WICHITA, Kan. -- Wichita State hit a season-best .374 and converted 30 of 37 sideout opportunities, rolling past UAB 25-13, 25-12, 25-10 on Wednesday night at Charles Koch Arena.
It was a dominant performance from wire-to-wire for Wichita State, who finish the regular season with a 21-8 overall record and a 15-4 mark in the American Athletic Conference. The Shockers trailed for just a single point in the match and held UAB to a .012 hitting percentage.
WSU blitzed UAB right out of the gate with a 7-2 spurt to open the first set, quickly lengthening the lead to 15-6 on the strength of a dominant frame from
Morgan Stout. The explosive middle delivered seven kills on nine swings, while defensively Wichita State totaled four blocks to stifle the Blazers attack. A UAB service error nailed down a 25-13 opening frame.
That would prove to be as close as the Blazers got in any of the three sets. UAB took their only lead of the night by scoring the first point of the second set and stayed within 6-5 following a kill from Asli Celikkol, but a 7-1 Wichita State run removed much of the drama. The Shockers had six different players record multiple kills in the second, led by four apiece from seniors
Brylee Kelly and
Sophia Rohling. Setter
Izzi Strand got in on the fun with back-to-back kills late in the set to widen the lead to 22-10 and Kelly provided the winner a few points later for 2-0 lead at the intermission.
It was all Shockers in the third set as Wichita State completed their 10th sweep of the season. A 6-1 run gave Wichita State the early initiative, and another 6-1 burst swelled the advantage to 13-7 after UAB had cut into the lead. Three more blocks and service aces from
Katie Galligan and
Morgan Weber made it 20-10 Shockers, and
Kylie Marneris wrapped up the sweep with five straight points at the service line in her first action of the season. Fellow senior
Morgan Weber fired back-to-back kills to end the match.
Stout led all players with a match-best 13 kills, hitting .524 in the process. Rohling notched 12 terminations and both Kelly and Foster recorded seven apiece. Strand directed the offense to the tune of 35 assists via an incredible .530 set percentage, while
Gabi Maas paced the defensive effort with 11 digs.
The Shockers now await their postseason fate. The NCAA tournament selection show is scheduled for Sunday night at 5:00 pm on ESPN, with the NIVC bracket to be announced shortly afterward.