The RoundHouse | 10/20/2019 3:44:00 PM

 
Wichita State outside hitter Megan Taflinger departed the interview room with a happy "Off day tomorrow. Earned it."
 
Wichita State earned the rest with its best offensive performance of the season in a sweep (25-10, 25-19, 25-23) over USF on Sunday at Koch Arena. The Shockers (5-15, 2-6 American Athletic Conference) hit a season-high .363 to win their first home match in eight tries this season.
 
The Shockers dominated the first set, hitting .567 with 17 kills and no errors. The Bulls (7-15, 1-7) adjusted, but were never able to significantly cool off the Shockers. Wichita State finished the match with a season-low four errors.
 
"Our team focused on 'Do not make all these errors,'" Taflinger said. "Today, it was in the front of our brains.."
 
It was quite a contrast for a team that committed 30-plus errors in its two previous matches and 20 or more in five of its eight conference matches. The Shockers, while searching for consistency at setter and most attacking spots, hit under .200 in four previous matches.
 
Coach Chris Lamb saw improvement coming after what he called a good week of practice. On Friday, the Shockers took the first set from conference leader UCF and pushed hard in the fourth set before losing 3-1. Two days later, against a weaker opponent, the Shockers continued their progress with setters Kayce Litzau and Kora Kauling running things. 
 
Taflinger finished with 17 kills and one error. Middle blocker Damadj Johnson hit .818 with nine kills and no errors on 11 swings. Freshman Sophia Rohling, for the second straight match, provided points on the right. She recorded six kills without an error and hit .375.
 
"So happy for Kaycee and Kora to come in today and help us," Lamb said. "Setting isn't the issue that it was. We've got work to do there, but I think we have grown a lot there. It's nice to know we have it in us and we're going to make somebody have to beat us."
 
Lamb rolled out drills designed to penalize errors during practices last week, designed to teach them when a conservative shot that keeps the ball alive is preferable to an all-or-nothing swing. The Shockers, in Lamb's mind, are giving away too many points, either by inaccurate sets or off-target swings.
 
"One of my old adages is that as an attacker, hit it in, live to fight another day, go block somebody," he said. "We'll earn the point five seconds from now."
 
A drill called "Cardinal" requires no errors before five earned points and allows three errors to 15. "Bank It" forces the team to score six points to get credit for five and an error takes away points. The goals are to teach the Shockers to choose attacks wisely, keep the ball in play, take big swings judiciously and reduce service errors.
 
"That really helps us focus in and make sure we do our job," Johnson said. "We focus to keep going and get that point, stay consistent, be sure the ball is in."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.