WICHITA, Kan. -  Wichita State opens the inaugural season in the American Athletic Conference with a road trip to Temple and UConn, Sept. 22 and 24. The Shockers will play in Philadelphia, Pa., on Fri., Sept. 22 against Temple at 6 p.m. CT and play UConn in Storrs, Conn., on Sun., Sept. 24 at 11 a.m. CT.
 

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE PLAY

Philadelphia, Pa.

McGonigle Hall

Storrs, Conn.

Gampel Pavilion

Game Notes

MATCH 12

#24 Wichita State (8-3) at Temple (4-4)

Sept. 22

6 P.M. CT

American Digital Network

GoShockers.com (Mike Kennedy)

GoShockers.com

MATCH 13

#24 Wichita State (8-3) at UConn (7-5)

Sept. 24

11 A.M. CT

Video Stream ($$)

GoShockers.com (Mike Kennedy)

UConnHuskies.com

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SERIES HISTORY

Shockers vs. Temple: First Meeting

Shockers vs. UConn: First Meeting

On TV
Friday's match at Temple will be televised on The American Digital Network. Keith Irrizarry and Jacob Wilkins will be calling the action. Fans can watch for free on The American Digital Network YouTube channel.

On the Web
Both of Wichita State's matches this weekend to open American Athletic Conference play will be on the internet at www.goshockers.com/listen with Mike Kennedy calling the action.

Quick Hits
• Redshirt freshman libero Giorgia Civita is The American Defensive Player of the Week
• Senior outside hitter Mikaela Raudsepp was named to The American Honor Roll this week
• The Shockers are 18-16 overall in conference openers and 12-5 under Lamb
• It will be the first meeting in school history with Temple and UConn
• WSU's win over No. 8 Creighton was highest ranked win in school history
• The Shockers are ranked ninth nationally in average attendance with 2,453 fans per match
• Lamb needs eight wins to reach 400 for his career
• The Shockers are 24th in this week's AVCA Top-25 poll
• WSU is now 25-16-1 in home openers overall and 14-4 in home openers under Head Coach Chris Lamb
• Tabitha Brown and Mikaela Raudsepp led the Shockers with 30 kills each last weekend
• Giorgia Civita averaged 7.86 digs last weekend for WSU
• Senior setter Emily Hiebert collected her 4,000 career assist against Cal Poly
• Senior middle blocker Abbie Lehman collected her 1,000th career kill against IUPUI
• 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
• 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
• 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 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

Scouting Temple
The Owls have started the year 4-4 with wins over Northeastern, St. John's, Albany and Boston College. Losses have come against UMBC, Maryland, Colgate and Villanova. This season, Temple has been led by Irem Asci who is averaging 2.91 kills per set, while Izzy Rapacz averages 2.72 kills per set. Kyra Coundourides averages 6.96 assists and Mia Heirakuji averages 3.25 digs per set. As a team, the Owls are hitting .219, while holding opponents to a .178 clip. Temple is led by head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam.

Series History vs. the Owls
This will be the first meeting between the two teams.

Scouting UConn
The Huskies are 7-5 this season with wins over New Hampshire, St. John's, Iona, Hartford, Albany, UMKC and Grand Canyon. Losses have come against Sacramento State, LSU, Villanova, Princeton and Bradley. UConn is led by Kayla Williams who is averaging 3.31 kills per set, while Emma Turner averages 9.48 assists and Kennedy Arundel averages 3.83 digs per set. As a team, the Huskies are hitting .213, while holding opponents to a .170 clip. UConn is led by head coach Kris Grunwald.

Series History vs. the Huskies
This will be the first meeting between the two teams.

Shockers Ranked 24th
The Wichita State volleyball team is ranked 24th in the Sept. 18 AVCA Top- 25 Poll. The Shockers are receiving 116 points in the poll. It is the second ranking for the Shockers this season as they were ranked 23rd in the Sept. 4 poll. Last weekend, WSU defeated No. 8 Creighton and lost to No. 19 Iowa State.

American Opener
Wichita State opens American Athletic Conference play this weekend on the road at Temple. The Shockers are 18-16 overall in conference openers and 12-5 under head coach Chris Lamb. The Shockers are also 18-16 in conference road openers and 12-5 under Lamb. WSU opened the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference season with a road win at Missouri State.

Gateway Conference Openers (1983-91)
Overall: 1-8
Road: 2-7

Missouri Valley Conference Openers (1992-2016)
Overall: 17-8
Road: 16-9

Chris Lamb (2000-present)
Overall: 12-5
Road: 12-5

Down Goes No. 8
Wichita State earned its second top-10 win in program history with a 3-1 win over No. 8 Creighton on Fri., Sept. 15. The other was in 2008 against No. 10 Cal Poly. It was the Shockers first win over a ranked team since Aug. 27, 2016 when they beat No. 18 Creighton.

