WICHITA, Kan. -  Wichita State opens the home portion of the inaugural season in the American Athletic Conference with matches against USF and UCF on Sept. 29 and Oct. 1. The Shockers will play USF at 7 p.m. on Sept. 29 and UCF at 12 p.m. on Oct. 1.
 

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE PLAY

Wichita, Kan.

Charles Koch Arena

Tickets

Promotions

Game Notes

MATCH 14

#25 Wichita State (10-3, 2-0) vs.   USF (5-7, 0-2)

Sept. 29

7 P.M. CT

Shocker HD

GoShockers.com (Mike Kennedy)

GoShockers.com

MATCH 15

#25 Wichita State (10-3, 2-0) vs.   UCF (8-6, 1-1)

Oct. 1

12 P.M. CT

Shocker HD

GoShockers.com (Mike Kennedy)

GoShockers.com

SOCIAL

@GoShockersVB | #watchus

@goshockersvb | #watchus

Go Shockers

SERIES HISTORY

Shockers vs. USF: WSU leads 1-0

Last Meeting: Sept. 3, 2005 (WSU 3-0)

Shockers vs. UCF: First Meeting

On the Web
Both of Wichita State's matches this weekend will be on the internet at www.goshockers.com/listen with Mike Kennedy calling the action. They will also be on Shocker HD with Shane Dennis and Denning Gerig.

Quick Hits
• Redshirt freshman libero Giorgia Civita is The American Defensive Player of the Week
• Senior middle blocker Abbie Lehman was named to The American Honor Roll this week
• WSU leads the overall series with USF 1-0
• It will be the first meeting between WSU and UCF
• The Shockers are ranked 11th nationally in average attendance with 2,453 fans per match
• Lamb needs six wins to reach 400 for his career
• The Shockers are 25th in this week's AVCA Top-25 poll
• The Shockers are now 19-16 overall in conference openers and 13-5 under Lamb
• WSU's win over No. 8 Creighton was highest ranked win in school history
• WSU is now 25-16-1 in home openers overall and 14-4 in home openers under Head Coach Chris Lamb
• Abbie Lehman led the Shockers with 31 kills last weekend and hit .569
• Giorgia Civita averaged 6.29 digs per set 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 USF
The Bulls are 5-7 overall and 0-2 in The American. Wins this season have come against UAPB, Grambling, Presbyterian, Jacksonville and Bethune-Cookman. Losses have come against Northwestern, LSU, Stephen F. Austin, Mississippi State, Austin Peay, Cincinnati and ECU. USF is led by Priscilla Ehieze who is averaging 2.59 kills per set. Alex Mendoza averages 9.74 assists and Maria McLamb averages 4.07 digs per set. As a team, the Bulls are hitting .204, while holding opponents to a .200 clip. USF is led by head coach Courtney Draper.

Series History vs. the Bulls
Wichita State leads the overall series with USF 1-0. The lone meeting was Sept. 3, 2005 in East Lansing, Mich.

Last Meeting vs. USF
The last meeting between the two teams was Sept. 3, 2005 in East Lansing, Mich. The Shockers won the match 3-0 by scores of 30-14, 30-14 and 30-20. Darci Vohs led the Shockers with 11 kills, while Andee Hartig had 19 assists and Cori Meyer and Kelly Broussard each had eight digs.

Scouting UCF
The Knights are 8-6 overall and 1-1 in The American. Wins this season have come against Northern Colorado, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, Central ARkansas, Southern, Virginia twice and ECU. Losses have come against Duke, Colorado State, Miami, Oral Roberts, Arkansas State and Cincinnati. UCF is led by Kia Bright who is averaging 3.66 kills and 2.92 digs per set. Miranda Watkins averages 5.67 assists and Jordan Pingel averages 4.00 digs per set. As a team, the Knights are hitting .227, while holding opponents to a .190 clip. UCF is led by head coach Todd Dagenais.

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

Shockers Ranked 25th
The Wichita State volleyball team is ranked 25th in the Sept. 25 AVCA Top-25 Poll. The Shockers are receiving 95 points in the poll. It is the third ranking for the Shockers this season as they were ranked 23rd in the Sept. 4 poll and 24th in the Sept. 18 poll. Last weekend, WSU defeated Temple and UConn to start American play 2-0.

Civita and Lehman Honored by The American
Wichita State student-athletes Giorgia Civita and Abbie Lehman have been honored by the American Athletic Conference for the week of Sept. 18-24. Civita, a redshirt-freshman libero from Milan, Italy, was named The American Defensive Player of the Week, while Lehman, a senior middle blocker from Newton, Kan., was named to The American Honor Roll. Civita and Lehman led the Shockers to a 2-0 start in American play with road wins at Temple and UConn. In the two road wins, Civita averaged 6.29 digs, 0.29 aces and 0.57 assists per set. In the four-set win at Temple, she had 25 digs and also added two assists and her first career kill. In the three-set win at UConn, she had 19 digs, two aces and two assists. Lehman averaged 4.43 kills and 1.71 blocks per set, while hitting .569 in the two road wins. In the four-set win at Temple, she had 14 kills on 29 swings and hit .414. She also added a match-high eight blocks. In the three-set win at UConn, she had 17 kills on 22 swings with no errors and hit .773. She also added four blocks.

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 third in career total blocks with 435 and needs 57 more to move into second place. She is also fourth in career block assists with 379 and needs two more to move into third place. Hiebert is fourth in assists with 4,202 and needs 111 more to move into third place.

American Opener
Wichita State opened American Athletic Conference play with a 3-1 win on the road at Temple on Sept. 22. The Shockers are now 19-16 overall in conference openers and 13-5 under head coach Chris Lamb. The Shockers are also 19-16 in conference road openers and 13-5 under Lamb and 17-17 in conference home openers and 12-5 under Lamb.

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

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

American Athletic Conference Openers (2017-present)
Overall: 1-0
Road: 1-0
Home: 0-0

Chris Lamb (2000-present)
Overall: 13-5
Road: 13-5
Home: 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.

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 to open conference play. Senior Mikaela Raudsepp had a career-high 23 kills against Temple, while sophomore Alex Koon hit a career-best .316 against the Owls and had a career-high three aces against UConn. Senior Emily Hiebert hit a career-best .615 against UConn, while senior Jenny Whitledge had a career-high three assists against the Huskies. Freshman Giorgia Civita had a career-high two aces against UConn and her first career kill against Temple.

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.