Wichita State Athletics

WICHITA, Kan. -- Wichita State fought back a furious late rally from Tulane, besting the Green Wave 25-14, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23 on Friday night at Charles Koch Arena.

The Shockers (14-11, 9-5) appeared to be well on their way to wrapping up the match comfortably, leading 20-14 late into the fourth set. But the Green Wave (8-18, 3-12) roared back, tying up the match at 23-23 on the sixth service ace of the night from Kayla Kaiser. On the ensuing point, Tulane's Ceren Aki sliced a ball into the net to bring WSU to match point, and Natalie Foster powered home the winner a few moments later to help the Shockers escape with the win. 

Brylee Kelly helped get the Shockers across the finish line with a superb final set, registering seven kills on 12 attempts as part of her stellar outing. The redshirt junior finished with 16 kills and 12 digs, her fourth double-double in the last seven matches.

Wichita State led just 12-11 early in the opening stanza, but put the hammer down with a 7-0 run that included attack errors from four different Tulane hitters. Two kills from Kelly and a block from Foster and Kayce Litzau capped a dominant first set in which the Green Wave were held to a .000 attack percentage.

WSU raced to a commanding lead in the second set, ballooning the advantage to 14-4 midway through the frame and eventually 22-13. The Green Wave refused to go quietly, however, thanks to the excellent serving from Kaiser, who recorded three aces in a row to help Tulane inch within 23-19. A Sophia Rohling kill finally got Kaiser off the line and made it 24-19, but the Green Wave scored three in a row to tighten the margin to just two. Morgan Weber was the hero on the subsequent point, tucking a ball in off the Tulane block for a 2-0 lead.

Weber delivered a sterling performance, ending just one kill shy of a double-double with nine terminations and a match-high-tying 22 digs, plus three blocks.

Tulane forced a fourth set thanks to a big run of their own, turning a 10-9 lead into 17-11 thanks to a flurry of kills from Melissa Kolurbasi, who paced the Green Wave with 12 on the evening. The Shockers pulled within four down the stretch but would get no closer, setting the stage for the drama of the fourth set.

Litzau delivered 43 assists as four different Shockers had nine or more kills. Foster continued her excellent run of form with 12 kills and a .423 hitting percentage. Lara Uyar entered the night with zero aces on the season and promptly recorded five, plus 15 digs as the libero.

The Shockers look to stretch their winning streak to four matches when they host #23-ranked Houston on Sunday. First serve from Charles Koch Arena is scheduled for 12:00 pm.