The RoundHouse | 9/12/2019 10:41:00 PM

 
The Shockers knew they signed up for a lot of tough lessons in September and they would not have it any other way.
 
The Shocker Volleyball Classic started with a 3-1 loss to No. 13 BYU on Thursday at Koch Arena. On Friday, Wichita State (3-4) plays VCU. On Saturday, it's No. 3 Texas.
 
"In certain aspects, we can compete with them, we're right there with them," Wichita State outside hitter Megan Taflinger said. "In certain other aspects, it's like 'That could be the reason why we lost.' It's one or two things, and that's really great to see."
 
Wichita State has three months to reach its peak in the American Athletic Conference Tournament. These matches are designed to challenge the Shockers and expose their weak spots. Coming up later this month are No. 2 Nebraska and No. 17 Creighton.
 
On Thursday, the Shockers struggled with their passing, forcing the offense into scramble mode too often, and hit .111 for the match, rarely able to string together a run of points. BYU's height and blocking abilities took away most of the easy routes and disrupted timing between the setters and attackers. The Shockers held BYU to a .081 attack percentage in the first set. The Cougars (6-1) rebounded to hit .245 for the match, a number that coach Chris Lamb was happy with considering some defensive plans instituted on the fly. 
 
"As a freshman, I know they're going to come after me," outside hitter Nicole Anderson said. "Even though I knew that and I kind of expected that, I didn't perform like I was ready. I have to step up to the plate when it comes to serve-receive and passing."
 
While those issues might frustrate in the moment, Lamb expected growing pains for a team with two starters back and 11 newcomers. He needs to see a certain spirit and he can teach skills and strategy as the season wears on and the Shockers grow more experienced.
 
Thursday's first set, in which the Shockers trailed 9-2 and rallied to win 25-23, is a hopeful sign. Lamb compared it to winning two sets against Cal Poly last week. Good signs for a team that isn't quite ready to win those types of matches.
 
"It's not easy," he said. "I told the team in the locker room there were several moments in that match where kind of all the energy was sucked out of the gym and I wondered if it was fold up the tent time. Every time, I felt like our team responded and got competitive."
 
The Shockers had their moments. Taflinger led Wichita State with 11 kills. Anderson (10 kills) and Sina Uluave (nine kills, 10 digs) continued their contributions as freshmen. Freshman middle Chinelo Ogogor added five kills on eight swings for a .625 attack percentage.
 
"This team isn't going to deteriorate over time because of errors or things didn't go our way," Taflinger said. "There's a few things that we have to get a little bit better at, and when those things connect together, I think it's going to be pretty deadly."
 
That resolve will be tested again this week. Lamb is happy to get those challenges – and more on the way - to prepare for the conference season that starts on Sept. 27 at Tulsa and the conference tournament in late November. 
 
"I don't want to wait three years for Nicole to see her first run of elite opponents," he said. "We're taking care of that now. Let's put it out there. We can evaluate our team with good teams and bad teams on the other side of the net. I just like this eval better."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.