The RoundHouse | 12/6/2023 9:24:00 AM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Scott Larkin describes the ball traveling 1,000 mph and 100 feet out of bounds against the back wall. He cannot forget the first swing by a freshman from Fowler High School on a tryout at Shockwave Volleyball Academy in Wichita.
 
"It caught everybody's attention," said Larkin, co-director of the academy. "Every coach in the gym looked, when they heard that ball hit the wall, and said 'Who was that kid?'"
 
That moment sums up so much about Morgan Stout's volleyball career from high school to Wichita State. She still hits the ball approximately 1,000 mph. More and more often, the ball stays in bounds.
 
"We're on a roll where she's just been playing at an elite level," Wichita State coach Chris Lamb.
 
The Shockers (23-8) play Drake (24-10) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Koch Arena in the quarterfinals of the 32-team National Invitational Volleyball Championship. The winner faces either Montana State or Wyoming in a semifinal.
 
Stout, a redshirt junior middle blocker, is showing what she can do when determination, timing and repetition combine with power.
 
"It has a lot to do with coaching and feedback," she said. "It was also a confidence thing. I didn't really realize what I was capable of. And I still feel like I'm capable of even more. The coaches really helped me see that and encouraged me."
 
Stout (6-foot-1) earned second-team All-American Athletic Conference honors this season after improving her attack percentage from .178 in 2022 to its current level of .336. She owns career highs in kills (2.32 a set, 272 total), aces (nine) and blocks (110).
 
"Her dominance is a key part of our success," senior outside hitter Brylee Kelly said. "She hasn't even dipped into what she can be."
 
That day trying out for Shockwaves started Stout on the path from Fowler, a Class 1A school located almost halfway between Dodge City and Liberal, to Nickerson High School and Wichita State. Larkin and Lamb hit with her a similar message – work hard, you're going to struggle, keep working and you will succeed.
 
Former Shockers such as Sara Lungren, Abbie Lehman and Darci Vohs – all from small towns and all needing skill refinement – heard similar messages. All possessed the combination of work ethic and physical ability to grow into special Shockers.
 
 

Don't let Stout get hot.@morgannstout 🔥 pic.twitter.com/SgYdP4Q494

— Wichita State Volleyball (@GoShockersVB) December 1, 2023

Stout listened. Leg injuries derailed two seasons and convinced her to play volleyball instead of basketball. She redshirted in 2021 at Wichita State. The injuries limited her practice time to protect her legs. Once healthy, the talent and skills began to merge, driven by her competitive spirit.
 
"She was so physically gifted, because she could jump so high and she hit the ball so hard," Larkin said. "Skill-wise, she was terrible at age 14 or 15.  She's an athlete at heart. She's going to want to be the best. That was her blessing."
 
Stout's leap from a physically gifted, but inconsistent, middle starting last spring. A drill called "fast, plus middles," targeted her awareness and hand contact with repetition. In a sport where, as assistant coach Brian Hosfeld explains, moving sequentially is critical, Stout often couldn't direct the ball in play because she was moving too fast or too slow to get to the point where she could mesh with the set and swing properly.

Last season, Stout committed 59 errors on 315 attempts. This season, she has 68 errors on 607 swings.
 
"We spent the entire spring with Morgan Stout as the focus," Lamb said. "The ball didn't go where she wanted it to go. What if you're a guy that can throw 98 miles an hour, but you cannot control it? Stout was wild. The fact she's starting to steer the ball to good places is No. 1."
 
The drill sets the middles quickly against a defense that knows what's coming. That pace prevented Stout from worrying about mistakes and forced her to face an organized defense immediately. Those circumstances can make a game sometimes seem easier facing fewer blockers and more open lanes.
 
"I don't have time to get frustrated, because it's always next play, next play," she said. "If the rally ends, there is already a ball coming over the net. You have to run different routes and do different tempos."
 
Lamb sees Stout as the type of athlete who could play overseas after college and continue to improve. A professional career is part of what drives Stout to spend hours in the gym and play through injuries. Paula (Stout) Crandall, her aunt, played basketball overseas after a hall of fame college career at Northwestern Oklahoma State.
 
"Before I got here, it was my plan to go pro," Stout said. "I have been so athletically driven, because it runs in this family."
 
Stout is the latest member of the family to succeed in college athletics, as well as the latest small-town Chris Lamb success story. As her coaches and teammates say, she is just getting started on that journey.
 
 

Four slides, four kills for Stouty. We like that math@morgannstout 🧮 pic.twitter.com/542mKoKE95

— Wichita State Volleyball (@GoShockersVB) November 23, 2023

 
 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.