NEW ORLEANS, La. -- Wichita State clubbed 48 kills at a .370 clip, rolling past Tulane 27-25, 25-18, 25-9 on Saturday afternoon at Devlin Fieldhouse.
The Shockers have now won five matches in a row and 10 of their last 11 after winning both matches against the Green Wave.
Wichita State (13-5, 7-1) sprinted to a quick 19-9 lead in the first set but had to hang on in the face of a furious Tulane rally. The Green Wave (4-16, 0-8) clawed all the way back to level the score at 23-23 on a service ace from Annabelle He, prompting a Wichita State timeout. Kills from
Morgan Stout and
Brylee Kelly gave WSU two set point opportunities, but Tulane responded with a kill of their own each time to knot the score at 25-25. Kelly powered in another termination to give the Shockers a 26-25 lead and
Natalie Foster tipped home an overpass on the ensuing point to close out the opener.
There would be no such drama over the final two sets, as the Shockers controlled the tempo with hitting percentages of .366 and .519, respectively. A lengthy service run from
Annalie Heliste early in the second frame gave the Shockers a 9-4 advantage, a lead that Wichita State held the rest of the way. Tulane made a late charge to pull within 19-16, but two kills from Kelly and another from
Barbara Koehler restored the cushion. Kelly smacked her fifth kill of the set a few points later to give Wichita State a 2-0 advantage going to the intermission.
It was all Shockers in the third.
Morgan Weber keyed a huge 8-0 run at the service line that staked WSU to a 9-1 lead, and Wichita State's powerful offense did the rest. The Shockers committed only one attack error in the set while piling up 15 kills, highlighted by five on seven attempts from
Sophia Rohling. The lead swelled to 19-6 on a block from Foster and Kelly, and another rejection from Koehler on match point helped the Shockers cruise across the finish line with a 25-9 victory.
The Shockers had more aces (5) than errors (4) for a second straight match and out-dug the Green Wave, 58-52. Setter
Izzi Strand had another strong performance, recording 37 assists at an excellent .487 set percentage. Kelly was the primary beneficiary with 11 kills, while Rohling added 10 and Foster, Stout and Koehler each notched eight. Foster led all players with five block assists and had two service aces.
Gabi Maas spearheaded the Shockers defensive effort with a match-best 15 digs.
Wichita State returns to action in the friendly confines of Charles Koch Arena for a two-match series against long-time rival Tulsa. First serve of Friday's opener is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
