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Shockers Host UCF and USF to Open AAC Home Slate

9/30/2021 10:29:00 AM

WICHITA STATE (6-5, 0-2 American)
 
Friday, Oct. 1 (7 p.m. CT) vs. UCF (9-5, 2-0)
Wichita, Kansas (Charles Koch Arena)
Live Stats // ESPN+
 
Sunday, Oct. 3 (1 p.m. CT) vs. South Florida (6-7, 0-2)
Wichita, Kansas (Charles Koch Arena)
Live Stats // ESPN+
 
 
Wichita State returns to the friendly confines of the Roundhouse for their first home matches of the American Athletic Conference season, welcoming in UCF and South Florida.
 
Friday night's 7 p.m. CT match against UCF (9-5, 2-0) is Jam the Gym night, with $4 general admission and a free Shocker volleyball t-shirt to the first 1,000 fans.
 
On Sunday afternoon, the Shockers host South Florida. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+. For more information about subscriptions, which start at $6.99/month, visit plus.espn.com.
 

SCENE SETTERS:
  • Following a pair of defeats in Houston on the first road swing of the conference schedule, Wichita State is back in Charles Koch Arena for the AAC home opener on Friday against UCF and a Sunday matchup with South Florida.
  • The Shockers got off to a strong start on Friday against Tulane, claiming the first set 25-18, but dropped six straight sets to close out the weekend. WSU held just two one-point leads against Houston on Sunday, starting the second set with brief 1-0 and 2-1 advantages.
  • WSU was in control for significant stretches of the Tulane clash, leading the third set 20-14 with the match even at one set apiece. The Green Wave completed the comeback in the third and then fought off a late WSU rally in the fourth for a 3-1 win. Despite the defeat, WSU finished with a better hitting percentage (.252 to .243).
  • Sunday proved a struggle offensively as the shorthanded Shockers were held to just a .181 hitting percentage. Kailin Newsome missed out due to injury and no individual reached double-digit kills. The Shockers were unable to generate much at the service line against the Cougars, picking up just one ace while Houston recorded nine.
  • Both matches were held at Houston's Fertitta Center, as Tulane had been displaced by the effects of Hurricane Ida. The Green Wave were able to return home for the first time in nearly a month on Sunday for their match against Tulsa.
  • Wichita State is 3-1 in home conference openers, losing in 2019 to Cincinnati while picking up wins against South Florida (2017), Tulane (2018), and Tulsa (2020).
  • UCF is the conference's unanimous preseason favorite. The Knights are three-time defending champions and boast the 2020 American Player of the Year in McKenna Melville, who was also tabbed as the unanimous preseason conference player of the year in 2021.
  • The Knights lead the American in blocks per set (2.84, 11th nationally) and hitting percentage (.252), while ranking second in assists, kills, and service aces.
  • The Shockers and Knights have met only four times since WSU entered the American in 2017. Wichita State picked up two wins during their undefeated conference run in 2017, but UCF claimed four-set victories in both 2018 and 2019, evening the conference series at 2-2.
  • WSU has dominated South Florida since joining the league in 2017, dropping just a single set (2018) over the course of four meetings. WSU's first-ever home match in the American came against the Bulls, with the Shockers picking up a sweep on September 29, 2017.
  • The Bulls were picked seventh in the American preseason poll with 34 points, a single point ahead of Wichita State.
  • Wichita State did not play either UCF or South Florida in 2020 as the American went to a modified conference schedule as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Redshirt freshman Skylar Goering picked up several career firsts on Sunday at Houston, notching her first three kills and WSU's lone service ace of the match. A local product from Maize South High School, Goering played in just two matches in 2020.
  • Freshman middle Natalie Foster put together a season-best performance on Friday against Tulane, recording 16 kills on just 26 swings for a robust .538 hitting percentage. The 16 kills nearly doubled her previous high-water mark for the season (9 at Arkansas State, 8/28).
  • Kailin Newsome matched a season high of her own on Friday, firing 18 kills on a team-high 42 swings, while adding 12 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Her .310 hitting percentage for the match was a 2021 personal best for the Southeastern Louisiana transfer.
  • Redshirt sophomore outside Brylee Kelly recorded double-digit kills in each of the first six matches this year, but was limited to just ten total over the course of the two matches in Houston. Kelly still ranks ninth in the American with 2.97 kills per set.
  • Sophomore setter Kayce Litzau has seen the lion's share of the floor time in Wichita State's 5-1 system and ranks No. 4 on the conference leaderboard in assists-per-set (8.94).
  • Wichita State ranks third in the American in digs per set thanks to a balanced defensive effort in which five different players average at least two digs per set. Libero Lily Liekweg leads the way with 4.71 per set, good for third in the league.
  • During the nonconference portion of the schedule, WSU picked up wins over Missouri State and Arkansas State (both 10-4) and took a five-setter against South Dakota (preseason favorite in the Summit League).
  • The Shockers won the A-State Invitational (Aug. 27-28) to open the season but subsequently missed the SDSU Invite and a significant stretch of practice time due to COVID-19 issues within the program. The Shockers returned to action Sep. 10-11 with a 2-1 weekend at the Kansas Invitational.
  • WSU is 3-0 in five-set matches (A-State, Delaware and South Dakota).
  • Head coach Chris Lamb recorded his 450th career win earlier this month. Lamb is one of only 24 active Division I coaches who have reached that milestone while winning more than two-thirds of their matches (451-210, .682).
  • 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 (Kelly, Liekweg, Litzau and Rohling) have been in the program for more than two seasons.

