WICHITA STATE (15-8, 9-5 American)
 
Wednesday, Nov. 10 (7 p.m. CT) vs. Tulsa (12-11, 7-7)
Wichita, Kansas (Charles Koch Arena)
Live Stats // ESPN+
 
Friday, Nov. 12 (7 p.m. CT) vs. Temple (5-20, 1-13)
Wichita, Kansas (Charles Koch Arena)
Live Stats // ESPN+
 

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 The Shockers aim to build off a sweep of Tulane in a matchup of two teams that were tied for third in the American conference standings. A midweek tussle with Tulsa precedes a Friday night matchup against Temple, both at home.

All 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 week at shockerstats.com.

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SCENE SETTERS:

• The Shockers went 1-1 over the weekend, dropping a grueling five-set match on Friday vs. Houston before rebounding to sweep Tulane on Sunday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena.
• Friday was just the second five-set loss of the season for Wichita State, with the other coming on October 1 against conference-leading UCF.
• The weekend illustrated the significant improvement of the young WSU team over the course of the conference season. The Shockers opened AAC play losing six of seven sets against Tulane and Houston (Sep. 24/26).
• Sophia Rohling earned a spot on the American Weekly Honor Roll after putting together perhaps her two best matches of the season. The sophomore had 19 kills on 44 attacks Friday (.341) and then added nine more kills on just 20 swings Sunday (.350 - season high).
• Setter Kayce Litzau continued her late-season surge, averaging 11.5 assists per set over the course of the two matches. She recorded her fifth match of 50 or more assists on Friday, handing out 56 helpers while adding five kills of her own.
• The Shockers are in the midst of four straight matches at home, their longest stretch of home matches all season.
• WSU dropped seven spots in the latest RPI to 67 - fourth among AAC schools behind UCF (20), Houston (53), and Cincinnati (62).

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LOOKING BACK:

• WSU completed a sweep against Tulane on Sunday, but all three sets were closely contested. The Shockers prevailed 25-22, 25-23, 26-24 to remain in third place in the AAC standings.
• WSU dominated in serve and pass all afternoon, getting seven aces to six errors while Tulane had nine serve miscues and only two aces. Additionally, the Green Wave had seven reception errors to the Shockers two.
• The Shockers also managed eight blocks in the win, significantly above their season average of 1.84 that ranks 247th in the nation. Natalie Foster led the way with four rejections, while Brylee Kelly and Morgan Stout each had three.
• No Tulane player reached double-digit kills for the match. The Green Wave lost setter Taylor Henigsman early in the first set to an injury.
• Kelly led a balanced Shocker offensive effort with 11 kills, giving her a team-high 16 matches in double-figures this season.
• Despite the end result of a sweep, all three sets were tight affairs. There were a total of 24 ties and 11 lead changes; Wichita State had to rally from a 15-11 deficit in the second set and a 14-10 deficit in the third. Tulane had set point in the third at 24-23, but the Shockers scored the next three.
• The victory snapped a three-match losing streak to Tulane.

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WSU-TULSA SERIES:

• The Shockers hold a 35-15 lead in the all-time series. At one point, WSU won 23 of 24 matches in the series from 1985 to 1996.
• WSU is 3-0 against the Golden Hurricane in Wichita since joining the AAC and 3-2 in Tulsa.
• The Shockers picked up a 3-1 win against Tulsa earlier this season, dropping the first set before rallying for a 20-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-15 win.
• Wichita State's last home loss to Tulsa came in 1980. The Shockers are 17-2 all-time against the Golden Hurricane in Wichita.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN HURRICANE:

• The Golden Hurricane enter the week 12-11 overall and 7-7 in The American. Tulsa's season-opening tournament (Husker Invitational) was canceled; they then went 2-1 at Maverick Classic, 1-2 in the Tulsa Invitational, and 2-1 at the Redhawks Invitational.
• Tulsa owns two of the more impressive wins in the conference schedule this season, going on the road to knock off Houston in the AAC opener and later sweeping SMU in Dallas.
• The Golden Hurricane have played their best volleyball away from the Reynolds Center. Tulsa is just 3-7 at home this season.
• Tulsa ranks top-ten nationally in digs per set (18.03) and 15th nationally in attacks per set (38.09), but are near the bottom of the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.221, 9th) and kills per set (12.05, 8th).

WSU-TEMPLE SERIES:

• The Shockers lead the all-time series 4-2, with all six meetings occurring in American conference play.
• WSU took the first three matchups, with Temple winning the next two.
• WSU picked up a four-set victory in Philadelphia earlier this season, surging past the Owls 22-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-19 to stretch their winning streak to seven matches.

SCOUTING THE OWLS:

• The Owls enter the week 5-20 overall and 1-13 in the American. They have lost seven straight matches since snagging their lone AAC win vs. USF on October 15.
• The Owls played only one non-conference tournament away from home, dropping two of three contests at the Tiger Invitational in Towson, Maryland.
• Temple ranks last in the American and 318th nationally by allowing their opponents to hit .250, 17 points worse than the next closest AAC team.
• Gem Grimshaw and Miray Bolukbasi rank 7th and 8th in the conference with 3.32 and 3.24 kills per set.
• Freshman Taylor Davenport is third in the AAC with 1.18 blocks per set. She registered five blocks in the first meeting against WSU earlier this season.
• The Owls are led by 11-year head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam, the 2021 American Co-Coach of the Year.
• Temple was picked sixth in the American preseason poll, two spots ahead of Wichita State.

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UP NEXT: 

• The Shockers hit the road for the final time in the 2021 regular season against Cincinnati and East Carolina.
• All matches air on ESPN+.