Mary Elizabeth Hooper is part of the 2018 Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame induction class. The class will be inducted at a banquet on Sat., Jan. 27.

The signs pointed Mary Elizabeth Hooper to Wichita State to play volleyball.
 
Her coach at Plano (Texas) High knew Wichita State coach Chris Lamb and directed her to his summer camp after her sophomore year. When she visited Wichita State, Lamb showed her a plaque honoring former Shocker baseball star Kevin Hooper and told her she could be the second Hooper in the Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame.
 
There is more.
 
She asked to wear No. 5 and it was available after Sara Lungren graduated. She remembers taking a recruiting visit to Oklahoma and texting Shocker coaches throughout the match. She gave Lamb her commitment on his birthday.
 
"I had never heard of Wichita State," she said. "Coming early (after high school) was one of the greatest decisions I've made."
 
Hooper was the first Shocker in Lamb's tenure to join the volleyball program for the spring semester after graduating early from high school. That decision to practice with the team during the spring set the stage for a setting career that included four NCAA Tournament appearances, a national Freshman of the Year honor in 2008, three MVC Scholar-Athlete honors and four All-Missouri Valley Conference selections.
 
Hooper's setting skills needed refining when she arrived at Wichita State and Lamb was confident his instruction would take because of her athletic ability and work ethic.
 
"Full commitment," Lamb said. "All in to anything I wanted. She wasn't very accurate walking in the door, but I knew she could reach people and I knew she would work her tail off."
 
Hooper joined an experienced team with seniors such as Kelly Broussard and Angela Jakubov and juniors Emily Stockman, Stephanie Tokarz and Melissa Granville. With Abby Harsh setting, Wichita State went 27-6 in 2007, 17-1 in the MVC and played in the NCAA Tournament.
 
In 2008, Hooper replaced Harsh and the Shockers hit more heights. They went 29-0 in the regular season – including wins over No. 10 Cal Poly, Oklahoma and Michigan State to start the season – and finished 30-2.
 
"If you're a volleyball coach and someone wants to come at semester, you take them every time," Lamb said. "It just put us ahead of schedule. We were still trying to play the advanced level of volleyball, even though we had a bunch of newcomers doing it."
 
Hooper knew she made the right choice when the Shockers played Penn State during a spring tournament.
 
"I thought, 'Yep, this is definitely where I should be,'" she said. "I got tons of practice and a head start to roll into that season."
 
The Shockers returned to the NCAA Tournament three times with Hooper setting. She ranks second in assists (4,820) and second in assists per set (10.64) on Wichita State career lists.