored their personal record of 10 kills for Pickens and 23 digs for Peters. The Kansas State eader surpassed Pickens with 23 kills.

Kansas State’s Big 12 first-year Katie Brand topped off with 59 assists and 15 digs to guide the Wildcats to victory overall.

TCU will head home to play again next Saturday, Oct. 12, against Texas Tech in the University Recreation Center at 5 p.m.