WEEKEND SCHEDULE - American Athletic Conference Play
» Friday, 11/16 at Temple (6-21, 3-12) | 6:00 p.m. CT
» Sunday, 11/18 at UConn (13-15, 5-10) | 10:00 a.m. CT

Wichita State travels to the Northeast for its final road matches of the regular season Friday, Nov. 16 and Sunday, Nov. 18. The Shockers (12-14, 7-8) are slated to face the Temple Owls (6-21, 3-12) in Philadelphia Friday at 6 p.m. CT before taking on the UConn Huskies (13-15, 5-10) at 10 a.m. CT Sunday in Storrs, Conn.

Quick Hits
• The Shockers come into the weekend with an overall record of 12-14 and an American Athletic Conference record of 7-8 after dropping a pair of home matches to Houston and SMU Nov. 9 and 11.
• The Shockers are ranked 64th in the most recent NCAA RPI rankings. Wichita State has played the 11th-toughest overall schedule and third-toughest non-conference slate in NCAA Division I volleyball.
• Wichita State is led by senior Tabitha Brown (288 kills, 14 aces, 267 digs, 31 blocks), redshirt freshmen Megan Taflinger (261 kills, 25 aces) and Kora Kauling (486 assists, 103 digs), and sophomore Giorgia Civita (586 digs, 78 assists, 14 aces).
• Sophomore Giorgia Civita tallied 32 digs in Wichita State's three-set loss to SMU Nov. 11. The 32 digs were the second-most in a three-set match in NCAA Division I this season and the second-most in program history in three-set contests.
• Junior Alex Koon hit .349 with 27 kills on 63 attempts with just five errors in the Shockers' two contests vs. Houston and SMU Nov. 9 and 11.
• Sophomore Regan Stiawalt tied her career-high for the third time this season with nine kills and hit a career-best .364 in WSU's match against SMU Nov. 11. She also added a career-high four blocks vs. the Mustangs.
• In Wichita State's matches against Houston and SMU Nov. 9 and 11, sophomore Emma Wright posted 13 kills, one ace, one dig and seven blocks. This was Wright's first action since WSU's match vs. Tulane Sept. 21, when she was injured.
• Freshman Grace Burken hit a career-high .304 with 10 kills and a career-best five block assists in the Shockers win at ECU Nov. 4.
• Kauling posted a career-best 60 assists and 16 digs for her second career double-double in WSU's contest at Houston Oct. 21. The 60 assists rank 10th in single-match program history.
• Sophomore Abby Pugh tallied a career-high 13 kills and hit a career-best .417 in Wichita State's contest at SMU Oct. 19.
• In the latest American Athletic Conference stats, Pugh ranks 10th in hitting percentage at .290.
• Burken tied her career-high with 11 kills in WSU's match at Houston Oct. 21.
• Senior Tabitha Brown had a career-high 28 kills in the Shockers' home match against Cincinnati Oct. 14.
• Junior Kara Bown posted a career-high 17 digs in Wichita State's contest at SMU Oct. 19.
• Sophomore Brooke Smith compiled a career-best 14 kills on 22 attempts and hit an impressive .545 against Cincinnati.
• Civita leads The American and ranks seventh nationally in digs per set (5.80). She ranks second in the conference and 17th nationally in total digs (586).
• In the latest American Athletic Conference stats, redshirt freshman Megan Taflinger ranks fifth in service aces (0.28 aces per set, 25 total aces) and 10th in kills (2.90 kills per set, 261 total kills).
 

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Series History
Temple: 3-0 (1-0 in 2018)
UConn: 3-0 (1-0 in 2018)

About Temple
The Temple Owls enter the weekend with an overall record of 6-21 and an American tally of 3-12 after winning, 3-0, at Memphis Nov. 11. Through 27 matches, the Owls are led by
sophomore outside hitter Keterina Papazoglou (219 kills, 12 aces, 266 digs, 23 blocks), freshman setter Tyler Lindgren (581 assists, eight aces, 204 digs) and senior defensive specialist/libero Mia Heirakuji (415 digs, 66 assists, 23 aces). As a team, the Owls are averaging 12.7 kills, 12 assists, 0.90 aces, 16.6 digs and 1.8 blocks per set. Temple is under the direction of eighth season head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam.