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 fifth in career total blocks with 423 and needs six more to move into fourth place. She is also fourth in career block assists with 369 and needs 12 more to move into third place. Hiebert is fourth in assists with 4,120 and needs 193 more to move into third place.

Civita and Raudsepp Honored by The American
Wichita State volleyball student-athlete Giorgia Civita has been named the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 11-17. Mikaela Raudsepp also earned honors on The American Honor Roll. Civita and Raudsepp both earned all-tournament team honors at the Shocker Volleyball Classic where the Shockers went 1-1. WSU defeated No. 8 Creighton on Friday before falling to No. 19 Iowa State on Sunday. Civita, a redshirt freshman libero from Milan, Italy, averaged 7.86 digs, 0.14 aces and 1.43 assists per set in the tournament. In the four-set win over No. 8 Creighton, she had a match-high 29 digs along with seven assists. In the three-set loss to No. 19 Iowa State, she had a team-high 26 digs along with three assists and one ace. Raudsepp, a senior outside hitter from Dundee, Ore., averaged 4.29 kills, 0.57 digs and 0.29 blocks per set and hit .296 on the outside. In the four-set win over No. 8 Creighton, she had 11 kills, one dig and one block and hit .296. In the three-set loss to No. 19 Iowa State, she had a match-high 19 kills along with one assist, three digs and one block, while hitting .295.

Long Set
No. 19 Iowa State beat Wichita State 37-35 in set two of their Sept. 17 match in Wichita. It was the most points scored in a set for the Shockers during the 25-point rally scoring era (2008-present). WSU scored 33 against Bowling Green in 2014, 32 against Oklahoma in 2008 and 31 against Northern Iowa in 2009.

Raudsepp & Civita Named to All-Tourney Team
Senior outside hitter Mikaela Raudsepp and redshirt freshman libero Giorgia Civita earned all-tournament team honors at the Shocker Volleyball Classic. Raudsepp averaged 4.29 kills and 0.57 digs, while hitting .296 in the two matches. Civita averaged 7.86 digs per set against No. 8 Creighton and No. 19 Iowa State.

Career-Highs
Several Shockers tied or set new career-highs over the weekend at the Shocker Volleyball Classic. Senior outside hitter Mikaela Raudsepp tied her career-high with 19 kills against No. 19 Iowa State. Freshman middle blocker Emma Wright tied her career-high with six block assists against No. 8 Creighton and sophomore outside hitter Alex Koon had a career-high nine kills against ISU and five block assists against CU.

Home Opener
Wichita State opened up the home portion of the schedule on Fri., Sept. 15 against No. 8 Creighton with a 3-1 win. WSU is now 25-16-1 in home openers overall and 14-4 in home openers under Head Coach Chris Lamb. The four losses were in 2001, 2004, 2014 and 2016.

4,000 Assists
Senior setter Emily Hiebert recorded her 4,000th career assist on Sept. 9 against Cal Poly. She now has 4,030 assists and is just the fourth player in school history to reach the 4,000-assist mark. She joins Mary Elizabeth Hooper (4,820), Michele Hallagin (4,476) and Kori Rosenkranz (4,313).

Smith's Impact
Freshman middle blocker Brooke Smith made her collegiate debut in the third set against Marquette. In that come from behind win, she had five kills on eight swings and hit .625. She also added five blocks. In the four-set win over Miami, she had seven kills on 14 swings and hit .500, while also adding a dig and two blocks.

Comeback
The Shockers earned a come from behind win on Sept. 2 against Marquette. The Golden Eagles won the first two sets before the Shockers fought back to win the match in five sets. It was the first time the Shockers came back from an 0-2 deficit to win since Aug. 27, 2016 when they did it against No. 18 Creighton.

1,000 Kills
Senior middle blocker Abbie Lehman collected her 1,000th career kill on Sept. 1 at IUPUI. She is just the 12th Shocker to record 1,000 career kills. She now has 1,030 for her career.

All-Tournament Team Honors
Junior outside hitter Tabitha Brown earned MVP honors at the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational over the weekend. Senior setter Emily Hiebert and senior middle blocker Abbie Lehman were also named to the all-tournament team. Brown averaged 4.58 kills, 2.67 digs and 0.58 blocks per set, while hitting .316 in the three matches. Hiebert averaged 10.50 assists, 1.33 kills, 2.42 digs and 0.50 blocks per set, while Lehman averaged 2.92 kills, 0.33 digs, 1.08 blocks per set and hit .354.

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.

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.

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.

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.