Shocker Volleyball Classic Kicks off Home Schedule

9/15/2021 12:39:00 PM

Wichita State (5-1) welcomes South Dakota (3-3), Wyoming (6-3) and No. 17 Creighton (9-1) this weekend for the 2021 Shocker Volleyball Classic, Presented by Aspen Heights.

Fans can purchase seats online at goshockers.com/tickets or by phone at 316-978-FANS (3267).

Live scoring from all six tournament matches will be available at ShockerStats.com.

All three Shocker matches air on ESPN+ with Mike Kennedy on the call. For more information about subscriptions, which start at $6.99/month, visit plus.espn.com.

SCENE SETTERS:

Wichita State is out to a 5-1 start after taking two of its three matches at last weekend's Kansas Invitational.
The Shockers beat Kent State in four sets, fell to host Kansas in three and finished up with a five-set victory over Delaware. The latter was 22^nd year head coach Chris Lamb's 450^th career win.
He's one of 42 active D-I coaches who have hit that milestone and one of only 24 who have done so while winning more than two-thirds of their matches (450-206, .686).
WSU won the A-State Invitational title to open the year but withdrew from its scheduled tournament at South Dakota State due to COVID-19 issues within the program.
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.
The Shockers lead The American in hitting percentage (.252) and rank second in opponent hitting percentage, limiting foes to a combined .174.
Middle blocker Lauren McMahon is four-hundredeths of a percentage point off the league lead in hitting percentage (.3700) behind SMU's Alex Glover (.3704).
McMahon made The American's weekly honor roll after hitting .455 with 2.5 kills and 1.0 block-per-set last weekend in Lawrence.
Likewise, Liekweg (the Aug. 30 AAC Player of the Week) ranks second in the league in digs-per-set (4.83), trailing only Tulsa's Marta Pecalli (4.88).
Outside hitter Kailin Newsome – a freshman transfer from Southeastern Louisiana – leads the team in kills-per-set (3.26). She's recorded double-doubles in three of the last four matches, including season-highs (18 kills, 14 digs) in last Saturday's win over Delaware.
Litzau, a sophomore setter, started all three matches in Lawrence and is third on the AAC leaderboard in assists-per-set (9.35). She logged a career-high 54 assists against UD.

SHOCKER VOLLEYBALL CLASSIC:

WSU hosts its mostly-annual home tournament for the 14^th time since 2004.
Shocker teams are a combined 23-16 with four titles, most recently in 2016.
The COVID-19 pandemic canceled plans for a 2020 tournament. In the most-recent installment (2019), No. 3 Texas defeated No. 13 BYU on its way to the title.
This is Wyoming's first appearance in the Shocker Volleyball Classic.
South Dakota and Creighton both appeared in the 2013 tournament. The Bluejays swept the Coyotes and defeated the Shockers in five sets but fell to eventual champion Hawaii.
Creighton entered the 2017 event with a No. 8 national ranking but went winless against WSU and No. 19 Iowa State. The Shockers were receiving votes at the time and entered the poll a week later at No. 24.

THE FIELD:
Wyoming – 1^st appearance
Creighton – 3^rd appearance (2-3 in 2013, 2017)
South Dakota – 2^nd appearance (0-3 in 2013)
Wichita State – 13^th appearance (23-16 w/ 4 titles)

PAST CHAMPIONS:
2004 -- Washington (3-0)
2006 -- Wichita State (4-0) – MVP: Sara Lungren
2007 -- Kansas State (3-0) – MVP: Natalya Korobkova
2008 -- Wichita State (4-0) – MVP: Emily Stockman
2009 -- Wichita State (3-0) – MVP: Emily Stockman
2010 -- Portland (3-0) – MVP: Katie Hronek
2012 -- BYU (3-0) – MVP: Jennifer Hamson
2013 -- Hawaii (3-0) – MVP: Emily Hartong
2015 -- Illinois (3-0) –MVP: Katie Stadick
2016 -- Wichita State (2-1)* -- MVP: Emily Hiebert
2017 -- Iowa State (2-0) – MVP: Jess Schaben
2019 -- Texas (2-0) – MVP: Micaya White
*WSU won a tiebreaker based on set winning percentage (7-3, .700) over Cincinnati (7-4, .636) and Marquette (6-4, .600).

