WICHITA, Kan. -- After a comfortable first set win, Wichita State had to rally twice from late deficits to clip North Texas 25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 27-25 on Friday night at Charles Koch Arena.
The win is the 499th in the career of head coach
Chris Lamb.
Nothing came easy for the Shockers (17-6, 11-2) in a match that featured 32 ties and 11 lead changes. Each of the final three sets was tied 23-23, but Wichita State found just enough points in two of the three frames to escape with their sixth consecutive home conference win.
Sophia Rohling reached 1,000 career kills on her way to a match-best 18 terminations, and
Natalie Foster hit .462 on her 15 kills to power the Shocker attack.
Wichita State cruised in the opening set, using a mini 6-2 burst in the middle stages to open a 15-10 lead that they did not relinquish. North Texas (14-12, 8-5) fought to within one at 18-17, but a pair of kills from
Emerson Wilford to go along with two WSU blocks help the Shockers finish the set on a 7-2 flurry.
Things tightened up in the second set. Neither side led by more than three points for the duration of the stanza, and the two teams swapped points down the stretch to reach 23-23 via kill from
Morgan Stout. North Texas quickly fired back with two straight, clinching the set on a block by Anyse Smith and Truli Levy to level the match at one set apiece.
The Shockers fell into a huge hole late in the all-important third set, trailing 20-14 following a North Texas service ace. A 5-0 run sliced the Mean Green lead to 20-19, but North Texas responded with three consecutive points of their own to restore a 23-19 cushion. It was all Wichita State from there; the Shockers rattled off the final six points of the set, including back-to-back key kills from
Morgan Weber that tied the score at 23-23. Two North Texas miscues on the subsequent points allowed WSU to seize a 2-1 advantage with another 25-23 victory.
North Texas had a chance to send the match to a fifth set, reaching set point on an Aryn Johnson kill that made it 24-23 in favor of the Mean Green. Again the Shockers turned to Weber, who tied the set with a clutch kill.
Barbara Koehler fired in two kills of her own to help set up match point at 26-25, and after an incredible diving save from
Katie Galligan, UNT outside hitter Sh'Diamond Holly slammed an attack into the net to end the match.
Wichita State hit .250 as a team to .239 for North Texas.
Izzi Strand had 47 assists while Galligan led the Shockers with 11 digs.
Morgan Stout did not commit an attack error on 18 swings, terminating eight times, while
Brylee Kelly made her return from injury with six kills.
The Shockers and Mean Green battle again on Saturday afternoon. First serve is scheduled for 2:00 pm.