WICHITA, Kan. – After 22 seasons with the Wichita State volleyball program, Shannon Lamb announced this week that she is stepping down from her position as director of operations due to health issues.
 
"This was an incredibly difficult decision to make, but one I feel is in the best interest of the program I love so much," Lamb said. "As I continue to deal with the effects of a head injury I sustained more than two years ago, the difficulties of balancing treatment and the demands of this position became increasingly clear. Ultimately, I believe this decision is the right one for both my health and Shocker volleyball."
 
Lamb and her husband Chris have overseen one of the most successful turnarounds in college volleyball history, inheriting a Wichita State program in 2000 that had won just eight games the year prior and transforming it into a mainstay in the NCAA tournament. Over her nine seasons as an assistant coach and 13 as director of operations, the Shockers reached 11 NCAA tournaments, racking up six Missouri Valley Conference regular season titles, four MVC tournament titles, and an American Athletic Conference regular season championship in 2017. In 2012, Wichita State stunned host Kansas in the second round of the NCAA tournament to advance to the first Sweet 16 in school history.
 
"I am extremely thankful for my coworkers, administration, players and fans here at Wichita State," Lamb said. "Our program is surrounded by wonderful people that have supported and cheered on our players and coaches. The players Chris and I have worked with since taking over the program have become our family. Watching our student-athletes grow and develop during their time here, then seeing how incredibly successful they are after graduation, has been the most rewarding part of our jobs."
 
The Shockers put together a run of 15 consecutive 20-win seasons during Lamb's tenure, highlighted by a 29-0 regular season in 2008, the first time in school history that a team finished the regular season undefeated. Wichita State twice went undefeated in MVC play (2005, 2008), and rolled to a perfect 20-0 mark in the program's first season in The American in 2017. That season, the Shockers hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.
 
"Shannon is such a vital part of everything we've accomplished here at Wichita State," Head Coach Chris Lamb said. "Her genuine relationships with the players, fans, and staff helped create the family atmosphere we strive for within the Shocker volleyball program. I know this wasn't an easy decision for Shannon to make, but at the end of the day her health and well-being is more important than her work."
 
Before her time in Wichita, Shannon was an assistant coach at Washington State, Northern Illinois, and New Mexico State, in addition to a successful three-year stint as head coach at St. Ambrose University from 1994-96. She led her alma mater to back-to-back conference championships and a berth in the 1995 NAIA Championship Tournament.
 
Lamb starred as a player at St. Ambrose from 1989-1992, earning three First Team All-Conference selections prior to joining the staff for the Fighting Bees.
 
Shannon and Chris reside in Wichita with their two daughters, Gracie and Sydney.