WSU-SOUTH DAKOTA SERIES:

WSU is 4-0 all-time against South Dakota, including 2-0 under Chris Lamb.
The Shockers opened the 2020-21 season with a 3-0 victory over the Coyotes in Springfield, Mo. Sophia Rohling hit .478 with 12 kills and just one error to lead a 3-0 victory.
WSU swept South Dakota during the 2013 Shocker Volleyball Classic behind double-digit kills from Sam Sanders (12), Ashley Andrade (11) and Katie Reilly (11).
The only other series meetings came in 1983 during a tournament in Manhattan, Kan. The teams played twice that weekend with WSU winning by scores of 2-0 and 2-1. The former was milestone win No. 100 for the Shocker program.

WSU-WYOMING SERIES:

WSU is winless in two tries against Wyoming.
In 2019, the Cowgirls defeated the Shockers, 3-1, in a neutral court tournament in Omaha, Neb.
The other series meeting came in 1999 (one year prior to Lamb's arrival at WSU) at a tournament Norman, Okla. The Cowgirls won that one in five sets.

WSU-CREIGHTON SERIES:

Creighton leads the all-time series 27-23.
WSU is 14-8 in Wichita, including 9-3 since Charles Koch Arena's 2003 renovation.
The majority of the matchups took place when the two were volleyball members of the Missouri Valley Conference (1994-2012). The teams were an even 21-21 against one another during that span.
The Bluejays have taken four of the six matches since Creighton's move to the Big East. They're in search of their first victory in Wichita since 2013.

SCOUTING CREIGHTON:

Creighton is ranked 17^th in this week's AVCA Coaches Poll and have matched the best start in program history at 9-1.
The Bluejays own a signature win over No. 3 Kentucky and their only loss came to No. 3 Nebraska.
CU has won seven straight Big East titles and made nine-straight NCAA tournament trips, highlited by a Sweet 16 in 2015 and an Elite Eight run in 2016.
Senior outside hitter Jaela Zimmerman (team-high 3.57 kills-per-set) and junior middle Naomi Hickman (1.33 blocks) are preseason all-conference picks.
CU ranks among the top-25 nationally in kills-per-set (12^th, 14.24), opponent hitting percentage (16^th, .133) and blocks-per-set (25^th, 2.71).

SCOUTING WYOMING:

Wyoming (6-3) has won four of its last five matches coming in. The Cowgirls swept Missouri last Saturday and split Friday matches with UC Santa Barbara (3-2) and Northwestern (1-3) last weekend at their home tournament.
The Cowgirls lost just one starter from a team that finished 8-6 last spring and took fifth in the Mountain West standings. Wyoming is picked fourth this year behind preseason-favorite UNLV, Boise State and Colorado State.
The team is anchored by senior middle blocker Jackie McBride, a four-time All-Mountain West selection, who is hitting a team-best .343 this year.
Wyoming ranks second in the Mountain West Conference in blocks-per-set (2.62) and No. 32 nationally, led by Lydette King (1.1).

SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA:

South Dakota is 3-3 after winning all three of its matches last weekend in the South Dakota Classic over Bradley, Central Arkansas and Milwaukee.
The Coyotes dropped all matches the previous weekend in Louisville, Ky. against Northern Kentucky, Missouri and 12^th-ranked Louisville.
South Dakota is coming off a 15-7 season in which it won the Summit League Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA tournament.
South Dakota has played in three-straight postseasons: 2020 (NCAA), 2019 (NIVC), 2018 (NCAA).
Each of the two NCAA appearances came in Omaha. The Coyotes lost to Missouri last spring and to host Creighton in 2018.
The Coyotes are a slim favorite over Denver (78-76, 6-4 in first-place votes) to win the 2021 Summit League regular season title.
Elizabeth Juhnke – a 6-0 junior outside hitter – was an honorable mention AVCA All-American last season after leading the Summit League in Kills-per-set (4.17).
She's joined by another First Team All-Summit selection, fifth-year senior outside hitter Sami Slaughter.
Middle blocker Madison Harms hit .464 and averaged 3.00 kills and 1.55 blocks to earn MVP honors at last weekend's South Dakota Classic. She was also named Summit League Offensive Player of the Week.

UP NEXT:

The Shockers jump into conference play next weekend.
Due to the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, WSU's scheduled road match at Tulane will instead by played on a neutral floor in Houston.
The Shockers will face Tulane on Friday, Sep. 24 at 2 p.m. CT and remain in Houston for their scheduled match against the Cougars (Sunday, Sep. 26).
Sunday's match will air on ESPN+. Friday's is TBD.

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Shocker Volleyball Classic Kicks off Home Schedule