WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State travels this weekend to Indianapolis, Ind., for the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational, Sept. 1-2. The Shockers will play host IUPUI on Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. and finish the tourney on Sat., Sept. 2 against Marquette at 9 a.m. and Miami, Ohio at 4 p.m.
On the Web
All three of Wichita State's matches this weekend at the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational will be on the internet at www.goshockers.com/listen with Mike Kennedy calling the action.
Quick Hits
• Senior setter
Emily Hiebert is this week's American Offensive Player of the Week
• The Shockers are 26th in this week's AVCA Top-25 poll
•
Tabitha Brown led the Shockers with 36 kills last weekend and hit .345
• Brown collected her 500th career kill against ETSU
•
Giorgia Civita anchored the defense with 5.33 digs per set in the LUV Invitational
• The Shockers are 3-0 for the first time since 2008
• It is just the second time (1992) in program history that the team started the season with three sweeps
• Wichita State is playing its first season in the American Athletic Conference. The Shocker volleyball program was a member of the Missouri Valley Conference from 1992-2017
• WSU is now 20-20 in season openers and 11-7 under
Chris Lamb
• Head Coach
Chris Lamb is in his 18th season with the Shockers
• WSU returns four starters including
Abbie Lehman,
Emily Hiebert,
Mikaela Raudsepp and
Tabitha Brown
• Lamb needs 13 wins to reach 400 for his career
• The Shockers are picked first in the preseason American Athletic Conference poll
•
Emily Hiebert and
Abbie Lehman were both named to the preaseason all-conference team
• WSU received votes in the preseason AVCA poll
• WSU ranked 12th in the nation in attendance last season (2,264 average) and had a season-high crowd of 3,122 Oct. 28 against UNI at Charles Koch Arena
• WSU has won 20 or more matches for 14-straight years
• WSU won four MVC Tournament titles (2004, 2013, 2015, 2016)
• The Shockers won six MVC regular-season championships (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2015)
•
Emily Hiebert became the first Shocker to earn Valley Setter of the Year honors in 2016
• Five Shockers earned all-Valley honors last season including
Emily Hiebert,
Abbie Lehman and
Jody Larson on the first team and
Mikaela Raudsepp and
Tabitha Brown on the second team
• WSU finished in the top-three in the Valley standings for the last 14 years
Series History vs. Tourney Field
The Shockers are 5-1 all-time against the 2017 tourney field:
IUPUI - 1-1
Marquette - 4-0
Miami (Ohio) - 0-0
Scouting IUPUI
The Jaguars started the year 2-2 with wins over Georgia Southern and Florida International and losses to Florida Gulf Coast and Fort Wayne. This season, IUPUI has been led by Kori Waelbroeck who averages 4.40 kills per set. Maggie Gibson averages 9.73 assists and Jessica Helms averages 5.73 digs per set. As a team, IUPUI is hitting .193, while holding opponents to a .193 clip. The Jaguars are led by head coach Steve Payne.
Last Meeting vs. the Jaguars
The last meeting between the two teams was Sept. 3, 2016, in Wichita. The Shockers won 3-0 by scores of 25-14, 25-20 and 25-9.
Abbie Lehman led the Shockers with 15 kills, while
Emily Hiebert had 36 assists and
Dani Mostrom had 15 digs.
Scouting Marquette
The Golden Eagles started the year 1-2 with a win over No. 20 Hawaii and losses to No. 13 UCLA and No. 22 San Diego. In the tournament, Marquette was led by Allie Barber who averaged 4.42 kills per set. Lauren Speckman averaged 10.67 assists and Martha Konovodoff averaged 3.67 digs per set. As a team, Marquette hit .176, while holding opponents to a .224 clip. The Golden Eagles are led by head coach Ryan Theis.
Last Meeting vs. the Golden Eagles
The last meeting between the two teams was Sept. 3, 2016, in Wichita. The Shockers won 3-0 by scores of 25-14, 25-22 and 25-20.
