The RoundHouse | 10/17/2019 4:43:00 PM

 
Chinelo Ogogor watches teammate Brooke Smith work on the front row as a middle blocker and wants to know more.
 
"She is always in the right place at the right time," Ogogor said. "I watch her a lot. I always ask her 'What's the secret, but she doesn't give it to me.'"
 
Smith, of course, is more than willing to help. She isn't sure there is a secret, or how to explain it if one exists. She is patient. She watches the ball. She is determined to let as much action as possible unfold before reacting so she doesn't fall for deception.
 
There is a piece of advice she hands to teammates.
 
"Act like you're dead," she said. "They laughed."
 
Smith, a junior from Goddard, played in all five sets in Sunday's 3-2 loss to Tulane to help a revival in the middle for the Shockers. She recorded a season-high 10 kills and four blocks. Ogogor had season highs with 11 kills and eight blocks, although six errors drug her attack percentage to .167.
 
"We haven't been very busy there," Lamb said. "We've got to get more balance. We just can't lean on our outside hitters. What we were doing in the middle was an upgrade."
 
Wichita State (4-14, 1-5 American Athletic Conference) plays UCF (12-6, 5-1) on Friday at Koch Arena. On Sunday, the Shockers play USF (7-13, 1-5).
 
For much of the Tulane match, setter McKayla Wuensch did a solid job of spreading the ball around and pulling the defense in different directions. Her setting opened up the middles for attacks in a way often missing this season. If that match can start a rise in production from the middle, Lamb is happy. Wichita State's fast-paced middle attacks are a staple of the program with names such as Abbie Lehman, Ashley Andrade and Elizabeth Meyers leading the team in kills from the middle.
 
"We've been really, really busy there and we've worked for that," Lamb said. "We've got to get that back."
 
For much of the season, junior Emma Wright took most of the swings in the middle and her 83 kills rank fifth on the team. On Sunday, Lamb went to Ogogor, a redshirt freshman from San Antonio, and Smith. 
 
Ogogor represents an enticing future as she learns the position, connects with setters and takes advantage of her physical skills. 
 
"She's a next-level athlete that just needs to get comfortable with the speed of the game," Lamb said. "We're going through the growing pains, but she's a willing participant and it's been nice."
 
Ogogor was happy to sit and learn in 2018 to take time to learn how Wichita State runs its middle. 
 
"As our chemistry gets better, everything gets better," she said. "It's just going in the gym every day and working hard. Timing. Footwork."
 
Smith is all efficiency, experience and patience. Against Tulane, she hit .409 with one error on 22 swings. Her blocking is also important, even if her teammates aren't sure how she does it.
 
Lamb knows.
 
"Brooke has got low, low, low blood pressure and she just stands there with amazing patience and lets things happen first," he said. "Then she reacts to it instead of jumping the gun. Given what she's got speed-wise, you like her first step, you like her second step, you like where her hands go."
 
Smith learned from watching Lehman in 2017. Some of her success is learned and some of it is instinctive. By not moving too quickly, she rarely finds herself rushing to correct a mistaken move. 
 
She said Lehman's secret is similar to hers.
 
"Just be patient," Smith said. "I just watch the ball. You can get jumpy in the middle. Just stay there."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.