KANSAS CITY, Mo. 69ý Common themes were apparent among the Kansas State representatives at Big 12 Media days, including the next-level confidence instilled in Serena Sundell.
Entering her third season, Sundell has started every game for the Wildcats in her two-year career. She believes, as well as her coach and teammates, that her confidence in those two years doesn69ýt compare to the 69ýdifferent feeling69ý she has now.
69ýI think Serena has found her voice this summer,69ý head coach Jeff Mittie said. 69ýThat was something that maybe wasn69ýt in her comfort zone to be outspoken and confident enough (in the past).69ý
Last year in particular was a tall task. As a sophomore, Sundell was thrown into being the team69ýs leader after the season-ending surgery of star center Ayoka Lee.
69ýIt has been really cool to see Serena69ýs growth,69ý said Lee, who will return to the court this season. 69ýEspecially last year, seeing her kind of wrestle and struggle through some things and be resilient through that 69ý it69ýs been so cool.69ý
This year, Lee and fifth-year senior guard Gabby Gregory will take some of the leadership weight off of Sundell69ýs shoulders.
69ýWith Gabby (Gregory) being new and (Lee) being gone (last year), she felt too much pressure to know everything to say,69ý Mittie said. 69ýNow she can be just a supplemental piece.69ý
Sundell agreed that she feels a lot less pressure going into this year, especially as a point guard playing alongside the 69ýbest center69ý and the 69ýbest shooting guard69ý she69ýs played with.
69ýWe have a lot of people who can do their jobs and do them really well, so it69ýs just going to make my life a lot easier,69ý Sundell said.
Even with her teammates relieving some of her responsibilities, Sundell said leadership is still a word that gets 69ýthrown around a lot69ý at the point guard position, and it has both a mental and physical side.
69ýPhysically, leading by example 69ý (and having) communication as a point guard is huge,69ý Sundell said. 69ýI69ýve learned since the day I got to campus, that69ýs always a work in progress and something I69ým trying to grow into.69ý
Defense is also a physical priority for Sundell 69ý and the whole roster 69ý this offseason. Both Mittie and Sundell said they have been impressed with the improvements in her on-the-ball defense.
Mentally, Sundell said she wants to be a 69ýconsistent leader69ý for the team, specifically one who doesn69ýt 69ýlet the lows get too low and the highs get too high.69ý
Sundell was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List last week, a grouping of the nation69ýs top point guards.
The 69ýhuge honor69ý comes in addition to the other outside noise the Wildcats have grown accustomed to this offseason. K-State was picked fourth in the conference69ýs preseason coaches poll and was the first team left off the AP Top 25, unofficially ranking 26th.
Furthermore, Sundell, Lee and Gregory all earned Preseason All-Big 12 Team selections, the first time in two decades K-State has placed two players on the preseason conference team.
69ýOur group has done a really good job of blocking out the noise while living up to our standards,69ý Sundell said. 69ýMore than anything we69ýre setting the standards. We know the team we can be. We know how high of a level we can be playing with.69ý
