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WICHITA, Kan.- The Wichita State volleyball team grabbed sole possession of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference, defeating Loyola 3-2 on Saturday night inside Charles Koch Arena. The Shockers won by scores of 25-20, 25-17, 20-25, 23-25 and 16-14.
 
The Shockers were led by junior Jody Larson, who had 15 kills in the match. Mikaela Raudsepp and Shimen Fayad each had 12 kills and Katie Reilly added 11 kills. Setter Emily Hiebert contributed 31 assists and Dani Mostrom had 21 digs in the winning effort.
 
Wichita State jumped out to a 5-1 lead early in the first set to force the Ramblers to take a timeout. Out of the timeout, a kill by Fayad pushed the lead to 7-2 Shockers. Later, the Ramblers tied it at 15-all to force Wichita State to take a timeout of its own. Back-to-back kills by Larson and Raudsepp saw the Shockers go up 17-15 until Loyola fought back to take a 20-19 advantage, forcing the Shockers to take another timeout. Wichita State grabbed the next two points out of the timeout to jump ahead 21-20. An ace from Raudsepp put the Shockers up 24-20 and Wichita State won the set 25-20.
 
A kill by Reilly and an attack error by Loyola gave Wichita State an early 6-5 advantage in the second set. Three-straight Wichita State points saw the Shockers go-ahead 10-7 and forced Loyola to take a timeout. Later, another Reilly kill forced the Ramblers to take their second timeout and put the Shocker lead at 14-10. Then, back-to-back kills by Raudsepp and MaryAshton Floyd pushed the Wichita State advantage to 18-11.  The Shockers went on to win the set 25-17.
 
The Shockers went down early in the third set and an 11-6 lead for the Ramblers forced Wichita State to take a timeout. An ace by Reilly cut the Rambler lead to one 11-10, but Loyola scored four straight points to go up 15-10. The Ramblers won the set 25-20.
 
A kill by Larson cut the Rambler lead to 5-4 early in the fourth set. A block by Floyd tied the set at 6, and a few points later another block, this time by Raudsepp, put the Shockers up 8-6. The Ramblers tied the set at 12 to force a Wichita State timeout, but a Larson kill out of the timeout put Wichita State up 13-12. The teams traded attacks for much of the set, but two-straight points by the Shockers saw them go up 20-18 and forced the visitors from Chicago to call a timeout. The Ramblers then scored the next two points to tie the set at 20 and they went on to win 25-23 to force a fifth and final set.
 
Fayad opened the fifth set with a kill for Wichita State, and back-to-back Loyola errors put the Shocker lead at 3-0. Later. a Larson kill and an ace by Fayad gave the Shockers a 7-6 advantage. A Loyola attack that went long pushed the Wichita State lead to 9-7 and forced the Ramblers to take a timeout. A Raudsepp kill tied it at 13 and back-to-back kills by Larson and Fayad put the Shockers up 15-14. Fayad sealed the match with a kill to give Wichita State the fifth set, 16-14.
 
The Shockers will now head to Normal, Ill. to take on Illinois State on Fri., Oct. 23. The match is set to start at 6 p.m.