The RoundHouse | 8/29/2019 8:19:00 AM

 
 
Chris Lamb transformed Wichita State, one innovative drill, one baseball analogy, one mind-bending speech at a time. He took over an overlooked program in 2000 and built a power in a place few expected.
 
Lamb starts his 20^thseason at Wichita State on Friday with a resume stocked with seven conference titles, 11 NCAA appearances and 14 years in the NCAA's top 25 for attendance. His former Shockers remember some of those wins, losses and cheers. What sticks with them are the practices, the bus rides and the way Lamb's way of thinking and talking challenged, motivated and entertained.
 
"Some of my favorite memories of Lambo would be when he would explain volleyball or life with interesting metaphors," said Katie (Reilly) Zimmerman, who played for the Shockers from 2012-15. "I remember one time in the middle of practice he stopped the drill and was trying to get his point across with a baseball analogy. Then he said if you don't like baseball, you don't understand baseball. And then we went back to playing."
 
The Shockers quite often play volleyball in a unique style. They certainly learn about it, talk about it and laugh about it in ways other teams might not recognize. 
 
"He always put way more thought into coming up with nicknames for players concepts and drills," said former assistant coach R.J. Abella. "One season we had our "Explorer" offense, in which our play sets were named "Columbus", "Magellan," "Cortez," and "Dora." We had blocking plays called "Squishy" and "Candy bar." Candy bar was an evolution which started out as "Middle matters" to "M&M," to "Candy bar."
 
Twenty Lambo memories and moments to get the anniversary started:
 
Rolling, rolling, rolling – Former setter Emily Hiebert didn't expect her first road trip highlighted by a grocery analogy. 
 
It is Hiebert's redshirt season (2013) and the Shockers start the schedule in Orem, Utah.
 
"Lambo put all 25 of us in a hotel room and started talking to us about soup cans for about an hour," Hiebert said. "He said that he didn't need any soup cans rolling around in the back of his trunk being a distraction. He said that if anybody was going to be a distraction, he would just put us in the pantry until he needed us."
 
Hiebert took him seriously.
 
"When we were walking into the gym, I was super nervous and held the door open for everyone as they walked in," she said. "He walks through the door that I was holding and then looks at me and says, 'Hiebert. You're not a soup can.' And I will never forget that day."
 
Finding hidden gems – Wichita State went 8-23 in Lamb's first season. His recruiting work soon built the foundation.
 
Libero Karen Augspurger, setter Andee Hartig, Elizabeth Meyers, Lara Geer and Sara Younes joined the team in 2001. The next year, Darci Vohs, Cori Meyer and Jen Ray arrived and those classes formed the bulk of the team that would get the Shockers into the NCAA Tournament in 2004.
 
"He knows how to take chances and look for future athletes," Meyers (now Elizabeth Walker) said. "Lambo took a chance on our 2001 recruiting class, but clearly he knew what he was doing. We might not have been the most talented group of incoming freshmen in the nation, but Chris has a way with seeing true potential in his athletes and knows how to go out and recruit athletes that others might pass up."
 
The Shockers improved to 11-16 in 2001 with Younes earning Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year honors. They went 18-13 in 2002 – the program's first winning record since 1992 – and 21-10 in 2003. The 2004 Shockers won their first MVC title and a tournament victory in Koch Arena sent them to the NCAAs.
 
Younes earned MVC Player of the Year honors in 2004 and joined Augspurger on the MVC's All-Centennial team. By the end of their careers, Younes, Geer, Vohs, Ray, Meyers and Hartig would all claim at least one all-conference spot.
 
"Lambo gets in the gym with them and teaches them his tricks, skills and how to play smart volleyball and the rest is history," Walker said. "He looks for athletes that are willing to learn the game, coachable, raw and know just enough about the game to be dangerous."
 
Foreshadowing –  Zimmerman is coach at Spartanburg (S.C.) Methodist College.  Somehow, that didn't surprise Lamb.
 
"Lambo would also get in philosophical discussions and I loved it," she said. "We would talk about Jesus and the Earth and players on our team. In our end-of-the-season meetings, when I asked him questions, he would always say, 'Katie Reilly, one day when you're in my seat, you'll understand or you'll have to make these decisions.' And I would laugh and say 'Lambo, I will never be in your seat.' But here I am, a head volleyball coach at a Division I (junior college) and have a different volleyball perspective because of him."
 
