are you looking for the
=large
and
=small
functions?

You can designate a range, and the k highest or lowest value found in that range. IE 3rd highest number from a1:a100.

Note:
If you're doing this for multiple ascending values, use somethin like row() for your k value in the first row if it's in row 1, or row()-3 if it's in row 4 etc. This will let you drag the formula down, and the row() function will update per row to give you 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc. as it goes.