Series History vs. Temple
Friday's match at Temple will mark the fourth meeting in the all-time series that dates back to last season. The Shockers are a perfect 3-0 in the series after defeating the Owls, 3-0, earlier this season in Wichita.

Last Meeting vs. the Owls
The Wichita State volleyball team completed their second weekend sweep in conference play after defeating Temple 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-19) on Sunday, Oct. 28, at Charles Koch Arena. Junior Alex Koon led the Shockers with 12 kills on .478 hitting and Kora Kauling added 23 assists. Giorgia Civita added 14 digs while Regan Stiawalt tied her career-high with nine kills.

About UConn
The UConn Huskies enter the weekend with an overall record of 13-15 and are 5-10 in The American after falling at Tulane Nov. 11, 2-3. The Huskies are slated to host Tulsa Friday before entertaining Wichita State Sunday. Through 28 contests, UConn is led by freshman outside hitter Caylee Parker (387 kills, 20 aces, 243 digs, 39 blocks), senior setter Emma Turner (1,010 assists, 18 aces, 259 digs, 30 blocks) and senior libero/defensive specialist Elizabeth Kline (464 digs, 108 assists). As a team, the Huskies are averaging 13.2 kills, 12.4 assists, one ace, 14.5 digs and 1.7 blocks per set. UConn is under the leadership of sixth season head coach Kris Grunwald.

Series History vs. UConn
Sunday's match against the Huskies will be the fourth meeting in the all-time series that dates back to last season. WSU is a perfect 3-0 vs. UConn after claiming a 3-0 triumph at
Koch Arena earlier this season.

Last Meeting vs. the Huskies
Wichita State hit a season-best .316 and recorded 38 kills to sweep UConn, 3-0, with scores of 25-17, 25-19 and 25-10 on Friday, Oct. 26, in front of 2,235 spectators at Charles
Koch Arena. Megan Taflinger led the Shockers with 11 kills, two services aces and four blocks, while Kora Kauling added a team-best 20 assists, and Giorgia Civita and Tabitha
Brown compiled a game-high 14 digs.
 

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Two Matches Selected for American Digital Network
Wichita State will have two volleyball matches televised on the American Digital Network in 2018. The two matches selected include Sun., Oct. 14 against Cincinnati and Sun., Nov. 11 against SMU. Both matches are in Wichita and start at 1 p.m. CT. Productions on the American Digital Network will again be streamed on Facebook on the conference's live event page, The American Digital Network Plus (facebook.com/ AmericanDigitalNetworkPlus).

Koon Voted to Google Cloud Academic All-District Team
Wichita State volleyball junior outside hitter Alex Koon was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District® Second Team, CoSIDA announced on Thursday, Nov. 15. This is Koon's second straight Academic All-District® honor, as she was a first team selection last season. A native of Williamsburg, Va., Koon boasts a 3.98 GPA as a psychology major at Wichita State. The Google Cloud Academic All-District® team recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom.
 

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Shockers Picked First in Preseason American Poll
The Wichita State volleyball team is picked first in the 2018 American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.  The Shockers received six first-place votes and 113 points in the poll. The Shockers return nine letterwinners and three starters from a team that went 29-4 overall and 20-0 in American Athletic Conference play in 2017. Last season, the Shockers won the American regular-season title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 16 overall seed.
 
Brown and Civita Named to Preseason All-Conference Team
Senior outside hitter Tabitha Brown and sophomore libero Giorgia Civita were named to the preseason all-conference team. Brown earned honorable mention All-America and first team all-conference honors in 2017 and averaged 3.47 kills and1.81 digs per set, while hitting .268. Civita earned second team all-conference honors in 2017 and averaged 5.22 digs per set.