Tabitha Brown led the Shockers with 11 kills, while
Emily Hiebert had 39 assists and
Dani Mostrom had 21 digs.
Scouting Miami (Ohio)
The RedHawks started the year 3-1 with wins over Southern Illinois, Northern Arizona and Xavier and a loss to Western Kentucky. This season, Miami is led by Margaret Payne who averages 3.40 kills per set. Mackenzie Zielinski averages 6.60 assists and Maeve McDonald averages 5.40 digs per set. As a team, Miami is hitting .224, while holding opponents to a .206 clip. The RedHawks are led by head coach Carolyn Condit.
Moving on Up
Senior middle blocker
Abbie Lehman and senior setter
Emily Hiebert continue to climb the Shocker career records list for blocks and assists. Lehman is now sixth in career total blocks with 393 and needs nine more to move into fifth place. She is also seventh in career block assists with 341 and needs two more to move into fifth place. Hiebert is fifth in assists with 3,801 and needs 164 more to move into fourth place.
Shockers Ranked 26th This Week
The Wichita State volleyball team is just outside the top-25 poll this week after starting the 2017 season 3-0. The Shockers are receiving 73 points in the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll, which puts them 26th. WSU is off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2008. This weekend, the Shockers will travel to Indianapolis, Ind., for the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational where they will face IUPUI, Marquette, who is also receiving votes, and Miami, Ohio. Future Shocker opponents that are ranked or receiving votes include No. 14 Oregon on Sept. 8, Cal Poly, who is receiving votes, on Sept. 9, No. 7 Creighton on Sept. 15, and No. 25 Iowa State on Sept. 17.
Hiebert Named American Offensive Player of the Week
Wichita State volleyball student-athlete
Emily Hiebert has been named the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the first week of the season. Hiebert, a senior setter from Newton, Kan., led the Shockers to the first 3-0 start since 2008. She averaged 10.00 assists, 0.89 kills, 0.67 service aces, 3.11 digs and 1.56 blocks per set in the three sweeps over Lipscomb, ETSU and Belmont. She guided the Shocker offense to a .264 team hitting percentage in the three matches. In the three-set win over 2016 NCAA Tournament team Lipscomb, she had 32 assists, one kill, one ace, five digs and a career-high eight blocks. She also guided the offense to a robust .337 hitting percentage. In the three-set win over ETSU, she had a double-double with 32 assists and 14 digs, while adding five kills, four service aces and three blocks. In the three-set win over Belmont, she had 26 assists, two kills, one ace, nine digs and three blocks. It is the second conference player of the week honor of her career. She was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week on Oct. 17, 2016.
3-0 Start
Wichita State used sweeps of Lipscomb, ETSU and Belmont to start 3-0 on the season. It is the first 3-0 start for the Shockers since 2008 and the fourth overall under head coach
Chris Lamb (2002, 2006, 2008, 2017). It is just the second time in program history that the Shockers started the season with three sweeps. The 1992 team began the season with five-straight sweeps.
Block Party
Wichita State collected 15 blocks in the season opening three-set win over Lipscomb. It was the fourth-most blocks in a three-set match for the Shockers in school history in the rally scoring era (2001-16).
500 Kills
Junior outside hitter
Tabitha Brown collected her 500th career kill in the win over ETSU on Aug. 26. Brown had 161 kills in her freshman season at Alabama and 325 as a sophomore at Wichita State.
Shocker Debuts
Four Shocker freshmen made their collegiate debuts opening weekend. Redshirt freshman
Emma Wright,
Abby Pugh and
Lauren Hinrichs all played along with true freshman
Chase Jackson.
Career-Highs
Several Shockers recorded career-highs opening weekend including a career-high five block assists for
Tabitha Brown against Lipscomb, a career-high seven block assists for
Emily Hiebert against Lipscomb, and a career-high 22 digs for
Giorgia Civita against ETSU.
