WICHITA STATE (13-6, 7-3 American)
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Friday, Oct. 29 (6 p.m. CT) at South Florida (6-15, 0-10)
Tampa, Florida (The Corral)
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ESPN+
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Sunday, Oct. 31 (12 p.m. CT) at UCF (16-6, 9-1)
Orlando, Florida (The Venue at UCF)
Live Stats //
ESPN+
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WSU seeks to extend a seven-match winning streak with a trip to Florida for matches at South Florida and UCF.
Sunday's match is the last of four consecutive true road contests for Wichita State, their longest stretch of the season. Both matches will air on ESPN+. For more information about subscriptions, which start at $6.99/month, visit plus.espn.com. Track live scoring throughout the weekend at shockerstats.com.
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SCENE SETTERS:
- WSU picked up four-set wins at Tulsa on Wednesday and at Temple on Sunday afternoon. In both matches, the Shockers dropped the first set before claiming the final three.
- The Shockers have trailed in five straight matches, all wins. Prior to this streak, WSU had just one come-from-behind victory on the season.
- The seven straight wins for WSU represent the longest AAC winning streak since the 2017 season when the Shockers finished 20-0 in league play.
- Freshman Natalie Foster was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll after setting a career high with 18 kills on Sunday at Temple.
- Sunday's matchup at UCF wraps up a string of four consecutive road matches for Wichita State. Following the road stretch, the Shockers play four in a row at home.
- WSU inched up one spot in this week's RPI to 54 - third among AAC schools behind UCF (27) and Cincinnati (51).
- With two wins over the weekend, WSU could notch their longest overall  winning streak since 2017. The Shockers began the spring with eight straight non-con wins.
- The Shockers have dropped just one set to USF in six all-time meetings. UCF enters the weekend winners of five in a row.
- During the nonconference portion of the schedule, WSU picked up wins over Missouri State (RPI 91) and Arkansas State (137) and took a five-setter against South Dakota (104).
- The Shockers won the A-State Invitational (Aug. 27-28) to open the season but subsequently missed the SDSU Invite and a significant stretch of practice time due to COVID-19 issues within the program. The Shockers returned to action Sep. 10-11 with a 2-1 weekend at the Kansas Invitational.
- WSU is 6-1 in five-set matches (only lost to UCF).
- Head coach Chris Lamb recorded his 450th career win earlier this month. Lamb is one of only 24 active Division I coaches who have reached that milestone while winning more than two-thirds of their matches (458-211, .685).
- The Shockers (9-8 last spring) return five starters, including all-conference opposite Sophia Rohling, and are picked eighth in the American Athletic Conference.
- 18 of the 20 players on WSU's roster are underclassmen by eligibility and only four rotation players (Brylee Kelly, Lily Liekweg, Kayce Litzau and Rohling) have been in the program for more than two seasons.
WSU-SOUTH FLORIDA SERIES:
- The Shockers have won all five meetings between the two teams since joining the American in 2017. Wichita State also swept a non-conference matchup in 2005 held in East Lansing, Michigan.
- The Bulls have managed to claim just one set over the course of those six total matches, forcing a fourth set in 2018.
- Wichita State defeated South Florida in WSU's first-ever home American match on September 29, 2017.
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SCOUTING SOUTH FLORIDA:
- South Florida enters the weekend 6-15 overall and 0-10 in conference play. Four of the ten losses have come in five-set matches.
- The Bulls did not play a non-conference match outside the state of Florida, playing early season tournaments in Fort Myers, Jacksonville, and Deland, in addition to a home-and-home with Miami.
- South Florida ranks last in the conference with a .159 hitting percentage, 13 points below the next closest team. No individual Bulls players rank in the top 20 of the conference in hitting percentage.
- Freshman Marta Cvitkovic highlights a promising young core, ranking seventh in the conference with 3.17 kills per set.
- Former USF standout Jolene Shepardson was named head coach in January of 2020. She led the Bulls to the program's last conference title and NCAA tournament appearance in 2002. Shepardson returns to Tampa after a coaching stint at San Jose State.
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WSU-UCFÂ SERIES:
- The Knights lead the all-time series 3-2, with all five meetings occurring in American conference play.
- None of the five matchups have been decided in three sets, including a tightly contested five-setter earlier this season.
SCOUTING UCF:
- The Knights have won three consecutive American championships, and have a 49-3 recording in conference play since 2018, with two losses to Cincinnati during the 2019 regular season and a five-set defeat this year at home against Houston.
- Facing a challenging early-season schedule, UCF began the season just 2-4. They lost just once more in non-conference play, a thrilling five-set defeat at the hands of Georgia.
- Since the loss to Houston, the Knights have dropped only one set (vs. Tulane, 10/10). UCF has swept four consecutive opponents entering the weekend.
- The Knights rank first or second in the AAC in all but one major statistical category (digs per set, 8th).
- Preseason player of the year McKenna Melville leads the nation with 455.0 total points, ranking fourth in the county with 398 total kills.
- Nerissa Moravec leads the conference and checks in 17th nationally with 1.38 blocks per set.
- UCF was the unanimous AAC preseason favorite.
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UP NEXT:
- WSUÂ plays six of its last eight matches at home, beginning Friday, Nov. 5 against Houston.
- All matches air on ESPN+.
