WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State travels this weekend to Eugene, Ore., for the Nike Classic, Sept. 8-9. The Shockers will play Duquesne at 1 p.m. CT on Fri., Sept. 8 and No. 14 Oregon at 10 p.m. CT. WSU finishes the tourney with Cal Poly on Sat., Sept. 9 at 4 p.m. CT.
On the Web
All three of Wichita State's matches this weekend at the Nike Classic will be on the internet at www.goshockers.com/listen with Mike Kennedy calling the action. Friday night's match vs. No. 14 Oregon will be video streamed for free at goducks.com/live.
Quick Hits
• Junior outside hitter
Tabitha Brown is this week's American Offensive Player of the Week
• The Shockers are 23rd in this week's AVCA Top- 25 poll. It is the first ranking for the Shockers since the 2013 preseason poll
• Senior outside hitter
Mikaela Raudsepp is from Dundee, Oregon
• WSU is one of 29 undefeated teams
• The Shockers are making their third trip to the state of Oregon. WSU played in Corvallis in 1998 and in Portland in 2013
•
Tabitha Brown led the Shockers with 55 kills last weekend and hit .316
• Senior middle blocker
Abbie Lehman collected her 1,000th career kill against IUPUI
• The Shockers are 6-0 for the first time since 2008
• Redshirt freshman
Aspen Kridner's birthday is Sept. 9
• 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 10 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 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 1-3 all-time against the 2017 tourney field:
Duquesne - 0-0
Oregon - 0-1
Cal Poly - 1-2
Scouting Duquesne
The Dukes started the year 4-4 with wins over Coppin State, Canisius, Robert Morris and Saint Francis and losses to Xavier, Bowling Green, Illinois Chicago and Northern Kentucky. This season, Duquesne has been led by Maria Mosbacher who is averaging 3.79 kills per set. Dani Suiter averages 10.32 assists and Camryn Vecera averages 4.75 digs per set. As a team, the Dukes are hitting .228, while holding opponents to a .229 clip. The Dukes are led by head coach Steve Opperman.
Scouting Oregon
The Ducks started the year 4-1 with wins over No. 5 Nebraska, UTRGV, Loyola Marymount and Northern Illinois. The lone loss was to No. 1 Texas. This season, Oregon has been led by Lindsey Vander Weide who is averaging 3.74 kills per set, while Maggie Scott averages 6.42 assists and Brooke Van Sickle averages 4.62 digs per set. As a team, Oregon is hitting .269, while holding opponents to a .170 clip. The Ducks are led by head coach Matt Ulmer.
Last Meeting vs. the Ducks
The last meeting between the two teams was Sept. 4, 1993, in Irvine, Calif. The Ducks won 3-0 by scores of 15-3, 15-4 and 15-7. Kristen Carr led the Shockers with five kills, while Kori Rosenkranz had 16 assists and Holly Shifflette had five digs.
Scouting Cal Poly
The Mustangs started the year 5-1 with wins over Dayton, High Point, Northern Illinois, Seattle and Santa Clara and a loss to No. 8 Washington. This season, Cal Poly is led by Torrey Van Winden who averages 4.72 kills per set, while Taylor Nelson averages 11.72 assists and Katherine Brouker averages 3.61 digs per set. As a team, Cal Poly is hitting .306, while holding opponents to a .221 clip. The Mustangs are led by head coach Sam Crosson.
Last Meeting vs. the Mustangs
The last meeting between the two teams was Aug. 29, 2008 in Norman, Okla., in the season opener. The Shockers came back to beat the Mustangs 3-2 by scores of 16-25, 12-25, 25-19, 25-21 and 15-8. Emily Stockman and Lindsey Eckenrode each had 15 kills for the Shockers, while Mary Elizabeth Hooper had 39 assists and Kelly Broussard had 24 digs.
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 406 and needs 23 more to move into fourth place. She is also fifth in career block assists with 352 and needs four more to move into fourth place. Hiebert is fifth in assists with 3,927 and needs 38 more to move into fourth place.
Shockers Ranked 23rd
The Wichita State volleyball team is ranked 23rd in the Sept. 4 AVCA Top-25 Poll. The Shockers are receiving 164 points in the poll. It is the first ranking in the poll for the Shockers since the preseason poll on Aug. 12, 2013 when WSU was ranked 24th. It is the highest ranking for the Shockers since they were also 23rd in the final poll of the year on Dec. 18, 2012. WSU is off to a 6-0 start for the first time since 2008. This weekend, the Shockers will travel to Eugen, Ore., for the Nike Classice where they will face Duquesne, No. 14 Oregon and Cal Poly, who is receiving votes. Future Shocker opponents that are ranked or receiving votes include No. 9 Creighton on Sept. 15 and No. 22 Iowa State on Sept. 17.
Brown Named American Player of the Week
Wichita State volleyball student-athlete
Tabitha Brown was named the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Aug. 28-Sept. 3. Brown, a junior outside hitter from Spring, Texas, earned MVP honors at the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational as she led Wichita State to a 3-0 record and the tournament championship. She averaged 4.58 kills, 0.33 assists, 0.08 aces, 2.67 digs, 0.58 blocks and 5.00 points per set, while hitting .316 on the left side. In the tourney opener at host IUPUI, she had 10 kills, seven digs and two blocks, while hitting .333. In the dramatic five-set comeback win over Marquette, she had a team-high 21 kills and also added 18 digs, three assists, three blocks and a service ace that clinched the fifth set. In the four-set win over Miami, she had a career-high 24 kills along with an assist, seven digs and two blocks, while hitting .400. It is her third career Conference Player of the Week award. She was the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week on Nov. 14 and Nov. 21 of last season.
6-0
Wichita State improved to 6-0 on the year with three wins at the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational. It is the second 6-0 start in school history with the other coming in 2008 when the Shockers started 29-0.
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.
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
Junior outside hitter
Tabitha Brown set new career-highs in three categories over the weekend, while redshirt freshman
Giorgia Civita had a career-high in digs. Brown had a career-high 24 kills against Miami, a career-high 61 attack attempts against Marquette and a career-high three assists against Marquette. Civita had a career-high 29 digs against Marquette.
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.
