The RoundHouse | 11/10/2021 10:44:00 PM
Wichita State middle blocker
Morgan Stout is learning the finer points of blocking on the volleyball court, perfecting the timing, footwork and angles that go into the art of being in the way in the right way.
And there's more to it than that.
"I have to force myself to keep my eyes open, and that helps," she said. "I flinch. Keeping my eyes open helps a lot with that."
Neither Inexperience nor flinching bothered Stout on Wednesday in a 3-2 (25-14, 25-14, 22-25, 23-25, 16-14) win over Tulsa at Koch Arena. She recorded 11 blocks, second-most in Shocker history in a five-set match, in addition to a career-high 13 kills.
For stretches early in the match, Stout, a freshman from Fowler, dominated with her jumping ability and quickness. She recorded three kills and three block-assists in the first set and three kills and two block-assists in the second. In the fourth set, she saved a point by using her foot to keep the ball off the floor and ended the rally with a block.
"When she's on time as a blocker, she is across the net unlike most in our conference," coach
Chris Lamb said. "She puts awkward pressure on attackers to hit angles. If they hit straight ahead, she's so horizontal with her hands that she's in position to be a terminal blocker."
Wichita State (16-8, 10-5 American Athletic Conference) held Tulsa to a .131 attack percentage, .100 in the first set, negative-061 in the second and .088 in the fifth. The blocking of Stout, setter
Kayce Litzau and right-side
Sophia Rohling controlled the net for those sets. Wichita State totaled a season-high 18 blocks, 13 more than Tulsa.
In the back row, outside hitter
Morgan Weber registered 23 digs. Libero
Lily Liekweg had 33 and
Brylee Kelly nine to complete the defensive effort against Tulsa (12-12, 7-8).
"Twenty-three digs as a non-libero is exceptional," Lamb said. "That was just fantastic."
Weber appreciated the work of the blockers who funneled balls to the back row and got hands on attacks to make them easier to chase down.
"It's nice to have (Stout) there because it's a lot easier for us to make reads," Weber said. "She's slowing it down for us."
Stout is learning and Lamb sees her translating her athletic ability into the right routes and positioning more often.
"It's mixed emotions with that," she said. "There's times where I have really good block moves and I know where the ball is going, And there's times Lambo tells me to go somewhere and I'm like scatterbrained and I don't know."
Tulsa got rolling down 2-0 with Kayley Cassaday doing a lot of the work. She finished with 21 kills, hitting .210, and recorded 14 in sets 3 and 4. In the fifth set, the Shockers trailed 6-3 before two kills by Weber started a rally. They took a 10-9 lead on a kill by
Brylee Kelly and never trailed again.
"We knew we were going to change something (in the fifth)," Weber said. "Everything was a lot more urgent."
Kelly led the Shockers with 14 kills. Rohling added 13 kills and six blocks.
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
