The RoundHouse | 10/14/2018 7:02:00 PM

Wichita State coach Chris Lamb said the Shockers talked before he arrived in the locker room, which is a good sign. He liked what he heard after Sunday's 3-2 loss to Cincinnati at Koch Arena.
 
The Shockers (9-9, 4-3 American Athletic Conference) have a lot to discuss after what was both a heartening and disappointing loss to the Bearcats (16-4, 7-0). 
 
The Shockers are seriously short-handed due to injuries, missing middle Emma Wright, outside hitter Megan Taflinger and setter Kali Eaken. That upheaval didn't stop them from taking a 2-1 lead over Cincinnati. The Shockers, however, faded in the final two sets and missed a chance to insert themselves into the conference race in a big way.
 
Taflinger (ab strain) could return to the lineup soon. Wright (thumb injury) could return later this season. Eaken's right knee injury likely ended her senior season. Wichita State is down three starters and searching for scoring.
 
"We're sort of juggling, and that's tough," Lamb said. "Sometimes, you're looking for more of a fight than a bunch of different stats you're not so sure you can get anyway. I'm really, really happy that we battled this team today."
 
The Shockers discussed the little things that short-circuited Sunday's effort. It's one thing to allow Cincinnati's Jordan Thompson to set a conference and arena record with 44 kills. 
 
"We haven't seen that kind of heat since (then-No. 1) Stanford," Shocker outside hitter Tabitha Brown said.
 
It's another to give up softer points to Thompson's teammates. 
 
"Nobody's expecting to dig Thompson and bring her numbers down when she's a . . .  beast," Civita said. "The easy balls, we should get them. On all the other players, we should have done a better job."
 
The Shockers hit .247, led by another strong weekend effort by Brown. She finished with a career-high 28 kills and 12 digs, hitting .284. The injuries, however, leave the Shockers light on scoring. Lamb used the 5-1 system with Kora Kauling at setter, but he's not locked in to that offense. 
 
Back to practice.
 
"We've got to find more offense," Lamb said. "If we're in a 5-1, we really haven't found the M1 (middle blocker who plays next to the setter) yet. If we're in a 6-2, we haven't found two people that can score behind the setter and if we do that, we lose ball control."
 
Kauling took over in the 5-1 early in Friday's win over East Carolina after Eaken's injury. She played regularly this season with Eaken in the 6-2. Friday, she took over in the 5-1 and helped the Shockers to a season-high .292 attack percentage.
 
"The ceiling is still high," Lamb said. "We just pushed, I think, the best team in the league and were in position to win. We get healthier, we get better. I'm super-proud of Kora. She was far more stable out there, comfortable-looking than I was expecting."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.