Emily Hiebert is part of the 2023 Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame induction class. The class will be inducted on Sat., Jan. 14.

After volleyball practice in August 2013, Emily Hiebert and Abbie (Lehman) Chaffin – tired from two-a-days, brains spinning from Lambo jargon, strategies and analogies – recorded their lessons in a spiral notebook in their room at Fairmount Towers.

"We were upset going back, because we were like 'Man, we didn't realize how much there was to volleyball," Hiebert said. "We were getting so much information, all the different defenses and offenses and plays."

Hiebert, a setter from Newton, survived that initial test of physical and mental strength on her way to a superb career at Wichita State. She is one of five 2023 inductees into the Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame, along with Chaffin, a middle blocker.

In 2013, Hiebert joined an experienced team coming off a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2012. Senior setter Chelsey Feekin, an honorable mention All-American in 2012, ran a no-nonsense camp. There was little patience for players who didn't keep up and Hiebert fit right in. She had to – she and Feekin did all the setting.

"I was always pretty serious, and she never took any of that the wrong way," Feekin said. "You could tell she had the attitude of taking this year and learning as much as I can. Then be ready for next year."

When Feekin handed the job of Wichita State setter to Hiebert, she gave Hiebert a bag of Shocker shirts and hair ribbons.

"I think I still have (the ribbons) in my bathroom," Hiebert said.

Feekin, inducted into the Shocker Sports Hall of Fame in 2022, passed on much more than gear to help continue the legacy of great setters at WSU.

"Chelsey Feekin was amazing," Hiebert said. "She knew I was freaking out about learning everything and knew that it was a lot to learn and tried to teach me everything."

Hiebert learned quickly. She earned setter of the year honors in the American Athletic Conference (2017) and Missouri Valley Conference (2016), in addition to All-MVC honors in 2015 and AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region in 2017.

"She was able to place the ball perfectly for all the hitters, especially me in the middle," Chaffin said. "She was definitely a leader, in a quiet way. People respected her because of how kind she was. She would encourage them. They wanted to play hard for her."

The Shockers won the MVC regular-season and tournament titles in 2015 with Chaffin and Hiebert as sophomores. They defeated Kansas State to open the NCAA Tournament. In 2016, Wichita State finished second in the MVC and won the tournament title to return to NCAA play.

In 2017, the Shockers dominated the AAC with a 20-0 debut record and hosted NCAA play for the first time in program history. That senior-dominated team went 29-4 and entered post-season play as the No. 16 seed in the NCAA field. They defeated Marquette and No. 8 Creighton in non-conference play. In the AAC, the Shockers swept 16 of 20 matches and allowed one to go five sets. They swept Radford at Koch Arena in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Missouri 3-1.

"We were all on the same page," Hiebert said. "If we happened to lose a game, everybody got back on the bus and everybody was upset. We were all on the same page about everything."

When the discussion focuses on Hiebert's legacy among setters, Lamb points to the strong opponents she faced all four seasons.

The Shockers faced No. 12 Kentucky in her first match as a starter and followed with matches against Virginia Tech, Baylor and Creighton in 2014. Wichita State opened the 2015 season with a sweep of Oregon State and faced No. 18 Hawaii, Texas A&M and No. 7 Illinois. It defeated No. 21 Kentucky and Marquette.

In 2016, the Shockers opened against Iowa State and lost at No. 3 Texas, while defeating No. 18 Creighton, Marquette, Colorado State and Texas Tech.

"Emily had to get it done from wire to wire with the best possible schedule I could put on the other side of the net," Lamb said. "When Emily got here, it was deep water the entire time with expectations."

Hiebert finished her second season as coach at Northwest High School and took the Grizzlies to the Class 6A tournament both seasons.

"I'll be doing drills or hear myself and think 'Oh my goodness, I'm turning into Lambo,'" she said. "Which is a great thing."

While Hiebert no longer has that spiral notebook, the lessons of her five seasons at Wichita State produced a volleyball career that continues on.