WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State travels to Fort Collins, Colo., for the Ram Volleyball Classic. The Shockers will play host Colorado State on Thurs., Sept. 8 and then play No. 3 Texas on Sat., Sept. 10. The Shockers finish the trip against Samford on Sun., Sept. 11.
On the Web
All three of Wichita State's matches this weekend at the Rams Volleyball Classic will be on the Internet at www.goshockers.com/watch with Mike Kennedy calling the action.
Scouting Colorado State
The Rams are 4-2 overall with wins over North Dakota State, St. Mary's, Northern Colorado and Baylor. Losses have come against Pittsburgh and UC Santa Barbara. As a team, they are hitting .272 while holding opponents to a .173 clip. They are led by Sanja Cizmic who is averaging 3.14 kills per set, while Katie Oleksak averages 10.73 assists and Cassidy Denny averages 4.45 digs per set. The Rams are led by head coach Tom Hilbert.
Last Meeting vs. CSU
The last meeting between the two teams was Aug. 30, 2012, in Wichita. The Shockers won 3-1 by scores of 25-12, 20-25, 25-20 and 25-19. Elizabeth Field led the Shockers with 10 kills, while Chelsey Feekin had 34 assists and Jackie Church had 14 digs.
Scouting Texas
The Longhorns are 5-1 overall with wins over Oregon, Lipscomb, UTSA, Army and Miami. Their lone loss was to No. 1 Nebraska. As a team, they are hitting .300, while holding opponents to a .221 clip. They are led by Ebony Nwanebu who is averaging 4.75 kills per set, while Chloe Collins averages 10.90 assists and Cat McCoy averages 3.45 digs per set. The Longhorns are led by head coach Jerritt Elliott.
Last Meeting vs. UT
The last meeting between the two teams was Dec. 6, 2008, in Austin, Texas, in the second round of the NCAA Tourney. The Longhorns won 3-0 by scores of 25-14, 25-18 and 25-20. Lindsey Eckenrode led the Shockers with nine kills, while Mary Elizabeth Hooper had 26 assists and Kelly Broussard had 12 digs.
Scouting Samford
The Bulldogs are 5-2 with wins over Nicholls State, South Alabama, Tennessee Tech, Northwestern State and Radford. Losses have come against Indiana State and Alabama. As a team, they are hitting .237, while holding opponents to a .180 clip. They are led by Kate Neisler who is averaging 4.00 kills and 3.04 digs per set, while Erin Bognar is averaging 4.10 kills per set and Erika Pifer is averaging 9.25 assists per set. The Bulldogs are led by head coach Keylor Chan.
Last Time Out
Wichita State went 2-1 last weekend at the Shocker Volleyball Classic. The Shockers lost to Cincinnati in four sets and then swept both IUPUI and Marquette.
Abbie Lehman and
Jody Larson each had 30 kills for the Shockers, while
Emily Hiebert had 114 assists and
Dani Mostrom had 55 digs.
Hiebert Named MVP
Junior
Emily Hiebert earned MVP honors at the Shocker Volleyball Classic, while senior
Jody Larson and junior
Mikaela Raudsepp were both named to the all-tournament team. Hiebert averaged 11.40 assists, 1.30 kills, 0.20 aces, 2.90 digs and 0.70 blocks per set in the three matches. Larson averaged 3.00 kills, 0.60 assists, 0.20 aces, 3.70 digs and 0.60 blocks per set, while Raudsepp averaged 2.80 kills, 0.40 digs and 0.30 blocks per set.
Tournament Title
Wichita State won the Shocker Volleyball Classic title after defeating Marquette in three sets on Saturday night. It was the first time the Shockers had won their own tournament since 2009 when tournament MVP Emily Stockman led them to the title. Other champions since that time include Portland (2010), BYU (2012), Hawaii (2013) and Illinois (2015).
Hiebert's Double-Doubles
Junior setter
Emily Hiebert collected double-doubles in two of the three matches at the Shocker Volleyball Classic. Hiebert now has double-doubles in three of five matches this season and owns 28 career double-doubles, which ranks her 16th in the Shocker record books.
Home Opener
Wichita State opened up the home portion of the schedule on Fri., Sept. 2 against Cincinnati. With the four-set loss, WSU is 24-16-1 in home openers overall and 13-4 in home openers under Head Coach
Chris Lamb. The four losses were in 2001, 2004, 2014 and 2016.
