The RoundHouse | 12/1/2017 10:27:00 AM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
ESPNU showed Wichita State as a host for the first weekend of the NCAA volleyball tournament. Then the screen showed Kansas in the field at Koch Arena.
 
Wichita State's Gabi Mostrom texted a Jayhawk: "Bring it on, baby."
 
"I had a lot of tests, so actually I forgot to reply," said Jacqui Mostrom, Kansas defensive specialist and younger sister. 
 
"She did not respond," Gabi Mostrom said. "She was busy, sure."
 
Friday's NCAA matches bring the Mostrom family to Wichita for a friendly volleyball reunion. The NCAA saved the family split travels by placing the Shockers and Jayhawks at the same site.
 
"All together under one roof – that will be exciting," said former Shocker Dani Mostrom.  
 
Dani Mostrom played libero for the Shockers from 2012-16 and ranks second on the school's career list with 1,991 digs. Gabi Mostrom is a senior defensive specialist. Jacqui, who spent a semester practicing at Wichita State before transferring to Kansas, is a redshirt freshman.
 
"My mom was laughing – she can't pick one over the other," Dani Mostrom said. "She was going to make shirts that were half Wichita State, half Kansas."
 
Expect 10-15 Mostrom relatives and friends, most from Springfield, Mo., in Koch Arena this weekend. The sisters are happy for each other and happy their favorite and next-favorite schools are at the same site. No one wants to look past Friday's matches.
 
If No. 16 Wichita State and Kansas meet on Saturday, well, cue a lot of emotion and competition.
 
"We encourage each other, we push each other and we always want the best for each other," Gabi Mostrom said.
 
"It's a fun game that we enjoy watching each other do well in," Jacqui Mostrom said. "We can't wait to watch each other compete."
 
Jacqui Mostrom followed her two older sisters to Wichita State for one spring semester after graduating early from Springfield Glendale. She practiced with the Shockers in 2016, putting all three sisters on the same team for the first time.
 
"I know the team really well and I'm so happy for them," she said.
 
When she decided to major in chemical engineering, not offered at Wichita State, she transferred to Kansas. She redshirted last season and has played in 26 matches for the Jayhawks.
 
What did you say? – Music blared in Koch Arena during Radford's Thursday practice, so loudly it made talking difficult.
 
That was the point. Radford coach Marci Jenkins Byers wanted noise to prepare for the crowd in Friday's match vs. Wichita State.
 
"She turned the music up on purpose so we would have to yell at each other," Radford outside hitter Maddie Palmer said.
 
Radford home games averaged 473 fans, with a high of 1,124 against Campbell in early November. On the road, it played in front of four crowds listed between 1,002 and 1,990.
 
The Highlanders (25-4) defeated Arizona, South Carolina and Virginia Tech, all on the road. Palmer, a 6-foot senior, earned Big South Player of the Year honors. She recorded a career-high 26 kills in the conference tournament championship match, a 3-1 win over top-seeded High Point.
 
"Physical players, for sure," Shocker coach Chris Lamb said. "They're a low-error team. They're going to make you have to beat them. They play clean."
 
Radford is 10^th nationally and leads the Big South by holding opponents to a .149 hitting percentage.
 
"Our defense is really, really well put together," Palmer said. "We have defenders who can read the ball consistently. We also have really aggressive servers, so we're hoping that will help us keep Wichita State out of system."
 
High Point, which won two regular-season meetings with Radford, uses its middle blockers as a big part of the offense. That experience reminds the Highlanders of Wichita State's attack, which is highlighted by American Athletic Conference Player of the Year Abbie Lehman said.
 
"We played against some pretty good middles when we played against South Carolina and Arizona," Jenkins Byers said. "Middles that were able to go over the top of the block. They were able to go around our block and really put balls away. We know some of those kids are going to be bigger than us and more physical than us. If they bounce a few balls here and there, we've just got to move on and not let that deflate us."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.