Season Openers
Wichita State is now 20-20-2 in season openers overall and 11-7 in season openers under head coach
Chris Lamb.
Shockers Picked First in Preseason American Poll
The Wichita State volleyball team is picked first in the 2017 American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. The Shockers received seven first-place votes and 116 points in the poll. The Shockers return eight letterwinners and four starters from a team that went 24-8 overall and 15-3 in Missouri Valley Conference play in 2016. Last season, the Shockers won the MVC tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Lehman and Hiebert Named to Preseason All-Conference Team
Senior middle blocker
Abbie Lehman and senior setter
Emily Hiebert were named to the preseason all-conference team. Lehman earned honorable mention All-America and first team all-Valley honors in 2016 and averaged 2.68 kills and 1.27 blocks per set, while hitting .384. Hiebert earned first team all-Valley and Setter of the Year honors in 2016 and averaged 10.64 assists, 0.59 blocks and 2.81 digs per set.
Family Connection
Two Shocker volleyball players have siblings who compete in other sports at Wichita State. Junior
Tabitha Brown's brother Zach is a senior on the men's basketball team, while redshirt freshman
Regan Stiawalt's brother Chandler is a freshman on the men's track and field team.
International History
Redshirt freshman libero
Giorgia Civita returns to the team in 2017. Civita is from Milan, Italy and is 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).
WSU Joins The American
On April 7, 2017, Wichita State accepted an invitation to the American Athletic Conference. Commissioner Mike Aresco announced the addition of Wichita State to the American Athletic Conference beginning on July 1, 2017. The American's Board of Directors unanimously voted to accept Wichita State as its newest member. The Shockers officially joined The American on July 1, 2017 and conference members include the University of Central Florida, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Connecticut, East Carolina University, the University of Houston, the University of Memphis, Southern Methodist University, the University of South Florida, Temple University, Tulane University, University of Tulsa, the U.S. Naval Academy and Wichita State University. Navy is a football-only member and Wichita State is a basketball and Olympic sports-only member.
Four Starters Return
The Shockers return four starters (
Abbie Lehman,
Emily Hiebert,
Mikaela Raudsepp,
Tabitha Brown) in 2017 from a team that went 24-8 a year ago. Starters not returning from last year's team are
Jody Larson and
Katy Dudzinski and libero
Dani Mostrom, who all graduated.
Shockers 12th Nationally in Attendance in 2016
WSU volleyball ranked in the top-15 nationally in attendance in 2016. The Shockers had a total attendance figure of 27,163 and averaged 2,264 fans per match, which was 12th nationally.
Lamb Returns for 18th Season
Head coach
Chris Lamb, four-time MVC Coach of the Year, returns for his 18th season after guiding the Shockers to 14-straight 20-win seasons. In 2011, he became the winningest coach in Shocker volleyball history and in 2013 he won his 300th career match.
Shockers on the Web
All Wichita State volleyball matches will be broadcast on goshockers.com/listen in 2017. WSU Hall of Famer Mike Kennedy will perform play-by-play duties for all of the matches.
Fall Practice Schedule
The Shockers will practice in the Aetna Multi- Purpose Center on Monday and Wednesday from 3-6 p.m and on Tuesday and Thursday from 1-4 p.m. On the day before a home match, the team will practice on Devlin Court.
The Chris Lamb Radio Show
The
Chris Lamb Radio Show will air on Monday's from 6:30-7 p.m. on 98.7 FM and 1330 KNSS. Mike Kennedy will host the show and it gets underway on Mon., Aug. 28.
2016 Review
The Shockers went 24-8 in 2016 and 15-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference. WSU won the MVC tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Leading the Shockers were honorable mention All-America selections
Abbie Lehman and
Jody Larson and MVC Setter of the Year
Emily Hiebert.
Mikaela Raudsepp and
Tabitha Brown both earned second team all-Valley honors.