Top-20 Win
Wichita State earned a top-20 win on Saturday at the Iowa State Challenge. The Shockers defeated No. 18 Creighton in five sets. It was the first top-20 win for Wichita State since Dec. 1, 2012, when the Shockers defeated No. 20 Kansas 3-1 to advance to the Sweet 16.
20 Digs
Freshman
Giorgia Civita collected 21 digs against No. 18 Creighton on Aug. 27. She is the first true freshman to have 20 or more digs in a match since
Mikaela Raudsepp had 20 against Texas State on Sept. 5, 2014.
Raudsepp and Hiebert Named to All-Tournament Team
Juniors
Mikaela Raudsepp and
Emily Hiebert both earned all-tournament team honors at the Iowa State Challenge. Raudsepp, an outside hitter from Dundee, Ore., averaged 2.88 kills, 0.25 aces and 0.62 digs per set, while hitting .333 in the two matches. Hiebert, a setter from Newton, Kan., averaged 7.00 assists, 0.88 kills, 0.25 aces, and 2.50 digs per set, while hitting .353 in the two matches.
Moving on Up
Senior libero
Dani Mostrom and junior setter
Emily Hiebert continue to climb the Shocker career records list for digs and assists. Mostrom is now third in career digs with 1,619 and needs 10 more to move into second place, while Hiebert is ninth in assists with 2,700 and needs 56 more to move into eighth place.
Family Connection
Sisters
Dani Mostrom and
Gabi Mostrom are the fifth set of sisters to play volleyball at Wichita State. They are only the second set to play together at WSU joining Marsha and Pam Olmsted who played together for the Shockers in 1976. The other Shocker sisters include: Valerie and Kim Wadsworth, Jessica and Taylor Keys and Angie and Michele Hallagin.
Sophomore
Tabitha Brown, who transferred from Alabama, joins her brother Zach Brown at Wichita State. Zach is a junior on the men's basketball team.
International History
WSU welcomes freshman libero
Giorgia Civita to the team in 2016. Civita is from Milan, Italy and is looking to become just the seventh international player to play for the Shockers. Others include Kim Henry (1989-92) from Canada, Swee Ng (1992) from Malaysia, Marsha Van Cedar (1994-95) from Canada, Tomoko Matsuda (1996) from Japan, Lucia Zhanje (2000) from Zimbabwe and
Shimen Fayad (2014-15) from Canada. One other international player was on the roster in 1992, but never played in a match (Tamie Bearup, Italy).
Season Openers
Wichita State is 19-20-2 in season openers overall and 10-7 in season openers under head coach
Chris Lamb.
WSU Receives Votes in AVCA Poll
The Wichita State volleyball team received votes in the AVCA Preseason Poll, which was released Aug. 10. The Shockers received 21 points in the poll.
The Shockers open the season on the road Aug. 26, at the Iowa State Challenge in Ames, Iowa, against Iowa State.
WSU returns five starters and nine letterwinners to a team that went 27-9 in 2015 and won the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Shockers will play five teams in 2016 that are ranked or receiving votes in the preseason poll including Texas (2nd), Creighton (18th), Colorado State (25th), Iowa State (RV) and Marquette (RV).28, at the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii, against Oregon State.
Shockers Picked First in Preseason MVC Poll
The Wichita State volleyball team is picked first in the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. The Shockers received seven first-place votes and 97 points in the poll. The Shockers return nine letterwinners and five starters from a team that went 27-9 overall and 15-3 in Missouri Valley Conference play in 2015. Last season, the Shockers won the MVC regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Lehman and Hiebert Named to Preseason All-Valley Team
Junior middle blocker
Abbie Lehman and junior setter
Emily Hiebert were named to the preseason all-conference team. Lehman earned honorable mention All-America and first team all-Valley honors in 2015 and averaged 2.97 kills and 1.11 blocks per set, while hitting .423. Hiebert earned first team all-Valley honors in 2015 and averaged 10.43 assists, 0.26 aces and 2.23 digs per set.
Five Starters Return
The Shockers return five starters (
Abbie Lehman,
Emily Hiebert,
Mikaela Raudsepp,
Jody Larson,
Katy Dudzinski) in 2014 from a team that went 27-9 a year ago. WSU also returns libero
Dani Mostrom. Starters not returning from last year's team are
Katie Reilly, who graduated, and
Shimen Fayad, who transferred to Cal State Fullerton.
Television Schedule Announced
Nineteen Wichita State volleyball matches during the 2016 season will be televised on The Valley on ESPN3 – the league's co-branded digital network with ESPN.
