WICHITA STATE (20-8, 14-4 American)
Wednesday, Nov. 22 (7:00 p.m. CT) vs. UAB (5-25, 3-15 American)
Wichita, Kansas (Charles Koch Arena)
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Wichita State celebrates senior night on Wednesday against UAB, honoring Brylee Kelly, Kylie Marneris, Lauren McMahon, Sophia Rohling and Morgan Weber.
The match will be streamed on ESPN+. Track live scoring throughout the evening at shockerstats.com.
SCENE SETTERS:
- After splitting two matches on the road at Rice, the Shockers return to the friendly confines of Charles Koch Arena for the regular season finale against UAB on Wednesday night.
- Wichita State's win over Rice on Friday night secured the Shockers first 20-win season since the 29-4 campaign in 2017. It is the 16th 20-win season for head coach Chris Lamb in his 24 years leading the Shockers.
- Wichita State and UAB have never played one another. The Blazers are the last of the six new American Athletic Conference members to square off with the Shockers for the first time as conference foes.
- With a win on Wednesday night, the Shockers would match SMU for the best home conference record in the AAC. Wichita State is 8-1 in AAC matches at Charles Koch Arena this season, with the lone loss against North Texas on November 4.
- The top of the American Athletic Conference standings are already decided after last week's results. SMU clinched the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament with a 17-1 record, suffering their lone defeat to Wichita State. The Shockers clinched second place with their win over Rice on Friday night. Rice and South Florida enter play on Wednesday in a tie for third.
- With no conference tournament, the AAC looks unlikely to send more than one representative to the NCAA tournament in 2023. After SMU, Rice owns the circuit's second highest RPI at 58 with Wichita State just behind at 61. No other conference team is in the top 90.
- Wichita State is the nation's only team with three players who have 1,000 career kills. Natalie Foster, Brylee Kelly and Sophia Rohling all reached the milestone this season.
LOOKING BACK:
- Wichita State split two matches in Houston against Rice, rallying for a thrilling 23-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-18, 15-8 win on Friday night before falling 25-23, 13-25, 21-25, 22-25 on Saturday afternoon.
- Friday marked Wichita State's first reverse sweep of the season.
- The match was highlighted by a spectacular defensive effort from Wichita State's back row. The Shockers piled up 117 digs, the most in a match since the 2007 season (137 vs. Illinois State, Nov. 23). Gabi Maas had 25 to lead the way, including a number of highlight-reel ups, and Morgan Weber matched her career high with 23. Katie Galligan had 16, Izzi Strand 13, and both Annalie Heliste and Sophia Rohling notched 10.
- Rohling's 10 digs to go along with 14 kills represented the first double-double of her career.
- After Rice hit .348 in the opening set, the Owls hit .156, .191, .135 and .130 the rest of the way to finish at .197 to Wichita State's .210.
- The Shockers allowed just one service ace in Friday's match.
- Wichita State got off to a strong start on Saturday by claiming the opening set, but were unable to slow down Rice's Emilia Weske as the Owls claimed the final three sets. Weske finished with a match-high 21 kills, hitting .327 in the process. She had 18 of her 21 terminations over the final three sets, including nine in the third set alone.
- Middle blocker Natalie Foster starred for the Shockers in defeat, racking up 17 kills on 29 attempts while hitting .448.Â
- Setter Izzi Strand averaged 11.67 assists per set over the two matches.
WSU-UAB SERIES:
- The Shockers and Blazers have never played one another.
SCOUTING THE BLAZERS:
- The Blazers enter play on Wednesday with an overall record of 5-25, including 3-15 in American Athletic Conference play.
- UAB has struggled mightily this season away from Birmingham. The Blazers are 0-12 in true road matches and have claimed just five sets over those 12 matches.
- The Blazers are coming off a four-set win at home against UTSA on Friday, November 17. Outside hitter Asli Celikkol produced a match-best 13 kills in the victory.
- UAB's other conference wins came against Florida Atlantic (3-1 on October 20) and Charlotte (3-2 on November 4).
- Opponents have combined for a .237 hitting percentage this season against the Blazers, a mark that ranks 282nd out the 332 Division 1 programs.
- Sophomore Kelsey Smith leads all players in the American Athletic Conference with six triple-doubles on the season. Smith had a season-best 21 kills against East Carolina on August 24 and has also racked up 307 assists and 269 digs.
- Head coach Betsy Freeburg is in her fourth season at the helm of the Blazers. A former assistant at both Samford and Georgia State and an all-conference middle at Florida, Freeburg owns a 36-62 record during her time in Birmingham.
UP NEXT:
- Wichita State awaits their postseason fate. The NCAA selection show airs Sunday, November 26 at 5:00 pm CT on ESPN.
