The RoundHouse | 10/13/2019 10:29:00 AM

 
Wichita State coach Chris Lamb trusts his practices, so he continues to see progress through the inconsistency, continues to experiment and develop.
 
"This league is a tough place to start learning volleyball," Lamb said. "Nobody wants to go through what we're going through. There are teams all over America going through it and I want to know how many are still fighting. It is part of this deal. You've just got to keep fighting."
 
Wichita State (4-13, 1-4 American Athletic Conference) plays Tulane (13-5, 3-2) at 1 p.m. today (Sunday) at Koch Arena and it is another chance to see what works. The Shockers are coming off Friday's 3-1 loss to Houston in which a first-set victory showed what they can look like when connections are working.
 
Outside hitter Megan Taflinger – on her way to a season-high 20 kills – scored on her first six swings and nine of 10 in the 25-21 victory. Wichita State hit .227 and held the Cougars (11-9, 5-0) to a .167 attack percentage. Sina Uluave added four kills and middle Chinelo Ogogor two to give the Shocker attack variety and help free Taflinger.
 
"The first set, I had some good play-calls by (setter) McKayla Wuensch," Taflinger said. "A lot of those kills were based on the fact that McKayla called good play-calls and she set it well and we ran it well and I had one blocker. That was fairly easy."
 
Even in that success, however, Lamb saw warning signs. The Shockers committed nine errors in that first set. In the second set, Houston adjusted its blocking schemes and Wichita State's attack percentage slumped to .091, followed by .029 and .050. The Shockers finished the match with 29 errors and a .132 attack percentage.
 
Those mistakes are uppermost on Lamb's mind as Wichita State prepares for Tulane. Against Tulane, he played Wuensch, Kayce Litzau and Kora Kauling at setter in a continuing effort to find scoring that limits errors and keeps attackers swinging hard. 
 
"While the hitters are absolutely responsible for the decision they make and where they put the hand on the ball, until we get more accurate setting, until we get a little bit more mature as attackers . . . you're walking that fine line," Lamb said. "When you stop swinging, you're not going to beat anybody if you're not aggressive. You want that freedom and ability, and at times, it comes with errors. The scoreboard is ruthless that way."
 
Freshman libero Arianna Arjomand led the Shockers with 15 digs.
 
"Ari was really good," Lamb said. "I felt like Ari is an elevated value piece, like if she was a (chess) pawn, now she's something better than that. We've still got to get a young libero to see things and learn from it."
 
That sends the Shockers back to practice, where Lamb says he likes what he sees. Good times in practice, however, don't always translate to games with young Shockers.
 
"This was a good week of practice," Lamb said. "(Friday) was a good emotional effort. It will be really, really comfortable for them if we can settle into something. Every couple of days, people on our team are different players right now. (Middle blocker) Emma Wright's been on roll. Not so much tonight. We're still searching."
 
Learning from tough experiences is a theme this season. Like always, it starts in practice and converting those lessons into winning play during matches is the goal.
 
"You want to trust in practice," he said. "If someone puts a bunch of good days together, I feel good about (the match). Wake up tomorrow, do it all over again. Show up and perform."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.