Skip To Main Content

Wichita State Athletics

Events

Full Schedule
Chris Lamb

Volleyball Preview: Florida Atlantic, Memphis

10/25/2023 5:25:00 PM

WICHITA STATE (15-5, 9-1 American)

Friday, Oct. 27 (5:00 p.m. CT) at Florida Atlantic (13-10, 5-5 American)
Boca Raton, Florida (Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena)
Live Stats // Watch

Sunday, Oct. 29 (1:00 p.m. CT) at Memphis (8-15, 4-7 American)
Memphis, Tennessee (Larry O. Finch Center)
Live Stats // Watch
 

Wichita State seeks to keep pace with SMU at the top of the American Athletic Conference standings, hitting the road for contests at Florida Atlantic and Memphis.

Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+. Track live scoring throughout the weekend at shockerstats.com.

SCENE SETTERS:
  • The Shockers look to extend a seven-match winning streak, battling Florida Atlantic on Friday night and Memphis on Sunday afternoon.
  • Florida Atlantic is in their first season in the American Athletic Conference after coming over from Conference USA. The Owls have never played the Shockers, while the Wichita State-Memphis series dates back to the 1976 season.
  • The Shockers have won 12 of their last 13 matches dating back to the opener of the Northern Colorado Classic on September 14. WSU has not had a stretch of 12 wins in 13 tries since the historic 2017 season in which the Shockers won 21 matches in a row.
  • The AAC race gained a measure of clarity over the weekend. Conference leaders SMU bested Rice twice in Dallas, putting the Mustangs all alone at the top at 10-1. The result moved Wichita State into sole possession of second place at 9-1 and East Carolina into third at 9-2. The conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament is determined by conference record.
  • Wichita State jumped 12 spots in the latest RPI to 48, second in the AAC behind SMU at 22. The Shockers check in at 40 in the KPI and 54 in the Massey Rating.
  • Head coach Chris Lamb is now just three wins shy of reaching 500 victories over the course of his 24-year career at Wichita State. The Shockers have won at least 15 matches in 19 of Lamb's 24 seasons at the helm.
  • Wichita State has showcased one of the nation's most balanced offensive attacks this season. Six Shockers (Sophia Rohling, Natalie Foster, Brylee Kelly, Barbara Koehler and Emerson Wilford) average more than 2.0 kills per set. No other team in The American has more than four.
LOOKING BACK:
  • Wichita State bested Tulsa twice at Charles Koch Arena this past week, downing the Golden Hurricane 25-13, 17-25, 25-14, 25-22 on Friday night before sweeping Tulsa 25-17, 25-14, 25-17 on Saturday.
  • The Shockers have beaten the Golden Hurricane 19 consecutive times in Wichita and nine straight times overall.
  • The WSU back row stole the show in both matches, out-digging Tulsa by a combined total of 145-106 despite Tulsa entering the series ranked in the top ten nationally in digs per set. Libero Gabi Maas earned a spot on the AAC Weekly Honor Roll for her efforts, leading both matches with 21 and 19 digs, respectively.
  • Setter Izzi Strand joined Maas on the Honor Roll after averaging nearly 12 assists per set in the two wins. Over WSU's seven-match winning streak, the transfer from UC San Diego is averaging 11.36 assists per set to go along with double-digit digs in five straight matches.
  • Outside hitter Emerson Wilford produced what Chris Lamb described as the best weekend of volleyball in her career. The sophomore contributed a season-high 14 digs in the win on Friday followed by a career-best .387 hitting percentage on Saturday in which she had 13 terminations. Wilford's 9.0 points in the second set of Saturday's win are the most by a Shocker in any set this season.
  • Wichita State's excellent run at the service line continued against the Golden Hurricane. WSU had more aces than errors in both matches; during the course of the Shockers seven-match winning streak, Wichita State has 32 aces to just 22 errors. 
  • The Shockers held Tulsa star outside Kayley Cassaday to a combined hitting percentage of .184 (30-11-103).
WSU-FLORIDA ATLANTIC SERIES:
  • Friday will be the first meeting between the Shockers and Owls.
SCOUTING THE OWLS:
  • Florida Atlantic brings a record of 13-10 (5-5) into play on Friday, good for a tie for third place in the AAC's East Division.
  • The Owls own perhaps the conference's most interesting resume. FAU has picked up road wins against two of the top teams in the conference (3-1 at East Carolina on September 30, 3-2 at Rice on October 13) but dropped a match to previously winless UAB this past weekend in Birmingham.
  • FAU has performed significantly better at home in Boca Raton than on the road. The Owls are 7-3 in Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena, compared to 6-7 in road or neutral matches. The Owls won 21 straight home matches from 2017-19.
  • Sophomore Arianna Beckham is one of the most prolific opposites in the conference; she poured in 22 and 21 kills earlier this season in consecutive matches against East Carolina and Tulsa and is averaging a team-best 2.90 points per set.
  • The Owls lead the conference and rank 15th nationally with 12.87 assists per set thanks to the combination of Victoria Hensley (8.72 per set) and Noelle Stephens (3.71).
  • Florida Atlantic averages just 1.85 blocks per set, ranking 12th in the conference and 227th nationally.
  • Head coach Fernanda Nelson is in her 12th season with Florida Atlantic, having produced a record of 165-149. Nelson was a setter on the Brazilian National Team and starred at National American University, where she later began her coaching career. She made the move to FAU after four seasons as an assistant coach at Florida Gulf Coast.
WSU-MEMPHIS SERIES:
  • The Shockers hold a 9-4 all-time advantage against the Tigers, including an 8-3 mark in American play.
  • Wichita State has not lost in Memphis in four 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 won both matches against the Tigers in 2022, highlighted by a come-from-behind, five-set victory for the Shockers at Charles Koch Arena on October 7. Brylee Kelly had 20 kills in both matches to lead WSU.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS:
  • Memphis enters the week with an overall record of 8-15, including a 4-7 mark in American Athletic Conference play.
  • The Tigers dropped two contests at East Carolina last week and host UTSA on Friday before taking on the Shockers.
  • As with Florida Atlantic, Memphis is a drastically different team at home as compared to away from the Finch Center. In Memphis, the Tigers are 7-5; in road and neutral contests that record drops to 1-10, including an 0-7 mark in true road matches.
  • The Tigers offense includes seven players averaging between 1.75 and 2.30 kills per set. The leader is junior outside hitter Tabytha Toelke, who has eight matches with double-digit kills on the season.
  • Setter Jordan Heatherly is one of just two players in the AAC who has recorded a triple-double in 2023, notching 11 kills, 10 digs and 24 assists in a win over Tulane on October 8.
  • Freshman Rylee Busse is one of the conference's top weapons at the service line. The defensive specialist tops the circuit with 35 aces and 0.45 per set, highlighted by a season-best seven aces in a win over UAB on October 14.
  • Head coach Sean Burdette is in his sixth season with  Memphis after previous stops at Bradley and Green Bay. Burdette's career record stands at 155-217, including a 72-86 mark at Memphis.
UP NEXT:
  • Wichita State returns home for their only four-match homestand of the season. The Shockers host North Texas for matches on Friday, November 3 and Saturday, November 4 before welcoming UTSA for two matches the following weekend.
Print Friendly Version
Wichita State Shockers
NCAA, opens in a new tab
American Athletic Conference, opens in a new tab
Nike, opens in a new tab