JONESBORO, Ark. -- The Wichita State volleyball team made short work of UT Martin for its second win of the day at the A-State Invitational. A 25-16, 25-15, 25-22 sweep of the Skyhawks took less than 86 minutes to complete.
WSU (which also swept Missouri State on Friday morning) improved to 2-0 for a fifth consecutive year and will now try its hand against tournament host Arkansas State (Saturday, 2 p.m. CT, ESPN+).
In the first-ever volleyball meeting between the programs, the Shockers alternated between sluggish and utterly dominant. WSU used late runs to blow open the first two sets and survived a UTM comeback in the third.
Brylee Kelly tallied 12 kills without an error and hit .400 for the match.
Kailin Newsome added eight kills and
Natalie Foster chipped in six more on just 13 swings (.462).
Lily Liekweg finished with 24 digs – 20 of them in the first two sets – and served up three aces, while freshman setter
Lauren Phillips handed out 35 assists.
Karen Scanlon mustered eight kills to lead UTM (0-2), which lost in four sets to Arkansas State earlier in the day.
The Shockers outhit the Skyhawks .287 to .069.
First Set: WSU, 25-16
Kelly hit .462 and tallied six kills without an error for the Shockers, who trailed 9-5 early but outscored the Skyhawks 20-7 over the remainder of the set. Helped by three Kelly kills and
Morgan Weber's serving, WSU used a 6-0 run to take an 11-9 lead and stayed in front the rest of the way. Another 6-0 run, this time with
Sophia Rohling serving, expanded a 16-15 margin to 21-15. Seven different Shockers combined for 16 kills with just two errors, and WSU outhit UTM .298-.073. Phillips charted 11 assists and Liekweg added 11 digs.
Second Set: WSU, 25-15
Tied at 13, the Shockers reeled off 12 of the last 14 points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Kailin Newsome accounted for three of WSU's 13 kills. The Shockers hit .333 as a team, while UTM threw up a goose-egg with seven kills against seven errors. Liekweg added nine more digs.
Third Set: WSU, 25-22
The Shockers led 19-12 but picked a bad time to let their foot off the gas. UTM scored seven-straight points off six WSU errors to draw even. Down 22-21, the Shockers responded with consecutive kills by
Lauren McMahon, Kelly and Foster to set up match point. Liekweg's ace brought the festivities to a close.
