The RoundHouse | 8/26/2022 10:58:00 AM
Coach
Chris Lamb is trying to strike "little things" from his speech. Things that may seem incremental or go unnoticed are crucial for Wichita State volleyball in 2022.
"Nothing ever seems little to me," he said.
Last season, the Shockers answered big questions.
They went 19-10 and proved they could compete with the top of the American Athletic Conference. The Shockers finished in fifth place (13-7) in the conference, one match out of third and two out of second, with one senior in the rotation. They split with third-place Cincinnati and SMU and lost five-set matches to all four teams that finished ahead of them.
The Shockers open the season today (Aug. 26) in
the Rumble in the Rockies in Laramie, Wyo. They play Wyoming at 1 p.m. and No. 18 Creighton at 6 p.m. On Saturday, they meet Iowa State at 2 p.m.
Last season,
Kayce Litzau took hold of the setter position for second-team all-conference recognition. Outside hitter
Brylee Kelly continued blossoming into a star and earned all-conference honors. Middle
Natalie Foster earned second-team all-conference honors. Libero
Lily Liekweg led an improved group of defensive specialists. Right-side
Sophia Rohling reestablished herself as a scoring threat after an early season slump.
All return, in addition to middles
Lauren McMahon and
Morgan Stout and pin players
Morgan Weber and
Sophie Childs.
The Shockers know who is going to produce points and play defense and they know how to win. They know who is going to lead in the locker room and who is going to dive on the floor to save a possession.
This season, the goal is to sharpen up on the details that can turn two or three bad possessions into two or three points. Last season, a five-set loss against a more experienced team could be seen as encouraging. This season, those need to turn into five-set wins for the Shockers to climb the AAC standings and take a run at returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.
"We are connecting better," Weber said. "A lot of effort. We've made so much growth."
Lamb knows exactly which numbers need to improve. Eliminating attack errors is the top goal and he hopes experience pushes his team in the right direction.
"If our kill percentage went up three percent and our attack-error percentage went down two percent, that would separate us from plenty," he said. "The Shockers did well on the serve-and-pass game (in 2021). The Shockers did well defensively. It's work, but a lot of errors come with a lack of comfort and as we play more and play together more – this team was super-young last year – things get more comfortable."
The difference can start early in a possession, when an attacker works hard to get in the right position for an approach. It can start in scouting report by learning how a defense will set up. The connection between setter and attacker will always matter when cutting down on errors.
"You're trying to lessen the desperate acts," Lamb said. "Sometimes it's power with no plan, and that only gets you so far. If I could visually tell that an attacker was 15 percent more decisive from last year, I think that would be really great. You're talking one better swing out of seven than you would have had – you would notice it."
The difference might be two or three approaches, two or three attack errors, one or two attack choices or mental lapses in serve-receive. In a 15-12 loss to eventual champion UCF, the Shockers led 7-6 and were tied 8-all. They tied SMU 8-all in 15-12 loss.
"We're dialing in on winning in practice," Kelly said. "We've dialed in on execution and the smaller things that win volleyball matches."
A lot of that falls on Litzau, who led the conference with an average of 10.18 assists and led all setters with an average of 0.60 blocks a set.
"Being more accurate and better decisions," Litzau said. "Knowing the plan and the scouting report that we have so I'm making sure I know who the right person is to set."
Lamb notices Litzau taking better command of the offense.
"Her stuff with the middles and behind the setter, this is advanced I've ever seen," he said. "There's a lot of things. What if she was eight percent better at five things? You would notice that. That's what I'm noticing about her. Serving. Defense. Communication. Accuracy. More acrobatic plays."
Weber is also a key figure in bumping up the numbers. Her competitiveness and two-way skills are valued by coaches. Her 2021 attack percentage of .141 needs to rise to take full advantage of her assets.
"For most volleyball teams out there, there's a job out there for the busiest player who may not be the best at any one thing," Lamb said. "
Morgan Weber is the most complete, well-rounded, do a little of everything player. Now, her blocking is so much more physical. Same thing with attacking – I'm noticing Morgan taking more and more aggressive swings."
Lamb and Weber talked about working on those aggressive swings last spring. Taking bigger swings more often, and lessening her reliance on off-speed attacks, is the goal. Spring is time to experiment, fail sometimes, and learn.
"While still keeping my errors low, he wants me to take more aggressive swings at the ball," she said. "It also has to do with seeing where the defense. It's more of making the smart decision of where to go."
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