Have a seat – Elizabeth Field (2009-13) grew used to the program's routines. The Shockers start practice with a short talk, seated in a circle, before drills.
 
"We were all ready to go and Lambo started his usual talk and he just never stopped," Field said. "We sat there nearly three hours just listening. Perhaps occasionally answering a question here and there. To this day, I don't know if that was planned or not. Lambo probably walked in intending to have a small chat with us, but the information just kept flowing. I wish I could remember what that information was, but sadly, I only remember how uncomfortable that floor became three hours later."
 
Beat OU – Mary Elizabeth (Hooper) Ostteen came to Wichita State in 2008 as a freshman and took over the setter's job. The Shockers beat No. 10 Cal Poly, Oklahoma and Michigan State in her first matches – all in less than 24 hours - on their way to a 29-0 regular-season record, 30-2 overall.
 
 Hooper also considered Oklahoma and made it her mission to beat the Sooners. Wichita State went 4-1 against OU during her career.
 
"The one team I told Lambo I had to play," she said.
 
My choice – Director of operations Shannon Lamb (wife of the coach) is in charge of travel and she insists on smart food choices for the bus, hotel and restaurants.
 
She can't always be on guard. 
 
"Shannon always chooses super-healthy food for us to eat on road trips," Hiebert said. "There was one spring that Shannon was gone on vacation and we were on a road trip and the bus stops and Lambo says 'All right . . . you guys can either go to Braum's or McDonald's." We all went crazy."
 
Handy – Lamb is a builder and a tinkerer. He rebuilt the engine in a 1965 Mustang. He builds wooden shadowboxes for senior gifts.
 
"I remember calling him when my roommates and I needed to hang a heavy oversized mirror and he came over and taught us how to use drywall anchors and hang it correctly," said Katie (Niggemeyer) Bradley (2005-09).
 
Balloon boys – Lamb wanted to know more about serving numbers. He wondered if the vents in Koch Arena affected serves. 
 
He sent Abella to the party store. He came back with 20 helium-filled balloons on 10-foot strings. Coaches taped them all over the court to study air patterns.
 
"At the time, we were really diving into studying our serving," Abella said. "This is when we first introduced the radar gun and started clocking serves and evaluating the movement on the ball and resulting pass."
 
Lamb was particularly interested in how the air currents might help or hamper one specific serve, Abella said.
 
"Ashley Andrade was the queen of the bomb serve, which she would stand far behind the end line and just pop a ball in the air and let whatever air currents were flowing hopefully move it around," he said. "We taped balloons all over the game court and looked to see what direction the balloons were blowing towards. The crazy thing is that one balloon could be blowing in one direction and another just five feet away would completely different direction.  We learned that there really wasn't a more advantageous side to serve from."
 
Spartan time – Amy Smith (1997-2000) played on Lamb's first team. He did not wait long to make an impression.
 
"One of my favorite stories about Lambo is how he would corner us up at the beginning of practice," she said. "Now cornering up means standing shoe-to-shoe with your teammates, which I can tell you is hard to do. So, it's 5:00 a.m. and Lambo is fired up. The 2000 men's NCAA basketball championship was the night before and Michigan State star Mateen Cleaves led his team to the national championship - on a shattered ankle. For two hours, Lambo railed about how Mateen Cleaves was the definition of heart. I've never forgotten the name."
 
On time, all the time – Long practices can drag on. Lamb's way with words eased those hours in the gym.
 
"He had the most interesting stories and analogies," said Katy Dudzinski (2012-16). "I find myself even bringing them up from time to time in my life. His analogies made certain volleyball concepts and skills make sense, since he is always willing to explain it in a different way. For example, 'Commit blocking' came with a story about Mr. Right. He said, 'Mr. Right is coming to pick you up for a date. You know this is the one. Are you going to be late opening that door? Or will you be right there when the doorbell rings?' It was a great way to get how important being up on time on a commit is."
 
On the job – Sara (Lungren) Walkup (2003-07) is one of several former Shockers in coaching, either in high school, college or clubs. She coaches at Cheney High School and her days with Lamb remain helpful.
 