WSU-UCF SERIES:
  • The two teams have split four AAC-era meetings.
  • Wichita State won both meetings in 2017, with UCF winning single matches in 2018 and 2019.
 
SCOUTING UCF:
  • The Knights have won three consecutive American championships, and have a 42-2 record in conference play since 2018, with both losses coming at the hands of Cincinnati during the 2019 regular season.
  • UCF was the unanimous selection as AAC preseason favorite.
  • Facing a challenging early-season schedule, UCF began the season just 2-4. They have lost just once since, a thrilling five-set defeat at the hands of Georgia, bringing their record to 9-5.
  • UCF rolled over East Carolina and Cincinnati in their conference-opening weekend, allowing 20 points in a set just once over the course of the two sweeps.
  • The Knights rank first or second in the conference in five of the seven major statistical categories.
  • 2020 Conference Player of the Year McKenna Melville ranks second nationally with 251 total kills and seventh nationally in points per set (5.59).
  • Junior Claudia Dillon ranks second in the American with a .414 hitting percentage.
  • Senior Nerissa Moravec leads the conference in blocks per set (1.48)
  • The Knights have five of the top 20 individual marks on the AAC service aces per set leaderboard.

 
WSU-SOUTH FLORIDA SERIES:
  • Wichita State has won all four meetings between the two teams since joining the American in 2017. The Shockers also swept a non-conference matchup in 2005 held in East Lansing, Michigan.
  • The Bulls have managed to claim just one set over the course of those five total matches, forcing a fourth set in 2018.
  • Wichita State defeated South Florida in WSU's first-ever home American match on September 29, 2017.

 
SCOUTING SOUTH FLORIDA:
  • South Florida enters the weekend 6-7 and 0-2 in conference play, dropping a five-setter to Cincinnati and a four-set decision to East Carolina at home last weekend.
  • Friday's match against Tulsa will be South Florida's first contest outside the state of Florida this season, as the Bulls began the year going 1-2 in the FGCU Invitational in Fort Myers, lost two matches to Miami, and then went 2-1 in the Dolphin Classic in Jacksonville. 
  • The Bulls possess a strong defensive unit that checks in second in the American in both opponent hitting percentage (.181) and blocks per set (2.47). South Florida has struggled to get on the scoreboard consistently, however, ranking in the bottom third in kills, hitting percentage and assists.
  • Alexis Williams ranks second in the American in service aces per set, while Marta Cvitkovic is seventh. Both are freshmen.
  • Former USF standout Jolene Shepardson was named head coach in January of 2020. She led the Bulls to the program's last conference title and NCAA tournament appearance in 2002. Shepardson returns to Tampa after a coaching stint at San Jose State.
 

UP NEXT:
  • The Shockers hit the road for matches in Memphis and Dallas against SMU.
  • Friday the Shockers take on Memphis at 6 p.m. CT.
  • Sunday's match against SMU is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.
  • Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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