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Gabi Maas

Volleyball Preview: Temple, South Florida

10/3/2023 3:14:00 PM

WICHITA STATE (9-5, 3-1 American)

Friday, Oct. 6 (7:00 p.m. CT) vs. Temple (11-4, 2-2 American)
Wichita, Kansas (Charles Koch Arena)
Live Stats // Watch

Sunday, Oct. 8 (1:00 p.m. CT) vs. South Florida (10-6, 4-1 American)
Wichita, Kansas (Charles Koch Arena)
Live Stats // Watch
 

Wichita State hosts a pair of East Division foes at Charles Koch Arena, welcoming Temple on Friday night and South Florida on Sunday afternoon.

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

SCENE SETTERS:
  • Wichita State returns to Charles Koch Arena to host East Division foes Temple and South Florida on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon, respectively.
  • The Shockers have won six of their last seven matches, all but one of which has taken place away from home.
  • Temple and South Florida are two of the conference's most improved teams in 2023. The Owls and Bulls have combined for 21 wins thus far after totaling only 19 a year ago.
  • The first installment of the NCAA's Rating Percentage Index (RPI) was unveiled on Monday. Wichita State ranks fourth in the conference at number 74, trailing Rice (37), SMU (39) and Tulsa (53). Friday opponent Temple is next at 102, while South Florida ranks 10th at 173.
  • Junior middle blocker Natalie Foster has done it all this season for the Shockers, leading the conference in hitting percentage at .395 while pacing the Shockers in kills per set, blocks per set, aces per set and points per set.
  • Head coach Chris Lamb is now just nine wins shy of reaching 500 victories over the course of his 24-year career at Wichita State. Lamb has more than 100 more wins than the next-closest American Athletic Conference head coach (Genny Volpe - Rice, 387 wins).
  • Wichita State's stout defensive unit ranks 15th nationally with an opponent hitting percentage of .153. The Shockers combine a strong blocking presence (2.53 blocks per set, 37th nationally) with a group of littles that Lamb has said ranks among the best he has coached at Wichita State.
  • WSU owns a 141-40 record in home conference matches at Koch Arena,  good for a .779 winning percentage.
LOOKING BACK:
  • The Shockers split a pair of road matches against preseason conference favorites SMU, dropping Friday's contest 25-19, 25-20, 25-14 before bouncing back to best the Mustangs 25-13, 25-22, 24-26, 25-23 on Sunday afternoon in Dallas.
  • It was truly a tale of polar opposites in the two matches. On Friday, the Shockers could not slow down SMU's powerful attack as the Mustangs hit .283 for the best mark by any Wichita State opponent this season. WSU did not lead in two of the three sets and surrendered a 13-0 run in the final frame. The Shockers found their footing on Sunday, holding SMU to a .188 hitting percentage, including star middle Emma Clothier at -.034.
  • Perhaps the most telling statistic between the two matches was Wichita State's improvement at the service line. The Shockers committed nine errors in three sets on Friday compared to four aces and three errors by the Mustangs. In the rematch, WSU had just four errors in four sets, while SMU misfired eight times and notched only three aces.
  • Barbara Koehler had a coming out party in Sunday's victory, pouring in a career-high 15 kills and 17 digs. The Brazilian took over the match down the stretch, delivering seven kills in the final set without committing an error on 15 attempts. Koehler scored four of WSU's final five points.
  • Wichita State recorded at least one block in all seven sets for the weekend, highlighted by a season-high 7.0 rejections in the third set on Sunday.
  • The Shockers also got excellent performances on the pins from Sophia Rohling (14-1-26, .500) and Brylee Kelly (13-5-30, .267) to go along with 17 combined kills from middles Morgan Stout and Natalie Foster.
WSU-TEMPLE SERIES:
  • The Shockers and Owls have met nine times in program history, all since Wichita State joined the American Athletic Conference in 2017. WSU leads the all-time series 7-2 after winning both matches in 2022.
  • Wichita State held the Owls to a .000 hitting percentage in the first meeting at Charles Koch Arena, the lowest mark by any Shocker opponent in 2022.
  • Natalie Foster and Sophia Rohling combined for 30 kills in the return matchup at McGonigle Hall.
  • The Owls were the first-ever opponent for the Shockers in The American, putting up arguably the stiffest test for any conference opponent that season as WSU went undefeated in the AAC at 17-0. Temple pushed two different sets into extra points, but Mikaela Raudsepp's career-high 23 kills proved to be the difference in a four-set WSU victory.
SCOUTING THE OWLS:
  • After limping to a 10-21 (4-16) mark in 2022, the Owls are off to a strong start in the 2023 campaign. Temple enters play on Friday with an overall record of 11-4, including 2-2 in American Athletic Conference play.
  • The Owls are coming off a five-set win over Tulane last Friday in Philadelphia. The Owls split a pair of matches on the road at Florida Atlantic and were swept by Tulsa in their other conference battles.
  • Outside hitter Taylor Davenport is one of the conference's busiest players, averaging more than 10 attacks per set and 3.93 kills per set. The senior ranks second in the conference in total points (254.5).
  • Head coach Linda Hampton-Keith is in her second season in Philadelphia, succeeding longtime Owls head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam. Hampton-Keith arrived in Philly after a successful stint as an assistant coach at Louisville, where she helped the Cardinals reach the 2021 NCAA Final Four. She also has previous head coaching experience at North Carolina State.
WSU-SOUTH FLORIDA SERIES:
  • Wichita State has claimed all eight meetings against the Bulls, seven of which have taken place since the Shockers joined The American in 2017.
  • The Shockers won the lone non-conference matchup in 2005, a 3-0 victory in East Lansing, Michigan as part of the Spartan Classic.
  • Wichita State has lost just a single set over the course of the eight matches (3-1 win in 2018).
  • The Shockers bested the Bulls 25-15, 25-19, 25-7 last season at Koch Arena. The seven points scored in the third set are the fewest by a Shocker opponent has mustered in a set (not including fifth sets) since the Shockers downed Evansville 25-7 in the second set on November 19, 2016.
  • The second scheduled meeting between the two teams in 2022 was canceled due to the impacts of Hurricane Ian.
SCOUTING THE BULLS:
  • South Florida brings an overall record of 10-6 (4-1) to Wichita after a pair of sweeps against UAB over the weekend. The Bulls split two matches at Memphis and bested Tulane in five for their other conference results.
  • Despite the final score, the Bulls own one of the conference's most impressive non-conference performances. On August 26 against #11-ranked Florida, USF led two sets to one before ultimately falling in five.
  • South Florida does much of their damage from the service line, where the Bulls lead the conference with 1.92 aces per set.
  • After ranking near the top of the conference in blocking a year ago, the Bulls rank last on the circuit in 2023 with 1.57 blocks per set.
  • Sophomore outside hitter Buse Hazan has emerged as one of the conference's most exciting young talents. The native of Turkey had just six kills in 2022, but now averages 3.50 kills per set at a .232 hitting percentage.
  • Former San Jose State and Cal State Bakersfield head coach Jolene Shepardson is in her fourth season at USF, the same program that she led to a pair of NCAA tournament appearances as a player (2000 and 2002).
UP NEXT:
  • Wichita State gets back to West Division action with a two-match set on the road at Tulane.
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