WEEKEND SCHEDULE
» Friday 8/24 @ James Madison | 6:00 p.m. CT
» Sunday, 8/26 @ Howard | 2:00 p.m. CT
» Monday, 8/27 @ VCU | 4:00 p.m. CT

WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State hits the road to open the 2018 season in Virginia and Washington D.C. The Shockers will play JMU on Friday, Aug. 24 at 6 p.m. in Harrisonburg, Va. WSU will face Howard in Washington D.C. on Sunday, Aug. 26 at 2 p.m. and wrap up the trip at VCU in Richmond, Va. on Monday, Aug. 27 at 4 p.m. All three teams played in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. It will be Wichita State's first trip to Virginia and Washington D.C. 
 
Quick Hits
• Wichita State is playing its second season in the American Athletic Conference. The Shocker volleyball program was a member of the Missouri Valley Conference from 1992-2017
• WSU is 20-20-2 in season openers and 11-7 under Chris Lamb
• Head Coach Chris Lamb is in his 19th season with the Shockers
• WSU returns three starters including Tabitha Brown, Alex Koon and Emma Wright along with libero Giorgia Civita
• Wichita State has never played a volleyball match in Virginia or Washington D.C.
• The Shockers are picked first in the preseason American Athletic Conference poll
• Tabitha Brown and Giorgia Civita were both named to the preseason all-conference team
• WSU received votes in the preseason AVCA poll
• Head Coach Chris Lamb was the 2017 Volleyball Magazine National Coach of the Year
• WSU ranked seventh in the nation in attendance last season (3,401 average) and had a school record crowd of 7,258 Dec. 2 against Missouri at Charles Koch Arena 
• WSU has one player from the state of Virginia in junior outside hitter Alex Koon who is from Williamsburg
• WSU has won 20 or more matches for 15-straight years
• In 2017, WSU earned a national seed (No. 16) for the first time in school history
• In 2017, the Shockers hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history
• WSU has won four conference tournament titles (2004, 2013, 2015, 2016)
• The Shockers have won seven conference regular-season championships (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2017)
• Five Shockers earned all-conference honors last season including Emily Hiebert, Abbie Lehman, Mikaela Raudsepp and Tabitha Brown on the first team and Giorgia Civita on the second team
• WSU finished in the top-three in the conference standings for the last 15 years 
 

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Series History
The Shockers are 2-0 all-time against the three teams:
JMU -  0-0
Howard -  0-0
VCU - 2-0
 
Scouting JMU
The Dukes finished 23-6 in 2017 and 11-5 in the Colonial. They won the postseason tournament to earn the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. JMU returns five starters and 15 letterwinners and is picked to finish first in the Colonial. The Dukes are led by head coach Lauren Steinbrecher.
 
Scouting Howard
The Bison finished 16-16 in 2017 and 9-3 in the MEAC. They won the postseason tournament to earn the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Howard returns four starters and 11 letterwinners and is picked to finish second in the Northern Division of the MEAC. The Bison are led by head coach Shaun Kupferberg.
 
Scouting VCU
The Rams finished 30-3 in 2017 and 14-0 in the Atlantic 10. They won the postseason tournament to earn the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. VCU returns five starters and 11 letterwinners. The Rams are led by head coach Jody Rogers.
 
Last Meeting vs. the Rams
The last meeting between the two teams was Sept. 14, 2013, in Knoxville, Tenn. The Shockers won 3-0 by scores of 25-17, 25-16 and 25-22. Sam Sanders and Ashlyn Driskill led the Shockers with seven kills, while Chelsey Feekin had 24 assists and Gaby Urban had eight digs.
 
Season Openers
Wichita State is 20-20-2 in season openers overall and 11-7 in season openers under head coach Chris Lamb.  
 

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WSU Receives Votes in AVCA Poll
The Wichita State volleyball team received votes in the AVCA Preseason Poll, which was released Aug. 8.  The Shockers received 103 points in the poll. The Shockers open the season on the road Aug. 24, in Harrisonburg, Va., against JMU. WSU returns three starters and nine letterwinners to a team that went 29-4 in 2017 and 20-0 in the inaugural season in The American. The Shockers earned the No. 16 overall seed and hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. The Shockers will play five teams in 2018 that are ranked or receiving votes in the preseason poll including Stanford (1), BYU (8), Creighton (13), Iowa State (21) and Cal Poly (24).
 
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.