Tournament Central |  Postgame Press Conference
  Highlights

WICHITA, Kan. -  Wichita State's no-stress victory over Radford in the first round of the NCAA volleyball tournament put the spotlight on the historic nature of the moment.
 
That was fine with Shocker coach Chris Lamb, who took over a program with little history of success in 2000. He got the Shockers into their first NCAA Tournament in 2004 and the Sweet 16 in 2012.
 
He savored another landmark on Friday, when Wichita State hosted NCAA play for the first time. The Shockers defeated Radford 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-15) in front of a school-record crowd of 7,257 at Koch Arena.
 
"I was just thrilled to turn around and see all the Shocker fans," Lamb said. "Volleyball needs that to happen. I always knew Wichita would get it done. Great volleyball night."
 
Saturday could be even better. The Shockers, seeded No. 16 in the 64-team bracket, will play Missouri (21-11) for the right to advance to the Sweet 16 at 7 p.m. The Tigers defeated Kansas 3-2 in Friday's first match.
 
The Shockers (29-3), who won their 21^st straight match, advance to the second round for the seventh time in 11 NCAA appearances.
 
"The atmosphere was awesome," Wichita State middle Abbie Lehman said. "We asked for a big crowd and Shocker nation showed up. It means a lot."
 
The hype and distraction of playing at home worried Lamb. The Shockers, with six seniors to keep them steady, showed few signs of wobbling. They hit .440, a high in NCAA play for the Shockers.
 
"When they were in system they were hard to deal with," Radford coach Marci Jenkins Byer said. "We wanted to be able to serve them out of system and keep their setter a little bit further off the net."
 
Block out the larger-than-normal crowd and the blue NCAA signage and the match played out like most this season. Wichita State's balanced and precise offense controlled the match.
 
Lehman led the Shockers with 14 kills on 23 swings. Mikaela Raudsepp added 13 and Alex Koon 10. Wichita State finished with nine attack errors on 53 swings. Setter Emily Hiebert recorded 42 assists and nine digs.
 
"We played a very efficient match," Lamb said,.
 
Outside hitter Maddie Palmer, the Big South Player of the Year, led Radford (25-5) with 15 kills.
 
In the third set, the Shockers broke a 4-all tie with a 7-1 run. Wichita State hit .581 in the set with one hitting error and 19 kills on 31 swings.
 
The Shockers fell behind 4-1 in the opening set. Helped by four straight Radford hitting errors, Wichita State took a 7-4 lead and didn't trail again in the set. It extended its lead to 18-10 before Radford scored three straight times.
 
A slide by Lehman and back-to-back kills by Brown gave WSU a 23-14 lead.
 
Brown finished the set with six kills on 11 swings. Lehman and Raudsepp each added three.
 
The Shockers held the Highlanders to a .105 attack percentage in the first set.
 
In the second set, the Shockers rolled to an 8-2 lead with six kills on seven swings. After a timeout, Radford cut the lead to 9-7 and forced a Shocker timeout. The Highlanders trailed 19-16 before the Shockers ended the set on a 6-2 run.
 
Raudsepp recorded seven kills on 11 swings in the set. Palmer carried Radford with seven kills in the set.