Wichita State Set to Host Shocker Volleyball Classic Presented by Ashley HomeStore
Wichita State volleyball (3-3) is scheduled to open the home portion of its 2019 schedule with three matches in the Shocker Volleyball Classic Presented by Ashley HomeStore Sept. 12-14 at Charles Koch Arena. WSU is slated to face No. 13 BYU (5-1) Thursday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m. before taking on VCU (4-3) at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13 and No. 3 Texas (3-1) Saturday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. The event will also feature two additional contests in No. 13 BYU vs. No. 3 Texas at 4:30 p.m. Friday and VCU vs. No. 13 BYU Saturday at noon.
 
On the Web
All three of Wichita State's matches this weekend will be on the internet at GoShockers.com/listen with "The Voice of the Shockers" Mike Kennedy calling the action.
 
Quick Hits
• Wichita State enters the week at 3-3 overall after posting a 1-2 record in the Cal Poly ShareSLO Mustang Challenge Sept. 5-7 in San Luis Obispo, Calif. WSU fell to San Jose State, 3-1, before dropping a five-set decision to host Cal Poly and defeating North Texas, 3-1.
• Through six matches, sophomore outside hitter Megan Taflinger leads the Shockers offensively, averaging 2.75 kills per set. Overall, the Leona Valley, Calif., native has 66 kills on 180 attempts with 21 errors for a .250 attack percentage.
• Freshmen outside hitters Nicole Anderson and Sina Uluave posted back-to-back double-doubles in WSU's matches against Cal Poly and North Texas Sept. 6-7. Anderson tallied a career-best 17 kills to go along with 15 digs vs. the Mustangs prior to compiling 12 kills and 11 digs against the Mean Green. Uluave had a career-best 14 kills, and 12 digs at Cal Poly, before posting 14 kills again with a career-best 15 digs vs. North Texas.
• Junior setter McKayla Wuensch had consecutive double-doubles vs. San Jose State and at Cal Poly. The Algonquin, Ill., native tallied 26 assists and 13 digs against the Spartans prior to posting 32 assists and 11 digs vs. the Mustangs.
• McKayla Wuensch tallied at least two service aces in three of WSU's first six matches, including three each vs. Hofstra and San Jose State. Entering the week, she has a team-best nine aces.
• Junior middle blocker Emma Wright paces WSU in blocks through six contests with six block solos and 16 block assists for 22 total blocks.
• Sina Uluave and Nicole Anderson paced Wichita State in digs during the ShareSLO Mustang Challenge. Uluave posted a team-best 38 digs and 2.92 digs per set, while Anderson had 35 digs and 2.69 digs per set.
• Through six matches, the Shockers are averaging 11.7 kills, 11 assists, one ace, 14.5 digs and 1.8 blocks per set. Wichita State is hitting .223 with 281 kills in 795 attempts and 104 errors.
• Third-ranked Texas will mark the highest-ranked opponent to ever visit Charles Koch Arena when they face the Shockers Saturday, Sept.14. The previous highest-ranked team to come to the arena was No. 6 Washington in 2004.
• Head Coach Chris Lamb is in his 20th season with the Shockers
• WSU returns two starters from last season in junior middle blocker Emma Wright and sophomore outside hitter Megan Taflinger. Junior libero Giorgia Civita also returns, but will miss the 2019 season due to injury.
• The Shockers welcome 11 newcomers this season, including eight freshmen and three transfers.
• Wichita State has never played at Penn State.
• The Shockers are picked seventh in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll.
• Wichita State is scheduled to face six teams that are ranked in the AVCA Preseason Top-25 Poll, including four in the top-10 (No. 2 Nebraska, No. 4 Texas, No. 8 Penn State, No. 9 BYU, No. 18 Creighton, No. 23 Cal Poly).
• WSU led The American and ranked 18th in the country in overall attendance last season, averaging 2,177 fans over their 10 home matches. The Shockers have been ranked in the top-25 for attendance for 14 straight seasons.
• 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).
• Giorgia Civita was named The American Libero of the Year last season. She was also voted first team all-conference and AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region.
 
Series History
The Shockers are 4-5 all-time against the three teams:
BYU - 1-2
VCU - 3-0
Texas - 0-3
 
About BYU
The BYU Cougars enter the week at 5-1 overall and are ranked 13th in the latest AVCA poll after going 3-0 in the Doterra Classic Sept. 5-7 in Provo, Utah...Through six matches, BYU is paced by senior outside hitter McKenna Miller (71 kills, 3.74 kills/set, .295 attack pct., 19 digs), senior libero Mary Lake (73 digs, 3.65 digs/set, 22 assists), freshman setter Whitney Bower (194 assists, 9.70 assists/set, 15 aces, 40 digs) and sophomore middle blocker Heather Gneiting (36 kills, two block solos, 24 block assists, 1.30 blocks/set)...As a team, the Cougars are averaging 13.6 kills, 12.2 assists, 1.9 aces, 11.6 digs and 2.2 blocks per set...Miller, Lake, Gneiting are all returning All-Americans from 2018...BYU was voted first in the West Coast Conference (WCC) preseason poll...The Cougars are under the direction of fifth season head coach Heather Olmstead.
 
