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2022 Volleyball Team Huddle

Volleyball Preview: SMU, Memphis

11/22/2022 1:56:00 PM

WICHITA STATE (16-12, 11-6 American)
 
Wednesday, Nov. 23 (12:00 p.m. CT) at SMU (21-9, 14-4 American)
Dallas, Texas (Moody Coliseum)
Live Stats // Watch

Friday, Nov. 25 (1:00 p.m. CT) at Memphis (18-13, 8-10 American)
Memphis, Tennessee (Larry O. Finch Center)
Live Stats // Watch
 

The Shockers round out the regular season with road matches at SMU on Wednesday and Memphis on Friday.

Wednesday's match will air on ESPNU, while Friday can be streamed on ESPN+.

Wednesday is the first national TV broadcast for Wichita State since the 2018 season, when the Shockers battled Creighton on Fox Sports Go, and the first on an ESPN affiliate since a matchup with Texas A&M in 2015 aired on SEC Network.

Track live scoring at shockerstats.com.

SCENE SETTERS:
  • Wichita State completes the regular season slate with two tough road tests, battling NCAA tournament contender SMU on Wednesday afternoon and a resurgent Memphis squad on Friday afternoon.
  • With wins last week against Tulsa and Cincinnati, the Shockers have secured a fourth place finish in the American Athletic Conference standings. Even with two WSU wins and two SMU losses over the final week, the Shockers would still finish a half-game behind the Mustangs for third place due to the canceled  match against South Florida earlier this season.
  • The Shockers also nailed down a winning record with Sunday's victory, the 19th time in 23 seasons that Chris Lamb has led Wichita State to a .500 record or better.
  • Through 28 matches, Wichita State has not put together a winning or losing streak longer than three matches.
  • WSU is 13-1 this season when winning the first set (only loss on Oct. 30 vs. UCF) and 3-11 when trailing 1-0.
  • Libero Lily Liekweg returned to the lineup on Sunday after missing the last eight matches due to a concussion. After recording 10 digs, she is now just 22 away from 1,000 for her career.
  • Middle blocker Natalie Foster and setter Kayce Litzau earned spots on the AAC Weekly Honor Roll on Monday. It was Foster's third straight week on the list. The sophomore is hitting .469 over her last ten matches, averaging 3.6 kills per set. Litzau had 49 assists at Tulsa and 50 versus Cincinnati, good for 12.4 helpers per set.
  • The Shockers RPI inched up four spots this week to 72. Wichita State trails Houston (17), UCF (18), and SMU (58) among teams in The American.
LOOKING BACK:
  • Wichita State finished the regular season home schedule with a 25-16, 19-25, 25-18, 25-21 win over Cincinnati on Sunday at Charles Koch Arena.
  • The Shockers swept the season series against the Bearcats for the first time since the 2017 season. Wichita State bested Cincinnati 25-21, 26-28, 25-20, 25-21 on October 14 at Fifth Third Arena.
  • Each of Wichita State's last five victories have come in four sets.
  • The three-headed monster of Brylee Kelly (19 kills), Natalie Foster (17) and Sophia Rohling (13) put together perhaps their best combined match of the season. The trio produced a cumulative hitting percentage of .512 (49 kills - 7 errors - 82 attempts).
  • Wichita State's team hitting percentage of .348 was their second best in a single match in 2022 (.353 vs. South Florida on October 28).
  • Rohling did not commit an attack error on 21 swings, registering the most kills by a Shocker this season without a hitting miscue. Her outburst came on the heels of a season-low one kill on Wednesday at Tulsa.
  • Setter Kayce Litzau had a set percentage of .476, her best in any match this season. She also paced the Shockers with 14 digs.
  • Lauren McMahon entered the match in the third set and provided a huge boost with her blocking. The sophomore had four rejections in the third frame and two more in the fourth, then delivered her first two kills of the day in the final four points to secure the win.
  • Through two sets, Wichita State was being out-blocked by the Bearcats, 8-4. Over the final two stanzas the Shockers flipped the script, notching seven stuffs  to Cincinnati's one.
WSU-SMU SERIES:
  • Wichita State and SMU have met 14 times in total dating back to the 1996 season, with the Mustangs holding a slim 8-6 advantage. SMU won the inaugural meeting, but WSU claimed non-conference wins in 2010 and 2012 prior to the Shockers joining The American in 2017.
  • The Shockers are 4-7 against SMU since joining The American.
  • WSU is 3-5 at home, 3-2 in Dallas, and 0-1 on a neutral floor against the Mustangs.
  • The Mustangs swept the Shockers on October 9 at Charles Koch Arena, 25-21, 25-21, 25-12. SMU put together a dominant third set, going a perfect 12-12 in sideout opportunities and hitting .571 in the set (17 kills - 1 error - 28 attempts). No Shocker opponent has posted a better hitting percentage in any set this season.
  • That sweep snapped a string of three consecutive five-set matches between the two clubs.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS:
  • SMU enters the week 21-9 overall, with a 14-4 mark in AAC play after a four-set defeat at #23 Houston on Sunday.
  • All four conference losses have come against the top two teams in the conference (UCF and Houston).
  • Setter Celia Cullen directs a potent array of hitters, with three different Mustangs in the conference's top ten in hitting percentage (London Austin-Roark, .326, 6th, Alex Glover, .322, 7th, Marieke van der Mark, .298, t-10th).
  • The SMU roster is littered with D1 transfers, including additions from Texas A&M, Michigan State, Baylor, Virginia, Arkansas State and Arkansas.
  • Head coach Sam Erger is in her first season in Dallas after eight seasons on the coaching staff at Baylor. Erger replaced long-time head coach Lisa Seifert, who stepped down following 27 seasons on the sideline for the Mustangs. 
WSU-MEMPHIS SERIES:
  • The Shockers hold an 8-4 all-time advantage against the Tigers, including a 7-3 mark in American play.
  • Wichita State has not lost in Memphis in three tries.
  • The series dates back to the 1976 season, just the third season of Wichita State volleyball history. The Shockers took down Memphis 15-12, 15-7 in that first meeting.
  • Wichita State rallied for a thrilling five-set win in Wichita on October 7. Two of the first three sets went to extra points, and then the Shockers delivered a near perfect fifth set to secure the victory. WSU held the Tigers to a -.174 hitting percentage in the fifth frame, lowest by any opponent in a set against the Shockers this season.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS:
  • Memphis enters the week with an overall record of 18-13, including 8-10 in American Athletic Conference action. The Tigers snapped a five-match losing skid with a sweep of Tulane on Sunday.
  • The Tigers hosted three tournaments in the non-conference portion of the schedule, winning nine of ten combined matches at the Larry O. Finch Center. 
  • Memphis was picked eighth in The American preseason poll and have already exceeded their overall and conference win total from a season ago (13 to 18 and 6 to 8).
  • Offensively, the Tigers are second-to-last in the conference with a .173 hitting percentage of their own. No Tigers rank in the top ten in The American in kills per set.
  • Head coach Sean Burdette spent three seasons in the Missouri Valley Conference at Bradley (2008-10), and is now in his fifth season with the Tigers.
UP NEXT:
  • The Shockers await their postseason fate following the conclusion of the regular season on Friday.
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