"One thing he helped me realize was that being a good leader isn't always just being a good example," she said. "Sometimes you have to make connections and relationships to bring people with you and help them help the team."
 
Aliens, plutonium and asteroids – Spring practices are a time for team-building exercises.
 
Emily Adney (2009-12) describes one that started with two teams, blindfolds and a story about aliens, plutonium and asteroids. A trip to the practice gym followed, where teams had to move plutonium from one side of the gym to the other.
 
Everyone wore a blindfold, except for a team leader.
 
"Everyone in the group that was blindfolded was holding on to a string that all went down to a rubber band," she said. "In this rubber band was a cup that had water in it. The trick was to move our cup of plutonium across the gym, while standing in a circle, holding this cup by the strings, blindfolded, and unable to talk. The leader of the group was able to help us move, but was also unable to talk. They could only help their team by tapping the members. The last catch, was that all of our volleyballs were spread across the gym. If we touched one of these 'asteroids' we had to start over. Needless to say, this was not the easiest thing we had ever done, but I can tell you that at the end of this, we were definitely a lot closer."
 
Elevate that ankle – Lamb's teams won a lot of matches. Kim (Wadsworth) Woodbridge (2005-09) appreciated his ability to keep wins and losses in context. 
 
She remembers a stop for ice cream after an MVC road trip or time at the beach while playing in Hawaii as Lamb's way of keeping them fresh.
 
"I honestly don't remember when Lambo said this, but I'm guessing it was after a tough loss," she said. "I think it is such a good perspective to have and what makes it so fun to play for him – 'At the end of the day, it is just a game. There are a lot of people out there that are dealing with much tougher things in their lives.' While for him, coaching is a career, and wins and losses is a matter of job security, I really do think he keeps in mind that most of his players are only going to get to play competitively for four or five years and he wants them to enjoy it."
 
Camri (Zwiesler) Cooper (2010-11) also saw the side of Lamb that looked beyond wins and losses.
 
"He was very much invested in our lives that way," she said. "He sincerely cared about us, not only the physical aspects; preventing injuries, etc., but even more importantly, the mental aspect. It's amazing how much the physical part of the game is affected by the mental part - Lambo knew that and it was more of a blessing than we realized at the time."

Emily Stockman (2007-09) sprained her ankle the day before a match against Missouri State, always one of Wichita State's biggest rivals. 

"It was getting late and I was about to go to bed and I hear a knock on my door," she said. "Here comes Lambo, walking inside with arms full of phone books. He went straight to my room and started propping up the bottom of my bed so that my foot would be elevated all night to help with the swelling. He would go above and beyond for any one of his players and for that I am forever grateful."
 
He sees it – Lamb's recruiting often requires him to see potential that the student-athlete doesn't yet recognize.

Freshman outside hitter Nicole Anderson, from Richardson, Texas, heard a vision from Lamb that she didn't from other coaches.
 
"He knew what he wanted to do with me and he told me where he saw me and it was very different from any other coach," she said. "He said he really liked my hands, the way I see the court. He really liked how I could I hit slides on the right, which is a middle thing, which no one had ever pointed out before."
 
That outlook is one way to connect with recruits.
 
"What really got me was how he wanted every single player to be the best that they could and improve as much as they could," freshman setter Kayce Litzau said. "How he cared so much about every single person's progress through volleyball."
 
Good conversation – Stephanie Tokarz (2006-09) transferred to Wichita State after redshirting at Long Beach State. 
 
"One of my favorite things about Lambo was his love to dive into all things philosophical and theoretical, whether it related to volleyball, kinesiology, or more personal things like upbringing," she said. "He loves to know why things and people are the way they are. He has a passion for knowledge."
 
Set the scene – Lamb's practices are filled with tools, tape and statistics. All generations of Shockers can picture the many devices he used to teach, some of which he built in his garage.
 
Large wooden boxes used to add height to drills. Round nets for setters to aim at. The rolling white board filled with stats, plays and names. Scouting packets. Blue tape to direct attack routes. 
 
"Every Shocker knows the words 'Wall, wall,'" Bradley said. "If we made an error or didn't execute a play right, we'd have to immediately leave the drill and sprint to both far walls of the three-court practice gym before re-entering the drill. I hated it . . . until I became a coach and started using it."
 
