MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Morgan Stout poured in a career-high 17 kills plus four blocks and her first ace of the season at a vital moment to help Wichita State claw past Memphis 25-14, 22-25, 27-25, 19-25, 15-11 on Sunday afternoon at the Larry O. Finch Center.
Wichita State (16-6, 10-2) grabbed an 8-5 lead to open the deciding fifth set, but Memphis quickly rattled off five straight points to take a 10-8 lead. It was all Shockers the rest of the way as WSU scored seven of the final eight points. Memphis committed five hitting errors down the stretch sandwiched around a service ace from
Izzi Strand, allowing the Shockers to escape with the 15-11 win.
The Shockers came out firing in a dominant first set. Wichita State hit .500 and outscored Memphis 11-2 to close out the stanza;
Natalie Foster keyed the offensive attack with four kills on four swings while
Emerson Wilford and
Sophia Rohling contributed three apiece.
Memphis (8-17, 4-9) controlled the second set from the get-go, scoring the first three points and holding the lead the rest of the way. A crucial 6-1 run in the middle stages stretched the advantage to 13-6, allowing the Tigers to fend off several late Wichita State comeback attacks. The Shockers sliced the margin to one twice at 20-19 and 21-20 but committed several untimely miscues to help Memphis reach set point at 24-21. After a Tigers attack error, Madison Rice-Locket put away the set-clinching kill to even the match at one set apiece.
Despite the second set defeat, Stout began to assert her dominance with eight kills on ten errorless attempts. The eight terminations are the most by a Shocker in a single set this season.
In the all-important third set,
Emerson Wilford delivered a series of crucial kills to help the Shockers pull out the win. Memphis had set point at 24-23, but Wilford responded with a termination to draw level, 24-24. Out of substitutions, WSU sent
Morgan Stout back to serve and she responded by tucking a ball just inside the back line for her first ace of the season and a 25-24 lead. Memphis retied the score at 25-25 on the ensuing point, but Wilford took matters into her own hands with consecutive kills that gave the Shockers a 2-1 advantage.
The Tigers forced the decisive fifth set by hitting .333 in the fourth and notching a pair of service aces. Wichita State's last surge brought them to within three at 22-19 but Memphis answered with three straight points to even the match at two sets apiece.
In addition to Stout's heroics, Wilford turned in her second consecutive double-double with 13 kills and 14 digs.
Sophia Rohling hammered 14 kills of her own and
Natalie Foster contributed 12, allowing Strand to record 50 assists. The Shockers hit .274 as a team to .206 for the Tigers.
Wichita State returns to action with the only four-match homestand of the 2023 season. The Shockers host North Texas on Friday evening, first serve from Charles Koch Arena is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
