Match 1: Wichita State (8-7, 3-5 American) vs. Houston (12-4, 8-0 American)
Friday, March 26 | 7 p.m. | Wichita, Kan. (Charles Koch Arena)
TV: ESPN+

Match 2: Wichita State vs. Houston
Saturday, March 27 | 1 p.m. | Wichita, Kan. (Charles Koch Arena)
**Senior Day**
TV: ESPN+

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This Week: Wichita State volleyball (8-7, 3-5 American) is scheduled to wrap up its 2021 spring regular season schedule with a pair of American Athletic Conference home matches against first-place Houston (12-4, 8-0 American) inside Charles Koch Arena Friday, March 26, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, March 27, at 1 p.m. Saturday's contest will be Senior Day for Wichita State seniors Brooke Smith, Emma Wright and McKayla Wuensch. They will be recognized prior to first serve.

Media Coverage: Both matches against Houston will air live on ESPN+ with Shane Dennis on the call. Fans can sign up for ESPN+ at WatchESPN.com ($4.99/month subscription required) ... Both contests will feature free, live stats at ShockerStats.com ... No live audio will be available.

Series History: Friday and Saturday's matches against the Cougars will mark the 10th and 11th meetings in the all-time series that dates back to 1987. Houston leads the series, 6-3. The last time the two teams met was in 2019, with the Shocker dropping both matches to the Cougars, 3-1 in Wichita, and 3-0 in Houston, Texas.

About the Shockers: Wichita State enters the week at 8-7 overall and 3-5 in The American after dropping a pair of non-conference matches against Kansas March 18 in Wichita, 3-1, and March 20 in Lawrence, 3-0 ... The Shockers have dropped their last seven matches after winning their opening eight contests ... Through 15 contests, WSU is paced by sophomores Sophia Rohling (169 kills, 2.91 kills/set, .277 attack pct., 34 block assists, 2 block solo), Kayce Litzau (338 assists, 5.73 assists/set, 19 service aces) and Sinalauli'i Uluave (228 digs, 3.93 digs/set), redshirt junior Megan Taflinger (111 kills, 2.18 kills/set, 2 block solos, 22 block assists) and senior Brooke Smith (48 block assists, 1 block solo, 1.09 blocks/set, 67 kills, .318 attack pct.) ... As a team, the Shockers rank second in The American in opponent hitting percentage (.163), fourth in blocks (2.11 per set), and fifth in hitting percentage (.207), service aces (1.27 per set) and digs (16.97 per set) ... Overall, Wichita State is averaging 12.8 kills, 12 assists, 1.3 aces, 17 digs and 2.1 blocks per set.

Scouting Houston: The University of Houston Cougars enter the week at 12-4 overall and are a perfect 8-0 in The American after falling to No. 6 Baylor March 18, 3-2, and losing to Texas State March 20, 3-1 ... Through 16 matches, Houston is led by sophomore outside hitter Abbie Jackson  (256 kills, 4.41 kills/set, .206 attack pct., 21 service aces, 0.36 aces/set, 128 digs, 2.21 digs/set, 10 block solos, 17 block assists), sophomore middle blocker Rachel Tullos (15 block solos, 48 block assists, 1.05 blocks/set, 91 kills, 1.52 kills/set, .340 attack pct.), freshman setter Annie Cooke (637 assists, 10.62 assists/set, 15 service aces, 0.23 aces/set, 133 digs, 2.22 digs/set, 45 kills, 13 block assists),  and junior libero Torie Frederick (315 digs, 4.92 digs/set, 12 service aces) ... As a team, the Cougars are averaging 13.7 kills, 12.6 assists, 1.4 aces, 15.8 digs and 2.1 blocks per set ... Houston is under the direction of second season head coach David Rehr.

On the Wright Track: Senior middle blocker Emma Wright posted a stellar showing in WSU's two matches against Kansas March 18 and 20, hitting .489 with 22 kills on 45 attempts and zero errors. Defensively in the two contests, she added seven block assists. She was named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll for her performance.

Rohling Rolling: Sophomore opposite hitter Sophia Rohling is second on the team and currently ranks 10th in The American with a .277 hitting percentage in 58 sets of actions this spring. Rohling has a team-best 169 kills on 397 attempts with 55 errors in 15 matches. Against Memphis March 4, the Thayer, Kan., native tallied a career-high 27 kills and hit .328 with eight errors on 58 attempts.

Liekweg at Libero: Sophomore libero Lily Liekweg posted a career-high 28 digs in the Shockers' home match vs. Kansas March 18. On the season, she has 144 digs and is averaging 3.60 digs per set, which is second on the team.

Service Ace: Sophomore setter Kayce Litzau is third in the American Athletic Conference in overall service aces with 19 in 15 matches. The Greendale, Wis., native has compiled at least one ace in 12 of Wichita State's 15 contests, including a career-high five at Missouri State Jan. 24 and three against North Texas Feb. 4.

Career Charts: Emma Wright ranks 11th on the Wichita State career attack percentage list at .287, compiling 427 kills on 1,004 attempts with 139 errors in 283 sets and 88 matches. She is 12th in career blocks per set at 0.90 with 255 total blocks in 283 sets ... Redshirt junior outside hitter Megan Taflinger is 13th in career kills per set at 2.75 with 730 kills in 265 career sets.

Block Assist Milestone: Brooke Smith's career-high nine block assists vs. SMU Feb. 26 are tied for seventh on the WSU volleyball block assist single-match record list.

Friendly Confines: The Shockers are an impressive 168-51 at home since moving to Charles Koch Arena in 2003. WSU's all-time record in Wichita, between the Heskett Center, Levitt Arena and Charles Koch Arena is a stellar 338-179-1 in 44 years.

Preseason Picks: Wichita State was picked to finish fourth in the 2020 American Athletic Conference West Division Coaches' Preseason Poll. SMU was tabbed the preseason favorite in the division with seven first-place votes and 52 points, while Tulane was voted second with a pair of first-place votes and 45 points. Houston rounded out the top three with the final two first-place votes, going along with 41 points. The Shockers were fourth with 26 points, while Tulsa (21 points) and Memphis (11 points) rounded out the poll in fifth and sixth, respectively.

In the East Division, UCF was tabbed the top team with 10 first-place votes and 46 points, with Cincinnati in second with the final first-place votes and 37 points. Temple was third with 26 points, and East Carolina and USF tied for fourth with 16 points each, rounding out the poll.

The Coach: Chris Lamb is beginning his 21st season as the head volleyball coach at Wichita State University. He has led the Shockers to at least 20 wins in 15 out of the last 17 seasons and was the National Coach of the Year by Volleyball Magazine in 2017. Lamb's career record stands at an impressive 444-204.

Shockers Sporting New Unity Patch: The three NCAA divisional Student-Athlete Advisory Committees and the Board of Governors Student-Athlete Engagement Committee recently collaborated to create a national Unity pledge and logo as a symbolic gesture to continue generating stronger unity among the NCAA's 1,100-plus schools and nearly 500,000 student-athletes ... The logo includes three different colored hands holding one another's wrists inside a circle with "United as One" at the bottom ... The mark was sent to all NCAA schools in the form of a patch to consider placing on uniforms ... The yearly pledge that accompanies the logo represents a unified statement by and for student-athletes in response to the social injustice and hate the country has experienced.