About VCU
The VCU Rams were 4-3 overall going into their match against Virginia Tech Tuesday, Sept. 10, in Richmond, Va....Through seven matches, VCU is led by senior outside hitter Vicky Giommarini (69 kills, 2.65 kills/set, 13 aces, 68 digs), senior setter Dajah Ard (135 assists, 5.19 assists/set, 49 digs), senior libero Madalon Simpson (101 digs, 3.88 digs/set, 20 assists) and senior middle blocker Jasmin Sneed (38 kills, seven block solos, 35 block assists, 1.62 blocks/set)...As a team, the Rams are averaging 11.1 kills, 10.7 assists, 1.4 aces, 13.8 digs and 3.1 blocks per set)...Sneed is the reigning Atlantic 10 (A10) Defensive Player of the Week...The Rams were picked to finish second in the A10 preseason poll...VCU is under the direction of seventh season head coach Jody Rogers.
 
About Texas
The Texas Longhorns enter the week with an overall mark of 3-1 after falling at top-ranked Stanford Sunday in five sets...Texas is ranked third in the most recent AVCA poll...Through four contests, the Longhorns are paced by Big 12 Conference Preseason Player of the Year, senior outside hitter Micaya White (65 kills, 4.06 kills/set, .230 attack pct., 37 digs), sophomore outside hitter Logan Eggleston (65 kills, 4.06 kills/set, .345 attack pct., 11 aces, 32 digs), sophomore libero/setter Jhenna Gabriel (171 assists, 10.6 assists/set, 39 digs) and  sophomore libero Sydney Petersen (58 digs, 3.62 digs/set, 22 assists)...As a team, Texas averages 14.2 kills, 13.4 assists, 1.4 aces, 13.4 digs and 2.1 blocks per set...White was an All-American in 2018...The Longhorns were picked as the favorite in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll...Texas is under the direction of 18th season head coach Jerritt Elliott.
 
Last Meeting vs. BYU
No. 9 BYU stayed undefeated by defeating Wichita State 3-0 in the BYU Nike Invitational Sept. 1, 2018. The Cougars won by scores of 25-16, 25-12 and 25-20. Tabitha Brown led the Shockers with eight kills, while Kali Eaken had 13 assists and Jordan Roberts had seven digs.
 
Last Meeting vs. VCU
Wichita State won a thrilling 3-2 match at VCU to finish 3-0 on the first road trip of the season Aug. 27, 2018. The Shockers won by scores of 25-17, 15-25, 25-18, 10-25 and 15-9. Megan Taflinger led the Shockers with 15 kills, while Tabitha Brown had a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs. Jordan Roberts also added a double-double with 22 assists and 12 digs, while Kali Eaken had 24 assists and Giorgia Civita had 31 digs.
 
Last Meeting vs. Texas
No. 3 Texas used 20 kills from Ebony Nwanebu to defeat Wichita State 3-1 at the Rams Volleyball Classic Sept. 10, 2016. The Longhorns won by scores of 25-20, 25-22, 23-25 and 25-21. Jody Larson led the Shockers with 19 kills, while Abbie Lehman had 13 kills and hit .650. Emily Hiebert had 50 assists, 11 digs and six kills, while Giorgia Civita had 19 digs.
 
New-Look
Wichita State returns just two starters in 2019 in junior middle blocker Emma Wright and sophomore outside hitter Megan Taflinger. WSU has 11 newcomers this season, including freshmen Skylar Goering (outside hitter), Kayce Litzau (setter), Nicole Anderson (outside hitter), Arianna Arjomand (libero/DS), Sina Uluave (outside hitter), Sophia Rohling (opposite), Shea Lauria (libero/DS) and Lily Liekweg (libero/DS), and transfers Lexi Hogan (outside hitter), McKayla Wuensch (setter) and Damadj Johnson (middle blocker).
 
International History
Junior libero Giorgia Civita returns to the team in 2019. Civita is from Milan, Italy and is just the seventh international player to play for the Shockers. Others include Kim Henry (1989-92) from Canada, Swee Ng (1992) from Malaysia, Marsha Van Cedar (1994-95) from Canada, Tomoko Matsuda (1996) from Japan, Lucia Zhanje (2000) from Zimbabwe and Shimen Fayad (2014-15) from Canada. One other international player was on the roster in 1992, but never played in a match (Tamie Bearup, Italy).
 
Lamb Returns for 20th Season
Head coach Chris Lamb, five-time conference Coach of the Year and 2017 National Coach of the Year, returns for his 20th season after guiding the Shockers to at least 20 wins in 15 of the last 16 seasons. In 2011, he became the winningest coach in Shocker volleyball history and in 2017 he won his 400th career match.
 
Practice Schedule (*schedule subject to change)
The Shockers will practice in the Aetna Multi-Purpose Center Tuesday-Thursday from 1:30-4:30 p.m. On the day before a home match, the team will practice on Devlin Court.
 
The Chris Lamb Radio Show (*schedule subject to change)
The Chris Lamb Radio Show will take place Monday's throughout the season live from AJ's Sports Grill at The Alley in Wichita. The show will air on 97.5 FM and 1240 AM KFH radio. Mike Kennedy will host the show. A full show schedule is available at GoShockers.com.
 
2018 Review
Wichita State advanced to the postseason for the fourth consecutive season, qualifying for the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC). WSU finished the 2018 season with a 14-18 overall record and went 8-10 in American Athletic Conference play. The Shockers played the fourth-toughest schedule in all of NCAA Division I volleyball, including five matches against AVCA Top-25 opponents. Sophomore libero Giorgia Civita was voted American Libero of the Year, first team all-conference and AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region. A native of Milan, Italy, Civita rewrote the Wichita State volleyball record books in 2018, compiling single-season records for both digs (728) and digs per set (5.78).
 
On the Horizon
The Shockers travel to Omaha, Neb., for the Creighton Classic Sept. 19-20. WSU will face the host Creighton Bluejays at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 19 before facing Wyoming at 2 p.m. Sept. 20.