Open mind – Lamb built the Shockers with many unique thoughts and a rock-solid reliance on numbers. His coaches and staff record practice and game statistics for almost every moment and former Shockers still know the importance of perfect passes, out-of-system percentages and conference and national standards comparison.
 
It combined to create a program consistent enough to dominate less-talented opponents and keep the rest off-balance enough to gain an edge. Lamb always went to numbers to back up his plans for lineups and strategies, an approach that influenced other coaches. His willingness to change defenses during matches, swap positions during the season and always look for new ways to attack are trademarks.
 
"One thing that stuck with me during my career was he was always teaching us to play smart volleyball," Walker said. "It wasn't always about how hard you hit the ball, but about placement and thinking strategy on where you were going to put the ball."
 
Good morning – Stockman, who won honorable mention All-American honors in 2008 and 2009, remains one of Lamb's favorites for her devotion to the sport. She plays professionally on the beach volleyball circuit.

Her six-rotation talents inspired Lamb.

"I used to do 6 a.m. passing individuals and I remember one morning walking into the gym, it was dark and all the lights were off," she said. "I could see something in the corner of the gym, though, and as I walked closer I realized it was Lambo. His hair was a mess, it looked like he hadn't slept in days and he was just scribbling stuff all over the white board. As soon as he saw me, he said 'Stockman, I had this dream last night and I want to try this new drill. I've been up since 3 a.m. putting it together and we are going to try it at practice today.'" I couldn't help but just laugh because he looked like such a wreck, but so excited for this new drill."

Lamb will regularly reach back into his archive of drills to shore up an area that slips. 
 
One of the most well-known is "Man vs. Wild, the kind of high-intensity, brain-busting drill that Lamb will periodically credit for giving his team an energy boost.

"Lambo is like a mad scientist when it comes to concocting new volleyball drills," Bradley said. "I imagine Wichita State has had more original volleyball drills than any other program in the country. Among his most in-depth was Man vs. Wild, where he created a combination grid that looked like a periodic table and we were all assigned letters and numbers that corresponded to which round in the drill we were assigned. That drill mimicked the adrenaline and exhaustion that comes with a fifth set, but the game would last an hour."
 
Building a program – The 2012 Shockers defeated Arkansas and Kansas to advance to the Sweet 16 in Austin, Texas.
 
That landmark set off a round of memories and connections from former Shockers. It provided a showcase for what the program had grown into and how people remained connected.
 
"It's like Chris never wants the past to be forgotten and he's on a mission to let each Shocker know that the program wouldn't be where it's at without those who have come before," Abella said.
 
Abella, now coaching at South Carolina, savors the stories of the program's history under Lamb and the relationships between the generations of Shockers.
 
 "Chris and I met daily at 6 a.m., sometimes earlier, to watch film (in 2012), he said. "After defeating Kansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament we were watching film preparing for Southern Cal and we got side-tracked and started chatting about where the program is at. He mentioned when he took the job at WSU people told him, 'WSU can't go far in the NCAA Tournament,' and he answered 'Well, maybe YOU can't take them far in the tournament.' He was always the black sheep that stuck out and didn't really care about being different.  A lot of that has rubbed off on me as a coach and it's awesome to see how it's helped contribute to our beach volleyball program's success."
 
Farewell – Lamb looks at the departure of seniors as a natural progression that means their career went well athletically and academically.
 
Some departures are harder than others, however. Eleni Romano (2001-04) and Lindsey Eckenrode (2006-10) both endured career-ending injuries. Both tried to return before injuries made it impossible.
 
"The only times I've seen him cry were both at end-of-the-year banquets when we're celebrating seniors," Shannon Lamb said. "They each just gave everything that they have, but injury kept them from being able to complete their career the way they should have been able to complete it."
 
Romano, a libero, played in 26 matches over three seasons. Eckenrode, an outside hitter, missed all of 2009 and played in eight matches in 2010. In 2006, she earned All-Freshman honors in the MVC.
 
"Once you are under (Lamb's) umbrella, on the family tree, he just takes care of everybody," Shannon Lamb said.
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.